Israel-Hamas War

       liveUpdates Maps Photos Expansion of Tent Camps Inside a Devastated Gaza Where Was Israel's Military?

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       Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition

       Wednesday Briefing: Updates from Gaza

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       By Justin Porter

       Jan. 23, 2024

       You’re reading the Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition newsletter. Get what you need to know to start your day. Get it sent to your inbox.

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       Soldiers carried the coffin of reservist Elkana Vizel in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Credit...Ohad Zwigenberg/Associated Press

       Israeli soldiers were killed in efforts to create a buffer zone Israel was trying to demolish part of a Palestinian neighborhood as it pursued a plan to create a buffer zone between Gaza and Israel when around 20 Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday in an explosion, according to Israeli officials.

       Here’s the latest.

       The explosion occurred after Gazan militants fired toward a tank guarding an Israeli unit. The unit had been setting explosives inside Palestinian buildings on the border in central Gaza with the intention of demolishing them, according to a news briefing from Israel’s military. In the firefight, the explosives went off, killing many of the soldiers inside.

       Israel wants to demolish Palestinian buildings close to the border to create what it describes as a “security zone,” according to three officials, who spoke anonymously. The idea of a buffer zone in Gaza has been rejected by both the U.S. National Security Council and the U.S. State Department because it would effectively reduce the size of the enclave. Israeli ministers had hinted of plans to create a buffer zone since the first weeks of the war.

       Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said a systematic demolition of Palestinian border homes could constitute a war crime because they pose no immediate threat to Israel.

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       Justin Porter is an editor on the Briefings newsletter team at The Times. More about Justin Porter

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