Two Russian strikes have killed at least seven people in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, officials said, as Kyiv continues to urge allies for more air defenses.

At least one person died and three were injured in a strike on Kharkiv on Saturday afternoon, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

Among the injured were a 66-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl, he said. An educational facility and residential infrastructure in the city were damaged.

Six people were killed and 11 were injured when Russian forces launched a series of S-300 missile strikes overnight on Kharkiv city, Syniehubov said in an earlier post.

Kharkiv is close to the Russian border and has seen a spate of deadly attacks in recent months. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak identified Kharkiv as the likely target for a Russian spring offensive in an interview with Politico this month.

Zelensky sent his “deepest condolences” to the families and loved ones of those killed in Kharkiv.

“We must put an end to this terror. It’s crucial to strengthen the air defense for the Kharkiv region. And our partners can help us with this,” Zelensky stressed.

Elsewhere, at least one person was killed Saturday afternoon when a ballistic missile hit the southern port city of Odesa, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces said in a Telegram post.

Russian forces also launched missile attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, targeting industrial enterprises, said Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration.

There were no casualties from Saturday’s attack in Zaporizhzhia but an attack on Friday night left four people dead and 31 injured, he said.

“For the last two days, the enemy has been terrorizing residents of Zaporizhzhia with missile attacks,” Fedorov said. Five missile strikes were launched on the city on Saturday and five on Friday, he said.

NATO allies have agreed to search their arsenals for air defense systems that can be sent to Ukraine following Kyiv’s pleas, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced this week.

“We see what is happening in Ukraine realizing that you need this air defense now,” she said.

Mexico is breaking diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police raided its embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.

Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy in Ecuador’s capital Quito on Friday night to arrest the former vice president, who is seeking asylum there, an escalation of tensions that Mexico decried as “an outrage against international law.”

Video from the scene showed police officers massing around the embassy, some armed. Embassies are generally considered as protect spaces under diplomatic norms.

A rift between the two Latin American countries had been growing since Mexico’s decision to grant political asylum to Glas, vice president under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017.

Convicted twice on corruption charges, Glas says he is the subject of political persecution and had been sheltering inside the embassy.

But on Friday, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on his official X account, said he had been informed that “police from Ecuador forcibly entered” the Mexican embassy and took Glas – who “was a refugee and processing asylum because of the persecution and harassment he faces.”

A statement released by Ecuador’s government on X also confirmed the arrest.

Glas was “sentenced to imprisonment by the Ecuadorian justice system,” the statement from Ecuador’s government read, and was “arrested tonight and placed under the orders of the competent authorities.” He had been granted diplomatic asylum “contrary to the conventional legal framework,” the government said.

“It is barbarism,” Canseco added. “It is impossible for them to violate the diplomatic premises as they have done.”

Mexico plans to lodge a complaint with the International Court of Justice to denounce the Ecuadorian police’s actions, the spokesperson for Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs added.

Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena, said there had been no prior contact with Ecuador’s foreign ministry about the arrest and that Canseco was physically attacked during the arrest.

Adding to current tensions was Lopez Obrador’s apparent criticism of Ecuador’s recent elections, saying the 2023 run-off vote took place in a “very strange” manner and suggesting that presidential candidates had used the media, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination and overall violence in their favor while campaigning.

The rift resulted in a series of diplomatic provocations this week, that also included Ecuador rejecting Mexico’s ambassador to the country, who was declared “persona non grata.”

A doctor at a field hospital for detained Palestinians at Israel’s Sde Teiman army base has described “deplorable conditions” and “routine” amputations due to handcuff injuries, according to an exclusive report from the newspaper Haaretz.

In a letter to Israel’s attorney general and defense and health ministers, obtained by Haaretz, the doctor said the conditions at Sde Teiman field hospital compromise inmates’ health and violate medical ethics.

“Just this week, two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event,” the doctor said in the letter, according to the Haaretz report on Thursday. He wrote that inappropriate care at the detention facility has led to “complications and sometimes even in the patient’s death,” adding that “this makes all of us – the medical teams and you, those in charge of us in the health and defense ministries, complicit in the violation of Israeli law.”

Haaretz reported that the doctor said “inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers and are held [in] constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law.” It is not clear when the doctor penned the letter.

The IDF statement continued, “The handcuffing of the detainees is carried out in accordance with the procedures, their health condition and the level of danger posed by them, in order to ensure the safety of the forces and the medical staff.”

