Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly roundup of top international news. This week we are covering Trump’s peace deal for Gaza , the Global Sumud Flotilla’s attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, Europe debating a drone wall against Russian drone incursions, Japan electing its first female PM, and Morocco scoring yet another victory on the Moroccan Sahara . So, let’s get to it:
Trump’s peace deal for Gaza: Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan this past week with the aim to end the war in Gaza. The plan was revealed in the presence of Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu also apologised to the Qatari PM via a phone call from Washington for Israel’s recent strike against Hamas negotiators in Doha that violated Qatari sovereignty and killed a Qatari citizen. This shows that some amount of pressure was applied by Trump on Netanyahu. That said, the broad contours of the plan are as follows. If both sides agree, the war will end immediately. Israeli forces will withdraw to an agreed upon line. Within 72 hours of Israel giving its assent, Hamas will release all remaining Israeli hostages, both alive and dead. Subsequently, Israel will release 250 life sentence Palestinian prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans detained since October 7, 2023. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
This follows the earlier pattern of hostage-prisoner swaps between the two sides. That said, the overall thrust of the plan is to neutralise Hamas and ensure that the group has no role in the future administration of Gaza. That, however, is easier said than done. Sure, the plan says that Hamas militants who surrender and decommission their weapons will be given amnesty, and that Gaza will be a de-radicalised, terror-free zone. But the Hamas ideology is very much embedded within Gazan society. Additionally, the proposals for post-war Gaza’s administration remains tricky. The plan says Gaza will be administered under a temporary transitional set-up comprising a technocratic Palestinian committee, which in turn will be supervised by a new international body called Board of Peace chaired by Trump and including other heads of state to be announced in addition to former British PM Tony Blair .
This two-tier structure will handle Gaza’s redevelopment and running until such time the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reformed and is able to eventually take control of Gaza. But there is no timeframe for this handover to PA. In the meantime, an International Stabilisation Force will deploy to Gaza to secure the enclave’s borders with Israel and train a vetted Palestinian police force to eventually take over internal security. Again, no timeline for this transition.
On the positive though, the plan says Israel will not take over Gaza, and that Gazans can leave and return to the territory as they wish. Even the redevelopment of the territory will be done for the benefit of Gazans. So, all of this sounds good on paper. But the real challenge will be implementation. Netanyahu is already facing criticism from his far-right cabinet ministers for agreeing to Trump’s plan.
At the time of writing this, Hamas has partially accepted Trump’s deal. And preparations are to begin soon to initiate the hostages-prisoners swap. However, Hamas would want to retain a presence in Gaza and resist dismantling its military infrastructure. After all, the crucial issue here is trust. Neither the Gazans nor the Israelis trust each other given the death, destruction and massacre since October 7, 2023. Plus, there are vested political interests on both sides. So, it remains to be seen if the deal can actually hold with neither party reneging on it.
Gaza flotilla intercepted: Israel’s navy intercepted more than 40 ships with around 450 international activists, including Greta Thunberg , who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza. It was the largest flotilla of its kind till date that tried to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza to get food and medicine into the besieged enclave. True, Israel stopped all the ships. Yet, it was a huge moral victory for the activists and millions around the globe who want to get more aid into Gaza amid starvation conditions. In fact, the flotilla ships all had cameras that were livestreaming as they approached the Gaza coast. And the footage of armed Israeli soldiers forcibly boarding the ships was beamed all over the world, reinforcing the perception of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and injustice being heaped on ordinary Palestinians.
The activists, lawyers and even parliamentarians who took part in the flotilla have been detained in Israel and are being processed for repatriation. Israel clearly lost this perception battle. And with Trump forcing Tel Aviv to accept a deal to end the conflict in Gaza, Israeli authorities are scrambling to deal with a PR disaster.
Europe debates drone wall: The issue of constructing a drone wall in Eastern European gained some momentum last week, however differences remain. The drone wall – an interconnected, transnational system of radars, anti-drone platforms and other offensive and defensive assets, has been proposed by the European Commission. However, EU members who don’t share a border with Russia are still hesitating. This is inexplicable because the recent incursion of Russian drones into EU member states such as Poland and Denmark mark a clear threat to European airspace and vital assets. Moscow is clearly testing European defences. And if Europe doesn’t formulate a clear strategy to counter Russian drones now, Moscow is likely to undertake bigger provocations in future.
