Health-insurance providers couldn't agree on financial terms for deal that would have created $140 billion giant.
https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/cigna-calls-off-humana-pursuit-plans-big-stock-buyback-ae1c6b3c
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Arizona's Dem Governor Demands $512 M Reimbursement From Biden For Border Security 'Failure'
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) fired off a scathing letter to President Joe Biden on Friday in which she demanded $512 million in reimbursements for money the state spent trying to control the US-Mexico border. Hobbs also asked Biden to immediately reassign the National Guard to the most vulnerable border regions in order to stem the flow of migrants into the United States.
"For far too long, Arizona has continued to bear the burden of federal inaction in managing our southern border," she wrote in the letter. "The recent decision to close the Lukeville Port of Entry has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area and has put Arizona's safety and commerce at risk."
"Further, to the extent it is necessary, I am requesting that additional National Guard members currently on federal active duty orders be reassigned to Arizona to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reopen the Lukeville Port of Entry," the letter continues, requesting 243 National Guard soldiers already assigned to Tucson to the Lukeville Port of Entry.
Hobbs announced on Friday that she would be traveling to Lukeville to see the situation first hand.
The Lukeville Port of Entry was closed at the federal government's order on Monday and has forced all American and Mexican residents to drive several hours to the next closest port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, where travelers faces lines that are up to five hours long, according to Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ).
Illegal immigration through the Tucson region of Arizona began to rise six months ago and has ticked up in recent weeks from 12,000 arrests per week to 17,500 arrests in the week that ended on Nov. 30. Data for the past week will be released later Friday. -Washington Examiner
Rep. Ciscomani (R-AZ) fired off a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas late last week demanding that the national guard be deployed to support law enforcement efforts.
"[The] Tucson Sector is leading in encounters and our agents and officers are overrun and undermanned," he wrote, adding "The situation is far past a breaking point and those on the frontlines of this crisis are in need of immediate support."
In a joint statement with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Hobbs denounced the Biden administration's decision to shutter the Lukeville Port of Entry.
"This is an unacceptable outcome that further destabilizes our border, risks the safety of our communities, and damages our economy by disrupting trade and tourism," reads the statement. "The Federal Government must act swiftly to maintain port of entry operations, get the border under control, keep Arizona communities safe, and ensure the humane treatment of migrants."
Azerbaijan Says It’s on Track to Double Gas Exports to Europe
- Azerbaijan agreed to double gas exports to Europe by 2027
- Talks stalled as buyers refuse to commit to long-term deals
Azerbaijan can meet its target of doubling natural gas exports to Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said, even as his country has yet to secure the long-term sales deals it needs to invest billions to boost production.
The Caspian Sea nation’s gas exports to Europe will rise to 12 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year from 8 bcm in 2021, showing Azerbaijan is “confidently moving toward the goal” of doubling supplies by 2027, Aliyev said at the opening of a 170 kilometer (106-mile) pipeline connecting the Serbian city of Nis to the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital.
Milei warns economic shock unavoidable in maiden speech
Argentina libertarian economist Javier Milei took office on Sunday warning in his maiden speech that he had no alternative to a sharp, painful fiscal shock to fix the country's worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation heading towards 200%.
"There is no alternative to a shock adjustment," he said on the steps on Congress after taking the presidential baton and sash, with crowds of supporters cheering despite Milei saying the economy would worsen in the short term. "There is no money."
Milei, 53, a former TV pundit who shot to fame with expletive-ridden tirades against rivals, China, and the pope, is taking over from Peronist leader Alberto Fernandez, whose government was dogged by failures to rein in soaring prices.
"The outgoing government has left us on track towards hyperinflation," Milei said. "We are going to do everything we can to avoid such a catastrophe."
While the speech was light on details, he said key steps would include a fiscal adjustment equivalent to 5% of the country's GDP through cuts that he said would fall on "the state and not the private sector."
The wild-haired outsider marks a major gamble for Argentina: his shock therapy economic plan of sharp spending cuts has gone down well with investors and could stabilize the embattled economy, but it risks pushing more people into hardship with over two-fifths already in poverty.
However, voters - who drove Milei to victory in a November run-off against a ruling Peronist coalition candidate - have said they were willing to roll the dice on his sometimes radical ideas that include shutting the central bank and dollarizing.
"He is the last hope we have left," said 72-year-old doctor Marcelo Altamira, who slammed "useless and inept" governments for years of boom-bust economic crises. The outgoing Peronist government, he said, "had destroyed the country".
BOOM AND BUST
The challenges are huge. Argentina's net foreign currency reserves are estimated at $10 billion in the red, annual inflation is 143% and rising, a recession is around the corner and capital controls skew the exchange rate.
Argentina has gone through boom-bust cycles for decades with money printing to fund regular deficits stoking inflation and weakening the peso. That has worsened in recent years as reserves have dwindled with a major drought earlier this year hitting main cash crops soy and corn.
If not tamed, inflation could reach 15,000% annually, Milei warned in his speech, pledging to "fight tooth and nail" to eradicate it. He also warned about a $100 billion debt "bomb".
The major grains exporter needs to revamp a creaking $44 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while Milei needs to navigate ties with important trade partners China and Brazil, whom he criticized during the campaign.
Milei takes over from unpopular outgoing center-left President Fernandez, but will need to negotiate with rivals as his libertarian coalition only has a small bloc in Congress. He has allied with the main conservative grouping.
That has already had an impact. He has moderated his tone in the last few weeks, packed his first Cabinet with mainstream conservatives rather than ideological libertarian allies, and put more radical ideas like dollarization onto the back burner.
That has helped buoy the markets and reassure voters.
"I think he will do well. For legal and Congressional reasons he'll end up having to focus on more coherent things," said Laura Soto, 35, a restaurant employee in Buenos Aires.
She said some more radical social ideas he had talked about during the campaign were also unlikely to happen, including easing regulation on guns and reopening the debate on abortion, which was legalized in Argentina three years ago.
'CHANGE WAS NECESSARY'
To fix the economic mess, Milei has chosen mainstream conservative Luis Caputo to helm the economy ministry, with a close Caputo ally Santiago Bausili as the central bank chief.
Milei is expected to lay out a more detailed economic plan on Tuesday or Wednesday, sources from his team told Reuters.
The ceremony's guests included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and a U.S. delegation.
Right wing former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro also attended, as well as Uruguay's conservative leader Luis Lacalle Pou. Chile's leftist President Gabriel Boric was also present but leftists Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador were some of the major absences.
In a sign of challenges ahead, state energy firm YPF hiked petrol pump prices this week by an average 25%, with analysts and markets anticipating a sharp devaluation of the over-valued peso currency shortly after Milei takes office.
"We know in the short term the situation will worsen but then we will see the fruits of our efforts," Milei said. "We don't seek or desire the tough decisions that will need to be made in the weeks ahead, but unfortunately we have no choice."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-argentine-libertarian-milei-takes-151807850.html
Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest
Watching Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s questioning of the presidents of MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania may have been eye-opening for many, but for those of us who have been paying attention, it wasn’t. Their answers were dumb and once the full extent of their discriminatory policies are exposed in private litigation and Title VI federal and congressional investigations, it will be clear why they answered as they did, hoping to avoid the scrutiny they deserve. Even dumber are the students being taught at these and most of our colleges and universities. Dumbest are the boards which have for the past decades ignored the policies which have led to this, a clear violation of their fiduciary responsibilities to these institutions which have been rotted out under their watch.
Dumb
Stefanik asked Claudine Gay (Harvard), Elizabeth Magill (University of Pennsylvania) and Sally Kornbluth (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) whether “From the river to the sea” is genocidal, and they all agreed it is. She then asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews violate their schools’ code of conduct. With smirks Gay said, “It can be, depending on the context,” Magill replied “It is a context-dependent decision, Congresswoman.” Kornbluth indicated it would, “If targeting individuals, not making public statements.” Since then, Gay and Magill have submitted “clarifying” statements. Both Gay and Magill’s schools rank at the very bottom of FIRE’s free speech ranking of 248 universities. Nevertheless, either because of confusion or attempted distraction, the presidents of three of the leading universities in the country muddied the water between free speech and their obligations to provide a safe space for students and scholars.
David Burge provides more clarity on the subject:
Fun facts: (A) calling for genocide against Jews, if not delivered to incite a mob to violence, is 100% Constitutionally protected speech -- only in the sense it can't be punished by government. (B) You are not the government; you are a cowardly college administrator and in no way does the 1st Amendment force you to accept brain dead neo-Nazis in your student body.
