The Week That Was: Global News in Review
Foreign Policy Brief #168 | By: Ibrahim Castro | November 19, 2024
Featured Photo: Zain Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images
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Israeli forces raid El Far’a camp, for Palestinian refugees, in the occupied West Bank, in April. The Israeli military has intensified incursions in the West Bank, following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. Zain Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images
Israel: Ethnic cleansing, Annexation and UN/HRW reports
Last week a senior IDF officer, Brig Gen Itzik Cohen, made statements that raised alarm internationally over the possible annexation of parts of Gaza and permanent displacement of Palsetinians. Three cities, namely Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya – Gaza’s three northernmost cities, have been under intense Israeli bombardment since early October and have seen the majority of their populations displaced. Gen Cohen said that “There is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes” stating that his orders were to “create a cleansed space”. The comments and the actions taken by the military in the North of Gaza have caused fear, that the worries expressed in the earlier days of the war, that the Netanyahu government would annex parts or the whole of Gaza, are now coming to fruition.
At the same time Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has officially ordered preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. Smotrich, who is in charge of settlements in the West Bank, said last week that he had instructed his department to “prepare the necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria”. It is likely these illegal moves are being taken now that the Netanyahu government will have increased support from the incoming Trump administration. Smotrich voiced his hope that the incoming U.S. administration would recognise Israel’s push for sovereignty over the occupied territory.
These actions coincided with a new report by a UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices, has reported that Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians. The UN report covers the period from October 2023 to July 2024, and examines developments across the occupied Palestinian territories and the occupied Syrian Golan but focuses on the impact of the current war in Gaza. Another report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), also released last week, states that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by deliberately causing the mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. About 1.9 million people or 90% of Gaza’s population – have fled their homes over the past year, and 79% of the territory is under Israeli-issued evacuation orders, according to the UN. HRW’s report says this amounts to “forcible transfer” and that “evidence shows it has been systematic and part of a state policy”, stating that Israeli actions meet the definition of ethnic cleansing.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and first Lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva attend the closing ceremony of the G20 Social summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
G20 talks in Rio
The leaders of world’s leading economies, who have gathered in Brazil for the G20 Summit, will discuss ways to fight poverty, boost climate financing and other multilateral initiatives. The G20 Summit is taking place on the heels of the APEC summit in Lima and at the same time as the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, making it a busy two weeks for international summits and diplomacy. At the G20 summit, Brazil launched the Global Alliance for Hunger and Poverty with 41 participating members pledging to lift 500 million people out of poverty through cash transfers and social protection systems. The initiative brings together developed nations, NGOs, and financial institutions to donate money and expertise to countries in need. The intention is to remove all nations from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) hunger map by 2030.
On his trip to the G20, President Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest, making the stop on the way to Rio in an attempt to highlight the dangers of climate change. As the event kicks off, two shadows loomed over the participants, one is the incoming US President Donald Trump, who many in the G20 have already had experience working with and spent years attempting to combat his isolationist policies on the international stage. The second is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the Brazilian President Lula da Silva, refused to host as he is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, of which Brazil is a state party.
Super typhoon Man-yi was the fouth major storm to hit the Philippines in the last two weeks Charism Sayat/AFP/Getty Images
Typhoon Man-Yi makes landfall on Philippines
A super typhoon named, Manyi made landfall late last week in the Philippines with a life-threatening storm surge, heavy rains and severe winds. More than 500,000 people had evacuated from their homes ahead of the storm. Man-Yi is the sixth typhoon to hit the Philippines in a month, with at least 160 people confirmed to have died in the five previous storms. While typhoons are not uncommon in the Philippines, forecasters say it is unusual to see so many tropical storms in the Pacific at the same time during the month of November. Southeast Asia is already one of the most climate vulnerable regions of the world, experts warn, making it more susceptible to extreme weather like heat waves, storm surges and floods.
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian rocket attack in Lviv, Ukraine, on November 17.
1000 Days of War: Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid
Russia unleashed its largest air strike on Ukraine in almost three months last week, launching 120 missiles and 90 drones that killed at least seven people and caused severe damage to the nation’s power system, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal energy plants had suffered “significant damage”, resulting in widespread blackouts. The Russian defense ministry claimed that it had hit legitimate targets, saying that its attack was on “essential energy infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian military-industrial complex”.
Next week the war will surpass 1,000 days since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, reported that during these last 1000 days, 12,000 people have been killed and much of the country’s civilian infrastructure has been decimated, with over 2,000 attacks on healthcare facilities and two million homes damaged. As the war nears its third year, it has reached a critical point, with Russia making gains across the frontlines and Donald Trump retaking the White House, which will likely mean the end of U.S. support for Ukraine in the war. The Biden administration has recently granted permission for Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia with US-made weapons, ending its years-long opposition to allowing Ukrainian forces to take such action. The move comes as the Kremlin positions North Korean troops along its northern border to try to reclaim hundreds of miles of territory seized by Ukrainian forces.
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