World roundup: April 12 2024

Stories from Iran, Japan, Haiti, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

April 12, 1204: The army of the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople, temporarily doing away with the Byzantine Empire.

The Crusaders taking Constantinople, from a 15th century French manuscript (Wikimedia Commons)

April 12, 1861: Batteries from the new “Provisional Forces of the Confederate States” open fire on Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, kicking off the American Civil War. The garrison commander, Major Robert Anderson, agreed to surrender and evacuate the fort the following day. Two US soldiers were killed the day after that when some ammunition in the fort exploded during a ceremonial salute to the US flag, but they were the only two fatalities connected with the battle. The fort remained in Confederate hands until they evacuated it in 1865 during William T. Sherman’s war-ending Carolinas campaign.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Israeli officials claimed on Friday that the first aid trucks were entering northern Gaza via the new checkpoint they had promised to open earlier this week. They did not reveal how many trucks were involved. Since the drone strike last week that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in central Gaza and sent the Biden administration into paroxysms of performative outrage, the Israeli government has talked quite a bit about expanding humanitarian access to Gaza. Much of that rhetoric appears to be empty—or, put less charitably, fake news:

In the week since President Biden warned Israel to swiftly address civilian suffering in Gaza — or risk future U.S. support — Israeli officials have touted what they say is a record number of aid trucks entering the territory, one of several new measures that the government maintains will help alleviate the crisis.

But according to U.N. and other aid officials, as well as relief workers inside Gaza, little has actually changed on the ground — and aid access remains as complicated and risky as ever, even as much of the population hurtles toward famine.

Despite Israel’s emphasis on truck numbers — it says more than 1,200 trucks have crossed into Gaza over the last three days — the volume of aid hasn’t significantly increased, nor is it reaching those most in need. The government’s most concrete promises of reopening a crossing in northern Gaza, bringing bakeries back online, and establishing clear channels to coordinate with aid workers also have yet to yield results.

“The proof in the pudding will be when it actually happens beyond words,” Jamie McGoldrick, the interim U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said of the steps Israel pledged to take. “They are under pressure to deliver something.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to open the Israeli port of Ashdod up for aid shipments has yet to actually materialize, with Israeli media reporting that neither the Israeli military (IDF) nor the authorities at the Ashdod port have been any orders related to humanitarian relief. The worse conditions get in Gaza the more aid is required to alleviate the crisis, so even if the Israelis start throwing around figures like “400 trucks a day” (assuming those trucks are full and the IDF isn’t playing numerical games with its figures) that’s a number that might have been nice three months ago but probably still isn’t enough now.

Elsewhere: