War Between Israel and Hamas
On Oct. 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel out of the Gaza Strip. Hamas is the dominant governing body in Gaza and is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, and many other countries. The attack began with a barrage of 5,000 rockets, while Palestinian militants breached the barrier around Gaza and attacked several towns and military bases in Israel. At least 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed, and hundreds more were taken hostage. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and cut off the supply of food, water, medicine, and electricity to Gaza, which was already under blockade by Israel and Egypt. The Israeli Defense Force ordered an evacuation of northern Gaza and began a bombing campaign, which displaced around one million Gazans and killed thousands in the bombings, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Mike Johnson Elected House Speaker
Representative Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana’s 4th congressional district, was elected Speaker of the House Wednesday after a period of vacancy. The vacancy began Oct. 3 when Representative Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the Speaker of the House in a historic first. McCarthy had been speaker since January, making his nine-month tenure the third-shortest in American history. Johnson was the fourth Republican to be nominated — following Representatives Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Tom Emmer — and the first person to secure the necessary majority of votes since the speakership. The election of a new speaker was widely seen as an urgent matter, due to the possibility of a government shutdown and the need to deal with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
War Continues in Sudan
A war in Sudan, which broke out between rival military groups April 15 is still raging. Seven months of fighting have killed more than 9,000, displaced 5.7 million, and caused a humanitarian crisis according to the United Nations. The conflict began when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the military, the Sudanese Armed Forces. Initially, fighting was centered around the capital city, Khartoum, as both factions vied for control of government facilities. Now the war has now spread to other areas, especially the Darfur region, which has been wracked by violent conflict for decades. Long-running insurgencies in Darfur have been swept into the conflict, with rebel groups that had been fighting against both the RSF and the SAF now aligning themselves with one or the other. Insiders have warned of dire conditions in Darfur, while the U.K. government has accused the RSF and allied militia groups of perpetrating ethnic cleansing there.
Hurricane Otis Strikes Mexico
Hurricane Otis, an unusually powerful Category 5 hurricane, struck Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, devastating the coastal resort city of Acapulco and causing flooding, mudslides, and more than 10 inches of rain. The number of casualties and severity of the damage is not yet known, but may be extensive. There was little warning before the hurricane’s landfall, as forecasters had expected it to weaken over the ocean and were taken by surprise when it instead became the strongest Pacific hurricane to ever reach Mexico.
