FirstFT: Israel widens Gaza ground offensive as calls for pause in fighting mount

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Israel has widened its ground offensive in Gaza while international aid groups have stepped up their demands for a pause in the fighting, amid increasing alarm at the heavy toll the country’s bombardment is inflicting on civilians in the strip.

In a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, US president Joe Biden emphasised the need to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance” to civilians in Gaza, the White House said.

Daniel Hagari, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, said Israel was “advancing through the stages of the war, according to our plan” and “gradually expanding our ground operations”. He added that “dozens of terrorists” had been killed during attacks in Gaza yesterday.

Speaking last night, he also repeated earlier calls for Palestinians to evacuate south to areas closer to the enclave’s border with Egypt. “Today we emphasise: this is an urgent call,” he said.

But aid groups say the movement of thousands of people from their homes is exacerbating Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. UNRWA, the main UN agency providing relief in the territory, said thousands of desperate Palestinians were breaking into its warehouses to seize wheat flour and other staples, in a sign that civil order was starting to break down. Read the full story here.

Here’s more of our coverage and analysis of the conflict:

• Hostage talks: Israel and Hamas have continued indirect negotiations over the release of civilians held by the Palestinian militant group despite Israeli forces moving deeper into Gaza.

• Netanyahu apologises: Israel’s prime minister was forced to apologise after a furious backlash over his claim that the security establishment had not warned him of Hamas’s plan to attack the country.

• Gaza hospitals: After three weeks of heavy Israeli bombardment, medical services in the besieged territory are on the brink, with exhausted staff managing with fast-dwindling resources.

• Military briefing: The seemingly limited scope of Israel’s initial incursion into Gaza is aimed at maximising its firepower advantage over Hamas and minimising its own casualties, current and former officials said.

• Opinion: Israel’s move into Gaza marks a dangerous new phase that could heighten the risks of a broader regional conflict, writes the Financial Times Middle East editor Andrew England.

And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Apple: The tech giant is expected to unveil new Macs at its “Scary Fast” product launch event.

• Earnings: HSBC and McDonald’s report. Pearson has a trading update.

• Football: The world’s best male and female footballers will be recognised with the Ballon d’Or award in France.

Five more top stories

1. A mob stormed Dagestan’s main airport yesterday, reportedly searching for Israeli passengers from a flight that had landed from Tel Aviv. The angry crowds in the Muslim-majority southern Russian region brandished Palestinian flags and encircled the plane, with some attempting to board the aircraft, climbing on to its wings and roof. Read the full story.

2. The Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates unchanged this week at 5.25 per cent, the highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. Markets and experts expect the central bank to follow its European and Canadian counterparts in holding rates steady, while the majority of economists predict the US Federal Reserve will also sit tight. Here’s more on rate-setters’ continuing battle against inflation.

• Inflation crimes and misdemeanours: Chris Giles gives his list of top 10 offences against data, logic and inference committed since inflation took off in the latest Central Banks newsletter for premium subscribers.

3. Elon Musk’s offer to provide satellite internet to Gaza aid groups has angered Israel, which said Hamas would use it for “terrorist purposes”. His post on his social media platform, X, came after cellular and internet connectivity was knocked out in the enclave on Friday, cutting off most of its population from the world during the heaviest bombardment of Gaza since the war began and creating an information vacuum.

4. Exclusive: The increasing fragmentation of Europe’s banking system is a “faultline” that heightens financial vulnerability and saddles everyone with higher costs, the European Central Bank’s outgoing head of supervision has warned. Andrea Enria, who steps down at the end of the year, said this fragmentation was his biggest “personal regret”. Read his full interview with the FT.

5. Exclusive: Britain is “squeezing out” millions of workers from its artificial intelligence summit to be held this week, trade unions and rights campaigners have said. Writing to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today, more than 100 individuals and groups around the world said the government’s AI event is giving too much influence to Big Tech. Here’s more from their open letter.

The Big Read

Despite the widely held belief that dementia is destined to rise exponentially as global populations age, the prospects of avoiding the condition seem stronger today than they were a generation ago — at least in the developed world. Research shows the number of new cases in Europe and North America has been dropping for years, while there are early signs of Japan showing the same phenomenon. Here’s what experts say is behind the unexpected trend.

We’re also reading . . . 

• War in Ukraine: Russia has poured troops, bombs and artillery into a new offensive on the eastern industrial city of Avdiivka.

• Israel-Hamas war: Human rights campaigners say scores of Palestinian-Israeli citizens have been arrested, harassed, lost their jobs or faced disciplinary proceedings over statements and social media posts about the war.

• Gender gap: Law firms are under pressure to make more women partners, with senior ranks still dominated by men despite recent progress.

• Goldman Sachs: The success of Sixth Street Partners chief Alan Waxman, an alumnus of the bank, highlights its talent challenges, writes Sujeet Indap.

Chart of the day

Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker by sales, has indicated in recent weeks that it is close to a manufacturing breakthrough for solid-state batteries, a key component of electric vehicles. Here’s how the potentially game-changing technology could transform transport.

Lunch with the FT

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde sits down for Lunch with the FT to discuss steep learning curves, managing shocks and taking deep breaths.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm