Daily News Brief

October 23, 2023

Top of the Agenda

A second aid convoy of fourteen trucks entered the Gaza Strip (Reuters) from Egypt yesterday. While a breakthrough, it is still only a fraction of the at least one hundred aid trucks per day that UN officials say are required to meet Gaza’s urgent needs. The Israeli military, meanwhile, said that one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian position near its border with Gaza and is currently investigating the incident. The Joe Biden administration has advised Israel to delay its planned ground invasion of Gaza to allow for more aid delivery and hostage negotiations, unnamed U.S. officials told the New York Times. Two American hostages were released on Friday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned of the risk of war spreading (FT) yesterday, and the Department of Defense has moved a carrier strike group toward the Persian Gulf and placed additional troops in the region on standby. Israel has continued its air campaign on Gaza and carried out a rare air strike in the West Bank, while Palestinian armed groups have continued launching rockets toward Israel. 

Analysis

“The U.S. needs to press Israel to set achievable goals that will allow for a cease-fire in the near term, almost certainly before Hamas is eliminated. The proper role for the U.S. is not to try to prevent a significant Israeli military action, which is all but inevitable, but to shape its scale and duration,” CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass writes for the Wall Street Journal.

“The Americans know that an invasion [of Gaza] makes a regional war much more likely, and that if the conflict spreads it is likely to include the targeting of U.S. forces and interests throughout the Middle East,” the Carnegie Middle East Center’s Michael Young writes.

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

Pacific Rim

Authorities are investigating (FT) the company’s tax and land-use records, Chinese state media said yesterday. The probe comes as Foxconn’s founder campaigns for president of Taiwan and as China cracks down on foreign businesses. Foxconn said it would cooperate with the investigation.

China/Philippines: The Philippines summoned China’s ambassador (Nikkei) and publicly blamed China for a maritime collision in disputed waters of the South China Sea yesterday. Manila called on Beijing to stop aggressive maritime acts in the area, while a Chinese foreign ministry official said that a Philippine boat had intruded into Chinese waters.

This timeline traces China’s maritime disputes. 

South and Central Asia

Imran Khan is expected to go to trial this week (AP) in a case that relates to the reveal of a confidential diplomatic cable following his ouster in 2022. Khan is currently facing more than 150 cases and was given a three-year sentence on corruption charges earlier this year, which was later suspended. 

Canada/India: India would like to resume issuing visas (India Today) in Canada and will do so if its diplomats are provided safety, its external affairs minister said. India paused visa services in Canada due to a diplomatic dispute over Canada’s allegations that Indian agents were involved in the June killing of a Canadian Sikh activist.

Middle East and North Africa

Two female journalists were sentenced (FT) on charges including collaborating with the U.S. government after Iranian authorities detained them last year for their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody, an event that sparked nationwide anti-government protests. The journalists’ newspapers denied the charges. 

For the Women Around the World blog, Joan Johnson-Freese and Kathryn Pilgrim explore the role of female journalists after Mahsa Amini’s death. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

The European Union (EU) framework allows for the sanctioning of individuals and groups whose actions threaten peace and stability in Niger. It aims to mirror and strengthen (Reuters) measures taken by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after Niger’s coup in July.

Tanzania/UAE: Tanzania’s government signed a deal (AP) yesterday that will allow a United Arab Emirates (UAE) company to manage part of a port in the city of Dar es Salaam despite opposition and civil society protests against its foreign management. Authorities have arrested more than twenty-two people since the deal was approved on June 10, according to Human Rights Watch.

Europe

The report released last week found evidence (NYT) that detention centers in Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine have used torture methods and documented accounts of Russian forces committing rape in the southern region of Kherson. It also recorded the forcible transfer of thirty-one Ukrainian children to Russia, noting that this constituted a war crime (The Guardian).

Egypt/EU: European authorities are negotiating a financial aid package with Egypt amid fears that the current war between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a broader regional conflict and produce outbound refugee flows, the Financial Times reports. Officials have proposed that the package include aid for border control and economic support.

This In Brief by CFR expert Steven A. Cook looks at the part that Egypt could have in easing the conflict in Gaza. 

Americas

Economy Minister Sergio Massa of Argentina’s ruling center-left coalition won the most votes (FT) in yesterday’s election and will face libertarian challenger Javier Milei in a runoff on November 19. Polls had generally predicted a stronger performance for Milei.

Venezuela: Preliminary results from the opposition’s presidential primary yesterday gave a wide lead (AP) to former lawmaker María Corina Machado, organizers said. The Nicolás Maduro government banned Machado from running against him in next year’s election, though last week Venezuela agreed to respect a fair election process in exchange for the lifting of some U.S. sanctions.

United States

After Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to secure the role of House Speaker, nine candidates signed up to run (NPR) for the speakership by last night’s deadline to enter the bid.

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