World roundup: November 10 2023

Stories from Israel-Palestine, Australia, Sudan, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

November 10, 1444: The Battle of Varna

Polish painter Jan Matejko’s 1879 Battle of Varna (Wikimedia Commons)

November 10, 1659: The Maratha leader Shivaji and his outnumbered army defeat the Adilshahi under Afzal Khan at the Battle of Pratapgarh. It was the first major victory Shivaji would win over a Muslim kingdom, but it would definitely not be the last. His kingdom grew rapidly in the wake of the battle and became the nucleus of the Maratha Empire, which subjugated the Mughal Empire in the middle of the 18th century and became India’s dominant political entity until it was defeated by the British East India Company in the early 19th century.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

With the Israeli military (IDF) offensive moving deeper into Gaza City, several hospitals reportedly came under attack again overnight and into Friday. This includes Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, which had become a de facto shelter for many displaced Gazans looking for a refuge from Israeli airstrikes. Thousands fled their encampments around the hospital grounds on Friday, and tens of thousands evacuated Gaza City altogether through Israeli lines to head south. Some 100,000 people are estimated to have made that trek over the past two days, according to the AP. IDF spokesperson Richard Hecht reiterated to reporters that it “does not fire on hospitals” while it was busy firing on those hospitals. The post-October 7 death toll in Gaza, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, has now topped 11,000 with over 2600 missing and many/most of those likely dead as well. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but it seems clear that most of the casualties have been civilians.