When Hamas militants broke through the Gaza fence in this month’s unprecedented attack on Israel, the kibbutz of Mefalsim – less than two miles from the border – was on the front lines. Toting AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers, one group of militants headed straight for the community’s gates, while another group moved to destroy its generator, according to security videos and local residents.

That precision, local Israeli security personnel say, was no accident: The fighters seemed to have known exactly where they were headed.

The color-coded document includes detailed information about the kibbutz’s guards and security. It says that one group of militants would break through the community’s fence, while others were ordered to “capture soldiers and civilians and to keep hostages” for negotiation.

Yarden Reskin, a member of Mefalsim’s volunteer security force who spent hours exchanging fire with militants – helping prevent any deaths inside the community – said he was shocked by the level of detail.

“They knew everything,” Reskin said. “They knew where are the gates, they knew where are the generators, they knew where is the armory, they knew basically how many of us on the security team… they had very, very good intel.”

The difference between the detailed plans and what occurred on the ground is a sign of the chaos that spread during the attack, as Hamas fighters encountered far less resistance from the Israeli military than they expected. Despite the billions of dollars Israel has spent securing its border and developing one of the world’s most renowned intelligence operations, its armed forces were caught off guard.

“There was a tremendous effort put into this,” he said. “This was a very carefully planned operation that involved the kind of intelligence processing and dissemination that I don’t think many people thought Hamas had.”

Hamas officials have claimed that its fighters were told not to kill women and children – and that such killings were the result of other unaffiliated militants who streamed across the Gaza border during the chaos of the attack. But Israeli officials and experts have argued that the planning documents show that inflicting civilian casualties was a central part of the group’s mission.

“The execution was not just some rogue actor,” Levitt said. The documents, he said, suggest that killing civilians “is exactly what they planned to do.”

Outnumbered and outgunned

Mefalsim, a community home to about 1,000 people, has long been a target of Hamas rockets because of its proximity to Gaza. So when locals received alerts about incoming rocket fire around 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning, they knew to head to their bomb shelters.

But the kibbutz residents soon realized this onslaught was different from any previous one. Reskin, who’s lived in Mefalsim his entire life, was huddling with his family in their home’s shelter when he heard a barrage of gunshots from nearby. “I kissed my wife, kissed my two little girls, and went out the door to see what I can do,” he said.

Reskin said that he was shocked to see black-clad fighters holding AK-47s just outside the kibbutz gates. He and a handful of other guards engaged in several skirmishes with the attackers for hours, often going up against larger numbers and firepower.

Later, Israeli military forces arrived and defeated additional militants approaching the community, Reskin and Levi said. While the attackers killed at least one civilian and potentially others outside the kibbutz gates, and a handful of residents were injured, no one was killed inside the community, according to Reskin and Levi.

Reskin said he later saw photos of the Hamas planning document, which lists details about the security force and estimates of how long it would take for reinforcements from the Israeli military to arrive.

The document is dated 2022 on its cover, potentially suggesting that the attack had been in the works for a year or longer – although another page lists the date June 15, 2023.

Seeing the document convinced him that the attack was “something they are planning for years,” Reskin said. “It’s not something you’re planning in weeks or months.”

Levi, who also saw a copy of the plan, said that the attack strategy appeared to have been followed by the Hamas militants. Some fighters had attacked a power generator, the location of which was marked on a map, he said, and others had tried to take control of the main gate.

“Most of the things actually happened as they were written down,” Levi said.

“The level of detail is extraordinary,” Clarke said. The extent of planning “just shows a thinking about the long-game in a way that most terrorist groups don’t have the organization for,” he said.

Clarke said that the fact that the group was able to gather this level of information shows not only that “Hamas vastly improved in its operational capabilities, but Israel was asleep at the wheel.”

‘We thought we were safe’

Similar to the Mefalsim plan, the document lists information about the kibbutz and its security, including detailed information about the number of guards protecting the community.

One group of fighters was directed to breach the kibbutz fence and destroy the guard room before “gathering hostages in the dining room and preparing to transfer a number of them to the strip.” A second group was directed to “collect hostages and hand them over to the first group.”

The document also says that the groups were supposed to “control” and “inspect” two schools, and search a “youth movement area.” And it includes in-depth satellite image maps of the Kibbutz and the surrounding area.

But like in Mefalsim, Hamas did not successfully attack Sa’ad – no one died, according to the first responders group. It’s unclear why: several other nearby communities – some of which were identified on a map in the plan – were attacked by Hamas fighters who killed civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Sarah Pollack, a resident of Sa’ad who spent Saturday holed up in her family’s bomb shelter, said the kibbutz was hit by a rocket from Gaza, and some residents who were outside the community during the attack were killed. But no militants entered the kibbutz, and no one was killed inside the gates, she said.

“We don’t know how to explain that,” she said in an interview from her hotel near Arad in Israel, where she and her family had been evacuated after the attack. “It’s a huge, huge question to us. It’s a miracle.”

Pollack said seeing the extensive details that Hamas had about Sa’ad in the planning documents was chilling. “Shockingly, the details are very accurate… horribly accurate,” she said.

Even though Sa’ad escaped with far less death and destruction than neighboring kibbutzim, Pollack said the attack had deeply shaken residents’ sense of safety in what she described as a “lovely, lush, beautiful green area with gardens and trees that we’re so proud of.”

“We thought there was a physical barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel to protect us, we thought we were safe,” she said. “We were very wrong.”

A day after a deadly blast tore through Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, sparking protests across the region, the United States has released its own assessment of what caused the devastation.

Israel has laid out evidence that it said shows a misfire by militant group Islamic Jihad caused the blast, and US President Joe Biden on Wednesday backed that explanation, citing US intelligence. A spokesperson for the National Security Council later said that analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information suggested that Israel is “not responsible.”

Palestinian officials and several Arab leaders nevertheless accuse Israel of hitting the hospital amid its ongoing airstrikes in Gaza. Islamic Jihad – a rival group to Hamas – has denied responsibility.

Hundreds are believed to have died in the attack, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, and images of the bloody aftermath have spurred protests across the region.

Here’s a look at what we know – and don’t know – so far.

What happened at the hospital?

In the building, there was panic. Dr. Fadel Na’eem, head of the orthopedic department, said he was performing surgery when a deafening blast sounded through the hospital. He said panic ensued as staff members ran into the operating room screaming for help and reporting multiple casualties.

After he left the theater, Dr. Na’eem said he found an overwhelming scene. “Many people were beheaded. Everywhere there was a big fire,” he said. “The medical team scrambled to tend to the wounded and dying, but the magnitude of the devastation was overwhelming. The number was big and huge that we can’t do anything.”

While it is difficult to independently confirm how many people died in the blast, the bloodshed could be seen in images from the aftermath shared on social media. In photos and videos, young children covered in dust are rushed to be treated for their wounds. Other bodies lay lifeless on the ground.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has said the death toll is over 400.

What the Israelis and Palestinians have said

Palestinian officials blamed Israel for the attack on Tuesday evening.

Israel says that its intelligence shows a “failed rocket launch” by the Islamist militant group Islamic Jihad group was responsible. The Islamic Jihad movement denied those assertions as “false and baseless.”

The IDF also released audio that it claimed captured a conversation between two Hamas operatives in which they spoke of a rocket launch from a cemetery near the hospital. According to an IDF translation of the conversation, one of the alleged operatives says: “They are saying that the shrapnel of the missile is local shrapnel and not like the Israeli shrapnel.”

On Tuesday, the IDF presented imagery that it says proves the destruction at the hospital could not have been the result of an airstrike, saying there were no visible signs of craters or significant damage to buildings that would result from such a strike.

A video posted by the official State of Israel’s account on social media platform X on Tuesday night was also presented as evidence that the hospital was struck in outgoing rocket fire from militants. But the timestamp on the video appeared not to match up with the time that the explosion took place, and the tweet was later edited to remove the video.

What US intelligence suggests

The US government currently assesses that Israel “was not responsible” for the blast, according to the US National Security Council (NSC).

Biden, who was making a high-stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the damage at the hospital “appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.”

“But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot – we’ve got to overcome a lot of things,” Biden added.

The NSC on Wednesday afternoon leaned further into its assessment: “Intelligence indicates that some Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip believed that the explosion was likely caused by an errant rocket or missile launch carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The militants were still investigating what had happened,” spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

Among the evidence is a blast analysis that suggests it was a ground explosion rather than an airstrike that hit the hospital, one of the sources said. There was no singular crater suggesting there was a bomb, but there was extensive fire damage and scattered debris that is consistent with an explosion starting from the ground level, according to the source.

That analysis is one data point that’s led intelligence officials to lean toward assessing that the attack on the hospital was a rocket launch gone wrong.

Still, the blast analysis is just one of the things being examined by the intelligence community, which has surged intelligence collection assets to the region.

How has the world reacted?

A number of countries have expressed horror at the loss of life at the hospital, and urged caution in attributing blame until the circumstances become clear.

The United Nations has called for a careful investigation. Until independent investigators are able to assess the incident in detail, it is unlikely that the world will know with certainty what led to the blast.

Israel has provided the US with intelligence it has gathered related to the deadly Gaza hospital explosion, according to an Israeli official and another source familiar with the matter.

Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq issued statements condemning Israel and accusing its military of bombing the hospital.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters shouting anti-Israel slogans gathered in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, and Tunisia. Protests also rocked the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

A top SpaceX executive is accusing government regulators of stifling the company’s progress on its Starship megarocket — potentially opening the door for China to beat US astronauts back to the moon.

William Gerstenmaier — SpaceX’s vice president for build and reliability who previously served as NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration — delivered the warning Wednesday to the Senate subcommittee on space and science at a hearing on commercial space regulations.

The remarks come as SpaceX is facing an environmental review by the Fish and Wildlife Service and a safety review by the Federal Aviation Administration of plans to launch its massive moon rocket again at the company’s facility in South Texas.

Starship — the rocket and spacecraft system the company is developing in part to land astronauts on the moon for NASA’s Artemis program — exploded after its first test flight in Texas earlier this year.

“It’s a shame when our hardware is ready to fly, and we’re not able to go fly because of regulations or review,” Gerstenmaier said, noting that SpaceX has been ready for a month to launch the next Starship test flight. “Licensing, including environmental (review), often takes longer than rocket development. This should never happen. And it’s only getting worse.”

He also claimed the regulatory delays have “nothing to do with public safety.”

Race to the moon

Gerstenmaier said the discussions about the regulatory environment are critical “in the face of strategic competition from state actors like China.”

“These delays may seem small in the big scheme of things but…. delays in each and every test flight adds up. And eventually we will lose our lead and we will see China land on the moon before we do,” Gerstenmaier said.

The FAA, which was not represented at the hearing, said in a statement Wednesday, “Keeping pace with industry demand is a priority and is important for several reasons, including meeting our national security and civil exploration needs.”

NASA’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years, racing against China’s own plans to develop a moon base.

SpaceX faced pushback over its first test flight. A group of environmental advocates sued the FAA over the incident, alleging the agency did not comply with environmental law by allowing the launch to move forward.

SpaceX, for its part, has frequently said explosions of its rockets are welcome in the early stages of development, claiming it helps inform design quicker than ground tests.

Gerstenmaier did acknowledge that in addition to regulatory hurdles, SpaceX continues to face technological challenges with Starship development. It still is not clear whether SpaceX can meet NASA’s goal of having Starship ready for a lunar landing by late 2025.

“The only way we can get there is by flying,” Gerstenmaier said.

He added that SpaceX has had a hard time allocating resources amid uncertainty about when the launch license will arrive.

“We had people work extra shifts … We got the vehicle ready, then we couldn’t fly,” Gerstenmaier said, adding that SpaceX will likely carry out more ground tests, such as a wet dress rehearsal, as it awaits the license, but that the regulatory uncertainty prevents them from establishing a more productive schedule.

Regulatory response

The FAA said in a September statement that SpaceX must “obtain a modified license from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental, and other regulatory requirements prior to the next Starship launch.”

That could delay the next launch of Starship into 2024.

Gerstenmaier attributed regulatory hangups in part to a lack of staffing, saying the FAA’s licensing department is in “great distress” and “needs twice the resources it has today.”

In its statement Wednesday, the FAA said it is “working diligently to attract, hire and retain additional staff.”

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Deputy NASA Administrator Pam Melroy said properly funding the federal agencies that regulate launches is essential to NASA’s goals.

“As global interest and capabilities in space exploration continue to expand at a rapid rate, America must continue to lead in human exploration with the return to the Moon under Artemis and the first human mission to Mars to search for life farther in the solar system,” Melroy said. “To be successful in achieving NASA’s goals, it’s important our regulatory partners have the resources they need to carry out their oversight duties and keep pace with commercial industry progress.”

Unity amid deep division

Alongside SpaceX at the hearing were representatives from two other commercial space companies: Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, both of which send wealthy tourists to the edge of space on suborbital rockets.

In a remarkable display of unity on a day of deep divisions elsewhere on Capitol Hill, all witnesses and the subcommittee members that spoke Wednesday were in agreement that the regulatory framework facing commercial space companies needs change and warned against rulemaking that could hamper progress.

The witnesses also called on Congress to streamline regulations and pinpoint a single federal agency to serve as a one-stop-shop for commercial space licensing.

