Daily News Brief

August 7, 2024

Top of the Agenda

Hamas announced yesterday that it elevated Yayha Sinwar, the Gaza-based leader of its military wing, to the group’s top leadership position yesterday. The move follows the assassination last week of previous political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Sinwar was a mastermind of the October 7 attacks on Israel and is known for a general hard-line stance. His appointment has cast new doubts over the fate of a potential deal for a cease-fire and hostage release in the Israel-Hamas war. 

An Israeli military spokesperson said in response to Sinwar’s elevation that the rightful place for Sinwar is “alongside Mohammed Deif and all of the other terrorists who are responsible for October 7,” referring to another Hamas leader that Israel said it killed in July. Sinwar’s appointment “only underscores the fact that it is really on him to decide whether to move forward with a cease-fire,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference last night. (NYT, CNN)

Analysis

“Prior to October 7, Hamas long tried to differentiate between its political and military wings. Today’s decision to announce Yahya Sinwar—masterminded the October 7 attacks—as the new politburo chief ends all misconceptions surrounding the group's structure,” the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Devorah Margolin posts. 

“Even in the absence of an agreement, serious talks can cause divides within terrorist groups, splitting those who seek a political settlement from those still wedded to fighting,” Carnegie Mellon’s Audrey Kurth Cronin writes for Foreign Affairs. “Since October 7, many Palestinians have expressed anger at Hamas for having misjudged the consequences of the attack—a serious targeting error that has indirectly led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Gazans.” 

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

U.S. Campaign 2024

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s first speech as Democratic vice-presidential nominee focused on domestic policy, including pledges to protect reproductive rights and education as “a ticket to the middle class.” Walz touted his twenty-four years in the Army National Guard and work on veterans issues. (Independent)

CFR’s Noah Berman and Diana Roy look at some of Walz’s foreign policy views.

Pacific Rim

Beijing will tighten regulation and control on three chemicals used to make fentanyl beginning September 1, a move announced yesterday and hailed by a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson as “a valuable step forward.” Fentanyl has been a focus of bilateral talks in recent months. (SCMP)

In a series of graphics, CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo and Diana Roy show why fentanyl is a huge foreign policy problem. 

Japan: The lessons of Hiroshima on disarmament and peace have been “pushed aside” and nuclear weapons once again represent a “clear and present danger,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in a message marking the anniversary of the 1945 atomic bomb yesterday. UN disarmament leader Izumi Nakamitsu read Guterres’s message at a Hiroshima ceremony. Guterres called for the condemnation of nuclear rhetoric and solutions to bring disarmament to life. (UN News)

South and Central Asia

A Pakistani man with ties to Iran was arrested and charged in the United States over plotting to kill U.S. politicians, the U.S. Department of Justice said yesterday. Their statement did not specify which politicians, but the indictment was unsealed weeks after U.S. officials said a threat against former President Donald Trump from Iran prompted a bolstering of his security detail. Unnamed officials said the attack on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally was unrelated to the threat from Iran. (Department of Justice, WSJ)

Bangladesh: The country’s president and representatives of both the military and student protests decided to invite Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus to lead the country’s interim government. Yunus was a political opponent of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before her resignation earlier this week over mass protests across the country. The tenure of the interim government has not yet been decided, the representatives said. (Prothom Alo, BBC) 

In 2006, Yunus spoke at CFR about ending global poverty.

Middle East and North Africa

Authorities executed Reza Rasaei yesterday, a news agency overseen by the country’s judiciary said. Rasaei was arrested in 2022 antigovernment protests and convicted of murdering a police officer in a trial that human rights groups said was marred with irregularities. Amnesty International said he had been tortured in prison. (NYT)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Officials called on the Security Council yesterday to take action to ensure aid can reach Sudan in the absence of a cease-fire. The United States has also called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution on aid delivery. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday that the international community “should not interfere in the domestic affairs of Sudan.” (Reuters)

Niger/Ukraine: Niger followed its neighbor Mali in severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine. The break came after comments from a Ukrainian official that Mali perceived as acknowledging support for Malian rebels that attacked Malian and Russian paramilitary Wagner Group soldiers last week. Ukraine’s foreign ministry denied any role in the rebel attack. (FT)

Europe

There will be “consequences” if Turkey continues to evade export controls on military-linked technologies to Russia, a U.S. commerce secretary official said. Washington is concerned that Ankara has created a loophole for Moscow to access Western-made electronics. Turkey did not comment on the statement. (FT)

Denmark/Poland: A Danish court found a Polish man guilty of assaulting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in June, sentencing him to four months in prison and deporting and banning him from Denmark for six years. The court said the assault was related to Frederiksen’s role as prime minister. (AP)

Americas

Costa Rican, Panamanian, and U.S. authorities cooperated in a probe yesterday of an alleged network that runs human trafficking between Ecuador and the United States. Costa Rica’s security minister called the detentions “the Costa Rican phase of an international operation.” (Reuters)

Mexico/Russia: Mexico invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the inauguration of President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum in October, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported. Putin “will decide whether he will participate in the ceremony himself or appoint another high-ranking official to do so,” the foreign ministry reportedly said. Mexico is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Mexico’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a question about how its ICC membership would affect Putin’s possible attendance. (Reuters)

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