“According to the IDF’s instructions, violence against detainees is absolutely prohibited. The IDF protects the rights of the detainees held in the detention facilities, and regularly briefs the forces regarding the required conduct towards detainees, including the prohibition of resorting to violence,” the IDF statement said..

“Any allegation of violence or humiliation for which concrete details will be provided will be examined and dealt with individually,” the IDF said

A spokesperson for Israel’s health ministry said they had nothing further to add.

The source said the detainees were blindfolded and that at least three patients they saw were wearing diapers.

The medical source highlighted the systematic “dehumanizing” of detainees at the field hospital, which they described as a large “tent” that is “not insulated” from the elements.

‘Ethical failures’ at Sde Teiman

The Sde Teiman field hospital and detention facility, located on an army base in southern Israel near the city of Beer Sheva, was established by the Israeli military shortly after Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

The field hospital was created after Israeli civilian hospitals declined to admit Gazan detainees or terror suspects, according to a report from the non-profit organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

The Physicians for Human Rights-Israel report on Sde Teiman, which documents ‘ethical failures’ at the field hospital, also highlighted that “security forces at the field hospital require all detained persons to remain handcuffed and blindfolded at all times, including during medical treatment.”

“Media reports indicate that Gaza residents held at this military facility endure harsh conditions, being restrained with their hands behind their backs and occasionally bound to a fence for prolonged periods, spanning entire and consecutive days. These circumstances lead to substantial physical and psychological harm,” the Physicians for Human Rights-Israel report added.

According to the Haaretz report, the doctor said in his letter to the Israeli health and defense ministries that the field hospital “is staffed most of the day by a single doctor, accompanied by a nursing team, some with no more than medic training,” and in some cases the doctor on shift is an orthopedist or gynecologist. “This ends in complications and sometimes even in the patient’s death,” the doctor wrote, Haaretz reported.

It generated little attention: another Russian assault in eastern Ukraine, across barren, pock-marked fields, met by determined, nimble resistance.

In an attack that defied logic, a Russian armored column lumbered across open countryside near the village of Tonenke in Donetsk and was picked off by drones and anti-tank weapons. Geolocated videos indicate that the Russians lost about a dozen tanks as well as other armored vehicles.

Once more, Ukrainian units repelled a poorly-planned assault and held their positions. But these frequent mechanized ground attacks by the Russians are like sand-blasting – eroding Ukrainian defenses in multiple spots along the frontlines.

Kateryna Stepanenko at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington says Russia’s likely goal is to test Ukrainian defenses for weak spots and strain Ukrainian defensive capabilities ahead of reported upcoming summer offensive operations.

Ukraine’s frontline brigades are clinging on – awaiting munitions and air defenses from allies, fresh recruits from a new mobilization law that expanded the eligible age range, and hoping Russian commanders will continue to make mistakes.

They are using scarce artillery shells (the ratio is at least 5:1 against), and thousands of small drones that pick off individual vehicles.

The Ukrainians assert that morale is poor in enemy ranks. “They are ready to pay bribes, which is happening on a massive scale, injure themselves or simply run away to avoid the frontline, as the chances of survival there and the number of losses…remain sky-high for Russians,” according to Andriy Yusov, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence representative.

But according to the UK’s Defense Ministry, Russia is able to replenish its front-line forces by 30,000 troops a month. Its military industries are working 24/7 to churn out everything from tanks to drones to guided bombs.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this week that despite immense losses, Russia had “almost completely reconstituted militarily” – possibly allowing it to intensify ongoing offensive operations.

Matthew Schmidt, Associate Professor in the National Security Department at New Haven University says that “Russia is pushing ill-manned, ill-equipped local offensives anywhere it can. But ill-manned with enough bodies might be good enough.”

By contrast, Ukraine’s manpower shortage is chronic. The call-up age has been lowered from 27 to 25 but other parts of a mobilization bill are still struggling to pass through the Ukrainian parliament. The new commander-in-chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, has suggested that an original target of 500,000 more recruits can be “significantly reduced”; others are skeptical.

In Stepanenko’s view, Ukraine “will likely need to cede some tactical territory and retreat to more defensible positions in some battlefield scenarios… Russia’s ability to retain the initiative on the battlefield is forcing Ukrainian troops to expend already scarce materiel.”

Overwhelming force – 1.5-tonne guided bombs from the air, intense artillery barrages, heavy flame-throwers and tank-fire – takes its daily toll.