They also advocated that Congress should not allow the FAA to implement new regulations focused on protecting the safety of commercial spaceflight passengers. (A moratorium on such regulations has been in place for two decades but is set to expire on January 1.)

The top Republican on the subcommittee, Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and ranking member Kyrsten Sinema, an independent from Arizona, both agreed the moratorium should be extended.

They each also acknowledged that existing regulations — such as those that outline the process for obtaining human spaceflight launch licenses, as well as satellite licenses — need to be improved.

Hottest day, hottest week, hottest month, and – increasingly likely – hottest year; 2023 has garnered unwanted records as the climate crisis escalates.

Animals, like humans, are greatly affected by the rising temperatures. Species that have evolved tactics to combat the heat are relying on those behaviors to try to keep cool.

From peculiar methods like “splooting,” to changing physiology altogether, here are four ways different creatures are trying to beat the heat.

Splooting

You might never have heard of it but if you’re a cat or dog owner, you’ve almost definitely seen a “sploot.”

Also known as “frogging” or “pancaking,” splooting is the flat-out, spread-eagle posture beloved by many four-legged animals and animal-lovers alike.

Yet splooting – which was added to the Collins Dictionary in 2021 – serves a purpose beyond comfort and cuteness. In scientific circles, it’s known as “heat dumping.”

The term shot to prominence in August 2022 after pictures of squirrels splayed out on their bellies in New York City sent the internet into a frenzy. Scientists offered a logical explanation.

Splooting is a popular method of thermoregulation for squirrels, especially among larger species, as they do not lose much body heat through sweating, Devitz explained.

“It’s quite possible there’s a higher incidence of this type of behavior in squirrels that are in urban areas, just because they’re more in need of ways to cool down,” she said.

“With climate change, overall temperatures are rising. We’re seeing more of these heat spikes, more drought. I think it’s quite possible that this behavior will be more and more prominent and more and more necessary for the squirrel.”

Shapeshifting

Some warm-blooded animals are developing different body shapes to adapt to a hotter climate, scientific research has found.

A 2021 report noted that some animals are developing larger beaks, legs and ears to better regulate their body temperatures. One Australian parrot species showed an increase in beak size of up to 10% since 1871 – the biggest shift in appendage size seen in the review, with smaller increases recorded in shrews’ tails and bats’ wings.

“We also don’t know whether these shape-shifts actually aid in survival (and therefore are beneficial) or not. This phenomenon of shape-shifting shouldn’t be seen as a positive, but rather it is alarming that climate change is pushing animals to evolve like this, under such a relatively short timeframe.”

The study also noted that while climate warming was a “compelling argument” as the driving force behind these changes, it was difficult to be certain given the multifaceted effects climate change has on the environment.

Spitting and snotting

Two Australian animals put their bodily fluids to good use in the battle to beat the scorching temperatures of the outback.

Red kangaroos, the largest species of marsupial, lick their forearms, covering a packed network of blood vessels and capillaries in spit. As the glistening coat of saliva evaporates, it lowers their body temperature.

Meanwhile, echidnas, small quill-covered mammals also known as spiny anteaters – have been found to blow snot bubbles to help combat overheating, according to a 2023 study.

Unable to sweat or pant, it was once thought that their primary defense from high temperatures was simply hiding from the sun.

However the report, which used thermal vision to monitor wild short-beaked echidnas, showed that they blow mucus bubbles that wet the tip of their snouts. When the moisture evaporates, it cools a large pool of blood located in a sinus at the beak’s tip.

Lead author Dr. Christine Cooper said in a press release that understanding how echidnas keep cool could help predict how they might respond to climate change.

Pooping

Storks are one of a handful of birds known to excrete liquid onto their legs when they overheat. The liquid – which contains both feces and urine – evaporates, lowering body temperature in a process akin to sweating in humans.

The method – known as “urohidrosis” – is more common in longer-legged birds such as storks, condors, and boobies, and requires regular access to drinking water, according to a 2021 report.

Other birds, including pelicans and cormorants, use a technique known as “gular fluttering” – opening their mouths and rapidly vibrating their moist throat membranes to cause evaporation.

The report noted that understanding how animals regulate heat could help to “improve our capacity to make accurate predictions of climate change’s impact on biodiversity,” and determine how vulnerable some species are to heat stress.

With most of the world’s population residing in cities, it’s often challenging to understand how our actions affect remote and wild regions. For Call to Earth Day 2023, we will focus on the vital link between urban areas and wilderness, and shed light on the impact cities have on distant natural spaces.

