Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel delaying a cease-fire deal with Hamas, bolstered relations between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, and snap elections in Vanuatu.
What’s the Holdup?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed a “last-minute crisis” on Thursday for holding up the approval of a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas. The Israeli cabinet was originally scheduled to hold a vote on the deal but moved the motion to Friday, suggesting that the outstanding issues were close to being or had been resolved.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel delaying a cease-fire deal with Hamas, bolstered relations between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, and snap elections in Vanuatu.
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What’s the Holdup?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed a “last-minute crisis” on Thursday for holding up the approval of a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas. The Israeli cabinet was originally scheduled to hold a vote on the deal but moved the motion to Friday, suggesting that the outstanding issues were close to being or had been resolved.
Months of stalled talks finally resulted in a deal announced by negotiators on Wednesday. The three-phase agreement includes a six-week cease-fire, with the expectation that a permanent truce would eventually be secured; the gradual release of all remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners; the slow withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the territory; and a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries to kick-start Gaza’s reconstruction.
World leaders—including Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, U.S. President Joe Biden, and senior Hamas officials—have heralded the deal’s passage. However, Netanyahu accused the militant group on Thursday of reneging on parts of the agreement to try to gain more concessions, including forbidding Israel to veto which prisoners convicted of murder could be exchanged for the Israeli captives in Gaza.
Hamas “is committed to the cease-fire agreement, which was announced by the mediators,” said Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told reporters that Israeli negotiators were in Doha, Qatar, to reach a solution.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu’s delay may also have been caused by dissent within his own ruling coalition. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed on Thursday to leave Netanyahu’s government if the deal is passed, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted on X late Wednesday that he would only approve the “bad and dangerous” truce if Israel is allowed to resume fighting after the initial six-week cease-fire ends.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged cabinet ministers on Wednesday to approve the agreement, saying, “This is the right move. This is an important move. This is a necessary move.” The departure of both Ben-Gvir’s and Smotrich’s factions could destabilize Netanyahu’s tenuous hold on power and force the country to hold early elections.
Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States (including the Middle East envoys from the Biden and Trump administrations) met in Cairo on Thursday to discuss how the agreement would be implemented, even as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 77 Palestinians overnight in Gaza. Talks have centered on who will run Gaza and which international observers will oversee the territory’s reconstruction. Israel remains adamant that Hamas cannot govern the region.
If Israel approves the draft text on Friday, then a cease-fire would go into effect on Jan. 20.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
100-year partnership. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to Kyiv on Thursday to sign a “100-year historic partnership” between the United Kingdom and Ukraine to bolster military collaboration on maritime security, advance joint science and technology developments, and track stolen grain from occupied Ukrainian territory. The deal also provides nearly $49 million for Kyiv’s economic recovery. In addition, Starmer pledged significant security guarantees should Ukraine negotiate a peace deal with Russia.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said. “Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.”
Starmer’s visit came just two days after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reiterate Europe’s commitment to defending Kyiv. Yet Pistorius’s promises come with baggage as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz juggles passing a roughly $3 billion military aid package that is vital for Kyiv but could harm him ahead of federal elections in February.
Seeking stability. Vanuatu held a snap election on Thursday amid the destruction of last month’s devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 16 people and triggered landslides across the South Pacific country.
Among voters’ top concerns are addressing climate change and improving government factionalism. A referendum last May aimed to reform political functioning; the most recent parliamentary election, in 2022, ended with the party with the largest majority holding just eight out of 52 seats in parliament.
Port Vila’s coalition system is prone to political instability; in the past 18 months, Vanuatu has cycled through three prime ministers, most recently culminating with a no-confidence vote against President Nikenike Vurobaravu and Prime Minister Charlot Salwai. Following the motion, Vurobaravu dissolved parliament in November and called for new elections.
The American oligarchy. With just four days left of his term, Biden used his surprisingly short farewell address to the nation late Wednesday to warn against what he called the “tech-industrial complex.” “Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” Biden said.
The outgoing president didn’t explicitly name the world’s wealthiest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but the allusions were clear. Biden took aim at social media companies—including Musk’s X—for spreading disinformation, and he condemned the role that “dark money” donations have in political campaigns and government functioning.
Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars last year to fund the races of Trump and his fellow Republican candidates, and he is now set to join the Trump administration as the joint head of the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk has also launched himself into the diplomatic sphere in recent weeks. The Italian government is considering a deal with Musk’s SpaceX, which Rome claims is not related to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s close ties to the tech billionaire. Musk has privately discussed how to oust Starmer before the United Kingdom holds its next general election. And according to the New York Times, Musk reportedly helped secure the release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala from Iran last week by reaching out to Amir Saeid Iravani, Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Odds and Ends
The stress of Japan’s top government job has Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba smoking his anxiety away. But according to local media, Shigeru is struggling to find the time in his tight schedule to sneak a smoke. Since becoming prime minister last October, Shigeru has had to decrease his smoking intake to “several [cigarettes] a day,” one source told Kyodo News. Just a reminder that smoking tobacco, even occasionally, can cause serious health risks.
The post Netanyahu Stalls Cease-Fire Deal With ‘Last-Minute Crisis’ appeared first on Foreign Policy.
