U.N. Security Council Passes Gaza Aid Deal

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a United Nations resolution to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza, Angola leaving OPEC, and Japan easing weapons export restrictions for the United States.

Cries Grow for More Aid to Gaza

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution on Friday demanding that more aid be allowed to enter Gaza. The United States and Russia both abstained from the vote after days of deadlock and U.S. veto threats.

The resolution dropped a previous call to suspend hostilities, instead recommending that “urgent steps” be taken to allow unhindered humanitarian access into the war-torn Gaza Strip. The draft’s text, largely supported by Arab countries, originally called for a “cessation” in hostilities that was then watered down to say “suspension” at the United States’ urging. But that, too, was eventually removed after Washington decided not to commit to any cease-fire demands.

The United States remains Israel’s staunchest ally despite growing criticism of its war operations and alleged indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians. According to a Gallup poll published Friday, Israelis’ approval of U.S. leadership hit a record-high 81 percent this year, up from 65 percent in 2022.

The United States worked closely with the United Arab Emirates, which first submitted the draft resolution, and Egypt to come to a working compromise. Although Cairo is not a current member of the Security Council, it was heavily involved in U.N. discussions due to its role overseeing the Rafah border crossing into Gaza as well as its help mediating a pause in fighting and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

A U.N. report published Thursday highlighting “catastrophic hunger and starvation” in Gaza also pushed the Security Council to pass the resolution. It detailed how 1 in 4 Gazans are starving and the risk of famine is increasing, blaming insufficient humanitarian assistance. Although Israel has allowed some food and medical aid into Gaza via the Rafah crossing, limits on fuel imports and continued bombardments have worsened Gaza’s dire humanitarian crisis.

“I have never seen something at the scale that is happening in Gaza—and at this speed,” said Arif Husain, the chief economist for the U.N. World Food Program.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) widened their offensive into central Gaza on Friday. Senior military officials said Israel’s air force destroyed a long-range missile launch site in Juhor ad-Dik, which they alleged was responsible for “recent launches into Israeli territory,” possibly including Hamas’s strikes against Tel Aviv on Thursday. The IDF also ordered residents of al-Bureij to move south immediately ahead of Israeli bombardments.

A shift in fighting toward central Gaza does not appear to be diminishing Israeli attacks across other parts of the region. Locals reported heavy shelling and airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza this week, which Israeli forces say houses Hamas operations. And fighting wrought further destruction in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah as Palestinian civilians struggle to find shelter. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 53,300 others wounded since war began on Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported.

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What We’re Following

Luanda’s oil row. Angola announced on Thursday that it will leave OPEC, arguing that the oil cartel no longer serves the central African country’s interests. Angola, which seeks to increase crude oil production to boost its economy, decried the OPEC+ decision in November to cut output quotas for 2024. Luanda’s departure from the bloc caused oil prices to drop by 2.4 percent on Thursday and hinted at fracturing OPEC unity.

Angola joined OPEC in 2007, and it produced roughly 4 percent of the bloc’s oil. Now analysts are wondering if Nigeria, another OPEC member and the most populous country in the group, will also leave. Nigeria has also been trying to raise its crude output. However, “[d]espite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria has no functional refinery, so it can’t just produce more fuel to bring down the high cost of gas,” Nigerian journalist Pelumi Salako wrote for Foreign Policy.

Both Ecuador and Qatar have also left OPEC in the past decade, and Indonesia suspended its membership in 2016.

Landmark reversal from Japan. In a policy pivot, Japan announced on Friday that it will relax export restrictions to sell Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to the United States. The sale will help Washington grow its military stockpiles as it struggles to garner congressional support to send more aid to Ukraine. Japan has largely restricted weapons exports since World War II, with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe first easing some export restrictions in 2014.

Tokyo hopes the decision will “contribute to Japan and the Indo-Pacific region’s peace and stability,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday. Regional experts believe that relaxing decades-old export laws will help counter Chinese and North Korean aggression, with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan applauding the move, saying it will help U.S. forces “maintain a credible deterrence and response capability” in the region.

Khan’s continued campaign. Pakistan’s Supreme Court granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan bail on Friday for charges accusing him of leaking state secrets. It is unlikely that he will be released while serving a three-year sentence for corruption, among other crimes. The court also refused to reverse a decision disqualifying Khan from running in next February’s national election.

Still, the legal rulings have not dwindled Khan’s electoral ambitions. The former leader, who remains one of the most popular prime ministers in the nation’s history, submitted his nomination papers on Friday. Earlier this week, he delivered a speech from prison—with an artificial intelligence-generated voice—as part of his campaign efforts. Islamabad banned the country’s TV stations from broadcasting the message.

Odds and Ends

Not even an hour after elusive artist Banksy confirmed the authenticity of a new piece in south London on Friday, two men stole the installation. Banksy’s latest project was a stop sign with three drone-like military aircraft on it. The thieves could face severe consequences if caught stealing or selling the artwork. The anonymous artist is not thought to be behind its removal.