Reuters World News - Answering the global call to fight and crowdfunding for bulletproof vests. Plus, the latest from Iran, Saudi and Egypt on Gaza.

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

From New York to Lithuania, Israeli reservists are answering the call to return home to fight. Crowdfunding for bulletproof vests – how American Jews are donating supplies to the Israeli military. Plus, Egypt’s dilemma over the crisis in Gaza, Iran and Saudi talk and Blinken is in Israel. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Israel forms an emergency government vowing to wipe Hamas off the map. It's call-up heated by reservists all over the world. You can't just sit, you know, 5,000 miles away in New York and just watch the news. American Jews rush to send all the support they can, even bulletproof vests for members of the Israeli Defence Force, as the pressure grows on Egypt to open a humanitarian coroner, for Gazans. The siege of the Palestinian Territory, the subject of a phone call between Iran's president and the Saudi Crown Prince.

It's Thursday, October 12th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in Nkosia. Iran's president, Abraham Reisi, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have held the first talks between the regional powers in seven years. With 2.3 million Gazans under siege, the regional powers talking on the phone about the need to quote end war crimes against Palestine. That's according to a report by Iran's state media. As the devastation in Gaza deepens, Israel says they won't let up until all hostages taken by Hamas gunmen are freed.

Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is in Israel today. And I'm going with a very simple and clear message, and that is that the United States has Israel's back. Blinkin, who heads to Jordan after Israel, will also focus on stopping regional powers from escalating. Already, sporadic rocket exchanges with Hezbollah have kept Israeli troops busy on the northern border. Iran is a major backer of Hamas,

but it says it was not involved. in last weekend's attack. They called me and they told me that it seems like we are going into a war. Oren Saar runs a food delivery startup in New York City, where he lives with his wife and three young boys. But when he got the call to return to Israel to fight a war with Hamas, he said it was a no-brainer, though he won't tell his kids where he's going.

They know that that is in a business trip to Israel. It's better not to tell them what's... What's going on? Crispi and Barmer spoke to a handful of the over 300,000 reservists who have been called back to fight. Most of the reservists obviously live in Israel, but a large number are abroad. But there are also many, many dual national citizens who have moved to other countries to set up businesses to start their lives there.

And now they're getting call up from the Israeli Defence Force saying, we need you. From what we're hearing, virtually everybody seems to be heeding that call. Where are you right now? So right now I'm in my home. There was one person we talked to who's called Jonathan Brunzell, who only finished his military service this year, which made him exempt from reserve duties. He wasn't due back home until February,

but he heard the news and felt that he had to go back. Two of my good friends are now dead, so it wasn't a question for me. I just knew I had to go back. back home, save my country, help my people, and give my part. But there are also people, a lot of people working in the tech industry in New York. We've got comfortable lives there, many of them American, Israeli citizens, and an awful lot of them that we've spoken to said they really had no hesitation.

They're leaving their comfortable life in New York. They're leaving their jobs. Some of them are leaving their families, and they're heading back to join their old units or squadrons. My unit has been summoned. We also spoke to a young man called Nimrod Nadan, who's a 23-year-old who's studying medicine in Lithuania. He lost friends, relatives in the attack, in the Hamas attack, and he's now heading home. So I cannot sit here and study medicine while I know that my friends are fighting and my family needs protection. This is my time.

I think that there's a general shock at what happened. A lot of people said this is different, this is unprecedented. There was one man in New York who said that basically he'd sat out previous wars in Gaza, but that this time he felt that he just couldn't. So it's a call to arms for the country, for the nation. As reservists head home, Jewish donors in the US have been mobilising to send aid to Israel. Some are even trying to send bulletproof vests to the front lines.

Gabriel Aborta has a story. Jews across the United States are leaping at any opportunity to provide everything from toothbrushes to clothing to monetary donations to support organizations to help in the military effort but also provide humanitarian relief on the ground in Israel. So I've been speaking with people who are organizing these word of mouth, peer-to-peer networks that are crowdsourcing, tons of supplies, and figuring out how to get them to Israel on the few flights that are still leaving the U.S. to go to Israel and also on chartered planes. I've been speaking with people who have heard from their family members or directly from soldiers that there is a great need. for really basic supplies like certain clothing, hydrobladders, those portable water tanks, power blocks for charging phones, even food in some cases. And part of that might be that

the fact that 300,000 reservists have been called up by the Israel Defense Force is a pretty unprecedented call up of reservists and supplies might be low for that reason. We should mention, though, that the Israeli military has denied that there are any systemic shortages of equipment. But, Gabriela, Palestinian civilians are also caught in the crosshairs of this fight. What does the fundraising effort look like to help them? Fundraising for Palestinian aid is more complicated right now because of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, particularly. We know that there is a really dire humanitarian need. a lot of civilians suffering in Gaza,

but how aid will eventually reach the people in the Palestinian territories has yet to be determined. That aid route, or lack thereof, will become critical for Palestinians as it buckles under Israel's blockade and bombardment. Morgs and hospitals are overflowing in Gaza, while its citizens are scrambling to find basic necessities like water, or power. Hisham Muhana is a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He's taking refuge at a friend's house in Gaza City after his was partially damaged. The expected exodus of citizens who managed to get out poses a unique challenge for bordering Egypt, says Reuters' Egypt Bureau Chief, Aidan Lewis. The United States says that it's discussed with Egypt and Israel the opening of humanitarian corridors for people displaced from Gaza. Egypt has signalled, however, that it was prepared to deliver aid and facilitate aid, but it doesn't want to see people coming from the Gaza Strip into Egypt. It says, or it's been signaling, that this would be a betrayal of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian rights to their land, including in the Gaza Strip.

The other factor, though, is that the Egyptians see this as a major security risk if you have potentially thousands, tens of thousands of people or more coming in from a Hamas-controlled territory and crossing into Egypt. House Republicans have nominated Steve Scalise as their next speaker. We have a lot of work to do, not just in the House for the people of this country, but we see how dangerous of a world it is. and how things can change so quickly. But it remains to be seen

if he has enough support to win a vote of the full chamber. Google, Amazon and Cloudfare say they weathered the internet's biggest denial of service attack. They warned a new technique by hackers could easily cause widespread disruptions. The latest polling shows Australians are said to overwhelmingly say no in a referendum to recognize indigenous rights.

The final U-Gov poll before the weekend's landmark vote indicated a sweeping no victory. The UAW has shut Ford's biggest plant in a sharp escalation of industrial action. The union says the automaker refuses to budge in wage talks. Ford says the decision to strike is grossly irresponsible. Meanwhile, negotiations between striking Hollywood actors and the major studios have been suspended. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back on Friday with our daily news show. To make sure you know what's going on in the world,

listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast player or download the Reuters app.