The Slatest for Oct. 12: Twitter Has Become Useless For News on Israel and Gaza

Israel is still reeling from the deadliest attack on civilians it’s seen in decades. The subsequent intense airstrikes its military launched on Gaza have deepened the humanitarian crisis there. Misinformation is swirling all around.

And those trying to keep up from abroad are left without a tool that used to be invaluable in times of bloody conflict: Twitter.

“Under the ownership of Elon Musk, who bought the platform for $44 billion last October, the platform now called X has become a vortex of false claims and doctored footage,” Scott Nover writes. “It’s a fog-of-war machine.” He breaks down the broader ramifications of Musk’s decisions for how we consume news.

Plus:

• Writing from Ramallah for our sister publication, Foreign Policy, Dalia Hatuqa explains why Zelensky’s Israel comments stung for many Palestinians.

• Fred Kaplan writes about Israel’s new unity government, and why it could stave off a broader war.

• And of course, Donald Trump would find a way to make the Israel-Hamas conflict all about him! Kaplan breaks down the many things wrong with his speech.

“America First” Republicans criticized aid for Ukraine, but they’re rushing to support Israel’s military. Ben Mathis-Lilley explains why these isolationists might not be so isolationist, after all.

It looks like Samuel Alito really, really wants to save this racial gerrymander in South Carolina. Chris Geidner breaks down what’s happened with the case so far.

It wasn’t exactly a mystery who killed Tupac. So why did it take so long to arrest someone? Joel Anderson tells the tale of how the law caught up with Keffe D.

A Chinese bribe! A Saudi deal! Reporting from the courtroom, Nitish Pahwa runs down all the secrets shared in the star witness’ testimony against Sam Bankman-Fried.

However high your expectations for Killers of the Flower Moon might be—raise them, Dana Stevens writes. She reflects on how, well into the sixth decade of his career, Martin Scorsese is still challenging our idea of what he—and movies, and art—can do.

Much like Margo Steines’ combat-coach husband, Nicolas Holck, we’re all about nuance. Read Steines and Holck’s essay about teaching toddlers martial arts.

Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you tomorrow.