Daily News Brief

April 7, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Israel struck targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip (NYT) last night in response to a barrage of rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon. It is considered the most serious escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border since 2006, when Israel fought a war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. The Israeli military attributed the rocket fire to Palestinian militias present in Lebanon but said the fighters attacked with Hezbollah’s knowledge.

The military also said two Israeli women were killed in an attack in the West Bank today, and the government suggested that Palestinians were the suspects. Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians began escalating this week following Israeli military raids (Reuters) on al-Aqsa Mosque, located at the Jerusalem holy site known by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The UN Security Council held a closed emergency meeting (Times of Israel, AFP) about the violence yesterday, its fourth emergency meeting on Israeli-Palestinian tensions since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office three months ago.

Analysis

“It is clear that [Hezbollah] is taking advantage of Israel’s domestic situation to push the line and test [their mutual] deterrence, prod to see if and how Israel will respond,” the International Crisis Group’s Mairav Zonszein tweets.

“Politics on both sides [of the Israeli-Palestinian divide] risk exacerbating tensions. Some of Israel’s new leaders may try to exploit Palestinian violence, even in response to a provocation, to whip up Israeli support for their extreme positions,” Georgetown University’s Daniel Byman writes for Foreign Affairs.  

Pacific Rim

During talks in South Korea, the three nuclear envoys called for other countries (Yonhap) to repatriate North Koreans working overseas as required by UN sanctions against Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

China: Beijing announced new sanctions (SCMP) on Taiwan’s representative to the United States and two U.S. organizations that sponsored Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the country this week.

 South and Central Asia

A report on the U.S. military’s controversial exit from Afghanistan said that preparations for the withdrawal should have begun sooner (NPR) and that President Donald Trump’s administration “severely constrained” his successor’s options for executing the pullout.

This timeline explains what happened during the U.S. military’s final days in Afghanistan.

Pakistan: The military said it arrested (Dawn) the founder of the banned Baloch National Army separatist group, Gulzar Imam.

Middle East and North Africa

The country’s bonds dropped in value after President Kais Saied said he would not comply (Bloomberg) with International Monetary Fund (IMF) “diktats.” The IMF reached a staff-level agreement on a $1.9 billion loan for Tunisia in October, but it has not yet been approved by the fund’s directors.

Sub-Saharan Africa

South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said he was “shocked and dismayed” (AfricaNews, AFP) that a court in the United Arab Emirates decided not to extradite two brothers accused of looting state funds with the approval of former South African President Jacob Zuma.

Ethiopia: The government said it plans to integrate all regional special forces (Al Jazeera) into a national army or the police. Local media reported that forces in the Amhara region have refused to surrender weapons as requested.

For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Michelle Gavin explains how forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region are trying to move beyond their civil war with the government.

Europe

They are pushing back against attempts by countries including the Baltic states and Poland to support Ukraine’s future membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), four officials told the Financial Times.

This Backgrounder looks at NATO.

U.S./Russia/Ukraine: The U.S. Department of Defense is investigating the leak (NYT) of secret U.S. and NATO plans to bolster Ukraine’s military that seem to have been modified to include disinformation before appearing on social media.

Americas

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided it has jurisdiction to rule (Reuters) on a border dispute between the two countries. A ruling would determine the ownership of large offshore oil and gas reserves. Venezuela had called for the court to drop the case.

Argentina: President Alberto Fernández said he formally rejoined (MercoPress, EFE) the Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, a bloc that essentially went defunct in 2020. He invited other South American heads of state to join.

United States

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose luxury vacations gifted almost annually by conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, ProPublica reported.  

Friday Editor’s Pick

A series of investigative reports from the Guardian reveals how the British royal family amassed its vast fortunes while shielding its wealth from public scrutiny.

Council on Foreign Relations

58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065

1777 F Street, NW — Washington, DC 20006

Shop the CFR Store

Forward This Email

Manage Your Email Preferences