Blinken Meets With Israeli Leaders as Hamas Claims Tel Aviv Bombing |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a roughly three-hour discussion with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today was “positive” and affirmed “Israel’s commitment to the latest American proposal regarding the release of our hostages.” Blinken has called the current push for a cease-fire “probably the best” and “maybe the last” chance to strike a deal and get on a better path toward enduring peace and security in the region. Obstacles to progress on peace still appeared high in recent days, however, with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv last night.
The man carrying the bomb was killed and a passerby was also injured in yesterday’s explosion. Hamas warned that such actions will continue in response to Israeli attacks. Blinken said that it was important that “no one” take any steps that could derail cease-fire talks and potentially give way to broadening the war. He will travel on to Egypt tomorrow. (WaPo, Times of Israel)
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“When persuasion alone fails, the United States can turn to incentives, another tool in the alliance management toolkit,” CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass writes in Foreign Affairs. “With Israel, [Washington] could agree to buttress a stabilization plan for Gaza or offset the costs of any peace agreement with the Palestinians, offering additional military assistance to meet any increased threats.”
“Sunday’s attack and Hamas’s pledge to return to such tactics represented a dark new shift in the conflict and sparked memories of the bloody days of the second intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation between 2000 and 2005 which saw a surge in such bombings,” the Washington Post’s John Hudson, Rachel Pannett, Annabelle Timsit, and Loveday Morris write.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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Vietnam’s New Leader Signs Cooperation Deals in Beijing |
To Lam’s visit to China marks his first foreign trip as Vietnam’s Communist Party ruler after taking office last month. On the visit, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed fourteen deals on trade and broader connectivity; Lam said working with China is a “strategic choice and top priority,” according to a Chinese state broadcaster CCTV readout of the visit. (Nikkei)
China/Philippines: Both countries blamed each other for a collision between ships near the South China Sea’s Sabina Shoal. China and the Philippines have been increasingly at odds over these waters, but this is the first time such a collision has occurred in the disputed area. (WaPo)
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Bangladesh’s Yunus Vows Support for Rohingya Refugees in First Big Policy Speech
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Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus pledged to protect the country’s Rohingya refugee population of more than one million and its massive garment industry in his first major foreign policy address yesterday. He also called for support from the international community. (AFP)
India: The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will take up the case of an alleged rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor that has led to nationwide protests and strikes calling for better safety for women medical professionals. Judges will hear the case on Tuesday. (Times of India)
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Middle East and North Africa |
Libya’s Central Bank Suspends Operations Due to Official’s Kidnapping |
The bank said yesterday it will not resume activities until its information technology director Musab Msallem is returned. Msallem was taken from his home yesterday morning by an “unidentified party,” the bank’s statement added. (BBC) |
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Sudan’s Government Opens Border Crossing for Aid, Says It Will Participate in Talks |
The army-aligned government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for talks on a humanitarian deal after staying away from meetings in Switzerland that began last week on a cease-fire. On Saturday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the government’s reopening of the Adre border crossing with Chad last week; the crossing is a central aid route for the Darfur region that had been down since February. (AFP, UN News)
Zimbabwe: Around sixty-eight million people are in need of aid in Southern Africa’s worst drought in years, the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said at a summit hosted by Zimbabwe this weekend. The drought started earlier this year and has wiped out crop production regionwide, decimating economies and critical food supply. (Reuters)
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR expert Michelle Gavin unpacks Zimbabwe’s pre-SADC summit crackdown.
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Ukraine Blows Up Bridges to Create ‘Buffer Zone’ Near Russia’s Kursk Region |
Ukraine detonated the bridges to strengthen its position in the area as part of its cross-border incursion. An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is “not interested in occupying Russian territories,” but that the move is a tactic to convince Russia to agree on beginning a fair negotiation process. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has vowed an “appropriate response,” but has so far struggled to push out Ukraine’s forces. (FT)
Azerbaijan/Russia: Putin arrived in Azerbaijan yesterday for a two-day visit expected to focus on bilateral ties and relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two countries are weighing a peace deal after Azerbaijan took control of the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh last September. (RFE/RL)
CFR’s Center for Preventive Action tracks the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Venezuelans Worldwide Protest in Support of Opposition’s Victory Claims in Election |
Demonstrations spread in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and across the world including Australia, Japan, and Mexico. Protesters voiced support for the main opposition alliance’s affirmation that it won the July 28 presidential vote even though election authorities said President Nicolás Maduro was the winner. (AP)
Brazil: Social media platform X closed the company’s Brazilian office “effective immediately” over the weekend, claiming censorship after a judge ordered it to suspend some accounts or have its legal representative in Brazil arrested. Brazil’s Supreme Court did not comment on the matter. Earlier this year, the court ordered takedowns of accounts accused of spreading false information and hate speech. (Reuters)
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President Joe Biden will give today’s keynote speech at the opener of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which runs throughout the week. Demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war are expected outside the convention’s security perimeter. (CBS, NYT)
This CFR timeline looks back on foreign policy at the U.S. political conventions.
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