Netanyahu Rejects Permanent Gaza Cease-Fire Proposal

Welcome back to World Brief, where I’ll be reporting this week from the high mountain altitude of Aspen, Colorado, for the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Today, we’re looking at Israel’s choice to shift its war focus to combat Hezbollah, U.S. efforts to maintain a foothold in West Africa, and South Korea’s deadly factory fire.

A Multifront Offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to reject a United Nations-backed cease-fire proposal late Sunday during a lengthy interview on Channel 14, a pro-Netanyahu Israeli station. Rather than the proposed permanent truce—which also included the phased release of all Hamas-held hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza—Netanyahu said Israel will only agree to a “partial” cease-fire that releases “some” of the hostages.

“We are committed to continuing the war after a pause in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas,” the Israeli leader said. “I’m not willing to give up on that.”

Hamas took Netanyahu’s statement as a rejection of the truce proposal, which both the United States and the U.N. Security Council have supported. The militant group initially welcomed the proposal while also requesting a few “amendments,” saying it would not release any Israeli hostages until there was a permanent cease-fire agreement and all Israeli troops left the enclave. Such conditions are “an inevitable necessity” to block Netanyahu’s war efforts, Hamas officials said.

When U.S. President Joe Biden first presented the proposal publicly in late May, he framed it as an Israeli plan. But Israel has repeatedly criticized many of its stipulations and fears that a military withdrawal from Gaza would allow Hamas to retake the enclave. Families of the roughly 120 hostages still in Hamas captivity, though, condemned Netanyahu’s decision, accusing him of abandoning their loved ones and violating “the state’s moral obligation to its citizens.”

During Sunday’s interview, Netanyahu also said that once the high-intensity phase of the war in Gaza is finished, Israeli troops will redeploy to the country’s northern border to fight Hezbollah, an Islamist, Lebanon-based and Iran-backed militant group that supports Hamas. Since the Israel-Hamas war began more than eight months ago, Israeli and Hezbollah forces have traded strikes on an almost daily basis, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee.

Netanyahu said the redeployment would aim to help Israeli residents “return home.” “If we can do this diplomatically, great,” Netanyahu said. “If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring everyone back home.” The United States has been working for months to forge a deal between Israel and Hezbollah that would avert a full-scale war; diplomats familiar with the talks told the Financial Times that a potential diplomatic solution could include Hezbollah withdrawing its forces from the border and Israel ending its reconnaissance flights over Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant traveled to Washington on Monday to discuss the next phase. While there, Gallant told Amos Hochstein—U.S. special envoy to Israel—that “Phase C” of the war would impact all fronts. Ahead of the meeting, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown warned that any Israeli offensive into Lebanon could risk sparking an Iranian response, particularly if Tehran “felt that Hezbollah was being significantly threatened.”

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The World This Week

Tuesday, June 25: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concludes a two-day trip to Belarus.

Wednesday, June 26: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak debates Labour Party leader Keir Starmer ahead of snap parliamentary elections in July.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is sentenced for drug trafficking at a U.S. court.

The Organization of American States begins its three-day annual assembly in Paraguay.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosts new Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini in Brussels.

Thursday, June 27: Biden debates former U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of general elections in November.

Friday, June 28: Iran holds an early presidential election.

Mongolia holds legislative elections.

Saturday, June 29: Mauritania holds a presidential election.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe convenes its parliamentary assembly.

Sunday, June 30: France holds snap parliamentary elections.

What We’re Following

Prioritizing West Africa. Washington’s top general, C.Q. Brown, traveled to Botswana on Monday to discuss U.S. relations with West Africa after Niger announced in May that it was ordering all U.S. troops to leave the country by September. In place of Western support, Niamey has sought partnerships with Russia—delivering a major setback for the United States as Moscow competes for influence in Africa. Without Niger, the United States loses access to Air Base 201, which cost more than $100 million and helped lead counterterrorism operations in the Sahel.

Brown announced on Monday that he plans to work with several West African nations to bolster U.S.-backed counterterrorism efforts, but he did not specify which countries; the Biden administration has previously spoken with Benin, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast. A U.S. official told Reuters that the construction of another large U.S. base or the wholesale relocation of U.S. troops from Niger to somewhere else is unlikely.

“Without a more comprehensive policy that prioritizes security, better governance, and improved economic opportunities to foster stability, the United States will continue to cede influence to groups—such as the Islamic State—that are intent on exploiting instability in Africa for their own ends,” Daniel Twining and Will Meeker argued in Foreign Policy.

Deadly factory blaze. A fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory killed 22 people on Monday, most of them Chinese nationals. It is unclear what caused the blaze and subsequent explosions at the Aricell-owned facility, which is located in the city of Hwaseong. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called for his government on Monday to “mobilize all available human resources and equipment” to respond to the incident. This was the deadliest fire in the country since 38 people were killed at a construction site in 2020.

Lithium batteries have become a highly sought global commodity in recent years, being key components in advanced weapons systems, radio communications, and oil and gas drilling. But only a handful of nations, such as those in South America’s so-called lithium triangle, dominate the industry. “The fate of the world depends on getting an increased, steady, and more environmentally sound supply of these materials,” Ecospherics President Sharon Burke told Foreign Policy’s Christina Lu.

Extremist attacks. Russia held the first of three days of mourning on Monday for at least 20 people, most of whom were police officers, killed during recent attacks on places of worship. Islamist militants targeted synagogues and Orthodox churches in Russia’s Dagestan region on Sunday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the shooters’ motives. Moscow has faced a surge in extremist violence this year, including an attack on a concert hall in March that killed 145 people, marking one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Russia’s history.

Also on Monday, the Kremlin warned the United States of “consequences” and recalled its ambassador after Russia accused Ukraine of launching a U.S. missile that killed four people, including two children, in occupied Crimea. Around 150 others were reportedly injured from falling debris. The United States gave Kyiv permission last month to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia near Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

Odds and Ends

A disappointing match during this year’s Euro men’s soccer championships has some football lovers calling for a surprise substitute. Fans expressed their dismay over England’s tied 1-1 score with Denmark last Thursday by calling for fictional (albeit, charismatic) soccer manager Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) to replace actual English manager Gareth Southgate. As Lasso once said, “If God would have wanted games to end in a tie, she wouldn’t have invented numbers.”