GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day. 

Israel

1. In our main story this morning, Órla Ryan spoke to a former officer from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), who said he couldn’t continue to serve in the military because of the “dehumanisation” of Palestinians he witnessed in Gaza.

Michael Ofer-Ziv (29) is one of 130 IDF members who this month sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, refusing to serve unless the government works to obtain a hostage and ceasefire deal.

Neck and neck

2. Support for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is almost equal ahead of the next General Election, according to the latest opinion poll.

The Business Post/Red C poll shows that with the country set to head to the polls in the coming weeks, Fianna Fáil is up three percentage points to 21% while Fine Gael has dropped by a point to 22%.

Gaza

3. Palestinian medical officials said that Israeli strikes on northern Gaza have killed at least 22 people.

The Gaza health ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among those killed in the strikes late on Saturday in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

Fall back

4. The clocks went back by an hour early this morning. 

That means you’ll have gotten an extra hour in bed.

Overtourism

5. Paul O’Donoghue looks at why protests have taken place in Spain as part of a movement against overtourism, and whether Irish tourists should be worried. 

Areas which have seen the highest levels of demonstration include Malaga, where thousands of people have marched in the streets, the Canaries, where popular beaches are now the sites of protests, and Barcelona, where demonstrators made international headlines after squirting tourists with water guns.

Running late

6. Thousands of people are expected to take part in the annual Dublin Marathon today.

A number of roads around the capital will be closed off for today’s event. Here’s everything you need to know about road closures and public transport before the race kicks off. 

Georgia

7. Georgia’s central election commission has said the country’s ruling party has won the parliamentary elections, the central election commission said Sunday, after the opposition rejected the vote’s results as fraudulent.

The commission said official results from more than 99% of precincts showed the ruling Georgian Dream party won with 54.08%, while a union of four pro-Western opposition alliances garnered 37.58% of the votes.

Road safety

8. Gardaí have checked over 127,000 vehicles for speeding so far over the Bank Holiday weekend. 

A total of 283 drivers have been detected so far, with one driver caught driving 157km/h in a 100km/h zone in Donegal.

Dr Strangelove

9. The two men behind the new stage version of Dr Strangelove – Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci – spoke to The Journal in London.

The plot of the original film, which walks a razor-thin line between comedy and tragedy, centres on attempts to call off a pre-emptive strike on the Soviet Union ordered by a renegade US general.
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