Tuesday marked one month since the deadly Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israeli civilians and launched the deadliest fighting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen in decades. 
 

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday in an interview with ABC News that Israel would be responsible for overall security in Gaza for an “indefinite period” when the fighting stops. While he did clarify what he meant, this has raised concerns that he intends to reimpose the Israeli occupation of the enclave. Israel has not directly occupied Gaza since withdrawing from the territory in 2005, though it imposed a crippling blockade of the territory soon after. The White House and many of Israel’s other Western allies have repeatedly warned against a reoccupation of Gaza. Netanyahu’s statement contradicts one made by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant just one week earlier that “removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” was a central goal of the ongoing military campaign. 
   

• The Israeli government announced Tuesday that its ground forces were fighting Hamas “in the depths of” Gaza City, signaling a new phase in the conflict that is expected to bring even more civilian deaths. One month of steady Israeli airstrikes has killed more than 10,300 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, around 70 percent have fled their homes. Many are crowded into United Nations shelters. Israeli airstrikes have leveled entire city blocks in Gaza, destroying schools, mosques, homes, hospitals, and other nonmilitary targets. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday that a humanitarian convoy attempting to deliver medical supplies came under fire in Gaza city, damaging the trucks and lightly wounding the driver. The aid group did not specify who was responsible for the shooting.
   

• Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has been deeply divisive among Jewish Israelis, who have in recent years polarized over matters relating to security and the Palestinians. Though support for the Israeli military remains high and many Israelis have rallied in support of the war, polls also show widespread dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s leadership. While their reasons vary, with some calling for even harsher military action, others have accused Netanyahu of abandoning the estimated 240 hostages still held by Hamas. On Saturday, thousands amassed in Tel Aviv, some holding photographs of hostages, others carrying posters with slogans like “Release the hostages now at all costs” and “Bring them home now.” Israel’s far-right coalition government was unpopular before the conflict broke out, and had been the subject of nationwide protests this summer over a slate of aggressive reforms to the justice system that many democracy watchdogs called an attempted judicial coup. A poll released Saturday by Israel’s Channel 13 Television found that 76 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu should resign. He has served a record six terms as Prime Minister.

One month after October 7, the Biden administration finds itself on precarious footing. 
 

• Biden administration officials say that Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas has cost far too many civilian casualties and have privately expressed frustration at what they consider Israel’s absence of a coherent strategy or endgame. But several U.S. efforts to get the Netanyahu government to scale back its attacks have been rebuffed outright. Senior White House officials privately urged Israel not to pursue a ground invasion, that its strikes on Gaza adhere to norms of proportionality, which is required under international law, and that it place a higher premium on reducing civilian casualties. They also advocated for a humanitarian pause to facilitate hostage negotiations with Hamas and allow for aid to be distributed in Gaza. Israeli officials rejected all of those proposals. The Netanyahu government has also invoked the staggering civilian death tolls of U.S. military campaigns in Fallujah, Mosul, Hiroshima, and others, in an attempt to help justify the now more than 10,000 Palestinian casualties. 
   

• The White House has sought to assuage the leaders of allied Arab countries with public and private assurances that the United States shares their concern for civilian life in Gaza. Some Arab leaders, though, have privately objected that American support for Israel appears to remain unwavering regardless of Israeli actions. Senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) had this to say: “It’s important for the administration to be loud in their concern for the humanitarian toll…if we all want to prevent another front from opening up and we want the Gulf states to be part of the reconstruction of Gaza, then we need to make as clear as possible that the United States is prioritizing reduction in civilian harm.” Murphy recently issued a public statement calling the volume of civilian deaths “unacceptable” and urging Israel to change course. 
   

The Biden administration has largely declined to comment about its communication and pressure strategy with Israel, but has pointed to previous comments such as national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s statement that Hamas’s use of civilian “human shields” does not negate Israel’s responsibility to minimize civilian casualties.

