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      Kamala Harris pays tribute to victims of 7 October attacks on first anniversary

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      US politicians on both sides of the aisle issued statements marking the anniversary of the 7 October attacks, with Kamala Harris paying tribute to the victims and calling, in their honor, to “never lose sight of the dream of peace, dignity, and security for all”.Outside the vice-presidential residence, Harris, accompanied by her husband, spoke of the nearly 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, killed in Israel one year ago.She mentioned a singer from Missouri who died shielding her son from bullets, an academic and peace activist who studied in Seattle, and a dancer from California who was killed at the Nova music festival.Harris expressed a commitment to “always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself” and named each of the seven American hostages still held in Gaza, including four still believed to be alive.“We must uphold the commitment to repair the world, an idea that has been passed on throughout generations of the Jewish people and across many faiths,” she added. “To that end we must work to relieve the immense suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza who have experienced so much pain and loss over the year.”Earlier, Joe Biden commemorated the anniversary with a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House on Monday.The US president was joined by Jill Biden and Rabbi Aaron Alexander, who said a short prayer. Biden did not speak at the ceremony, but he paid tribute earlier in a statement to “the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust” and condemned the “vicious surge in antisemitism in America” since the attacks.“The October 7 attack brought to the surface painful memories left by millennia of hatred and violence against the Jewish people,” he said, before also referencing the suffering of Palestinians.“I believe that history will also remember October 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict.”Harris also nodded to the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza.“I am heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year – tens of thousands of lives lost, children fleeing for safety over and over again, mothers and fathers struggling to obtain food, water, and medicine,” she said in a statement. “It is far past time for a hostage and ceasefire deal to end the suffering of innocent people.”The Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, also spoke out on Monday, using the occasion as an opportunity to attack Biden and Harris. Speaking at a pro-Israel rally in Washington DC organized by the Christian group Philos Project, he called the attacks of 7 October “the worst terrorist attack since 9/11” and an attack not only on Israel and Jewish people but “on Americans”.“It is disgraceful that we have an American president and vice-president who haven’t done a thing,” he said. “Vice-President Harris, our message is: ‘Bring them home.’ Use your authority to help bring them home.”Vance then criticized what he described as the “pro-Hamas” protests happening across the country on Monday and the students that he said are “supporting Islamic radicals, destroying property, and threatening Jewish students and professors”.Meanwhile, Donald Trump paid a visit to the Ohel, the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in New York City on Monday. The site is considered a pilgrimage destination by many Orthodox Jews – a group that widely supports the former president, in contrast with other Jewish Americans who tend to vote Democratic.Trump is scheduled to speak later on Monday at a remembrance event at his golf course in Doral, Florida.He is widely expected to turn the event into an attack on his rival. In recent weeks, he has said that he has been “the best president by far” for Israel, and that Jewish voters supporting Harris “should have their head examined”. More

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      in Elections

      Fears of a Global Oil Shock if the Mideast Crisis Intensifies

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      The threat of an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has created an “extraordinarily precarious” global situation, sowing alarm about the potential economic fallout.As the world absorbs the prospect of an escalating conflict in the Middle East, the potential economic fallout is sowing increasing alarm. The worst fears center on a broadly debilitating development: a shock to the global oil supply.Such a result, actively contemplated in world capitals, could yield surging prices for gasoline, fuel and other products made with petroleum like plastics, chemicals and fertilizer. It could discourage investment, hiring, and business expansion, threatening many economies — particularly in Europe — with the risk of recession. The effects would be potent in nations that depend on imported oil, especially poor countries in Africa.The possibility of this calamitous outcome has come into focus in recent days as Israel plots its response to the barrage of missiles that Iran unleashed last week. Some scenarios are seen as highly unlikely, yet still conceivable: An Israeli strike on Iranian oil installations might prompt Iran to target refineries in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, both major oil producers. Iranian-supported Houthi rebels claimed credit for an attack on Saudi oil installations in 2019. The Trump administration subsequently pinned the blame on Iranian forces.As it has done before, Iran might also threaten the passage of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that is the conduit for oil produced in the Persian Gulf, the source of nearly one-third of the world’s oil production. Such a move could entail conflict with American naval ships stationed in the region.That, too, is currently considered to be improbable. But the upheaval in the region in recent months has pushed out the parameters of possibility, rendering imaginable scenarios that were once dismissed as extreme.As Israel plots its next move, it has other targets besides Iranian oil installations. Iran would have reason for caution in crafting its own retaliation. Broadening the war to its Persian Gulf neighbors would invite a punishing response that could push Iran’s own economy — already bleak — to the brink of collapse.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Key Moments in the Middle East War Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 Attack on Israel: Timeline

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      Near dawn one year ago, the militant group Hamas began an assault from Gaza into Israel.It signaled the start of a series of events that have shaken the Middle East. Here are some key moments:Hamas attacks IsraelOn Oct. 7, armed paragliders took off from Gaza. Militants used drones to destroy Israeli surveillance stations and began to fire thousands of rockets. Commandos in trucks and on motorbikes sped into southern Israel.Rockets are fired from Gaza City toward Israel on Oct. 7.Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn an hourslong assault, Hamas and other Gaza-based groups killed up to 1,200 civilians and security personnel across the border in Israel, committed atrocities, and took more than 250 people back to Gaza as hostages.In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel declared war on Hamas. Israel sealed Gaza’s border and started a campaign of airstrikes, a bombardment that would be one of the most intense in 21st-century warfare and kill tens of thousands of Gazans over the months to come.Iran allies join the fightHezbollah, a Lebanese militant group supported by Iran, began firing missiles and drones at Israeli positions on Oct. 8 in support of Hamas. Israel responded with its own airstrikes, with both sides initially calibrating tit-for-tat attacks to avoid escalation. The fighting would force about 150,000 people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.Others in Iran’s network of armed groups, which it calls the “axis of resistance,” would soon join the fight against Israel and its allies. The Houthis of Yemen disrupted global shipping by attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea in support of Hamas, and launched a drone strike on Tel Aviv, killing one person.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Israel Steps Up Attacks in Gaza and Lebanon Ahead of Oct. 7 Anniversary

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      Israel appeared to label much of northern Gaza as an evacuation zone and in Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah strongholds, as the region also braced for Israel to hit back at Iran.Israel intensified its fight on two fronts Sunday, stepping up operations against Hamas in Gaza and carrying out more airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, as the region braced for Israel to hit back at Iran for its barrage of ballistic missiles last week.The expected strike’s potential to ignite an all-out war between Israel and Iran cast a pall over the eve of the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, which led to the upending of the Middle East and exposed the limits of American influence in the region.The Israeli military appeared to label the vast majority of northern Gaza as an evacuation zone in what it said was preparation for “a new phase” in the war, after launching a major raid targeting Hamas in the area.In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, shortly after warning residents there to flee. Israel also said over the weekend that it had killed two Hamas officials in Lebanon.In Israel, two surface-to-surface missiles fired from Lebanon set off sirens in towns up to 50 miles south of the Lebanese border. The missiles were intercepted by Israel’s air defenses, its military said. In the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva, a member of the Israeli border police was killed and five other people were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds in an attack in the city’s central bus station, according to the police and Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service.As fighting has escalated and Israel issued restrictions on public gatherings, organizers have scaled back events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 assault.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Antisemitic Incidents Reach New High in the U.S., Report Finds

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      The Anti-Defamation League has found that cases of antisemitism have surged in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against Israel last year.The number of antisemitic episodes in the United States surged to the highest recorded in a one-year period in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel last year, the Anti-Defamation League said on Sunday.The new figures — covering Oct. 7, 2023, to Sept. 24 — were about triple the number of cases reported to the organization during the same period a year before, the A.D.L., a civil rights organization, said in a statement.The group identified more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents, which were split into categories such as verbal or written harassment, vandalism and physical assault. The largest number of cases — 8,015 — fell under verbal or written harassment, according to the figures.Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the A.D.L., said Oct. 7 would be “one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”“From that day on, Jewish Americans haven’t had a single moment of respite,” he said, adding that instead “we’ve faced a shocking number of antisemitic threats and experienced calls for more violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere.”The organization has been tracking cases of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault in the United States since 1979 and publishes its research in an annual report.The group said it recorded “an unprecedented total number” of 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2022, a 140 percent increase from the previous year.Its latest report is the fourth time in six years that the A.D.L. has said it inventoried a record-high count of antisemitic episodes.The states with the highest number of recorded cases in the most recent report were California (1,266), New York (1,218), New Jersey (830), Florida (463) and Massachusetts (440).The antisemitic incidents have increased since Hamas attacked Israel last year and the war became a heated issue on American college campuses, where numerous protests have taken place.The report noted that at least 922 episodes had taken place on college and university campuses. During the same period a year earlier, the organization had recorded nearly 200 cases on campuses.The A.D.L. also said that the number of bomb threats made to Jewish institutions such as synagogues had soared from its previous report to 1,000, from 81.In addition, the group said, its preliminary research found that more than 3,000 of the antisemitic incidents had occurred during anti-Israel rallies in public spaces, such as parks and streets.The A.D.L., which was founded in 1913, said it used the research to create and improve programs to counter and prevent the spread of antisemitism and bigotry.The organization said that it expected its preliminary figures to increase as it received more reports. Final data for 2024 will be published in the spring of 2025. More

