Scores of Palestinians Killed Near Aid Convoy in Gaza

Scores of Palestinians were killed and injured on Thursday during an outbreak of violence in which Israeli troops opened fire in the vicinity of a convoy of food trucks attempting to deliver humanitarian aid in northern Gaza. Local officials blamed Israel for the bloodshed while Israel denied its forces shot at the crowd, saying most of the victims were trampled or hit as the trucks sought to escape the chaos. The Associated Press cited doctors and other witnesses who reported numerous gunshot wounds among the dead and injured. The incident helped push the Palestinian death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war beyond 30,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Aid groups said it’s almost impossible to distribute food and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza and the United Nations warned earlier this week that half a million Palestinians there faced starvation. Almost five months after Hamas invaded Israel and killed 1,200 people while kidnapping hundreds more, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doubling down on his stated intent to eliminate the militant group by mounting an attack on Rafah in the south, where millions of Palestinians have sought refuge. The US, Egypt and Qatar are scrambling to secure a pause in fighting while international calls for a ceasefire continue. Negotiators were hopeful for a deal ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March, but there’s no end in sight as Israel and Hamas remain far apart.

For decades, China’s capacity for growth seemed without end. People from rural regions poured into cities for work, helping expand the middle class and build an economic goliath. But times have certainly changed. A sprawling real estate crisis, deflationary pressures, unemployment and a stock market retreat are all signs that this success story may be at an end. And the consequences of that reality won’t be limited to China: The troubles of the world’s second-largest economy increasingly affect the rest of the world. In the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary What China’s Slowdown Means for Us All, Bloomberg journalists analyze what China’s struggles—and those of its consumers—augur for the US, Europe and other countries, their industries and even you.