“They are dropping heavy ammunition on us without even flying near the contact line or entering our air defense zone,” he said.

Exactly the same tactic applies to the Avdiivka area, Volosyn says. “When their aircraft are working, it is impossible for our defenders to work, they only need to hide in cover.”

Ukrainian officials speak of fatigue and frustration but take heart from the ineptitude of some Russian commanders. After Tonenke battle last week, one soldier described amazement at the sheer number of Russian soldiers dying “in bundles due to the ambitions of one small man,” reflected one soldier, referring to Russia’s President Putin.

And yet the Russians are not doomed to repeat their mistakes. They have shown an ability to adapt, especially in building multi-layered defenses that scotched the Ukrainian offensive last summer, in deploying glide bombs beyond the range of Ukrainian defenses and in developing their own array of attack drones.

Most recently, according to Ukrainian officials, they have begun equipping cruise missiles with cluster munitions.

Ukraine has responded with a rapid expansion of its own arms industry, in many ways more innovative than the Russians’, especially in developing long-range drones at sea and in the air.

Ukraine is waging a ‘near war’ of close-quarter battles and a “far war” aimed at Russian infrastructure and logistics: oil refineries, airfields and factories.

In the last week alone, its home-made drones hit a plant making UAVs 1,300 kilometers inside Russia. Another wave of drones crippled a dozen Russian planes at an airfield in Rostov.

Ukraine’s Third War

There is also a third war that goes on in hushed corridors either side of the Atlantic: how to sustain the Ukrainians in a more consistent way.

This week NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it was time “to discuss a long-term financial pledge commitment from NATO allies.”

That may include a long-term funding arrangement under NATO’s auspices that would mitigate any decisions by a potential Trump administration next year to end support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials never tire of telling their backers what’s needed now: Patriot and other air defenses, longer-range missiles, artillery shells by the million, more air power.

Attending a NATO gathering this week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that it’s “impossible to understand why the allies cannot find additional batteries to deliver them to a place where ballistic missiles are fired daily. In March alone, 94 ballistic missiles were fired at Ukraine.”

Kuleba has been saying this every week for many months. The US and 17 other nations, among them several NATO members, have dozens of Patriot systems. Ukraine has received less than a handful.

Paralysis in the US Congress means that Ukraine’s broader military needs are going unanswered. A bill that would release $61 billion in military aid has not advanced in four months.

And time is running out. An official in Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andriі Kovalenko, said that Ukraine’s allies “must understand that if Western aid does not arrive on time, the enemy will have more chances to capture more territory here or there.”

At least some perceive the urgency. Czech President Petr Pavel has put together a ‘shell coalition’ that is trying to fund the purchase of nearly a million shells held in non-Western countries. The European Union has promised to expedite the shipment of shells after failing by some distance to meet its pledge in the past year.

Europe is not ready or able to assume the leadership role currently occupied by the US in providing the volume of weapons needed nor the real-time intelligence shared with Ukraine.

Kyiv faces the same problem it has since the onset of the Russian invasion: for all the ingenuity and courage its troops show in the face of Russia’s brute force, the reticence of its backers mean they frequently have one hand tied behind their back.

Nor is Ukraine equipped to take advantage of those mistakes. Stepanenko at the Institute for the Study of War says Ukraine can’t exploit the high levels of attrition that Russian units suffer.

Ukraine has no choice but “to dig in and try to anticipate to the best of its ability where, when, and at what intensity Russian forces will attack next,” Stepanenko said.

If you’re planning to see the epic total solar eclipse that will dance across the skies of North America on Monday, you should aim to travel as close to the center of the celestial spectacle’s path as possible.

New map calculations have raised some concerns that the path of totality — where it’s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun — is slightly narrower than NASA calculated. That means some cities on the edge of the route that were expecting to experience a second or two of total darkness might be left out.

NASA has not changed its predictions, but the space agency advises that there is some uncertainty involved in mapping the eclipse’s path.

“Calculations that use a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun yield an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” said NASA spokesperson Karen Fox in an emailed statement. “This difference would only affect cities on the very edge of the path of totality, where blanket predictions are difficult regardless — a few city blocks one way or the other could mean 20, 10, or 0 seconds of totality.”

And for viewing purposes, NASA scientists and other experts recommend that spectators head for the middle, rather than the perimeter, of the path anyway.

“I would never, never be near the edge of where that totality is because it’s a difference between night and day,” said Dr. Edward Guinan, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova University.

Mapping the moment

Recent questions around a potentially shifting path have focused on a new map calculated by Guildford, England-based software developer John Irwin and published to a webpage called Besselian Elements.

The research hasn’t been thoroughly reviewed by scientists, Guinan said. And even if the NASA map is wrong, Irwin’s calculations indicate it’s only off by a couple thousand feet on the edges.

Irwin did not immediately respond to an email request for comment Friday.

But few things in science are ever certain. And NASA also acknowledges that exact measurements of the eclipse path are difficult to pin down.

“(P)recise eclipse prediction has brought new attention to a tiny but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun,” NASA’s statement reads. “Uncertainty in the Earth’s rotation can also affect eclipse predictions on this level.”

Guinan explained that it’s extremely difficult to determine an exact measurement of the sun’s size because “it’s a fuzzy surface.”

He noted that the sun could be slightly enlarged right now because the our star is currently going through a period of maximum magnetic activity, which “could cause the sun to swell out a bit.”

But the uncertainty accounts for only a few hundred feet, while the moon is millions of miles across.

Still, even slight adjustments in the sun’s size could gently alter the edges of the moon’s shadow on Monday.

Edge effects

The Besselian Elements website advertises that people should consult Irwin’s alternative eclipse map if they’re hoping to travel to the edge of the path — where the length of total darkness may be extremely brief but onlookers could catch a prolonged glimpse of various other eclipse-related phenomenon.

Guinan notes that eclipses do offer “edge effects.”

“You wouldn’t see the total eclipse, but you would see this diamond ring effect — flashes of the sun going in and out behind mountains and coming through valleys on the moon,” he said. “That would be kind of cool to do if you have seen a lot of eclipses.”

“But I don’t recommend people do this,” he said.

NASA also said in its statement, “Traveling towards the center of the path of totality — even a mile or two — will quickly increase the length of totality that people can see.”

And totality is the real show, Guinan emphasized.

This phase of the eclipse will plunge the area into darkness. The temperature will drop. Animals will behave as if it’s nightfall. The sun’s corona — or its blazing hot, outer atmosphere — will be visible. Bright stars and planets will shine in the surrounding sky.

“When you see the total eclipse, you can’t go back,” Guinan said. “It’s spectacular.”

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The war in Gaza has been raging for six months and the patience of Israel’s allies is running out. As the death toll in the enclave continues to climb, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Israel has no viable plan for how to end the war or what comes next.

The determination to continue pursuing Hamas in Gaza despite the horrific humanitarian consequences is leaving Israel increasingly isolated on the global stage, with its government facing pressure from all sides.

Multiple international organizations have warned Israel may be committing genocide and even the country’s closest allies are now openly criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Calls to halt arms shipments to Israel are growing in the United States and the United Kingdom.

At the same time, Netanyahu and his government are under mounting pressure at home, with protesters back on the streets in large numbers calling for his resignation.

Israel launched the war immediately after the deadly October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. At that time, the Israeli government said the operation had two goals: eliminating Hamas and bringing back the hostages taken by the militants to Gaza.

Six months into the conflict, neither goal has been reached.

While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, most of the group’s top leadership in Gaza, including Yayha Sinwar, continues to evade it, and Hamas’ political leaders are out of reach abroad. More than 100 hostages have been freed, exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as part of a truce deal with Hamas in late November. But some 130 hostages, including 99 who are believed still to be alive, remain in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the toll of the war on Palestinians has been horrendous: more than 33,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed since October 7, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. On top of that, some 75,000 have been injured and more than a million are on the brink of starvation, facing what international organizations say is “imminent” famine.

“I think (the war) has already far exceeded anybody’s expectations in terms of (its) duration and intensity and scale and deadliness, and there’s no end in sight,” said Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow and director of the Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs at the Middle East Institute.

Yet Netanyahu is refusing to change tack. While he promised to allow more aid into Gaza following an ultimatum this week from US President Joe Biden, he has rejected calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and for a rethink of his plan to invade Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than one million people are currently sheltering.

No exit strategy

Hamas has dominated Gaza ever since it seized power in 2007, controlling all government and security bodies, as well as the healthcare, education and social systems.

“Israel cannot achieve its stated goal of eliminating Hamas, because Hamas is an integral part of the Palestinian society in the West Bank and Gaza. Its popularity has increased in the last several months,” said Nathan Thrall, a Jerusalem-based expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict and author of “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.”

