The conflict in Gaza enters its seventh month with Israel announcing a partial military withdrawal, even as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu restates that Rafah remains a target and as calls for sanctions against Israel grow. As diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour writes, it is clear that the violence has, “spawned a disorder that as yet has no dominant player, value system or functioning institutions”. Patrick looks at how the US in particular has foundered when its traditional foreign policy frameworks have been upended, and when its warnings and advice to a traditional ally apparently go unheeded.
Is one lesson of Gaza that it is time for new voices to join the diplomatic top table? Or can it be read by global majority nations as the last colonial conflict from which – as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, hopes – a chance could arise to learn lessons of collective failure and to reinvigorate international institutions?
That’s our big story this week but here are a few other highlights to look out for.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Gaza’s missing
As many in the territory mourn their dead, other families are left unsure if loved ones are alive or not. Jason Burke listens to their storiesHealth | Tick tick boom
Disease-carrying bugs are on the rise across the world, as Charlie Gilmour discovers on a family walkFeature | What is it like to die?
New research into the dying brain suggests that the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought, reports Alex BlasdelOpinion | Tips for budding centibillionaires
It helps to be American, big in fintech, and be born into money, explains Caroline Knowles, who has made a study of the super richCulture | Keeper of the flame
What has director Victor Erice been up to in the half century since the release of his acclaimed Spirit of the Beehive? Ryan Gilbey finds out
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What else we’ve been reading
Having happily grown up in a small but perfectly formed house, I enjoyed looking at these fellow examples of tiny living spaces, which have addressed the space limitations by considered and pleasing design. I especially liked the Tokyo home. Emily El Nusairi, Deputy production editor
I’m not sure whether I feel inspired or terrified by Phil Daoust’s new Fit for Life column, in which the 60-year-old Guardian editor embarks on an ultra-high intensity fitness drive. But for a man of a certain age, such as myself, it makes for grimly compelling reading. Graham Snowdon, editor
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | Horny tortoises and solar mysteries: what scientists can learn from a total eclipse
• Video | ‘It’s madness’: police in Ecuador raid Mexican embassy
• Gallery | Freemasons, rodeo riders and praise dancers: Black lives in the US south
• Interactive | Sites of resistance: threatened African burial grounds around the world
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Get in touch
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the magazine: for submissions to our letters page, please email weekly.letters@theguardian.com. For anything else, it’s editorial.feedback@theguardian.com
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