As Israel expands Gaza assault, cease-fire calls get louder

Aid workers and doctors say a blackout of phone and internet service for a day and a half did major damage. Trucks couldn’t communicate to find out where aid was needed. And ambulances were unable to get orders as to where the wounded were. Families didn’t know if their loved ones were alive. People there blame Israel for the shutdown. It hasn’t confirmed or denied that it caused the communications blackout.

The humanitarian crisis for civilians in Gaza is getting worse, with severe shortages of food and water, and hospitals lacking supplies and fuel to treat civilians wounded in airstrikes. A few dozen more trucks entered Gaza yesterday, but aid workers say they’re still running desperately short of what people in Gaza need.

There are more calls for a pause in fighting so that more aid can get in. The United Nations voted overwhelmingly for a humanitarian truce. The U.S. was one of a handful of countries voting against the resolution. Yesterday, President Biden told Netanyahu that Israel needs to do more to protect civilians as it wages war in Gaza, and to allow more humanitarian aid in. Israel’s military says it will let in more supplies in the coming days. And it’s telling civilians to flee to the south of Gaza, though many Palestinians say they’re unable to find safety, and hospitals in the north say they can’t evacuate without putting patients in danger.

There are growing tensions around the world as the conflict intensifies. In Russia, police shut down and took control of an airport in a primarily Muslim region, after hundreds of people broke into the facility as a plane from Israel was landing. They smashed glass and tried to turn over a patrol truck before police made arrests and got the situation under control. The passengers on board were not harmed.

New York’s Grand Central Terminal closed on Friday when a demonstration organized by Jewish Voice for Peace filled the transit hub.

As O’Donovan told us, after Hamas first attacked, many U.S. companies quickly issued statements in solidarity with Israel. But supporters of Palestinians in Gaza wanted companies to say more about civilian deaths there.

A Yale business-school professor told “The Post” that this may be because big global U.S. companies typically do little to no business in Gaza, but do have business relationships in Israel. They also have employees with strong ties to the country. Some of them have people on staff who are reservists in the IDF who are being called up to serve in the conflict there at the same time.

But there are also many employees at these companies who are calling for protection of Palestinian civilians, and for more humanitarian aid in Gaza. And some tell “The Post” they’re worried about consequences if they speak out. And they say companies aren’t being consistent in how they’re dealing with workers who express themselves. On Meta’s internal site, "The Post" reports that a message saying “Pray for Palestine” was taken down. But similar postings saying “Pray for Israel” stayed up. Meta said in an internal email that employees "can show sympathy for civilian victims” but not “express prayers for armed forces.”

Workers with strong feelings about the conflict aren’t quite sure where their managers are drawing the lines. And O’Donovan says the companies are also finding it hard to strike a balance among the diverse views of their workers.

We saw, increasingly, demands that companies and corporations make statements against various Trump administration policies all the way through 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests. People expected that those companies are then also going to make public statements and fall in line with other issues that they feel strongly about. And I really do think that Israel-Palestine in particular is an issue where companies are extremely hesitant to do that.

In labor news, the United Auto Workers have a tentative deal with GM. This follows a deal struck over the weekend with Stellantis, the maker of Jeeps and Chryslers. In that one, wages for most workers would go up by 25% over four-and-a-half-years. The union previously made a tentative agreement with Ford. The deals need to be ratified, but today’s announcement about GM could end the strike that shut down major plants as thousands of workers walked off.

In Mexico, troops are on the ground in Acapulco, searching for survivors of last week’s Category 5 hurricane and trying to stabilize the situation. Hurricane Otis did severe damage, killing dozens of people and knocking out power and communications. “NPR’s” Eyder Peralta reported from the ground.

To labor news, where the United Auto Workers have a tentative deal with Stellantis, the maker of Jeeps and Chryslers. Wages for most workers would go up by 25% over four-and-a-half-years. This follows a deal made with Ford. But there’s no agreement with GM yet. The union is expanding the strike against that company.

And finally, tributes are pouring in for Matthew Perry, who died at 54 over the weekend. They’re coming from actors, studios, even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to elementary school with Perry. And of course, from everyday fans of his character on “Friends,” Chandler Bing.

His death is under investigation. The “L.A. Times” reports that no illegal drugs were found at the scene of his death in a hot tub at his home. Police said there was no initial sign of foul play. Perry struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for decades. He was candid in his memoir about spending so much of his life in treatment. Perry opened a sober-living facility in California and dedicated his book to people suffering through addiction.