STT writes that public statements on Israel's actions in Gaza have shown that there are differences of opinion between, and even within political parties on how Finland should respond to the situation.
Parliament's plenary session will start at 4pm with government question time, followed by a debate on Gaza.
The background to the debate is an initiative by 38 opposition MPs. It states that there is an urgent need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and unrestricted humanitarian access. It is also important to prevent the conflict from escalating into a wider war in the region.
"It is important that the Parliament discusses Finland's role in achieving a permanent ceasefire and how Finland can better support the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," the debate initiative states.
President Alexander Stubb, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) and Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP), have called for an end to the suffering of civilians in Gaza and said that the forced displacement of the population is a war crime.
Opposition Green Party leader Sofia Virta has called for Finland to immediately start disengaging from dependence on Israel. According to Virta, Finland should not conclude any new arms deals with Israel.
Minja Koskela, chair of the Left Alliance, has said that sanctions should be extended to representatives of the Israeli regime and that Finland must recognise Palestine.
SDP chair Antti Lindtman has criticised the Finnish government's actions on Gaza as ineffective.
STT notes that the Christian Democrats and the Finns Party, both government coalition partners, have expressed reservations about the government's position. These parties have commented, among other things, that the statement could have placed even more emphasis on the role of Hamas.
Civic reactions
Helsingin Sanomat reports that a petition has been signed by a large number of Finnish researchers calling on Finland to recognise a Palestinian state.
At the same time, the researchers are urging Finland's foreign policy leadership to "take immediate action by all reasonable means to stop the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza".
The petition was launched by Lena Näre, Professor of Sociology at the University of Helsinki, and Markus Jäntti, Professor of Economics at Stockholm University.
When HS spoke to Näre on Wednesday evening, more than 1,600 names had been collected.
According to Näre, researchers from all of Finland's universities are involved, as well as researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Natural Resources Institute and the National Institute for Health and Welfare.
Meanwhile, Iltalehti is among the papers reporting that Riikka Pakarinen, who chairs the Finnish Athletics Federation, is calling for the sports community to take as tough a stance on Israel as it has on Russia and exclude the country from sporting events.
"In this case, I wonder why Israel is being treated with kid gloves," she told IL.
Pakarinen says that the killings, the blockade of humanitarian aid, and the talk of moving the Palestinian population out of Gaza are the kind of things that should see Israel treated in the same way as Russia in sport.
"The Hamas attacks were tragic for Israel, but what Israel has done since then cannot be tolerated in any way under international law," said Pakarinen.
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Was school stabbing misogynistic?
A 16-year-old boy, appears to have deliberately targeted female pupils in a stabbing attack at a school in Pirkkala on Tuesday morning. The incident is being investigated as a case of three attempted murders.
According to press reports, the suspect had published an online manifesto on Tuesday morning in which he said he intended to stab the girls and surrender to the police.
Helsingin Sanomat raises the question whether the attacks were motivated by misogyny.
Tomi Kiilakoski, a researcher at the Youth Research Network who has studied school killings, points out that it is not yet known whether the perpetrator spent time in misogynistic online communities.
"However, it is safe to say that there are misogynistic elements in the act, because it was girls who were specifically targeted," notes Kiilakoski.
According to Kiilakoski, school killings and attempted killings are often attacks on institutions. The victims are usually selected at random. Another common motive is revenge, whereby certain people are chosen as victims.
Emilia Lounela, a researcher at the University of Helsinki who has studied incel (involuntary celibacy) subcultures, says she sees no indication that the suspect in the Pirkkala case himself belongs to the incel community.
Instead, the act seems to be connected to a broader misogynistic culture and thinking, according to which women are somehow inferior to men, Lounela states.
Digital discrimination
Maaseudun Tulevaisuus expresses concern about the growing gap between people comfortable with digital technologies and those who struggle with online services.
According to MST, government savings measures are further increasing the risk of digital exclusion within the population.
Editorial writer Juhani Reku states that the ease and practicality of online services experienced by the majority mask the inescapable fact that a new form of exclusion, digital exclusion, has insidiously emerged in Finland.
He points to the latest figure from Statistics Finland, which shows that the number of people with smartphones decreases dramatically according to age. While three out of four people aged 65-74 still own a smartphone, the proportion of people aged 74 and over drops to well under half. Smartphone ownership also largely reflects internet use, as few older people own a computer.
Reku argues that assistance in dealing with online public services should be available by law. In the worst cases, digital support is only available electronically. Sometimes it is outsourced to third sector actors, such as social and health organisations, whose activities are at the same time being watered down by major funding cuts.
The All Points North podcast looks into the development of minority sports in Finland. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Stealing the show
A sly fox grabbed most of the media attention during a Border Guard presentation at Nuijamaa on Wednesday.
In the middle of a press briefing on the high-tech fence on the eastern border, a fox bounded from the Russian side to the old border crossing at Nuijamaa with prey in its mouth, slipped under the boom and scurried off into the bush on the Finnish side.
The fox had circumvented the barrier fence that ends at the shore of Lake Nuijaamaa.
Asked by an Ilta-Sanomat reporter if it is really that easy to get from Russia into Finland, Border Guard Lieutenant Colonel Esa Veikkanen said, "I wouldn't worry about the fox. I don't think we'll have a problem with the fox here."
According to Veikkanen, it would be pointless for a human to try to cross like a fox can. The barrier in the area has a technical surveillance system with cameras and motion detectors every 50 metres along the fence. Border guards are informed in real time if someone is prowling near the fence.
Wild animals will continue to be able to cross the national border from both sides, however. Every three kilometres along the border fence, there are wildlife gates, which are mainly kept open but can be closed if need be to prevent humans from using them.
