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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, November 1st. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show: Israel strikes a refugee camp in Gaza; How journalists are risking their lives to cover the war; And a scandal that put fake parts in planes' engines.
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We'll start with the Israel-Hamas war, and the Israeli airstrike on a densely populated refugee camp in Gaza. The powerful attack carved huge craters in the ground, destroying concrete buildings and turning a large area into a pile of rubble. Palestinian health officials say at least dozens of people are dead and many more wounded. Rescuers are digging through the wreckage, hoping to find more survivors.
Israel says it was targeting Hamas militants and killed a high-level commander in the strike on the camp. It has consistently accused Hamas of placing military assets near civilian areas, hospitals, and mosques. Israel Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht spoke to "CNN" after the attack.
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Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht: About the civilians there, we're doing everything we can to minimize. I'll tell you, I'll say it again. Sadly, they are hiding themselves within civilian population.
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Hamas denies that there was any senior commander at the refugee camp Israel targeted. And it says several hostages were killed in yesterday’s attack.
Aid groups say, for the civilians caught in the middle of the war, they've been plunged deeper into a public-health catastrophe. Doctors are overwhelmed with the scale of injuries. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah talked to "NBC" about what he's seeing.
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Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah: This has been a massacre that's been unfolding, and now we're getting to the final chapter of this massacre where even the wounded will not be spared. The world needs to intervene now.
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There's some hopeful news today with the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt finally reopened to civilians. Egypt is allowing a few severely wounded Palestinians to receive treatment in Egyptian hospitals. And the open border crossing is a way for American and other foreign nationals trapped in Gaza to get out. A small amount of aid trucks have made it into Gaza. But until today, people inside weren't allowed entry into Egypt. Crowds of people have been gathered at the border for days, hoping to be able to get out of Gaza.
The UN and many countries continue to press Israel for a pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid for civilians. Israel has refused. After the refugee camp strike, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply alarmed" by the intensification of the conflict. He said all parties must follow international humanitarian law, which he said "is not an à la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively."
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Let's focus now on the danger of covering this war for journalists in Gaza. They have the same fears as other civilians: Is my family safe, is there food, is there water? How will we keep in touch with each other, and with the world, through phone and internet blackouts, including another one today.
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Youmna Elsayed: Everything is happening so quickly, and it's really, really difficult for any human being to take.
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That's Al Jazeera English correspondent, Youmna ElSayed.
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Elsayed: All we think about is how to make these kids feel safe. Literally, our buildings are shaking with every bombardment. But we just tell them, don't worry, it's far away. We're staying together. If we die, we die together.
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Mahmoud Bassam has been working with the "BBC." He says he worries about his wife and baby each time he leaves home in Gaza to cover the story, but he takes the risk because it's important. He says: "Sometimes from behind the camera, I just stand and cry."
Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdouh, lost his wife, children and grandson in an air strike. The next day, he went back to work.
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Wael al-Dahdouh: [SPEAKING ARABIC]
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He told viewers, "I saw it is my duty, despite my pain, and despite my bleeding wound, to return quickly."
Already, this war is on track to be one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists in decades. The Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 31 have been killed. Most were Palestinians. Others are injured or missing. Each death makes it harder and harder to get an inside view of what's really happening on the ground in Gaza.
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<v Now, Let's step away from the war coverage and talk about an extensive "Bloomberg" investigation into the airline industry. Air travel is highly regulated and the safest form of transportation. But there is growing alarm about a potential danger>Fake parts inside jet engines.
"Bloomberg" reports that a London company sold thousands of them, which wound up in more than 100 engines around the world. An elaborate system of forged documents and fake identities allowed the company to pass off used parts as new.
Aerospace reporter Julie Johnsson told us, while no flight emergencies have been called because of engine malfunctions, the scale and audacity of the scam points to gaps in the system. She said many planes had to be grounded and checked for dangerous parts.
Julie Johnsson: So, the biggest, most sophisticated U.S. airlines have gone through their records and found problematic parts. They've shown up in China, in Australia, and even in the shops of the engine maker, CFM, itself.
There's no evidence that the most critical engine components were part of the scam. But the fact that some fake parts got into the system has key players in the industry calling for tougher regulations.
Johnsson: It's really puzzling that we haven't heard more from the regulatory side as to how they're gonna respond to this. You know, there were a series of investigations in the 1990s on this very issue that resulted in congressional hearings and a call to action. And so, a few prominent people in the industry are wondering why that hasn't happened yet.
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You can read "Bloomberg's" full investigation in the Apple News app.
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Today, the Federal Reserve wraps up its latest meeting. There's practically no chance it'll raise interest rates again. But rates are already jacked up. Fed actions and other factors are making this a very expensive time to borrow money, including for a home mortgage.
"The Wall Street Journal" totals it all up in a pretty devastating headline if you're hoping to purchase a home: "There's Never Been a Worse Time to Buy Instead of Rent." The data shows that it's now 52 percent more expensive to buy, rather than rent. That's the biggest difference in records going back decades. And a big reason is the surging rates on home mortgages, with 30-year rates close to eight percent. Just a few years back, they were below three percent.
"The Journal" points out the last time the rent versus buy numbers were so out of whack was before the 2008 housing crash. One economist says this means there's a lot of wannabe first-time buyers waiting on the sidelines for the math to make sense. And in the meantime, maybe the only people getting what they want in the current housing market are renters who plan to keep renting for a while.
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You can find more details on the housing market in the full story in the Apple News app. And if you’re already listening in the News app, we’ve got a Narrated Article from the "New Yorker" playing for you next. Editor David Remnick reports from Israel, from the grounds where the October 7th Hamas attack took place. If you’re listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story. And I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
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