Morning Update: Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza; Biden says deal struck for Gaza aid to enter from Egypt

October 19, 2023
MediaIntel.Asia

Good morning,
Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip early Thursday, including parts of the south that Israel had declared as safe zones, heightening fears among more than 2 million Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe. Follow our live coverage.
U.S. President Joe Biden made a wartime visit to Israel yesterday to throw his support behind the Israeli government in its war against the Hamas militant group, and call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Thousands of tonnes of emergency relief supplies have been piled up at Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip for the past five days, blocked from entering the Palestinian territory, even as the 2.3 million people of Gaza struggle with severe shortages of food, medicine, water and fuel.
Biden later said that Israel had agreed that “humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza.” But it remains unclear if his efforts will be successful after a statement by Netanyahu said there were several restrictions on this agreement, including a requirement that the aid be provided only to southern Gaza, and that it be limited to food, water and medicine.
Open this photo in gallery: Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Oct.16, 2023.Fatima Shbair/The Associated Press
Top Hamas leader arrested in large Israeli raid
A senior Hamas leader was arrested in the West Bank early Thursday, hours after he gave an exclusive interview to The Globe and Mail.
Israeli and Palestinian media reported that Sheik Hassan Yousef, the top political leader of Hamas in the West Bank, was arrested as part of a large-scale Israeli raid into Ramallah, Hebron and other cities that saw five people killed and dozens of people detained.
Speaking with The Globe, Sheik Yousef said the militant group has no interest in keeping women and children hostage and says he believes it would be willing to release them if Israel were to agree to a 24-hour ceasefire.
Yousef argued that the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel was justified because of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian lands, and its 16-year blockade of Gaza. But he also acknowledged that “mistakes” were made and some fighters may have gone too far during the rampage, during which Hamas and its allies killed families in their homes and roughly 260 partygoers at an open-air music festival.
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Also on our radar
Ottawa declines to overhaul access to information system: The federal government has declined, for the second time in less than a year, to overhaul its access to information regime despite recommendations made by a group of opposition MPs that spent nine months examining the system.
Scotiabank reduces global work force: Bank of Nova Scotia is cutting 3 per cent of its global work force ahead of launching its strategic turnaround plan as the streak of job cuts on Bay Street continues this year. Canada’s fourth-largest lender is preparing to unveil an overhaul strategy that seeks to revive its beleaguered share price, as well as improve customer experience, expand its Canadian business and rejig its international unit in Latin America.
Metro blasts Loblaw on bread-fixing scheme: Grocery retailer Metro has accused Loblaw of falsely implicating other companies in a scheme to fix the price of bread for more than a decade. Metro filed a statement of defence and crossclaim in court yesterday, in which it argued that Loblaw knew it would take a significant and irreversible hit to its brand reputation if it were revealed to be the only retailer participating in the scheme so it falsely included other retailers.
Alberta’s CPP plan would hurt pensions, Trudeau says: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith traded barbed letters yesterday as the Prime Minister warned the province’s proposal to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan would harm pensioners, and pledged that his government will “do everything possible” to keep the CPP intact.
Ontario NDP asks for probe of ex-minister’s trip: Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is asking the province’s Integrity Commissioner to investigate whether Kaleed Rasheed, a former provincial cabinet minister, broke the law on a trip to Las Vegas with two now-former senior aides to Premier Doug Ford, during which the trio said they encountered a prominent Toronto-area real-estate developer.
Nurses working longer hours, taking more sick days: A new report says the trend of nurses working more overtime hours and taking more sick days that began during the COVID-19 pandemic is still continuing as hospitals struggle to replace the burnt-out workers who quit or switched to part-time in the wake of the health crisis.
Morning markets
Stocks slide: Stocks tumbled on Thursday, under pressure from investor caution over the Middle East conflict and from the largest one-week rise in 10-year Treasury yields in 18 months, ahead of remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.91 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.34 per cent and 0.74 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.91 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.46 per cent. New York futures were negative. The Canadian dollar was lower at 72.78 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Campbell Clark: “So now the Liberals have regained their footing in the fight over who can address the housing crisis but it is still a government eight years into power hoping to win a political argument over who has the best solutions for years in the future. [Housing Minister Sean] Fraser is starting to win debates in the Commons on housing policy, but it might be too late to make Canadians feel things will change.”
Konrad Yakabuski: “If anything, McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s are likely to rely even more heavily on international students to compensate for the expected drop in the number of students from other provinces because of the Legault government’s new tuition policy. How does that protect French? Students from elsewhere in Canada are generally more sensitive to the French fact in Quebec, and many become bilingual as a result.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Open this photo in gallery: Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Investors should consider these ideas before year-end to save tax
Many investors are concerned about the impact of taxes on their portfolios. After all, after-tax returns are the only kind that can be spent or reinvested. There’s still time before year-end to keep the tax man at bay for 2023. Consider these ideas.
Moment in time: Oct. 19, 1966
Open this photo in gallery: Boston Bruins Bobby Orr in action vs. Chicago Blackhawks at Boston Garden.Dick Raphael/Getty Images
Bobby Orr’s first NHL game
All rookies get their “Welcome to the NHL” moment shortly after arriving in the National Hockey League, and despite his preternatural abilities, Bobby Orr was no exception. The only difference was that the native of Parry Sound, Ont., had been forewarned. Five years before he first skated on NHL ice, Mr. Orr had gone on a fishing trip with Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, as part of a summer camp. Sensing that the fleet-footed defenceman was on an upward trajectory, Mr. Howe offered some parting advice: “When you get to the NHL, watch out for my elbows.” The young phenom duly made the Boston Bruins team in 1966, and, as fate would have it, his first NHL game was up against Mr. Howe’s Detroit Red Wings. Caught up in the sense of occasion, Mr. Orr at one point spent a split-second admiring his own pass to a teammate, and was promptly laid out flat on the ice, Mr. Howe glaring down at him after delivering one of his legendary elbows. But that did little to take the sheen off the evening for Boston’s ballyhooed rookie, who registered his first NHL point – an assist – as the Bruins won 6-2. Paul Attfield
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