Morning reads: Israel and Hamas trade blame for cease-fire's end as combat resumes

Today is Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Let's get caught up.

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Combat resumes in Gaza

Israeli fighter jets hit targets in the Gaza Strip minutes after a weeklong truce expired on Friday, as the war with Hamas resumed in full force. Black smoke billowed from the besieged territory, and Israel dropped leaflets over parts of southern Gaza urging people to leave their homes, suggesting it was preparing to widen its offensive.

In Israel, sirens warning of incoming rockets blared at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that militants also restarted attacks, but there were no reports of hits. The renewed hostilities heightened concerns for Palestinians in the tiny coastal enclave as well as about 140 hostages who remain there, after more than 100 were freed during the truce.

Qatar, which has served as a mediator along with Egypt, said negotiators were still trying to reach an agreement on restarting the cease-fire. Qatar's Foreign Ministry singled out Israel's role in the resumption of fighting and said it “complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe."

More about the Israel-Hamas war:

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Rep. George Santos is facing a vote on his expulsion from Congress

Rep. George Santos of New York is facing a critical vote to expel him from the House on Friday as lawmakers weigh whether his actions, fabrications and alleged lawbreaking warrant the chamber's most severe punishment.

The first-term Republican congressman is at grave risk of becoming just the sixth member of the House to be ousted by colleagues. Expulsion requires support from two-third of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report released on Nov. 16 that accused Santos of breaking federal law may prove decisive.

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Top world leaders talk of climate crisis at UN summit

International climate talks turned to a power game on Friday as dozens of world leaders took turns bemoaning the pain of an overheating planet, but two of the world's most powerful men — President Joe Biden of the U.S. and China's President Xi Jinping — were glaringly absent.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a top oil producer, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, whose biggest cities are regularly choked under poor air, as well as Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey were among more than 170 world leaders set to address the United Nations climate conference in Dubai over the next two days. The idea is to try to keep the planet from heating too much because of humankind's actions.

More on the summit:

Nation & World

A timeline of climate change negotiations as COP28 starts in Dubai

VideoElephant

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MORNING LISTEN

A recent article in The Atlantic by Hannah Seo says that our relationships to the Earth and our relationships with each other are deeply intertwined. Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why this might be true and what we can do to help strengthen our ties to the Earth and to each other.