This means that Israel’s leaders don’t have a viable way out of the conflict, Thrall explained.

“The realistic options in front of them are to continue to occupy Gaza indefinitely, which most Israelis do not want to do, or, alternatively to leave Gaza and have Hamas be the strongest power on the ground whether or not it’s the official face of the government in Gaza,” he said.

Elgindy also said the goal of destroying Hamas was never realistic. “I think even American officials realize, belatedly, that it’s complete madness, that people are allowing this horror to continue as though the goal of destroying Hamas was more important than anything else in the world, including Israel’s own future security,” he said.

“It’s divorced from reality because even if you destroy Hamas, you’re creating something that will be much worse than the future. Because now you have 30,000 people who are dead, 17,000 orphans … what is their view of Israel and the United States going to be when they grow up?”

Israel was a politically divided country before the October 7 attacks, paralyzed by months of large-scale protests against Netanyahu and his government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, and particularly the prime minister’s proposed judicial overhaul.

But while these political divisions remain, the vast majority of Israelis support the war in Gaza, despite the international outcry over the devastating impact on Palestinian civilians.

“The Israeli public is still traumatized from October 7, they are still in the revenge mode, some don’t want even food to enter. Even if we don’t accept that it’s right, we can understand what their state of mind is,” Elgindy said, adding that while understandable given the horrors of the October 7 terror attacks, this mindset should not influence international policy.

“We can’t allow that state of mind to dictate the policies of the US and the UK and the European Union. You need to have grownups saying ‘this is not acceptable; you cannot use starvation as a weapon’. In other words, it doesn’t matter that the Israeli public isn’t in the mood for stopping this war. It needs to be forced on them,” he said.

The number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat in Gaza since the start of the war has now surpassed 250. While dwarfed by the Palestinian death toll, the losses are nevertheless significant. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people on October 7.

No plan for the future

“Our friends – America first and foremost, Britain, Germany, France – do not trust the government, that they know what they’re doing, that they have a strategic plan for the day after; they don’t trust us to do the right thing,” he said.

Netanyahu unveiled his plan for Gaza’s post-Hamas future in late February, calling for “complete demilitarization” of the enclave and closing off the territory’s southern border with Egypt, as well as the overhaul of Gaza’s civil administration and education systems. He also rejected any pressure from the international community to recognize a Palestinian state.

Many of the proposals were directly opposed by key players at the negotiating table, including the US, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

“The plan was one and a half pages, speaking generally about the day after, using all sorts of code words that can be interpreted in all sorts of ways … people were not happy with this, our allies were not happy with this,” Chorev said.

“There are lots of credible plans, but none of them are workable, frankly, because of one stumbling block. And that’s the Israelis. The Israelis have made it very clear that they intend to have full security control for the entirety of the territory, which of course throws an unworkable wrench in the workings of any plan that seeks to devolve authority to any other entity,” he said.

Netanyahu has previously also rejected the suggestion that the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, could take control of Gaza, although the plan outlined in February did not mention this.

Instead, the plan envisions “local entities” running the civil service.

“Again, this was left purposefully vague and it can be interpreted in various ways. It can be local clans, as some interpreted it, and it can be interpreted as a revitalized Palestinian Authority,” Chorev said.

“Most likely, what will happen is, you will have an indefinite Israeli military presence on the ground,” Elgindy said. “You will have something like a breakdown in law and order and more and more chaos. So we’ll see warlords, gangs, clans … Gaza has become a place that is not really livable. If there is someone out there who believes that this is a situation that is going to bring security and safety to Israelis, it’s a completely delusional concept.”

Proposals to establish temporary international security control over Gaza are not feasible given Israel’s stance, experts say.

“If Israel were to admit that it’s an occupying power that needs to withdraw, just as the near entirety of the international community insists, and not to claim the rights of security control over the territory in violation of international law, then you could have something that’s similar to KFOR in Kosovo, an international force as a transition to Palestinians taking over responsibility for the territory,” Hellyer said, referring to the NATO-led peacekeeping force operating in Kosovo.

Thrall also said that most attempts to find alternative plans are not realistic because of Israel’s position.

“They would require placing tremendous pressure on Israel and that is not anywhere in evidence today,” he said, adding that this problem is unlikely to go away even if Netanyahu were to resign.

Thrall said that anyone potentially replacing Netanyahu as prime minister would likely put forward similar plans.

