Welcome back to World Brief, where we look at the empty seat at Gaza ceasefire talks, Ukrainepossible participation in the Nord Stream Explosions and the World Health Organization Declaration of a public health emergency for MPOX
Welcome back to World Brief, where we look at the empty seat at Gaza ceasefire talks, Ukrainepossible participation in the Nord Stream Explosions and the World Health Organization Declaration of a public health emergency for MPOX
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Absence noted
On Thursday, mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt resumed talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha (Qatar) on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Israel sent Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Major General Nitzan Alon to attend the negotiations. However, a Hamas delegation was conspicuously absent. Instead, the group told mediators that it would not meet until after Thursday’s meeting if there were new developments or a serious response from Israel on how to proceed.
Hamas has accused Israel of adding new conditions to an earlier proposal that had international support and that both Israel and Hamas had agreed in principle. The three-phase plan, announced by US President Joe Biden on May 31, calls for hostages held by Hamas to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Gaza, displaced Palestinians to be allowed to return to their homes, and both sides to implement a permanent ceasefire and launch a multi-year reconstruction plan for the enclave. The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution in June in this framework.
However, Hamas claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making additional demands to prolong the war, a claim the Israeli president denies. These conditions include indefinite Israeli control of the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphia Corridor – allegedly an attempt to prevent arms smuggling – as well as the creation of a line through Gaza where Israeli forces would search Palestinians returning to their homes in the north to detect possible insurgents.
“Hamas believes that the Israeli occupation forces are trying to gain time with further negotiations,” Ibrahim al-Madhoun, an Istanbul-based analyst close to Hamas, told the New York Timesespecially as Netanyahu continues to promise “total victory” over Hamas. Israel, in turn, has accused Hamas of seeking to delay the return of the hostages – while Netanyahu’s own far-right allies condemn the proposal and warn that his governing coalition could collapse if he agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt described Thursday’s talks as a “last-ditch” attempt to end the war. Many experts believe a ceasefire is the best way to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East. Thursday also marked the first substantive negotiations in Tehran since the killing of Hamas politician Ismail Haniyeh last month. Iranian officials have said a ceasefire agreement is the only thing that can stop Tehran and its Iran-backed allies such as Hezbollah from directly attacking Israel, which is widely blamed for Haniyeh’s death.
“An attack could occur with little or no warning, and certainly in the next few days,” US security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, senior US officials told the New York Times on Wednesday that Israel had achieved all it could militarily in Gaza. The concession came after Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday that the death toll in the enclave had exceeded 40,000 people, with the majority of those killed being women and children.
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What we pursue
Nord Stream suspect. German authorities on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man believed to be responsible for the September 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe. According to German media, the suspect, along with at least two other Ukrainian citizens, was part of a six-man crew that dived into the Baltic Sea and attached explosive devices to the pipelines. Polish officials confirmed that the Ukrainian’s last known address was in Poland.
The Wall Street Journal reported that senior Ukrainian officials were involved in the operation. “The whole thing was born out of a night of drinking and the iron determination of a handful of people who had the courage to risk their lives for their country,” said an officer involved in the plot. According to another officer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had originally approved the plan – only to back down when the CIA urged him to change course. However, Zelensky’s commander in chief carried out the operation anyway.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak denied Kiev’s involvement on Thursday and instead blamed Russia. Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine, the US and Britain of orchestrating the attack. However, all three countries deny any involvement.
12 years in prison. A Russian court found Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina guilty of treason on Thursday and sentenced her to 12 years in prison for donating $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to Ukrainian children and the elderly. The court alleged that Karelina’s money, donated on the same day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, was used to purchase “tactical medicine, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition” for Ukraine. The organization denies providing military support to Kyiv.
Karelina was born in Russia and received dual U.S. citizenship in 2021. She lived in Los Angeles and was arrested after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg earlier this year. She pleaded guilty last week. Her case was heard by the same court and judge who convicted her. Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich was charged with espionage in July. Unlike Gershkovich, however, Karelina was not part of the massive prisoner exchange between the US and Russia on August 1.
Karelina’s lawyer said he is working to include her in a future exchange. “We will certainly take legally significant steps to initiate the exchange procedure and complete it as soon as possible,” said lawyer Mikhail Mushailov, adding that Karelina plans to appeal the ruling.
Public health emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox a public health emergency on Wednesday. This is the second time in two years that the viral infection has received the WHO’s highest alert level, after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a similar warning earlier this week.
The last major outbreak in July 2022 affected nearly 100,000 people (mostly gay and bisexual men) in 116 countries and claimed around 200 lives. This year, however, the threat is far more deadly. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, more than 1,100 deaths have been recorded since January 2023, mostly among children. The outbreak has spread to 13 African countries, and a second strain has been discovered that can be sexually transmitted.
In 2022, the WHO asked for $34 million to fight the virus. But a lack of external funding and lack of access to Mpox vaccines in Africa have hampered efforts to fight the disease. Congo has not yet received any of the 4 million Mpox vaccine doses it requested.
Odds and ends
Among the world’s unsolved mysteries, few have captured the attention of scientists, historians and conspiracy theorists like Stonehenge in England. On Wednesday, researchers revealed new evidence of the megalithic structure’s past: The 6-ton “altar stone” at the center of Stonehenge’s circle came from Scotland — meaning someone (or something) was hauling a giant slab of sandstone, as heavy as a full-grown African elephant, over 500 miles at a time before the invention of the wheel. That’s quite a commitment.
