The Atlas Newsletter - Volume 36

Monday, October 16th, 2023

Good morning everyone,

Let’s jump right in today.

In Europe, the Vatican offers to mediate peace between Israel and Gaza, Azerbaijan celebrates their victory in Artsakh, and France deploys thousands of soldiers for peacekeeping.

Over in the Middle East, Turkey meets with world and regional powers about Gaza, economists discuss the war between Israel and Gaza, and Iran threats a wider conflict.

Meanwhile, in Africa, South African peacekeepers are caught running a prostitution ring, Niger enters a political spat with the UN, and Kenya’s deployment to Haiti faces turbulence.

In the Americas, several countries are set to hold a regional summit, Israeli/Palestinian violence reaches the United States, and Donald Trump attacks Netanyahu.

In Asia and Oceania, South Korea evacuates Asians from Israel, Singapore discusses future ties with the US, and Australia fines Twitter.

All in all, it’s just another day at the office. Let's dive in:

- Joshua Paulo, Sebastien Gray, Trent Barr, & the Atlas team

War in Israel Continues

Sunday, October 15th, 2023: (2 Minute Read) War between Israel and Gaza has continued past a week now as Israel prepares to launch a massive combined arms offensive into Gaza, which carries with it the risk of expanding the conflict into a regional war. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes on Gaza and leveled city blocks. Several thousand people have now been killed across the two sides in the last week, as Israel’s death toll has surpassed that of the 2nd Intifada, which lasted 4 and a half years, and Palestine’s is fast approaching.

Rocket attacks from Hamas into Israel have continued, although their ground forces have virtually been pushed out of southern Israel and back into Gaza. Now, they prepare for a ground war with Israel.

Minor clashes have continued between Hezbollah and Israel in the north as tensions rise and speculation grows on whether Hezbollah truly intends to join the war. Within the clashes, several Lebanese soldiers have also been killed or injured as collateral amongst the Israeli strikes. Within Lebanon as well, an Al Jazeera and a Reuters crew were hit in Israeli strikes on separate occasions, which resulted in a number of fatalities and injuries.

Israel has cut off Gaza from food, water, and electricity supplies as most of their medical institutions have been running on empty, if they haven’t shut down already.

Israel’s preparation for a ground offensive comes after they gave Palestinian civilians in the northern half of the country a 24 hours notice to evacuate to the south, because they stated they will be launching extensive combat operations upon Gaza City. Though they gave notice, the lack of time and sheer size of evacuations that would have had to take place, paired with the fact that Israel was maintaining strikes throughout the strip, resulted in most people not being able to evacuate.

Iran has sent a letter to the UN, warning that if things continue in a dangerous manner or escalate heavily, they may consider intervention. Whether this would be direct intervention or through their numerous proxies remains unclear.

As of October 15th, Israel has yet to launch their offensive into Gaza, though thousands of troops are within staging areas, and their navy and airforce are on standby.

Europe

October 13th, 2023 - The Vatican has extended an offer to mediate in the efforts to secure the release of hostages in Gaza and promote peace between Israel and Palestinian militants. However, the Vatican emphasized that Israel's response to the recent "inhuman" attack by Hamas must align with the principle of "proportionality." Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, conveyed this sentiment in an interview with Vatican media. He reaffirmed the Holy See's unwavering belief that a two-state solution is the sole path toward ensuring enduring peace in the region.

October 14th, 2023 - According to Azeri state media, President Ilham Aliyev visited the Karabakh region, which was previously known as Nagorno-Karabakh and is known to Armenians as Artsakh. During his visit to the capital city, which is known as Khankendi by Azerbaijan and Stepanakert by Armenians_, he appeared in military fatigues and raised the flag of Azerbaijan, formally symbolizing Azeri control over the region as 120,000 Armenians fled their homes in the region. Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory but became a quasi-independent state of ethnic Armenians in 1994.

October 14th, 2023 - 7,000 French soldiers were deployed across France on Saturday following a string of terrorist scares and a knife attack at a French school in Arras, in Northern France, which left a teacher dead and two more wounded last week. Another incident occurred on Saturday when the Louvre museum, the Palace of Versailles, and Paris' Gare de Lyon train station were forced to evacuate following bomb threats. These threats, however, were discovered to be false alarms, according to the French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin. France established its highest security alert following the attack on Friday. The office of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, stated that the soldiers would be deployed to city centers as well as major tourist sites in order to protect the populace from further attacks. Darmainn, the French Interior Minister, said that 3,500 police officers would be deployed on Saturday and Sunday to provide security for the upcoming Rugby World Cup as well as to protect Jewish sites following a string of antisemitic acts across the country since the conflict in Israel began. 189 anti-Semitic incidents have been reported since last Saturday, according to Darmanin, who also announced the dissolution of several pro-Hamas organizations.

Middle East

October 15th, 2023 - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan engaged in a telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in which the two ministers discussed the evolving situation in Israel and Palestine, specifically addressing Israel's offensive actions directed at Gaza. Minister Fidan also flew to meet with Egypt and met with the German Foreign Minister, who was there at the same time. Together, Fidan and Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed strong condemnation of Israel's blockade of Gaza and voiced their commitment to assisting the beleaguered residents of Gaza, emphasizing the vital role played by the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as the sole link for humanitarian aid between Gaza and the outside world.