This year’s Call to Earth Day will take place on Wednesday, November 28, with the theme “Our Shared Home.” From the inner city to the suburbs, the plains, the mountains, the jungle, and beyond, we must protect and nurture our connected ecosystems.

Here, we explore how our cities can be part of the great tapestry of habitats on Earth.

Keeping cities clean

Pollution remains a significant challenge in city centers. Urban areas produce roughly 78% of carbon emissions worldwide and an estimated 60% of plastic waste found in the ocean begins its journey in a city, but innovative solutions to combat pollution can be found across the planet.

One example comes from Varanasi, a city on the Ganges, India’s holiest river. Here, discarded temple flowers clog up the waterways, so a local initiative started collecting the floral waste and transforming it into sustainable products.

By repurposing these blooms, the project reduces river pollution and waste while providing employment opportunities for local people who process the waste flowers to create carbon-free incense and eco-friendly artificial leather.

This effort highlights how cultural practice and environmental consciousness can go hand in hand.

Creating spaces for wildlife

As urbanization continues to accelerate, so does the loss of biodiversity – a predicted 11 to 33 million hectares of natural habitat will be lost by 2100 as a result of urban development. But around the world people are working to carve out safe havens for animals among the high-rises and intersections.

The concrete jungle of Hong Kong is home to yellow-crested cockatoos, which, despite not being native to the area, are thriving thanks to safe nesting spaces created in an effort to conserve the critically endangered species. The feral flock is thought to represent around 10% of the remaining population, showing how cities can be safe spaces for wildlife.

Across the globe, cities are making strides to provide urban habitats for wildlife, such as the introduction of floating ecosystems to city waterways, offering refuge to urban aquatic species.

As cities grow, it becomes crucial to incorporate green spaces to maintain ecological balance and protect biodiversity.

Letting animals move

Through the sprawl of cities, animals increasingly encounter challenges in navigating their once-open territories. Land-crossing migratory routes and even birds’ flight paths are under threat.

A 2021 report on the disruption of wild animal migratory patterns found that a third of the animals studied had changed their normal migration route due to disturbance caused by human activities, such as hunting, agriculture, and logging.

Wildlife bridges, tunnels, and corridors – such as those constructed in Canada’s Banff National Park – enable animals to migrate safely.

These initiatives foster coexistence between humans and wildlife, ensuring animals can roam freely without risking their lives on busy roads.

Nature-friendly buildings

As populations continue to rise, cities will continue to grow and eat into natural landscapes, but we can help combat the damage by making the buildings greener.

Nature-friendly buildings aim to harmonize with the environment rather than imposing on it. Such structures incorporate green roofs, vertical gardens, and energy-efficient designs, reducing their carbon footprint.

From carbon-neutral office buildings to penthouses cloaked in leafy plants, cities around the planet are already adopting climate-friendly constructions. Some cities are even offering incentives to developers who integrate nature-friendly features, encouraging a more sustainable urban landscape.

By blending the urban and natural worlds, these buildings can become a crucial part of the solution to create greener cities for future generations.

Coexisting

Keeping cities clean through imaginative pollution solutions, creating spaces for wildlife, facilitating animal movement, and constructing nature-friendly buildings can mean a healthier and more sustainable coexistence between humans and the natural world.

These positive changes not only benefit local ecosystems and biodiversity but also enhance the health and quality of life for city dwellers.

For Call to Earth Day 2023, we will celebrate the initiatives that pave the way for greener, wildlife-friendly, and more resilient cities in the face of global environmental challenges. Join us for Call to Earth Day, “Our Shared Home,” on November 28th 2023.

A two-day global gathering billed as China’s “most important diplomatic event” of the year wrapped up in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, with Beijing touting its outsized role in world development – and its alternative vision to that of the United States.

Two dozen leaders and more than a hundred delegations, largely from the Global South, came together for a packed schedule of forums and bilateral meetings revolving around Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – the global infrastructure drive that has cemented China’s place as a major international player since its launch a decade ago.

The gathering – in which Vladimir Putin was the guest of honor – also provided a window into Xi’s vision for a world absent of the norms and values promoted by liberal democracies, which have shunned the Russian leader following his brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Also hanging over the event was the war in the Middle East, where Israel’s fight with Hamas militants threatens to embroil the region in a broader conflict in which China, Russia and the US would all have a stake.

Here are the main takeaways from China’s Belt and Road Forum.

No doubt over Putin’s prominence

The gathering left no question over who was the most important world leader in attendance in the eyes of China’s Xi.