Benny Gantz, who this week called for early elections and is widely considered a likely successor to Netanyahu as and when Israelis vote, is a member of Netanyahu’s war government.

“He does not have a significantly different set of ideas for Gaza or for the future of Israel, Palestine or for Palestinian sovereignty. And if you look at the plan by (fellow war cabinet minister) Gadi Eisenkot, his plan for Gaza, which was supposed to be a rebuttal against Netanyahu’s wholly unrealistic plan, was very similar to it,” Thrall said.

“Whether it’s Netanyahu or somebody else is not the central issue with respect to the Palestinians.”

Israel’s military said its troops made a series of “grave” mistakes and violated protocol in their strikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza this week.

An Israeli inquiry published Friday found troops mistakenly thought they were attacking Hamas gunmen when drone strikes targeted three vehicles of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) late Monday night.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired two of its officers and reprimanded others for their involvement in the strikes, but WCK has said Israel cannot be trusted to investigate its own errors in Gaza, and the incident has sparked fury from many of Israel’s staunchest allies.

Here’s what we know.

What the IDF says happened

The IDF has been trying to track down and kill Hamas militants in Gaza for nearly six months, and has long accused Hamas of embedding itself in civilian areas like hospitals, schools – and with aid groups.

In its report, the IDF said its troops identified a Hamas gunman in an aid truck in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah on Monday, and then identified a second gunman.

“After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists,” the IDF said.

In fact, the vehicles were being driven by workers with the WCK – a charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres that has been helping to distribute food in Gaza as the enclave has tipped further towards famine.

But the Israeli drone operators had not been told by their higher-ups about the humanitarian convoy, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. In a video statement on Friday, Hagari that “critical information regarding the humanitarian operation” did not “go properly down through the chain of command.

The drone operators proceeded to target the three vehicles with a series of strikes, killing seven workers – three Britons, a Palestinian, a US-Canadian dual citizen, an Australian and a Pole.

Because the strikes happened at night, the surveillance drones could not see the WCK logo on the vehicles, the spokesperson said. The IDF is considering distributing thermal stickers for aid vehicles to prevent this happening again in the future, he added.

After the first vehicle was struck, some of the surviving aid workers fled to the other vehicles in the convoy – which were also struck, the spokesperson said.

Who did the IDF dismiss and punish?

The IDF said the strikes were “a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.”

In response, the Chief of the General Staff dismissed two officers: The brigade fire support commander (an officer with the rank of major), and the brigade chief of staff (an officer with the rank of colonel in reserve).

The IDF also reprimanded others: the brigade commander and 162nd Division commander.

The Chief of Staff also formally reprimanded the commander of the Southern Command for his overall responsibility in the incident.

Israel’s swift public explanation and admission of guilt is rare, as is for such senior officers to be punished.

What the WCK says

The WCK said earlier in the week that all three vehicles were clearly marked and that their movements were “in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route and humanitarian mission.”

Andres accused Israel of “systematically” targeting the aid workers. In a Reuters interview, he said this was not a “bad luck situation where, ‘oops,’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.”

Responding to the Israeli report Friday, WCK said Israel had taken “important steps forward” in taking disciplinary action against those responsible, but warned that “without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families.”

WCK said the incident would not have occurred if Israel had not allowed Gaza to run short of food, and called for an independent inquiry into the incident.

“We demand the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”

At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza since October, according to the United Nations.

What have the consequences been?

The killing of the seven aid workers sparked condemnation from some of Israel’s most prominent supporters and may mark a turning point in how Israel perpetrates its war in Gaza.

In a phone call on Thursday, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was unacceptable and warned Israel to address the crisis or face consequences.

The 30-minute conversation was the two leaders’ first phone call since the strike on the WCK convoy.

Biden also said Israel needed to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.”

The UK has also responded sharply to the strikes, which killed three British nationals. Alicia Kearns, a Conservative Member of Parliament and Chair of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told the BBC on Friday that she believes “we have no choice but to suspend arms sales” to Israel.

Kearns said Biden’s phone call felt like a “tipping point” in the conflict, but said it is “devastating that it’s taken six months for us to get to a point where it appears that the international community is able to influence Israel’s perpetration of this war.”

Amid strong rebukes from its allies, the strikes may also have played a role in Israel’s security cabinet approving the reopening of the Erez crossing into Gaza, which has been closed since the October 7 Hamas attacks.