I'm no Constitutional legal scholar, but I believe "incitement" has a high threshold, to wit: Online celebration of Oct 7, Holocaust denial, "Hitler was right", repeating dopey anti-Jew conspiracy theories, "Globalize the Intifada": shitty opinions but not incitement. Standing in the middle of an angry nighttime student mob outside the campus Hillel House and yelling "let's give those Jews what they deserve" into a bullhorn: this is incitement.
This is by design, otherwise you would have to accept the "stochastic violence" narrative in which misgendering someone, by some convoluted logic, would theoretically result in violence against trans people. [quote]
In his usual terse way, he highlights the problem their testimony opens up: A long history of discriminatory policies that puts their hypocritical defense to shame. There are countless examples, but here are a few:
MIT: “Jewish students are blocked from attending classes, and fearful of setting foot on campus. Jewish employees fear bringing their children to MIT Daycare. The law-breaking and rule-defying is explicitly intended as a challenge [to] the presence of Jews at MIT… MIT openly acknowledged it failed to take action against those harassing Jewish students because it feared it would cause them to lose their student visa status. (The extra money it gets from full tuitions by foreign students is not an inconsiderable factor in their admission and in rising campus antisemitism.)
Harvard: The school would most certainly never tolerate a Ku Klux Klan club that advocated lynching blacks but it refused to condemn student groups that blamed the atrocities of October 7 “entirely on Israel,” and allowed open harassment of Jewish students.
University of Pennsylvania: Two students have brought a civil suit against the university under Title VI of the Civil rights Act. Among the allegations are these:
The harassment and discrimination on campus and in the classroom are relentless and intolerable. Plaintiffs and their Jewish peers are routinely subjected to vile and threatening antisemitic slurs and chants such as “Intifada Revolution,” “from the River to the Sea” “Fuck the Jews,” “the Jews deserve everything that is happening to them,” “you are a dirty Jew, don’t look at us,” “keep walking, you dirty little Jew,” “get out of here kikes!” and “go back to where you came from.” Plaintiffs and other Jewish students must traverse classrooms, dormitories, and buildings vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. Subjected to intense anti-Jewish vitriol, these students have been deprived of the ability and opportunity to fully and meaningfully participate in Penn’s educational and other programs.
Antisemitism has been a growing institutional problem on Penn’s campus and other university campuses for many years, increasing by over forty percent in 2022 alone, and the abuse and intimidation have steadily intensified. A recent study found that nearly seventy-three percent of Jewish college students have seen or been the victim of antisemitism since the start of the fall 2023 semester.
Qatar, the main funder of Hamas, is by a large margin the main contributor (through state-sponsored NGOs) to our major universities. Because Qatar makes these payments by way of cutouts, at least one of the three presidents questioned denied receiving money from Qatar.
Dumber
With these ninnies at the top of the educational establishment, it’s no wonder the young people marshalled through our education factories are really dumb. While a survey showed most college students agreed with “From the river to the sea,” they were ignorant of its meaning.
…only 47% of the students who embrace the slogan were able to name the river and the sea. Some of the alternative answers were the Nile and the Euphrates, the Caribbean, the Dead Sea (which is a lake) and the Atlantic. Less than a quarter of these students knew who Yasser Arafat was (12 of them, or more than 10%, thought he was the first prime minister of Israel). Asked in what decade Israelis and Palestinians had signed the Oslo Accords, more than a quarter of the chant’s supporters claimed that no such peace agreements had ever been signed. There’s no shame in being ignorant, unless one is screaming for the extermination of millions.
Would learning basic political facts about the conflict moderate students’ opinions? A Latino engineering student from a southern university reported “definitely” supporting “from the river to the sea” because “Palestinians and Israelis should live in two separate countries, side by side.” Shown on a map of the region that a Palestinian state would stretch from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, leaving no room for Israel, he downgraded his enthusiasm for the mantra to “probably not.” Of the 80 students who saw the map, 75% similarly changed their view.
An art student from a liberal arts college in New England “probably” supported the slogan because “Palestinians and Israelis should live together in one state.” But when informed of recent polls in which most Palestinians and Israelis rejected the one-state solution, this student lost his enthusiasm. So did 41% of students in that group.
A third group of students claimed the chant called for a Palestine to replace Israel. Sixty percent of those students reduced their support for the slogan when they learned it would entail the subjugation, expulsion or annihilation of seven million Jewish and two million Arab Israelis. Yet another 14% of students reconsidered their stance when they read that many American Jews considered the chant to be threatening, even racist. (This argument had a weaker effect on students who self-identified as progressive, despite their alleged sensitivity to offensive speech.)
