An Israeli strike on Rafah killed at least 45 people
The day after an airstrike killed dozens of displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, called the deaths a “tragic accident” and accused Hamas of hiding among the general population.
“For us, every uninvolved civilian who is hurt is a tragedy,” he said. “For Hamas, it’s a strategy. That’s the whole difference.”
The Israeli military said that the strike had targeted a Hamas compound and had killed two Hamas officials. But an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an initial investigation had concluded that the strike, or shrapnel from it, might have unexpectedly ignited a flammable substance at the site.
At least 45 people were killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, including 23 women, children and older people. The ministry said that 249 people were wounded. Witnesses and survivors described a terrifying scene of burn victims and tents in flames.
The strike came two days after the International Court of Justice, with a 13-2 ruling, appeared to order Israel to stop its Rafah offensive. President Emmanuel Macron of France said that he was “outraged” by the airstrike in Rafah, adding, “These operations must stop.”
Aid: The flow of aid into Gaza has shrunk so much in May that humanitarian officials say that the threat of widespread starvation is more acute than ever.
The Papua New Guinea landslide buried thousands
More than 2,000 people were buried alive in a landslide that smothered a village and work camp on Friday in Papua New Guinea’s remote northern highlands, the authorities told the U.N. The numbers, including those reported Monday, could not be independently verified.
How China came to dominate clean energy technology
Western countries have long pursued green technology — in 1970, Jimmy Carter, the U.S. president, put solar panels on the White House. But no country has come close to matching the scale and tenacity of China.
In 2022, China accounted for 85 percent of the world’s clean energy manufacturing investment, and the country controls over 80 percent of every step of solar panel manufacturing.
China’s unrivaled production of clean energy technology is built on an earlier cultivation of the chemical, steel, battery and electronics industries. This is how it got there.
In the U.S., President Biden is trying to make Chinese electric vehicles prohibitively expensive to protect the domestic industry. But Donald Trump has promised that if he is elected, he will slam the brakes on the E.V. transition.
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A wartime box-office success in Ukraine
The lines for the show snake down the block, with people waiting up to seven hours to buy tickets at the theater in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine. There, theatergoers are flocking to see “The Witch of Konotop,” a gloomy play based on a classic 19th-century Ukrainian novel, to make sense of life during war.
The play dramatizes the story of a Cossack leader, as he tries to root out witches whom local townspeople believe are responsible for a drought. The action takes place against the backdrop of a military threat from czarist Russia.
The play’s success underlines a renewed interest in Ukraine’s cultural heritage since Russia’s invasion began, while capturing the fear under which people are living. “Tragedy comes and takes everything from you, your love and your home,” Mykhailo Matiukhin, an actor in the production, said.
That’s it for today’s briefing. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us, and see you tomorrow. — Justin
You can reach Justin and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
