| An Israeli military vehicle on the Gaza border on Tuesday. Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Israel moved ahead on Gaza City and new settlements
Israel approved 3,400 new settlements in the occupied West Bank yesterday, and its troops reached the outskirts of Gaza City with plans to take it over. Both developments cast further doubt on the chances of either a cease-fire or the creation of a Palestinian state.
World leaders quickly condemned the action against Gaza City.
Experts said the moves suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was bending to the ideologies of extremists in his coalition in order to remain in power — even at the cost of isolating Israel internationally.
Gaza City: Israeli military officials said that tents were being moved into southern Gaza for people who would be displaced. Under the plan, troops would encircle the city and allow the population to move south through checkpoints to catch militants. Then, Israel would move in with force. The military “has begun the next phase of the war,” the Israeli military’s chief spokesman said.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City considered moving to the central or southern parts of the territory, but many have already relocated repeatedly. Some said they wouldn’t move again.
Settlements: The settlement project, called East One, is in the heart of the occupied West Bank. Human rights groups and European countries say building there would increasingly bisect the central West Bank, making the possibility of a future Palestinian state there even more tenuous.
The idea of a Palestinian state “is being erased from the table,” Bezalel Smotrich, the hard-line finance minister, declared after the government had approved the project.
Russia is pushing hard to grab Ukrainian land
As Trump presses Ukraine and Russia to make peace, President Vladimir Putin of Russia is pushing to capture as much land as possible. The tactic could force Ukraine to enter negotiations from a position of weakness, a Ukrainian commander said.
The Russians are sending in small groups of soldiers on foot, who are harder to detect. They effectively sneak past the Ukrainian troops, regroup and attack, and then repeat this cycle as they inch forward, my colleagues Kim Barker and Finbarr O’Reilly reported from near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, where fighting remains intense.
Diplomacy: Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said yesterday that Moscow would insist on being a part of any future security guarantees for Ukraine, a condition that European and Ukrainian officials see as absurd. It was the clearest sign yet that enormous gaps remain in the negotiations over a possible end to Russia’s invasion.
My colleague Maggie Haberman explains how Trump has engaged with Russia and Ukraine in the video above.
Xi made a rare visit to Tibet
Xi Jinping, China’s leader, made a tightly choreographed trip to Lhasa yesterday, his first since 2021 to the capital of Tibet. The visit reflected the Chinese leadership’s concern with redoubling control ahead of a potential succession fight after the eventual death of the Dalai Lama, who is 90.
In a speech, Xi called for stronger regulation of “religious affairs” and for measures to “guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society.”
More China news:
| After quashing pro-democracy movements, Hong Kong’s government is targeting subtler expressions of discontent it calls “soft resistance.”Xi’s secretive purges of political and military leaders echo Mao and Stalin, our columnist writes. |
| MORE TOP NEWS |
| Afghanistan: More than 70 Afghans died in a bus accident in Herat Province, on the border with Iran. India: Days of torrential downpours forced thousands to wade through water in Mumbai, which is on track to break a record for rainfall this month. U.S.: Trump demanded that a Federal Reserve governor resign, escalating his campaign to remake the U.S. central bank. Iran: It’s hard to know how much damage U.S. bombs inflicted at Fordo, the Iranian nuclear facility. The Times examined some clues. Gender: Trump officials subpoenaed birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses of children who received transgender care. Space: Astronomers discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus, raising the ice giant’s total of satellites to 29. Education: The U.S. government’s vetting of student visas and Trump’s travel ban mean that many international students won’t make it to U.S. campuses in the coming weeks. Trade: Driven by Trump’s tariffs and threats to their sovereignty, Mexico and Canada are talking about ways to team up. Georgia: The country is running away from the West, and back toward Russia. What happened? West Africa: Unregulated sex drugs are a growing health scourge in countries like Ivory Coast. Italy: The funeral of Pippo Baudo, a TV host who commanded the country’s small screen for half a century, drew accolades and tears. |
| SPORTS NEWS |
| Tennis: Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud made it to the final of the revamped 2025 U.S. Open mixed doubles. Follow our live coverage. Soccer: Arsenal is attempting to nab Eberechi Eze from its rival Tottenham, which nearly signed him from Crystal Palace. Formula 1: McLaren is building a dynasty, as the team’s two star drivers battle for this season’s world championship. |
| MORNING READ |
Many of us learned world geography at school with the Mercator map. But the centuries-old map, which was created by a German cartographer, distorts reality. It makes Europe and Africa appear to be the same size, even though Africa is actually three times as big.
“A lot of people are asking, What are we actually looking at here?” my colleague Saikou Jammeh in Dakar, Senegal, said. “Why are we still teaching children this 16th-century map that shows Europe as primary and minimizes global south countries?”
Saikou covered a push by African leaders to replace the Mercator map with a more accurate alternative, called the Equal Earth projection. Read more.
| CONVERSATION STARTERS |
| Leprechaun whisperer: Kevin Woods, who lives in rural Ireland, says he talks to magical creatures. Censorship: You can find TV hits like “The White Lotus” in Russia. But they won’t be the same. Ghost scent: An obscure perfume worn by Elizabeth Taylor was lost to time, until a perfumer came along to bring it back to life. Thick bands: Chunky engagement rings, a Victorian-era favorite, are back in style. |
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
Engineers like this new origami pattern
Origami artists have been folding paper for centuries, creating an unfathomable number of shapes and designs. And yet, researchers have discovered a new class of origami they call bloom patterns.
The new patterns resemble idealized flowers, and many are rotationally symmetric. And because they fold up flat and compact, bloom patterns could be useful as engineers build folding structures to send to outer space. They’re also simply pretty to look at.
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