Thursday briefing: a race to extend the ceasefire in Gaza

Ceasefire talks focus on further extensions

Top officials from Qatar, Egypt and the US urged a new extension of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which expires today.

Officials see it as the best way to ease the humanitarian crisis, secure the release of more hostages and slow the war’s death toll. But officials with knowledge of the talks said they also hoped the series of brief pauses would pave the way for an end to the war.

One of those people said mediators expect that the longer the ceasefire lasts, the harder it will be for Israel to resume its offensive and reach southern Gaza, where senior Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding.

Here’s the latest.

A senior Israeli official said there are currently no negotiations aimed at a long-term ceasefire or an exchange involving all remaining hostages for all prisoners. Israel has vowed not to stop its offensive until Hamas’s leadership is eradicated and its military and governance systems uprooted from Gaza. Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are threatening to take down the government if he does not resume fighting.

To date, most exchanges have involved women and children. But when negotiations focus on fighters, the talks will become more difficult. Hamas is believed to be holding several dozen Israeli soldiers captured in the October 7 rampage, and Israel is holding many high-profile Palestinian prisoners, including prominent Hamas members whose release the group has pledged to pursue.

The Ordeal of the Hostages: An aunt of Avigail Idan, a girl who was taken hostage by Hamas after she saw her parents killed and turned four before being released, said her niece shared one piece of pita bread a day with four others, and she was denied access to it had. showering or bathing during her 50 days of captivity.

Concerns are growing among members of the Bibas family – a mother and her two young children – after Hamas’s armed wing claimed the three had been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Release updates: Hamas released 10 Israeli hostages and two Thai nationals on Tuesday, bringing the total number of released prisoners to 85. Here’s what we know about those still being held.

Invasion of the West Bank: Two children and two members of armed groups were killed by Israeli occupation forces yesterday during a raid on the city of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry and a camp official said.

The US accuses an Indian national of plotting to kill a Sikh separatist

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan yesterday charged an Indian national with attempting to assassinate a Sikh separatist in New York City, a charge that could complicate delicate US-India relations.

Nikhil Gupta was accused of trying to hire a hitman who turned out to be an “undercover U.S. law enforcement officer,” prosecutors said. The indictment was announced days after U.S. officials in New Delhi raised concerns about the assassination plot against separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen who is general counsel for the New York-based advocacy group Sikhs for Justice.

Background: Several months ago, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the June killing of another Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, near Vancouver.

In a shaky oil market, OPEC has to make bitter choices

The agenda for today’s OPEC meeting is likely to be unpalatable to many members. The weak oil market is putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC Plus, a larger group that includes Russia, to continue and perhaps even deepen production cuts. Smaller OPEC members are asked to sign lower production limits.

China, which was responsible for three-quarters of global demand growth in 2023, is facing an economic slowdown. Overall economic expansion is expected to be tepid, and energy efficiency and the proliferation of electric vehicles will reduce oil consumption. Supplies from external producers, especially the US and Brazil, are growing.

Paddington is the busiest bear in Hollywood and appears opposite Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro. He even donned a spacesuit for ‘Interstellar’.

But his fame has nothing to do with a promotional schedule. That’s because every day since 2021, artist Jason Chou has photoshopped the anthropomorphic star into scenes from popular movies and television shows. He has no plans to stop.

ARTS AND IDEAS

The 10 best books of 2023

Every year, starting in the spring, my colleagues at The Book Review spend months debating the most exceptional books that cross their desks: the families they grew to love, the narrative nonfiction that swept them along, the fictional universes they didn’t could forget. .

One of their selections is Patricia Evangelista’s “Some People Need Killing,” a powerful memoir that chronicles the years when Rodrigo Duterte was president of the Philippines and waged a murderous campaign of extrajudicial killings against those involved in the drug trade. The murders occurred so frequently that journalists like Evangelista kept records not by date but by time of death.

Here are the other nine books that made the cut.

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