11 October 2023; MEMO: Israel’s extreme far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced yesterday that his department is in the process of purchasing 10,000 rifles to equip civilian “security teams” based around Israel’s borders and the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ben-Gvir stated that 4,000 assault rifles have already been secured from an Israeli manufacturer and will be immediately distributed, reported the Times of Israel.

12 October 2023; MEMO: Austria’s plans for an evacuation of its citizens from Israel by military aircraft on Wednesday were thwarted when its only available C-130 Hercules had a technical failure, forcing the country to book seats on a commercial flight instead, Reuters reports.

11 October 2023; MEMO: Hamas has dismissed false claims promoted by some Western media outlets accusing freedom fighters of killing or beheading children and targeting civilians.

In a statement issued today, Hamas condemned “promoting the Israeli occupation’s propaganda, which is full of lies and fabrications, as an attempt to cover up the crimes and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation around the clock, most of which amount to war crimes and genocide.”

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of betraying him just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020, breaking from the Republican presidential primary field’s uniform support of Israel as it responds to Hamas’ deadly attack.

Trump’s comments at a West Palm Beach, Florida, rally on Wednesday were quickly denounced by one of Netanyahu’s allies and by several Republicans who oppose Trump, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 rival.

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his record governing the nation for four years without any new wars, and criticized President Joe Biden’s foreign policy as the world watches a war that has already claimed 2,300 lives unfold in Gaza, ignited by Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Trump and other Republicans have tried to lay blame on the Biden administration, particularly citing the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran, a supporter of Hamas. Administration officials insist that money has not been spent.

12 October 2023; MEMO: A significant part of Gaza’s population is being “wiped off,” the UN Rapporteur for Palestinian Territories said Thursday, as the blockaded city continues to face intense Israeli strikes and shelling, Anadolu Agency reports.

"What’s happening is that a significant part of the Palestinian population in Gaza is being wiped off. Not differently from what has happened before in … but with increased ferocity"

12 October 2023; MEMO: The leader of the Sadrist movement in Iraq, Muqtada Al-Sadr, yesterday asserted that Iraq is ready to send supplies to Gaza.

In a sermon from the city of Najaf, Al-Sadr urged all Arabs, especially Egyptians, to open their borders and break the inhumane siege imposed on the Gaza Strip to allow water and food to reach civilians.

11 October 2023; MEMO: Israeli warplanes have destroyed 22,639 housing units, 10 health institutions and 48 schools since Saturday.

Local institutions reported that the Israeli warplanes have completely destroyed 168 buildings, while 12,630 housing units were partially destroyed, including 560 units that have become uninhabitable.

CAIRO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Egypt has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday.

Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to some 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control there in 2007.

BEIJING, Oct 12 (APP): A Pakistani delegation led by Shahid Firoz, representative of Pakistan Arfeen Group and vice chairman of Belt and Road Development Company, recently paid a visit to the Hydro-Blok Company in Guangzhou, China, and had an in-depth discussion on deepening China-Pakistan cooperation in building material industry.

Chen Yuwei, chairman of Hydro-Blok Company, accompanied the delegation to visit the workshops and display areas of the company, showing the key technologies.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hallways filled with screaming voices. A terrible stench in the air. Wounded people streaming through the doors. Lifeless bodies and bags of body parts arriving in bedsheets.

The scene at Shifa Hospital was a grisly reflection of the chaos around it. Even as workers mopped up blood and relatives rushed children with shrapnel wounds into surgery, explosions thundered in central Gaza City.

HOUSTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday reported an increase of 12.940 million barrels of crude oil in U.S. inventories for the week ending Oct. 6.

Analysts had expected an increase of 1.300 million barrels for the week.

The institute reported a decline of 4.210 million barrels in the previous week.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday. The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery decreased 2.48 U.S. dollars, or 2.88 percent, to settle at 83.49 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.