IT’S WAR: Israel has ordered a full blockade of the Gaza strip … no food, water, or fuel to be allowed in as Israel prepares for a likely invasion of the Palestinian enclave.

 The primary goal of the Hamas militant attack on Israel was not to take territory but to kill as many Israelis as possible while taking military prisoners and civilian hostages.

  Evidence of that is the 260 people killed at the site of a desert musical festival, where the militants swept in at dawn hosing people down with gunfire and rocket propelled grenades. They shot people on highways and attacked homes as well. Cars were riddled with bullets and bodies left on the ground. In all, at least 700 Israelis have been killed since Saturday’s attack and more than 500 Palestinians are dead as well.

  Even yesterday, Israeli forces were still engaged in gunbattles with militants who signed on for a suicide mission when they crossed the border from Gaza. The militants have killed until they in turn were killed by defenders.

   The Israeli military said fighter jets struck 150 targets in the neighborhood it calls the “terror nest” for Hamas militants in Gaza City. But despite the ferocity of its reaction already, the Israeli military is still preparing for what is likely to be a massive and vengeful counterattack. Israel has already turned off the power that supplies about two-thirds of Gaza, one of the most densely populated pieces of real estate in the world. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a “long and difficult war” ahead. 

  Several Americans are known to be among the dead and some may have been taken hostage. Citizens from a variety of countries were snatched, not just Israelis.

  In response to the situation the US is moving an aircraft carrier group to the area, not to engage in combat but as a warning to neighboring anti-Israel countries not to get involved.

  This explosion of terror has been building for a long time. Gaza has been seething under a 16-year Israeli blockade that bars some imports, particularly electronics that could be used in weapons, and prevents most people from leaving.  

  The Hamas attack and resulting war has had the reverse effect of unifying the country behind its divisive Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to face a common enemy. Prior to the Hamas attack, 10,000 Israeli military reservists threatened to refuse duty because of Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken the Israeli judiciary to give himself more power than the courts. 

  While the fighting goes on, it’s too early to assess the preliminary political and governmental repercussions over how the Israeli military and intelligence establishments didn’t see this coming. 

LEADERSHIP: Congressional Republicans return to work today to begin picking a new speaker of the House, a test of whether they can pull themselves together. 

  Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Ohio’s Jim Jordan are the only two who’ve said they want the job. Although the nation doesn’t hear that much from him, Scalise is deeply conservative, suspicious and mistrusting of government. Jordan is a founder of the House Freedom Caucus, the group that brought about the republican party’s internal meltdown.

DON’T TALK ABOUT IT: The annual anthropology conference has cancelled a planned panel discussion about how the academic discipline is erasing the notion that sexual identity is binary — either male or female.

  Leaders of the conference removed the panel from the agenda saying it would be harmful to trans sexual and nonbinary people. The American Anthropological Association and Canadian Anthropology Society said they are protecting the transgender community: “The session was rejected because it relied on assumptions that run contrary to the settled science in our discipline, framed in ways that do harm to vulnerable members of our community.”

FLEET OF FOOT: Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum overran the world marathon record in Chicago yesterday, becoming the first runner to ever finish under 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon. Kiptum finished in an astonishing 2:00:35. Eliud Kipchoge, also of Kenya, held the previous world record of 2:01:09 set in Berlin last year.

THE SPIN RACK: the Taliban government says that as many as 2,000 people are dead after two powerful earthquakes in Western Afghanistan. — The Powerball jackpot has grown to $1.55 billion, one of the biggest ever. The drawing is tonight. — At least 961 migrating birds were killed in one night after crashing into the windows of the McCormick Place Lakeside Center in Chicago. They are confused by the glass and reflection on the building. It’s an annual tragedy, but this year is particularly bad.

BELOW THE FOLD: Airbnb has become the lucrative way homeowners can make a little extra cash with a spare room, apartment, or guest house. But not always.

  In Los Angeles Sascha Jovanovic, a periodontist, let out his guest house to a woman named Elizabeth Hirschhorn, who was to pay $105 a night for six months. She stayed there and stayed and stayed and stayed. Her rental ended in April of 2022, but she’s still there refusing to leave or pay rent.

  A judge has ruled that under the city’s rent stabilization ordinance, he has no legal reason to evict her. Jovanovic showed the Los Angeles Times a settlement offer in which Hirschhorn would leave in exchange for a $100,000 relocation fee of $100,000. Her lawyer told the Times that Hirschhorn is not required to pay rent because the city never approved the unit for occupancy and that its shower was constructed without a permit. But it appears to be useable because she’s still there. 

Airbnb has deleted Hirschhorn’s account.

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