Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill Dozens, Undermining Ceasefire Claims
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 23 Palestinians, including many children, on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, according to Al Jazeera. The widespread attacks shattered the notion that a ceasefire was in effect.
The strikes occurred as fragile diplomatic efforts to stabilize the conflict in the Palestinian territory continued, The Guardian reported. A small number of sick and wounded Palestinians were allowed to cross into Egypt to seek medical treatment after Israel permitted a limited reopening of the Rafah border post, more than 20 months after Israeli forces closed the crossing. Egyptian officials stated that about 150 people were due to leave the territory on Monday, with 50 to enter. However, Reuters reported that Israel had only permitted 12 Palestinians to re-enter by nightfall.
The situation in Gaza is part of a larger global context where human rights are in peril, according to a Human Rights Watch report cited by The Guardian. The report stated that the world is in a "democratic recession," with almost three-quarters of the global population living under autocratic rulers, levels not seen since the 1980s. The report also noted growing authoritarianism and abuses in the US, Russia, and China threaten the global rules-based order.
In other news, the death of Nigerian singer Ifunanya Nwangene, 26, after being bitten by a snake in her flat in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, highlighted a crisis of preventable fatalities, The Guardian reported. Nwangene, a former contestant on The Voice Nigeria, died in the hospital after the incident. In a last message to her friends, Nwangene wrote: "Please come." The incident raised questions about the availability of effective antivenoms.
Meanwhile, prediction markets are gaining popularity, allowing people to bet on catastrophic world events, The Guardian reported. In one instance, someone placed a series of bets that Donald Trump would oust Nicolás Maduro on a prediction market platform, netting them nearly $500,000 when it happened.
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