At a lavish welcome banquet in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, golden doors opened to reveal Xi and Putin striding into the room side-by-side, with other leaders and their spouses trailing behind.

Putin was the first among a handful of visiting leaders to deliver remarks at the forum’s opening ceremony on Wednesday. There, and in three hours of bilateral meetings with Xi later that day, the Russian leader stressed his close alignment with China.

The two countries shared “common threats,” which strengthened “Russian-Chinese interaction,” Putin told reporters before departing Beijing, after saying he and Xi had discussed the “situation” in both the Middle East and Ukraine “in detail.”

China and Russia have both publicly called for a ceasefire in the spiraling crisis in Gaza and neither has explicitly condemned Hamas for its attack on Israel that sparked the conflict – cutting a stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Israel from leaders across Europe and the US.

The Russian and Chinese leaders’ meeting in Beijing coincided with US President Joe Biden’s arrival in Israel, in a staunch show of support for the country and of American diplomatic muscle to expedite humanitarian aid.

In his meeting with Putin, Xi hailed the China-Russia partnership as “a long-term commitment,” stressing “ever-lasting good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation,” and alluding to their shared 4,300-kilometer border and mutual aims. Both see the other as a critical partner in pushing back on what they perceive to be a US-led world order stacked against them.

Clear divisions among the world’s major powers

Xi’s show of solidarity with Putin at the Belt and Road Forum also underscored the deepening division between the world’s major powers.

The event was attended by 24 leaders – far fewer than the 37 who traveled to the previous BRI forum four years ago.

Among key missing dignitaries were those from European countries. In 2019, then-Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte attended, as did leaders from Greece, Austria, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

Since then, skepticism about China’s global ambitions has risen in Europe, in particular over Beijing’s economic and diplomatic support for Moscow. Italy, the only G7 member to join the BRI, is considering exiting the project when its membership expires next year.

Leaders who did attend included Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, and others from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Taliban – which is not widely recognized as Afghanistan’s government – also sent a delegation.

In their speeches, many leaders told the forum of their hopes to spur much-needed, sustainable development in their countries, while some also called for a more multilateral, cooperative world.

While he did not mention the US by name, Xi made apparent jabs against what Beijing sees as America’s efforts to keep itself on top and stifle China’s rise.

“Viewing others’ development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one’s own life better or speed up one’s development,” he warned in his opening address.

War in the Middle East casts a shadow on global relations

The war in the Middle East hung over the gathering, which began as news poured in of a devastating blast at a Gaza hospital that likely killed hundreds of displaced Palestinians sheltering from Israeli airstrikes.

But mention of the situation was largely absent from the forum. None of the national leaders who spoke at the opening ceremony raised the conflict.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, however, said he couldn’t not mention the situation during his opening ceremony address, in which he demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Palestinian grievances after five decades of occupation, as serious as they may be, “cannot justify the acts of terror against civilians committed by Hamas on October 7 (which) I immediately condemned,” Guterres said. “But those events cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

On Thursday, Xi made his first public statement on the conflict since Hamas launched its October 7 attack.

In a meeting with Egypt’s representative to the forum, the Chinese leader called for a ceasefire and an end to the war “as soon as possible,” while backing a two-state solution that would establish an independent Palestinian state.

Xi also said China is willing to strengthen coordination with Egypt and other Arab countries to “promote an early, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestine issue,” according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. China has yet to name Hamas in its statements.

Beijing on Sunday said it would dispatch its special envoy for the Middle East Zhai Jun to the region in the coming days.

China emphasizes ‘high-quality’ global development

The forum also pointed to the next chapter of the Belt and Road Initiative, which enters its second decade as China’s economic growth slows and borrowing costs have risen worldwide.

The program, which Beijing says has mobilized as much $1 trillion in finance, has played a substantial role in helping developing nations to build roads, bridges, ports and railways – but has faced accusations of saddling countries with too much debt and having negative environmental impacts.

Chinese officials hailed what they framed as efforts to move the initiative into a new phase of “high-quality” development, and focused in separate forums on the digital economy and how to promote sustainable “green development.”

There have also been questions about whether China would continue to liberally fund major infrastructure projects, as data also shows a significant decline in such funding in recent years.

But when asked at a closing news conference about infrastructure-funding programs proposed by other nations like the US in recent years, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi appeared to suggest Beijing would continue to stake its claim in this space.

“Obviously, competition should not mean working against each other but mutually improving each other,” he said, while touting the quantity of China’s global development projects.

“Why don’t we take a look at the international track record, in terms of who can build more roads, railways and bridges for developing countries, and who can build more schools, hospitals and stadiums for the people of developing countries,” he said.

“We have the confidence and the capability.”

A two-state solution to establish an independent Palestine is the “fundamental way out” of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Xi Jinping said Thursday in the Chinese leader’s first public comments on the war since it broke out nearly two weeks ago.

“The top priority now is a ceasefire as soon as possible, to avoid the conflict from expanding or even spiraling out of control and causing a serious humanitarian crisis,” Xi was quoted as saying by China’s state-broadcaster CCTV.

Xi, who made the comments in a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Beijing, said China is willing to work with Egypt and Arab nations to “promote an comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue,” according to CCTV.

The Egyptian leader was in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum, a high-profile event marking a decade of Xi’s ambitious and controversial global infrastructure initiative.

Xi also praised Egypt for playing an “important role” in cooling tensions, adding that China supports its efforts to let in humanitarian aid to Gaza, CCTV reported.

On Wednesday, Egypt agreed to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, in a deal brokered by US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a phone call.

Biden struck the deal during his 7-hour visit to Israel Wednesday – a high-stakes diplomatic mission to show staunch support for the American ally while urging restraint in its response in Gaza.

But it is not yet clear when the aid convoy will be allowed to enter Gaza and the initial deal for 20 trucks is a fraction of the 100 trucks a day the World Health Organization says is needed.

The conflict, which began after Hamas launched a brutal and coordinated terror attack on Israel on October 7 that killed some 1,400 people, has served as a stark showing of the deepening divisions between world powers.

Israel’s subsequent bombardment and siege of Gaza has killed some 3,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, according to local health authorities.

Hours before Biden landed in Israel, Russia’s Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum. The diplomatically isolated leader was received as a guest of honor, seated next to Xi and speaking directly after him at the opening ceremony ahead of three hours of bilateral talks.

During their meeting, the two leaders discussed the conflict in the Middle East, which Putin said was a “common threat” that brought Russia and China closer together.

China and Russia have both called for a ceasefire in the spiraling conflict and have declined to explicitly condemn Hamas – cutting a stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Israel from the US and leaders across Europe.

Beijing’s refusal to condemn Hamas has prompted anger and a deep sense of disappointment from Israel – as well as criticism from US officials. China has also stayed clear of condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, causing anger in many European capitals.

As Israel’s war escalates, Beijing has come out more strongly in support for the Palestinians. Last weekend, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused Israel’s actions of going “beyond the scope of self-defence.”

Nevertheless, China has sought to present itself as a neutral mediator in the conflict.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said it is sending Middle East Envoy Zhai Jun to the region this week to promote peace talks and push for a ceasefire.

China has deep economic interests in both Russia and the Middle East, which it wants to safeguard at all cost, in particular the importation of oil and gas.

Egypt has agreed to allow aid trucks into Gaza, as anger rises globally over Israel’s siege of the isolated enclave in response to the brutal, coordinated Hamas attacks nearly two weeks ago.

The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israel has sparked growing protests across the Middle East and heightened fears that the war could spiral into a wider regional conflict.

Speaking on his way back from a visit to Israel, United States President Joe Biden said his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had agreed to open the Rafah Crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid – the only one not controlled by Israel.

Up to 20 trucks from an aid convoy waiting for days at the closed border gate would be allowed into Gaza, said Biden. The roads near the crossing, pocked with craters from Israeli airstrikes, will have to be fixed before the trucks can pass, Biden said. He added that work could be done over eight hours on Thursday before the first aid deliveries on Friday.

It’s also not clear how much of an impact the initial delivery will make for Gazan civilians caught up in a humanitarian catastrophe that the World Health Organization says is spiraling out of control and impacting hundreds of thousands of people.

“We hope it’s not a non-starter,” regional WHO representative Richard Brennan said Thursday of the aid deal, adding that there were “a lot of complexities to getting this aid operation going.”

“This is not a sprint. This is just the start. This is a marathon. An absolute marathon,” he said, adding that the goal was to get up to 100 trucks of aid distributed per day.

“We’re hearing figures now that suddenly people only have three liters of clean water per person per day, said Brennan, adding that at “absolute minimum” people need 15 liters for drinking, cooking and basic hygiene.

Located in Egypt’s north Sinai, the Rafah Crossing is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It falls along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai desert, and has been tightly controlled on each side of the border for years.

The decision to open the crossing followed several days of deliberations, despite pressure from the US that Egypt do so. Egypt initially said it won’t allow refugees to flood its territory, has instead insisted that Israel allow it to deliver aid to Gazans, and expressed concerns that Israeli air strikes could hit aid convoys.

