内容摘要：There was a tear in the lining of his jacket and he quickly dropped the notes inside before a guard could see him.

There was a tear in the lining of his jacket and he quickly dropped the notes inside before a guard could see him.

Israel does not allow international journalists into Gaza.Denied the chance of eyewitness reporting – one of the best tools of the job – we can study, from a distance, the assessments of aid organisations operating in Gaza.

Pascal Hundt, deputy director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross said last week that civilians in Gaza faced "an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance."He added: "This situation must not—and cannot—be allowed to escalate further."But it might, if Israel continues the plunge deeper into war that resumed on 18 March when it broke a two-month ceasefire with a massive series of air strikes.

Israel had already sealed the gates of Gaza. Since the beginning of March, it has blocked all shipments of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies.The return to war ended any chance of moving on to the ceasefire's proposed second phase, which Israel and Hamas had agreed would end with the release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That was unacceptable to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the ultra-nationalist religious extremists who keep him in power.

They want Gaza's Palestinians to be replaced by Jewish settlers. They threatened to topple Netanyahu's government if he did not go back to war, and the end of Netanyahu's political career would bring the day of reckoning for his part in Israel's failure to prevent the deadly Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. It might also force a conclusion in his long trial on corruption charges.Analysts are, however, looking at radical solutions - including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the battlefield. The most obvious example is AI-enabled drones, which are already being used in Ukraine to identify targets on their own, to deadly effect. But some also envisage a future in which machines could collect data on adversaries.

A large land war in Europe is now focusing minds. Senior British military officers, as well as politicians, have repeatedly stated the UK 's armed forces must be ready to fight. But there still appears to be a temptation to use their power and influence much further away from home.Last month, HMS Prince of Wales - one of the Navy's two aircraft carriers – left Portsmouth on an eight-month voyage to the other side of the world. It's the biggest UK defence endeavour this year, involving nearly 4,000 personnel, along with the support of allies, sailing to the Pacific and back.

Healey says it will demonstrate the UK's ability to deploy a major military force around the world, while at the same time promoting British trade.Emma Salisbury, a fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, a think tank, says the carrier's Pacific deployment holds a powerful symbolic importance. "It's a message not just of deterrence against Russia, but also against China," she says. "In the world as it is now, we can't look at things geographically. Everything is interconnected. It's linking together our alliances and partnerships on a global scale."