October 14th, 2023 - Economists are anticipating broader global repercussions stemming from the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants. They speculate the war could potentially leading to an escalation in oil prices and a shift of capital towards safe havens. Over the past week, apprehensions regarding the conflict have reverberated through asset markets, contributing to a decline in stock values on Friday, with the S&P 500 experiencing a 0.5% drop. During this period, investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets, with gold surging more than 3% on Friday, while the U.S. dollar reached a one-week high. Additionally, oil prices surged by nearly 6% on the same day, as market participants evaluated the potential implications of the conflict on oil supplies from neighboring countries within the world's foremost oil-producing region.

October 13th, 2023 - In a statement to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned of regional involvement in the conflict between Israel and Gaza, saying, “If the measures aimed at immediately stopping the Israeli attacks that are killing children in the Gaza Strip end in a deadlock, it is highly probable that many other fronts will be opened. This option is not ruled out and this is becoming increasingly more probable… If the Zionist entity decides to enter Gaza, the resistance leaders will turn it into a graveyard of the occupation soldiers.”

Africa

October 11th-15th, 2023 - Eight South African peacekeepers in the DRC have been arrested and have since been recalled after it was discovered they were running a prostitution ring out front of a MONUSCU (the UN mission in the DRC) base. On top of running a system of brothels, they have also been accused of “makeshift bars that appeared in front of the Monusco base at Mavivi”. When the arrest of the officer was taking place, UN police officers said several of the South African peacekeepers involved attacked them and attempted to escape, which resulted in a chase. South Africa has sent investigators to the DRC to look into the incident.

October 11th, 2023 - Niger has expelled the top UN official within the nation after accusing the UN of excluding it from the annual UN gathering of world leaders, which was hosted in NYC. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterred expressed “deep regrets” towards the decision. “The decision... hampers the ability of the Organization to effectively carry out its mandates and disrupts the essential work we do for the people of Niger, where 4.3 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, mostly women and children,” said his spokesman in a statement on the matter.

October 13th, 2023 - Kenya’s cabinet has officially approved the nation's deployment of 1,000 police as the head of a UN multi-national deployment; however, the deployment still has several hurdles to jump over. Namely, Kenya’s High Court on the 9th barred the deployment for two weeks, as well as awaiting a sign-off by Kenya’s parliament. A challenge to the High Court’s decision is to be heard on October 24th.

The Americas

October 13th, 2023 - Latin American leaders are set to convene at a summit with the aim of discussing immigration between their countries on October 22nd. Those invited to the summit include the presidents of Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, and Colombia. A key point of discussion at the summit is the possibility of the construction of migrant centers with the aim of returning migrants to their country of origin.

October 15th, 2023 - A 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime and is standing accused of stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy to death and wounding his mother. The boy was stabbed 26 times while his mother suffered from multiple stab wounds; however, she is expected to survive. Police have confirmed the victims were targeted due to their religious beliefs and that the attack would be investigated as a hate crime.

October 12th, 2023 -Former President of the United States, Donald Trump, blasted the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, claiming that both Netanyahu and Israel were unprepared due to the Prime Minister's negligence. “He was not prepared. He was not prepared, and Israel was not prepared. And under Trump, they wouldn’t have had to be prepared,” he told Fox News. Floridian Governor and Presidential Candidate, Ron DeSantis, fired back at the former president defending Israel. "It is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel,” the governor posted on X, the social media site previously known as Twitter.

Asia and Oceania

October 14th, 2023 - A Korean Air Force aircraft, carrying a total of 220 passengers, including 163 South Koreans, 51 Japanese nationals, and six Singaporeans, touched down at Seoul Air Base today following their evacuation from Israel. According to a government official, the aircraft's crew accommodated the Japanese and Singaporean passengers once all the Korean citizens had boarded, as there were available seats. A smaller number than anticipated agreed to evacuate, resulting in ample space on the 230-seat military transport plane. Approximately 10 Korean tourists and around 440 individuals with longer-term commitments in Israel remain in the country, some complaining of a lack of proper notice that they were able to evacuate.

October 15th, 2023 - Concluding his 10-day sojourn in the United States, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Lawrence Wong, highlighted the enduring significance of defense and security as foundational elements in the bilateral relationship between the two nations. Wong articulated Singapore's aspirations to extend their collaboration beyond these conventional realms. Singapore is poised to broaden its bilateral partnership with the United States into fresh domains, including emerging technologies, space exploration, and sustainable energy. Wong went on to highlight the cooperative endeavors of the US and Singapore in providing technical support to nations within the Pacific Islands region, underscoring their shared commitment to regional assistance and development.

October 15th, 2023 - In a setback for Elon Musk's social media platform, an Australian regulatory body has imposed a fine of $610,500. The penalty was levied due to the platform's non-compliance with an investigation regarding its practices related to combating child abuse, posing a challenge to the company as it grapples with advertiser retention issues and allegations of leniency in content moderation. The e-Safety Commission, responsible for overseeing online safety, reported that the platform, formerly known as Twitter, did not cooperate adequately during the inquiry. The company failed to address inquiries, which included queries about the response time to reports of child abuse material on the platform and the mechanisms employed for its detection.

• The Red Cross issues guidelines for civilians on cyberwarfare - Anthony J. Daw

• Netanyahu announces targets in Gaza, cuts off supplies to Palestine - Bianca Bridger

• Several people arrested in Mexico for manufacturing bomb drones - Narcosis

• Fighting continues in Southern Israel - OurWarsToday

• Hamburg experiences bomb threat on Iranian airline - Tessaron

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