Plus, any such European initiative on drones has to include Ukraine. The latter today is the leader in drone innovation and production with real-time battlefield experience. Ukrainian forces are also a storehouse of knowledge on Russian drone tactics. Therefore, Ukraine is central to a European drone wall. Additionally, it’s important to remember that Russian drones now have a range that covers almost all European countries. Therefore, it is unhelpful for some European governments to pretend that the Russian drone threat doesn’t impact them. Ukraine is Europe’s shield today. Europe should stop procrastinating and get its act together to help itself and Ukraine.
Japan elects first female PM: Japan elected its first female PM, Sanae Takaichi, in a watershed moment for the country’s politics. Japan has long been associated with deep-rooted patriarchy in politics, business and society, with women’s role primarily being seen as that of mothers and caregivers. With Takaichi’s election as the leader of the governing LDP party, and therefore the next PM of Japan, the glass ceiling has finally been broken.
However, Takaichi comes from the conservative wing of the LDP and holds traditionalist positions on family values. She is also considered a China hawk. Therefore, Takaichi’s election is certainly a powerful symbol for women in Japan. But it may not lead to an immediate boost in women’s empowerment. Nonetheless, the fact that Japan gets its first female PM is something to build upon for the future. Change, after all, takes time.
Boost for Moroccan Sahara: In a big boost for Morocco and its Sahara provinces, Rabat and Brussels amended the Morocco-EU Agricultural Agreement to grant preferential tariffs to agricultural products from the Moroccan Sahara. It will be recalled that this was a contentious issue in light of the Algeria-backed and Polisario -fronted separatist arguments that had little basis in history or law. Under the new arrangements products from the Moroccan Sahara will enter the EU under Morocco’s trade preferences, thereby tacitly accepting Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara provinces. After all, these Sahara provinces had always been part of Morocco and were hived off only by 19th century European colonial powers. Their return to Morocco in 1975 and 1979, without any bloodshed, was testimony to Morocco’s sovereignty. However, Algeria, to strategically hem in Morocco, funded and nurtured the Polisario separated movement.
All that is being corrected now with growing international recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara, and Rabat’s Autonomy Plan for the Sahara provinces being seen as the only just, credible and serious plan to resolve this historical baggage. Treating agricultural products from the Moroccan Sahara at par with products from other parts of Morocco is a step in the right direction. It also shows growing European recognition of Morocco’s position. That’s a big win for Rabat.
Trump’s peace deal for Gaza: Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan this past week with the aim to end the war in Gaza. The plan was revealed in the presence of Israeli PM Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu also apologised to the Qatari PM via a phone call from Washington for Israel’s recent strike against Hamas negotiators in Doha that violated Qatari sovereignty and killed a Qatari citizen. This shows that some amount of pressure was applied by Trump on Netanyahu. That said, the broad contours of the plan are as follows. If both sides agree, the war will end immediately. Israeli forces will withdraw to an agreed upon line. Within 72 hours of Israel giving its assent, Hamas will release all remaining Israeli hostages, both alive and dead. Subsequently, Israel will release 250 life sentence Palestinian prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans detained since October 7, 2023. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
This follows the earlier pattern of hostage-prisoner swaps between the two sides. That said, the overall thrust of the plan is to neutralise Hamas and ensure that the group has no role in the future administration of Gaza. That, however, is easier said than done. Sure, the plan says that Hamas militants who surrender and decommission their weapons will be given amnesty, and that Gaza will be a de-radicalised, terror-free zone. But the Hamas ideology is very much embedded within Gazan society. Additionally, the proposals for post-war Gaza’s administration remains tricky. The plan says Gaza will be administered under a temporary transitional set-up comprising a technocratic Palestinian committee, which in turn will be supervised by a new international body called Board of Peace chaired by Trump and including other heads of state to be announced in addition to former British PM Tony Blair .
This two-tier structure will handle Gaza’s redevelopment and running until such time the Palestinian Authority (PA) is reformed and is able to eventually take control of Gaza. But there is no timeframe for this handover to PA. In the meantime, an International Stabilisation Force will deploy to Gaza to secure the enclave’s borders with Israel and train a vetted Palestinian police force to eventually take over internal security. Again, no timeline for this transition.
On the positive though, the plan says Israel will not take over Gaza, and that Gazans can leave and return to the territory as they wish. Even the redevelopment of the territory will be done for the benefit of Gazans. So, all of this sounds good on paper. But the real challenge will be implementation. Netanyahu is already facing criticism from his far-right cabinet ministers for agreeing to Trump’s plan.