In all, after learning a handful of basic facts about the Middle East, 67.8% of students went from supporting “from the river to sea” to rejecting the mantra. These students had never seen a map of the Mideast and knew little about the region’s geography, history or demography. Those who hope to encourage extremism depend on the political ignorance of their audiences. It is time for good teachers to join the fray and combat bias with education.
Good luck finding “good teachers” with the educators stacked from top to bottom not on merit but on identarian bases. Choosing teachers on such bases isn’t the end of it. Admissions are also being made using identarian standards, and jiggering has consequences.
An average 2023 GPA Harvard student would be a bottom 10% actual intelligence 1988 Harvard student, and an average 1988 GPA Harvard student would in the top 10% actual intelligence 2023 Harvard student.
This is covered up by ever-increasing grade inflation, with penalties sometimes exacted on professors who refuse to play the game.
Dumbest
The boards of trustees and donors (often coexistent) seem to have finally seen a glimmer of light. Some big donors, the last with a $100-million-dollar donation in the balance, are calling for change, Magill’s Penn must decide whether to keep her or lose that tranche of big bucks. The board of Penn’s Wharton Business School, “concerned about the dangerous and toxic culture on our campus led by a select group of students and faculty, permitted by the University leadership,” has asked Magill to resign. A number of Penn trustees reportedly told her she should consider resigning. (Late-breaking news is that Magill resigned Saturday evening. She won't be smirking at anybody anytime soon. Board chairman Scott Bok also resigned only minutes later.) For once, a board of trustees has forced a university president to step down. It’s rumored that Harvard’s Gay is about to be pressured out of office soon as well. The boards of Harvard and MIT should review whether they have been complicit and consider resigning to allow some more courageous and sentient people to take their place.
Perhaps it will spur them on to know that 72 bipartisan members of Congress are demanding the removal of all three of these presidents. A congressional hearing on antisemitism at Harvard has been announced. Suits have been filed as well against NYU and the University of California, Berkeley. More private suits are in the works. Several public universities, the latest being the University of Wisconsin, are being forced to reduce, restructure, or eliminate their substantial DEI bureaucracies, which have done so much to enforce a Marxist-like division on campuses based on identity, a driving force of campus antisemitism and enforcing notions that free speech is a tool of White supremacy.
Everything from admissions policies to hiring policies and the very creation of these DEI remoras must be revamped. Professor Glenn Reynolds offers some valuable suggestions. The mere adoption of speech codes, removal of these three presidents, and even some reshuffling of the boards which oversee these three universities is not enough to clean up the shame of our present higher education failures, but it’s a start.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/12/dumb_dumber_dumbest.html
Overstaying The Market's Welcome
By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities
Overstaying Our Welcome?
With holiday party season fast approaching (or already underway), it isn’t bad to think about overstaying our welcome at a party (I had one boss who always reminded us that no one ever got promoted based on their behavior at holiday parties…but the opposite does sometimes happen). In any case, we aren’t here to talk about parties; we’re here to talk about our positioning.
In last weekend’s What do 4.2% Treasury Yields Mean? we downgraded our “everything rally” call to:
Neutral to bearish on rates.
Neutral to mildly bullish Credit.
Slightly bullish equities, very bullish on the laggards!
On Friday, post-NFP, we posited that the data was Bad for Bonds, Good for Stocks. Treasuries did finish the day with higher yields, but ended the week barely changed (from 4.2% to 4.23% on the 10-year, with a dip to 4.1% on Wednesday). Stocks did rally and did finish up on the week – but barely, with no major index gaining 1% (though the Russell 2000 came darn close!).
If The Last Fed Meeting was “The Market Did Our Work for Us…”
One big takeaway from the last meeting was that the bond market had done much of the Fed’s work for it.
On October 31st, when the Fed started their last meeting, the 10-year real yield (using the Fed’s own “H15 Constant Maturity index”) was at 2.46%. Today it’s at 2.02% and broke below 2% during the week. The 5-year, 5-year forward breakeven yield (I’m not sure why we use that, other than it sounds so complicated that it must be useful), went from 2.48% to 2.27% – not quite as dramatic, but eye-catching nonetheless.
The June 2024 Fed fund futures contract is currently pricing in 1.8 cuts between now and then. On October 31st it was pricing in 0.5 cuts.