But distributing that aid may be difficult, after at least three aid providers said they are suspending operations in the Gaza in the wake of the deadly strikes on the WCK.

In a sign of the delicate balance in Netanyahu’s coalition government, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticised the firing of the army officers, calling it an “abandonment of the soldiers in the middle of a war and a grave mistake that conveys weakness. “

A rift between Mexico and Ecuador is growing, with a series of diplomatic provocations this week that culminated in Ecuador rejecting Mexico’s ambassador to the country, and Mexico announcing that it would offer asylum to a wanted Ecuadorean politician.

Mexican Ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke was declared “persona non grata” in Ecuador on Thursday after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appeared to criticize Ecuador’s recent elections.

Ecuador’s 2023 run-off vote took place in a “very strange” manner, Lopez Obrador said, suggesting that presidential candidates used the media, candidate Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination, and overall violence in their favor while campaigning.

In a statement posted on X, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry called Lopez Obrador’s comments “unfortunate” and said the country is still mourning Villavicencio’s assassination. It also reiterated its focus on ensuring “respect for the dignity and sovereignty of the Ecuadorian State” and “non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States.”

Diplomatic relations are expected to remain open between the two countries. However, a press release by the Mexican Foreign Ministry on Friday lamented the Ecuadorean decision as “disproportionate” and announced that Mexico had decided to grant political asylum to Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge David Glas Espinel – a move that Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfield quickly slammed as “interference in internal affairs.”

Glas served under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017. Convicted twice on corruption charges, Glas says that he is the subject of political persecution, and has been sheltering inside the Mexican Embassy in Quito, according to Reuters.

For many people, the upcoming total solar eclipse is a joyous and celebratory occasion.

Countless skygazers are gearing up to witness the rare cosmological marvel as it crosses over Mexico, the US and Canada on April 8. Along with the 30 or so million people living in the path of totality, millions more are expected to travel for a better view. Crowds will gather at eclipse watch parties to cheer on as the moon passes between Earth and the sun, and hundreds of couples plan to mark the phenomenon by tying the knot.

But in other cultures and faith traditions, an eclipse is less spectacle and more spiritual. Some take time to meditate and reflect on the universe, while others engage in rituals to ward off negative energies.

Here’s how some religions and cultures observe this celestial event.

Some Hindus see eclipses as a bad omen

Some Hindus, especially those with roots in South India, consider eclipses a bad omen, says Sangeetha Kowsik, a Hindu chaplain and spiritual life advisor at New York University. In Vedic astrology, an eclipse occurs when the shadow planet Rahu swallows the sun.

One interpretation from Hindu scriptures references an episode known as the churning of the ocean, which produces a nectar of immortality, Kowsik explains. Vishnu, one of the principal Hindu deities, transforms into the female avatar Mohini and distributes the nectar to the gods. The serpent demon Svarbhanu, however, sits between the sun and the moon and obtains the nectar under false pretenses.

When the sun and the moon alert Vishnu to this deception, Vishnu decapitates the demon — the head becomes Rahu and the body becomes Ketu. Having drunk the nectar, Rahu becomes immortal while Ketu dies. In his anger, Rahu attempts to swallow the sun and the moon, producing an eclipse.

Some Hindus who see eclipses as inauspicious fast before and bathe after the celestial event — sometimes with their clothes on — to clear themselves of negative energies, Kowsik says. Some temples, meanwhile, close down during the eclipse and offer special prayers.

But Hinduism encompasses a wide range of spiritual beliefs, practices and traditions, and not all Hindus view eclipses as negative. According to other Hindu legends, all nine planets of Vedic astrology are said to live in the belly of the god Ganesha or in the tail of the god Hanuman.

“So if you are a Ganesha devotee or a Hanuman devotee, all of these effects of these planets are gone because God is there to save you,” Kowsik says. “God is there to take care of you always and eradicate any issue that you might have.”

Kowsik, meanwhile, feels torn on how she’ll mark the upcoming eclipse.

“It doesn’t happen that often, and I don’t know if I should stay indoors,” she adds. “I’m a big believer in Lord Ganesha and Lord Hanuman and God in general, so I might take a look because I think it’s going to look really cool, personally.”

Muslims consider eclipses a sign from God

For many Muslims, eclipses are a time for prayer and spiritual contemplation, says Akif Aydin, president of the interfaith organization Atlantic Institute SC.

Per Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad’s young son Ibrahim died on the day of a solar eclipse, and many of his followers at the time associated the celestial phenomenon with death and sorrow, Aydin says.