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      in US Politics

      Western leaders’ silence about Israel’s atrocities gives free rein to Netanyahu | Letters

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      Owen Jones speaks for many of us (What atrocity would Israel have to commit for our leaders to break their silence?, 3 October). Joe Biden, Keir Starmer and other western leaders have responded to Israel’s actions by repeatedly stating that they stand with Israel and its right to defend itself. They have been quick to vociferously condemn those who threaten or attack Israel, but silent on the atrocities Israel inflicts on tens of thousands of innocent civilians in neighbouring countries. Benjamin Netanyahu has interpreted this silence as permission to pursue his strategy without effective censure or sanction.Therefore the question remains of whether these political leaders are complicit in the killing of thousands of innocent civilians, the creation of millions of refugees and the destruction of towns and cities. Like many others, I yearn to see brave political leadership willing to speak out and challenge Israel’s right to act without adherence to fundamental humanitarian rights and principles of international law. Without such a voice being heard, there will be no end to this humanitarian tragedy.Peter RiddleWirksworth, Derbyshire More

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      in Elections

      Fear Overshadows Oct. 7 Memorial Preparations in Israel

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      People in Israel were bracing on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, entering a heavily charged week that promises to be filled with mourning as well as fighting.The Oct. 7 attack prompted Israel’s devastating counteroffensive against Hamas in Gaza, and in the year since the conflict has spread to additional fronts and drawn in allies of the Iranian-backed militant group. With the security situation precarious, rapidly changing restrictions on public gatherings in Israel have added a pall of uncertainty to the anguish around planned memorials for victims of the assault that threw the Middle East into turmoil.Israel is simultaneously engaged in ground and air offensives against Hezbollah in Lebanon and, once again, Hamas in northern Gaza, five months after its troops left the area. It also is considering a retaliatory strike against Iran, which backs both groups, after Tehran launched about 180 missiles at Israel last week — escalations that threaten to spiral into war between the two powers and engulf the region.The intensifying fighting and rising tensions have already resulted in the scaling back of a major event planned for Monday, a memorial gathering in a Tel Aviv park organized by families of Oct. 7 victims and of hostages who remain in Gaza. When online registration for the event opened last month, the 40,000 available slots were snapped up within hours.But with Israel’s Home Front Command restricting outdoor gatherings to 2,000 people in the center of the country, the organizers announced that the event would take place without a mass audience and instead would be live streamed, with only invited members of the bereaved families and hostage families physically present.And after the Israeli military said it had intercepted two surface-to-surface missiles fired from Lebanon on Sunday morning, some Israelis were questioning the wisdom of allowing any sizable public gatherings. The missiles set off sirens in Israeli towns up to 50 miles south of the Lebanese border and showed that Hezbollah could still pose a significant threat despite Israel’s recent blows to its leadership and arsenal.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Elections

      Israel Steps Up Attacks in Lebanon as Fighting Spreads

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      With the region on edge about a possible Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran, U.S. Central Command hit targets in Yemen, and Israel ordered evacuations in Gaza.As Israel escalated its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Saturday, much of the Middle East was on edge, with many expecting an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran as payback for its missile barrage on Israel earlier this week.Fighting expanded across the region, with the United States Central Command striking Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen and Israeli forces warning residents in two areas in the central Gaza Strip to evacuate, presumably in preparation for stepped up military action there.In Lebanon, a huge strike earlier in the week reportedly targeted Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who was recently assassinated by Israel. It was not clear whether Mr. Safieddine had been killed.Israeli strikes appeared to hit the Dahiya, an area south of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway and where the Israeli military late on Friday again issued evacuation warnings for civilians. At least four hospitals across southern Lebanon are now out of service as a result of Israel’s bombardment, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. The Saint Therese Medical Center near the Dahiya has also suspended services, saying that Israeli strikes inflicted “huge damage.”Hezbollah on Saturday fired more rockets into northern Israel, though most seem to have been intercepted by Israel’s air-defense system.Concern has been building over whether the broadening war would further draw in Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that Iran could carry out additional attacks on Israel “if necessary.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More