Daily News Brief

November 17, 2023

Top of the Agenda

As Israeli forces comb through the Gaza Strip’s al-Shifa Hospital, they reported finding the bodies of two Israelis (Times of Israel) in the area who had been taken hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7. Israel has asserted that Hamas is using the hospital as an operations center. The chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces said today that Israel was “close to dismantling” Hamas’s operational capabilities in northern Gaza and is now preparing to carry out operations (FT) in other parts of the territory. Israel distributed thousands of leaflets in some parts of southern Gaza yesterday, warning people to evacuate. Meanwhile, aid groups have warned that this mass displacement is exacerbating Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. 

The potential expansion of Israel’s ground operation comes as Gaza experienced a communications blackout (Reuters). The United Nations suspended aid deliveries today due to the outage and a fuel shortage. The UN World Food Program said yesterday that civilians are facing the “immediate possibility of starvation,” and that trucks that have entered Gaza since the opening of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing have carried only enough food aid to meet 7 percent of people’s daily minimum caloric needs.

Analysis

“Israel has been clear about the goals of its wartime strategy: eliminate Hamas. That is a feasible goal,” the Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig writes for Foreign Policy. “To be sure, pockets of resistance and underlying sources of instability and ideological support for the group may remain, but that becomes a question of postwar reconstruction.”

“Israel, like it or not, is responsible for how it made decisions day by day, airstrike by airstrike, ground force movement by ground force movement into Gaza. In other words, I hope Israel is documenting all of this, day by day, because at some point there will be a lot of questions about, well, wait a minute; on day thirty-three, you did the following,” CFR expert David J. Scheffer says in this media briefing.

This CFR Education piece looks at how humanitarian corridors, cease-fires, and pauses have addressed violence in conflict.

Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.

Pacific Rim

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio held their first meeting in a year on the sidelines of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, where they pledged to find a solution (Nikkei) to a disagreement over the discharge of wastewater from a Japanese nuclear plant. At a separate meeting, economic officials from the two countries agreed to create a new framework (Nikkei) to discuss export controls.

U.S./China: The United States removed a Chinese forensic science institute (Reuters) from a sanctions list as part of efforts to encourage China to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Washington sanctioned the institute in 2020 over alleged abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups, but Beijing said the institute is crucial for controlling the opioid.

This episode of the Why It Matters podcast discusses China’s role in the fentanyl crisis.

South and Central Asia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gathered officials (Indian Express) for the second virtual Voice of Global South Summit after hosting the first meeting in January. He condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks and called for restraint, dialogue, and diplomacy in resolving the conflict. Unlike many other Global South leaders, Modi has abstained (Nikkei) from calling for a cease-fire. 

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR expert Manjari Chatterjee Miller writes that Modi’s discourse on the Israel-Hamas war demonstrates a transformed India-Israel relationship.

U.S./Armenia/Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said it would not attend a meeting (Reuters) planned with Armenia for November 20 in Washington, accusing the United States of a one-sided approach to mediating conflict between the two countries. The meeting was meant to work toward peace after Azerbaijan’s recapture of the ethnic Armenian–controlled enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in September.

Middle East and North Africa

The International Court of Justice ordered the Syrian government (AP) to “take all measures within its powers” to prevent torture and preserve evidence of possible torture as accusations against the Bashar al-Assad regime continue to move through the court. The move is intended to protect potential victims as the case is expected to take several years. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

At a conference hosted by Ghana and attended by senior officials from across Africa yesterday, attendees agreed to set up a Global Reparation Fund (AP) for compensation for the millions of Africans enslaved by European countries in the transatlantic slave trade. 

Sudan: The government asked the United Nations to terminate its political mission (Reuters) in the country, which had been established to help aid a political transition after mass protests in 2018. Khartoum said the mission’s performance has been “disappointing” while the country has been engulfed in a civil war since April.

Europe

Socialist Pedro Sánchez secured a new term (FT) as prime minister yesterday after he proposed amnesty for Catalan separatists. The amnesty proposal is opposed by the majority of the Spanish population, according to polls.  

UK/Ukraine: In his first overseas trip as United Kingdom (UK) foreign secretary, David Cameron visited Ukraine (The Guardian) yesterday and pledged continued support for Kyiv’s war efforts.

Americas

On Sunday, voters are due to choose (NYT) between Economy Minister Sergio Massa from the ruling leftist Peronist movement and libertarian Javier Milei. Polls suggest a close race; days before the runoff, Milei has suggested there could be fraud in the election, though he did not provide evidence. 

This article by CFR expert Brad W. Setser explains how Argentina’s election is drawing attention to the country’s embattled economy. 

Guatemala: Prosecutors in the country aim to strip immunity (Bloomberg) from President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo de León as he prepares to take power, and suggested they may attempt to try him for campus protests in 2022 and 2023. Arévalo and his party say they are being politically targeted. Washington condemned the prosecutors’ plans and said it would sanction people who interfere with the transition of power.

United States

President Joe Biden will hold bilateral talks (El País) with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in San Francisco today as the APEC summit continues. The two leaders are due to discuss migration, trade, and efforts to control fentanyl trafficking.

Friday Editor’s Pick

Der Spiegel describes how Thailand’s booming insect business has transformed its food industry and the potential for a global uptake to address climate change and hunger worldwide.  

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