Without a doubt, the market undid a lot of the work that it had done!
That’s a bit concerning for bulls in any market, as there are going to be questions on this subject – and there is no way that Powell can say the market hasn’t undone some of the work.
There are two things that may let us stay at this party:
While the moves have been large, 2% real yields are at best “neutral” and likely still restrictive. It was as low as 1.06% in April! In fact, it wasn’t consistently above 2% until the end of September and was basically at this level when the Fed chose to do nothing at the September meeting. The Fed is likely going to view the price action in the past month as leaving things much more balanced/neutral than they were before – which, lo and behold, fits our current timid view on Treasuries.
The data, by and large, came in weaker this month. Not so weak that it fully offsets the change in market conditions, but pretty darn close.
Basically, market conditions have changed to tilt the Fed to be more hawkish, but the data bends the Fed the other way (more on the data in a moment).
Driving a Car with a Broken Speedometer
Would you drive a car with a broken speedometer? Or a speedometer that only has 3 measurements – slow, fast, and very fast? What’s the old adage about a broken clock being right twice a day?
Well, the Fed is trying to steer a giant, complex economy (and we’re trying to trade how we think the Fed will steer that economy), based on data which we’ve often argued is just garbage! We’d be nervous to drive a car without a speedometer, but give us a 25 TRILLION DOLLAR economy and I can steer this to the nearest ¼ point on interest rates!
The Household Survey had about 550,000 more jobs than the Establishment Survey! ✅
JOLTS had 617,000 fewer jobs in October than September ✅
UMich 1-year inflation expectations dropped by 1.4%, from 4.5% to 3.1% in a month! ✅
I don’t mean to pick on any of this data (well actually, I do). We’ve argued for years that it’s bizarre at best that we live with consistently wide and persistent variations in two surveys (Household and Establishment), both of which attempt to measure the same thing and don’t come close. We’ve highlighted, again and again, that the BLS publishes survey response rates; they are abysmal and getting worse! We’d be nervous driving without a speedometer, but give me two surveys (with low and declining response rates, which don’t remotely tie out) and I’m confident that we can use them! (hmmmmm….)
On JOLTS, there was a noticeable uptick years ago that seemed to coincide more with the transition to online job postings than any macro indicator. But…it couldn’t be that we’re just bad at measuring a generational shift in how people advertise for jobs? No, that wouldn’t make sense, the data must be right! (hmmmmm….)
As far as I know, CONsumer CONfidence still relies on calling people (or employing some other “state-of-the-art” technology) to get their data. So yes, it must really be that people either changed their inflation expectations, or carefully analyzed some data that might fall off, or it’s just a pseudo-random number? (hmmmmm….) You know which way I’m leaning, although the study of pseudo-random numbers (as opposed to truly random numbers) is quite fascinating.
I do look to the CITI Economic Surprise Index, and it suggests that things are still surprising to the upside, but far less so than during the summer (and that’s with expectations dropping).
So, in the real world, the economy is slowing. This gives the Fed enough ammunition to resist sounding too hawkish in the face of a market that has rallied significantly since the last FOMC announcement date press conference.
Bottom Line
The Fed won’t help but shouldn’t be much of a hindrance either.
The Middle East remains a risk, but hasn’t escalated yet (see this week’s Podcast if you missed it). I do ask a question about the global versus U.S. perception of China and Taiwan/Taipei, as well as the “one country, two systems” artifice that General Marks and Maria Donnelly handled very well. For what it’s worth, ChatGPT wasn’t very helpful in answering some simple questions on the subject. It came back on many of the queries with some version of “most people say Taiwan, but those concerned about China’s opinion of them use Taipei.”
China: I can’t believe that I’m almost clamoring for a pop in Chinese stocks! The negativity seems almost extreme (yes, there are many problems facing their economy), but they have options, ranging from stimulus, to “Made by China,” to some sort of deal with the U.S. to ease global tensions. All would be good for Chinese stocks and would likely propel global markets higher. Purely a trade, not a strategy, but it’s high on my list of plausible surprises that aren’t being priced in.
So, I’m going to start next week with the same views that I started this week with! (See above, or last week’s report).
The consternation that many showed on Friday, acting like it was almost mathematically impossible for bond yields to be higher and stocks to also be higher, gives me some comfort that we can see more of that this week as the data rolls in and the Fed must respect it. And (I know that I sound like a broken record) markets will have to favor variations of soft landing over hard landing scenarios until (if, I suppose, but I believe until) the data is overwhelmingly obvious!