We're just days away from the 2023 Election, and there’s a lot going on behind the scenes here at Crooked, and on the Friends of the Pod Discord. Tomorrow, November 8th, Crooked hosts and staff will be on Discord for our GroupThread covering the third and blessedly final GOP Primary debate. While we won’t be streaming the debate, you can count on us to add live commentary and much needed comic relief to an otherwise unwatchable showdown of America’s most rizz-less goons. There’s never been a better time to join Friends of the Pod. To catch all this and more, head to Crooked.com/friends. 

Last year, a sweeping Supreme Court ruling greatly hindered states’ abilities to restrict gun ownership and efforts to arm oneself in public. As of Tuesday, the Court seems prepared to walk back at least a small part of that decision. Even the most conservative justices seemed ready to accept that a judge’s ruling of dangerousness in domestic violence proceedings are sufficient grounds to ban gun possession. The current case before the court, United States vs. Rahimi, centers on a Texas man named Zackey Rahimi, who assaulted his girlfriend in 2019, and threatened to shoot her if she told anyone, which led her to obtain a restraining order. The order suspended Rahimi’s gun license and prohibited him from possessing a firearm, but he defied the ban. He threatened another woman and opened fire in public five times in two months. That was enough for even the state of Texas to want to repossess Rahimi’s guns. But an appellate court judge in New Orleans vacated Rahimi’s conviction, because the judge thought it violated the Second Amendment. The case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, and now we find ourselves once again begging the nine most powerful people in the country to uphold common-sense gun laws.

A Colorado jury acquitted Denver-area police officer Nathan Woodyard of manslaughter on Monday for the 2021 killing of a 23-year-old Black man named Elijah MClain. Woodyard put the young man in a neck hold before McClain was injected with a powerful sedative by paramedics and died. 

Arturo Béjar, a former engineering director at Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, testified before Congress on Tuesday that the company did nothing to address concerns that its platforms were unsafe for children and teenagers. Béjar cited his own experience of witnessing his daughter endure sexual harassment on Instagram in his testimony. 

The Centers for Disease Control reported on Tuesday that the number of newborns with syphilis in the United States surged more than tenfold in the past decade to the highest rate in over 30 years. Nine out of 10 cases may have been prevented with well-timed testing and treatment during gestation. Syphilis is an STI that can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage, infant death, and maternal and infant morbidity. 

A new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics shows that guns surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death for children aged one and older in the United States in 2020. Gun deaths among children hit a new record high in 2021. 

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned on Tuesday over alleged corruption in his administration’s handling of national lithium mining and hydrogen projects. Costa said his conscience was “clear” but he would not run for his position again.

A new Siena poll says Biden’s edge with Black voters, especially young voters, has faded over the course of his administration. Disgraced former president Donald Trump took 8 percent of the Black vote in 2020; now 22 percent of Black voters say they would support him, though many say they are open to returning to Biden. Pollsters tell the New York Times that they’re less worried about Trump successfully competing for a crucial share of the Black vote, which remains the bedrock of the Democratic Party’s electoral strategy, and more about disillusionment among Biden’s Black supporters, who might stay away from polls altogether. Progressive organizers told the Times that Black voters had expressed disappointment with high prices and, in particular, housing instability, a trend that has been seemingly impervious to otherwise favorable economic indicators. Student debt, too, remains a worry: Repayments have finally restarted, making one of Biden’s signature accomplishments moot for a broad swath of borrowers. Biden needs his base; he’s not making inroads with other groups, so the coalition that took him to the White House in 2020 is still his best bet. In the coming year, Biden’s team and Democratic strategists know they have their work cut out for them.

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Ohio voters passed state ballot Amendment 1, which will enshrine reproductive rights including abortion access into their state Constitution. More on this tomorrow, but wow! Hell yeah! OH-IO! 

Ohio also legalized recreational marijuana usage. Okay!!!

Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) won reelection in the Bluegrass State. Phew!

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it had sent letters to major medical device companies and drugmakers disputing the accuracy or relevance of 110 patents that may be hampering generic competition and thus lower prices for consumers. 

Scientists have discovered the oldest black hole yet, dating 470 million years after the Big Bang. Is this “good news” per se? We’re not sure, but we’re doing our best here.