Israel-Turkey Tensions, Ukraine's 1000-Day War

THE WAR NEWSLETTER — NOV 20 2024

Today’s email brings you news from Israel and Ukraine.

1 - ISRAEL

1 thing to know

Turkey has blocked Israeli President Herzog from using its airspace to attend a climate conference in Azerbaijan.

The context 

This incident, confirmed by Turkish President Erdogan at the G20 Summit in Brazil yesterday, prevented Herzog from attending the UN climate conference and marks a new low in Israel-Turkey relations.

This follows Turkey's decision in May to end economic ties with Israel and Erdogan's increasingly harsh criticism of Israel's military actions, including comparing Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hitler.

More from the region

Argentina announced its withdrawal from supporting The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) yesterday, citing UNIFIL’s failure to effectively keep Hezbollah from arming itself and starting a war in the region.

The announcement came on the same day that UNIFIL reported multiple attacks on its positions. The IDF attributes these attacks to Hezbollah, which has been engaging in daily cross-border attacks since October 8, 2023. 

Is this newsletter useful? If you’ve enjoyed having useful, curated news in The War Newsletter, please take a moment to forward this to a friend.

TECH SPOTLIGHT: THE ATACMS

The ATACMS (pronounced "attack-ems") is a powerful long-range missile. Made by Lockheed Martin in the USA, it is 13 feet long and can hit targets up to 190 miles away, traveling at over three times the speed of sound.

What makes ATACMS special is its versatility and accuracy. It can be fired from two different launcher systems, the wheeled HIMARS or tracked MLRS, and uses both GPS and internal navigation to find its target, making it very hard to throw off course.

What it’s used for

ATACMS is primarily used to strike important targets deep behind enemy lines - ammunition dumps, air bases, or command centers. 

It's currently in use by many countries, including the United States, South Korea, Poland, Romania, and now Ukraine. 

2 - UKRAINE

1 thing to know

The Russia-Ukraine war has reached its 1000th day, with Ukrainian forces still holding out against Russia.

The context 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was based on the belief that Ukraine would easily collapse, but 1,000 days later, Ukrainian forces have successfully pushed back Russian troops from key regions. Despite ongoing battles, especially in eastern Ukraine, Russia faces significant challenges, including manpower shortages, as well as heavy tank and vehicle losses.

North Korea also recently deployed 10,000 troops to aid the Russian invasion, and in response, Western countries allowed their long range weapons to be launched into select Russian territory.

More from the region

Ukraine executed its first strike against a weapons depot inside Russia using US long range weapons two days after being allowed to do so by the US, firing six ballistic missiles. Russia claims to have shot down five of them, and damage the sixth, resulting in no damage.

In response to the attack, Russian president Vladimir Putin updated Russia's nuclear doctrine to state that any aggression from a non-nuclear state, but in participation with a country with nuclear capabilities, will be considered a joint attack on Russia.

P.S. If you have a source, tip, or piece of information we missed, please reply to this email and tell us about it. Thank you!