While we can stay in this mild “risk on” positioning for a bit longer, I’m totally absorbed in trying to understand when we’ve overstayed our welcome.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/overstaying-markets-welcome
Israeli tanks reach centre of Khan Younis in new storm of southern Gaza
Israeli tanks battled their way to the centre of Khan Younis on Sunday in a major new push into the heart of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled other parts of the enclave.
Residents said tanks had reached the main north-south road through the middle of Khan Younis after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east. Warplanes were pounding the area west of the assault.
The air rumbled with the constant thud of explosions and thick columns of white smoke rose over the city. As morning broke near a city-centre police station, the constant rattle of machinegun fire could be heard. Streets there were deserted apart from an old woman and a girl riding on a donkey cart.
"It was one of the most dreadful nights, the resistance was very strong, we could hear gunshots and explosions that didn't stop for hours," a father of four displaced from Gaza City and sheltering in Khan Younis told Reuters. He declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.
"In Khan Younis tanks reached Jamal Abdel-Nasser Street, which is at the centre of the city. Snipers took positions on buildings in the area," he said.
At the opposite end of the Gaza Strip, in northern areas where Israel had previously said its forces had largely completed their tasks, residents also described some of the most intense fighting of the war so far.
Israeli troops were pushing into militant strongholds and meeting fierce resistance in Jabaliya and the Shejjaiya district of Gaza City, areas that are still inhabited despite orders weeks ago to clear out of the entire north.
"I daresay it is the strongest battle we have heard in weeks," said Nasser, 59, a father of seven sheltering in Jabaliya after his house was destroyed in Beit Lahiya, another northern area. Explosions could be heard as he spoke. "We are not going to leave Jabaliya regardless of everything. We shall die here as martyrs or they will leave us alone."
Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after militants burst across the fence on Oct. 7 and went on a rampage through Israeli towns, gunning down families in their homes, killing 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages.
Since then, Gaza's health authorities say at least 17,700 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes, with thousands more missing and presumed dead under rubble. The toll no longer includes figures from northern parts of the enclave, beyond the reach of ambulances and where hospitals have ceased functioning.
WHO'S ALIVE?
After weeks of fighting concentrated in the north, Israel launched its ground offensive in the south this week with a storm of Khan Younis. With combat now under way along nearly the entire length of the Gaza Strip, international aid organisations say the enclave's 2.3 million people have been left with nowhere to hide.
At the site of one Khan Younis home that had been destroyed by bombing overnight, relatives of the dead were combing the rubble in a daze. They dragged the body of a middle-aged man in a yellow T-shirt from under the masonry.
"We prayed the nighttime prayer and went to sleep, then woke up to find the house on top of us. 'Who's alive?!'" said Ahmed Abdel Wahab.
"Three floors above collapsed down and the people are under it," he said. "My mother and father, my sister and brother, all of my cousins."
The main hospital in Khan Younis, Nasser hospital, has been overrun with dead and wounded. On Sunday there was no floor space left in the emergency department as people carried in more wounded wrapped in blankets and carpets. Mohamed Abu Shihab wailed and swore revenge for a son he said had been killed by an Israeli sniper.
The Israeli military said it bombed underground tunnel shafts in Khan Younis and attacked a squad of Palestinian gunmen preparing an ambush, but said nothing about any tank advance.
The vast majority of Gaza's residents have now been forced from their homes, many fleeing several times with only the belongings they can carry. Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, but even its closest ally the United States says it has fallen short of those promises.
An Israeli siege has cut off supplies, with the United Nations warning of mass hunger and disease.
At an international conference in Doha, capital of Qatar which acted as the main mediator for a week-long truce that saw more than 100 hostages freed, Arab foreign ministers criticised the United States for vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution on Friday that demanded a humanitarian ceasefire.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the war risked radicalising a generation across the Middle East. Jordan's foreign minister said the Israeli campaign aimed to drive Palestinians from Gaza and met the legal definition of genocide, accusations Israel called outrageous.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he would "not give up" appealing for a ceasefire.
"I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared," Guterres said. "Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it, but that does not make it less necessary."
Israel has spurned demands it halt the fighting. Briefing his cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: "You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas."
https://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-report-israeli-battles-khan-035317574.html
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