But the Prophet was quick to dispute such notions, declaring that an eclipse was merely a sign from God — not a harbinger of life or death. The Prophet Muhammad encouraged his followers to remember and worship God during an eclipse, inviting his disciples to worship with him at the mosque until the cosmic event passed, says Aydin.

“It is a time to connect with God again — to remember God’s creation again,” he adds.

Aydin says he plans to watch the upcoming eclipse from his backyard in South Carolina with his wife, four children and nieces. As the sky darkens, he’ll roll out a rug on the grass and bow down in prayer.

Some Christians believe it signals the second coming of Christ

In the eyes of some Christians, the solar eclipse is a sign that the “end times” — the period prophesied in the Bible when Jesus Christ will return to Earth — are imminent.

The New Testament of the Bible contains several mentions of the sky darkening while Jesus was hung on the cross, which some believers associate with a solar eclipse.

“From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land,” a passage from Matthew 27 reads. “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)”

Celestial phenomena such as eclipses are often accompanied by end times predictions, though some authors and scholars point out that such prophecies are usually rooted in North American evangelical ideas around the apocalypse.

“But while some passages in the Bible do link astronomical phenomena with “the end” (Matthew 24:29; Joel 2:31), doomsday prophets fail to explain why their biblical, global, and cosmic calculus often revolves around America,” author and pastor Andrea L. Robinson writes in Christianity Today.

“They further neglect the fact that an eclipse happens somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months—and that these solar events have been associated with imminent doom for thousands of years without consequence.”

For Navajos, it’s a time of reverence

While many towns and cities will be abuzz on Monday with people trying to catch a glimpse of the eclipse, the Navajo Nation reservation will be more still.

Eclipses are a more solemn occasion in Navajo tradition, according to Evelyn Bahe, a program manager in the Department of Diné Education in Window Rock, Arizona. The Diné, the term Navajos use to refer to themselves, see the celestial event as a time to show reverence and respect for the sun and the Earth.

“During the eclipse, we have to get back into our dwelling, close the curtains and make it really quiet,” Bahe says. “During this time, we cannot eat. We cannot sleep. We cannot drink water.”

Engaging in these activities during an eclipse is said to negatively affect a person and disrupt their spiritual harmony, Bahe adds. During previous eclipses, offices, parks and schools on the Navajo Nation have closed to honor the cosmic phenomenon.

Bahe says Navajos have varying explanations for what happens during an eclipse: Some consider it a meeting of the sun and the moon — others view it as a rebirth and renewal of the celestial bodies.

“It is considered a time of interaction between the Sun and the moon,” the Indigenous Education Institute’s Nancy C. Maryboy and David Begay say in a statement on the Exploratorium website.

“(Navajo elders) sit quietly and in contemplation, or recount traditional teachings about the origins of the Sun and moon. These practices are grounded in their deeply held respect for the cosmic order.”

The Israeli official said the crossing would be opened to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. The cabinet also approved using the Israeli Port of Ashdod to help transfer more aid to Gaza.

The announcement comes amid mounting international fury over Israeli strikes that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the deaths, but maintains attack was not intentional.

US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and warned Israel to take steps to address the crisis or face consequences.

Since the October 7 terror attacks, Israel’s siege of Gaza has killed more than 32,916 people, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and has led to a spiraling humanitarian crisis where nearly three-quarters of the population in northern Gaza are suffering from catastrophic levels of hunger, according to a United Nations-backed report.

Land crossings into Gaza, through which the bulk of vital aid has traditionally entered the territory, remain heavily restricted by Israel. Aid agencies have accused Israel of throttling the entry of relief into the war-ravaged territory, though Israel has said it has “no limit” on the amount of relief that can enter.

Before the war started, Israel restricted all access to and from Gaza by sea and air, and kept land crossings under tight control. It had two functional crossings with the enclave: Erez, which was for the movement of people, and Kerem Shalom, for goods.

Gaza also has one crossing with Egypt, at Rafah, which is run by Egyptian authorities. While Israel has no direct control over this crossing, it monitors all activity in southern Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed to halt the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Palestinian enclave after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 250 hostages on October 7.

Aid to trickle in through Rafah at the end of October, and, following pressure from the US, Israel began allowing aid trucks to pass through Kerem Shalom in late December – but at rates far below the 500 commercial and aid trucks a day before the war.

This is a developing story and will be updated.