The talks between the two leaders focused “on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and ways to facilitate the implementation of humanitarian aid,” according to a statement from the Egyptian president’s office.

“The call between President el-Sisi and the American President witnessed the agreement to enter humanitarian aid to the Strip through Rafah crossing in a sustainable manner,” the statement said.

Biden said the crossing would only be open for aid, not for evacuations – leaving an uncertain fate for the 2.2 million Palestinians with no way out of Gaza, including foreign nationals and dual citizens.

Israel has meanwhile said it will not block humanitarian aid going into Gaza from Egypt, according to a statement Wednesday from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But it will not allow supplies into Gaza from its own territory until Hamas releases all hostages.

On Thursday morning, at least 30 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on several areas in Rafah, according to the official Palestinian press agency WAFA, an indication of the difficulties of rushing aid through the area.

Calls for aid have grown increasingly desperate over the past week as Palestinians in Gaza fled south, heeding Israel’s warnings to evacuate from the north – though many soon found that nowhere was safe in the densely packed strip of land.

As near constant airstrikes pound the area, overwhelmed hospitals are running out of medicine and fuel to keep the lights on as stretched medics struggle to save lives.

UN agencies have warned that stores are less than a week away from running out of food and that Gaza’s last seawater desalination plant has shut down, bringing the risk of further deaths, dehydration and waterborne diseases.

Dire conditions worsening

Israel has maintained an air, land and sea blockade on Gaza for nearly 17 years, meaning the strip has been almost totally isolated from the rest of the world. Conditions were already dire before the war – and are rapidly worsening after Israel cut off supplies to Gaza following the attack by Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the strip.

That murder and kidnapping rampage killed an estimated 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, in what has been described as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas has also seized more than 200 hostages.

In the days since nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with hundreds of women and children among the dead.

Public fury had already been building, particularly in Arab nations. But it then erupted after a deadly blast tore through Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, which Gaza authorities said killed hundreds of civilians. Palestinian officials have accused Israel of hitting the hospital, a claim Israel denies.

The blast, which took place hours before Biden was set to leave the White House for his trip to the Middle East, set off a furious scramble inside his administration – and caused the postponement of a highly anticipated summit with Arab leaders in Jordan.

He wouldn’t go into details about attempts to get Americans and other civilians out of Gaza, but said he was “hopeful” about efforts to do so.

With anti-Israel protests rising across the Middle East there are fears other fronts could open up, particularly on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon where the Iran-backed militia dominates and has increasingly clashed with Israel’s military over the last week.

“What some Hezbollah is doing now is dragging Lebanon into a conflict that it has no business to be in, and it surely won’t benefit from,” Conricus said.

Meanwhile Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Thursday that Beijing was ready to work with Egypt to “inject more certainty and stability into the region,” according to state media.

“Currently the international and regional situation is evolving in a profound and complex manner,” Xi told Madbouly, according to state-run CCTV.

They’re your childhood climbing frame, a canopy to shelter from the rain, a shady place to have a picnic; they offer sanctuary, fruit, a home for wildlife, protection against flooding and pollution, and an insight into the hidden history of the land – we are, of course, talking about trees.

In this year’s edition of the annual contest organized by the Woodland Trust, a non-profit headquartered in Lincolnshire, England, 13 of the UK’s very best trees will compete to be crowned “Tree of the Year.”

From trees that have narrowly avoided destruction through arson, wartime bombing, and city-council-mandated felling, to trees that have shaded royalty, the Woodland Trust’s panel of tree experts has shortlisted 12 of the UK’s top trees in urban locations, and a thirteenth tree has been nominated by the public.

“Ancient trees in towns and cities are vital for the health of nature, people and planet,” Naomi Tilley, lead campaigner at the Woodland Trust, said in a press release. “They give thousands of urban wildlife species essential life support, boost the UK’s biodiversity and bring countless health and wellbeing benefits to communities.”

According to a 2020 study, ancient trees are in global decline. Despite their demonstrated resilience across centuries, ancient trees might struggle to adapt to the rapid environmental and climatic shifts anticipated in the years ahead.

“Most ancient trees aren’t protected by law,” continued Tilley. “And those in urban areas are particularly vulnerable, like one of this year’s nominees – which narrowly escaped being cut down by Sheffield City Council in 2017.”

Voting for the Woodland Trust’s 2023 Tree of the Year is open to the public until Sunday, October 15 and the winner will be announced on Thursday, October 19.