At the time of writing this, Hamas has partially accepted Trump’s deal. And preparations are to begin soon to initiate the hostages-prisoners swap. However, Hamas would want to retain a presence in Gaza and resist dismantling its military infrastructure. After all, the crucial issue here is trust. Neither the Gazans nor the Israelis trust each other given the death, destruction and massacre since October 7, 2023. Plus, there are vested political interests on both sides. So, it remains to be seen if the deal can actually hold with neither party reneging on it.
Gaza flotilla intercepted: Israel’s navy intercepted more than 40 ships with around 450 international activists, including Greta Thunberg , who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza. It was the largest flotilla of its kind till date that tried to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza to get food and medicine into the besieged enclave. True, Israel stopped all the ships. Yet, it was a huge moral victory for the activists and millions around the globe who want to get more aid into Gaza amid starvation conditions. In fact, the flotilla ships all had cameras that were livestreaming as they approached the Gaza coast. And the footage of armed Israeli soldiers forcibly boarding the ships was beamed all over the world, reinforcing the perception of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and injustice being heaped on ordinary Palestinians.
The activists, lawyers and even parliamentarians who took part in the flotilla have been detained in Israel and are being processed for repatriation. Israel clearly lost this perception battle. And with Trump forcing Tel Aviv to accept a deal to end the conflict in Gaza, Israeli authorities are scrambling to deal with a PR disaster.
Europe debates drone wall: The issue of constructing a drone wall in Eastern European gained some momentum last week, however differences remain. The drone wall – an interconnected, transnational system of radars, anti-drone platforms and other offensive and defensive assets, has been proposed by the European Commission. However, EU members who don’t share a border with Russia are still hesitating. This is inexplicable because the recent incursion of Russian drones into EU member states such as Poland and Denmark mark a clear threat to European airspace and vital assets. Moscow is clearly testing European defences. And if Europe doesn’t formulate a clear strategy to counter Russian drones now, Moscow is likely to undertake bigger provocations in future.
Plus, any such European initiative on drones has to include Ukraine. The latter today is the leader in drone innovation and production with real-time battlefield experience. Ukrainian forces are also a storehouse of knowledge on Russian drone tactics. Therefore, Ukraine is central to a European drone wall. Additionally, it’s important to remember that Russian drones now have a range that covers almost all European countries. Therefore, it is unhelpful for some European governments to pretend that the Russian drone threat doesn’t impact them. Ukraine is Europe’s shield today. Europe should stop procrastinating and get its act together to help itself and Ukraine.
Japan elects first female PM: Japan elected its first female PM, Sanae Takaichi, in a watershed moment for the country’s politics. Japan has long been associated with deep-rooted patriarchy in politics, business and society, with women’s role primarily being seen as that of mothers and caregivers. With Takaichi’s election as the leader of the governing LDP party, and therefore the next PM of Japan, the glass ceiling has finally been broken.
However, Takaichi comes from the conservative wing of the LDP and holds traditionalist positions on family values. She is also considered a China hawk. Therefore, Takaichi’s election is certainly a powerful symbol for women in Japan. But it may not lead to an immediate boost in women’s empowerment. Nonetheless, the fact that Japan gets its first female PM is something to build upon for the future. Change, after all, takes time.
Boost for Moroccan Sahara: In a big boost for Morocco and its Sahara provinces, Rabat and Brussels amended the Morocco-EU Agricultural Agreement to grant preferential tariffs to agricultural products from the Moroccan Sahara. It will be recalled that this was a contentious issue in light of the Algeria-backed and Polisario -fronted separatist arguments that had little basis in history or law. Under the new arrangements products from the Moroccan Sahara will enter the EU under Morocco’s trade preferences, thereby tacitly accepting Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara provinces. After all, these Sahara provinces had always been part of Morocco and were hived off only by 19th century European colonial powers. Their return to Morocco in 1975 and 1979, without any bloodshed, was testimony to Morocco’s sovereignty. However, Algeria, to strategically hem in Morocco, funded and nurtured the Polisario separated movement.
All that is being corrected now with growing international recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara, and Rabat’s Autonomy Plan for the Sahara provinces being seen as the only just, credible and serious plan to resolve this historical baggage. Treating agricultural products from the Moroccan Sahara at par with products from other parts of Morocco is a step in the right direction. It also shows growing European recognition of Morocco’s position. That’s a big win for Rabat.
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