How high is the death toll in Gaza really? It's getting harder to count. Published numbers may well be conservative. Margherita Stancati 🌸 and Abeer Ayyoub explore how data is collected and what is plausible, implausible and unknowable right now.

wsj.com/world/middle-e… via The Wall Street Journal

In Gaza, Palestinians can no longer count all their dead. Hospitals, emergency services and communications are barely functioning. Extracting bodies from the rubble is not a priority. The result: many are dying in obscurity. wsj.com/world/middle-e… Latest by Abeer Ayyoub and I.

The front page of The Wall Street Journal today is devoted entirely to marking Evan Gershkovich’s one year in Russian captivity - a year of his life lost, 12 months without friends and family, 365 days of not doing the job he so loves #IStandWithEvan

It's hard to believe it's been a year - a whole year - since our colleague Evan Gershkovich was unjustly arrested in Russia for the crime of doing is job. It's outrageous and we should all demand his immediate release. wsj.com/world/russia/e…

Free Evan.

Free Evan.

Free Evan.

A journalist who's been a Russian hostage for nearly one year.

freegershkovich.com

“Netanyahu is currently the one in the Israeli government who is delaying a hostage deal,” said Noam Tibon, a retired Israeli general. “What guides him is not a hostage deal but the survival of his government.” wsj.com/world/middle-e… via The Wall Street Journal

We take a deeper look at UNRWA's finances and at what the suspension of U.S. funding really means for an agency that is the main provider of humanitarian aid in #Gaza . with Stephen Kalin wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Palestinians held by the Israeli military and eventually released without charges told the Journal of being beaten, forced to hold stress positions and deprived of sleep while detained. by Fatima AbdulKarim Sune Engel Rasmussen Anat Peled wsj.com/world/palestin…

In Gaza’s north, parents consume only tea & water some days so their kids can eat bread made with animal feed. ⁦Stephen Kalin⁩ ⁦Abeer Ayyoub⁩ ⁦Margherita Stancati 🌸⁩ on how anarchy since Israel’s invasion now threatens famine. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Important story: the aid distribution system in Gaza is breaking down, meaning just a trickle of desperately-needed humanitarian assistance in reaching the population. Key causes: breakdown of law and order in Gaza and protests by Israelis at the border. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

'Israel has not presented specific evidence that Hamas is diverting U.N. aid and its recent targeted killings of Gaza police commanders safeguarding truck convoys have made it 'virtually impossible' to distribute the goods safely, a top U.S. envoy' said.
apnews.com/article/israel…

Why are Gazans starving? Our story on what makes Gaza's the world's most complex humanitarian crisis. wsj.com/world/middle-e… via The Wall Street Journal

Great story by ⁦Chao Deng⁩, ⁦⁦Fatima AbdulKarim⁩ The rescue of two hostages brought a glimmer of hope for Israeli families. Here’s how the daring operation unfolded. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

I received many emails from readers after we published this story. The emails broadly fell into two categories: 1. I feel so sorry for these women (virtually all from female readers) 2. I don't feel sorry for them at all (virtually all from male readers) wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Pregnant women in Gaza are giving birth in horrific conditions, while bombs fall and without access to adequate medical care or even clean water. By Margherita Stancati 🌸

wsj.com/world/middle-e… via The Wall Street Journal

Israeli settlers, backed by some ministers, are planning a return to Gaza — without Palestinians. Communities are beginning to form around possible, future Gaza settlements. “The only way to have peace is if the Arabs are not there” w/ ⁦Anat Peled⁩ wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Israeli soldiers have been ordered to clear a 1-kilometer-wide area along the border as part of an Israeli plan to construct a security zone just inside Gaza—to which Palestinians would be barred entry. wsj.com/world/middle-e… by Dov Lieber David Cloud Anat Peled