Vance Visits Israel

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Vance said during a visit to Israel yesterday that he had “great optimism” the Israel-Hamas ceasefire would hold. He spoke while visiting a new U.S. ceasefire coordination center in southern Israel. Vance’s visit coincided with Hamas’s return of two more Israeli hostages’ bodies. But many details remain unclear about the truce’s next phase, which envisions an international stabilization force in Gaza. 

The latest. British, Canadian, Danish, German, Israeli, Jordanian, and U.S. soldiers are all being hosted at the coordination center. Vance said the United States would not have “boots on the ground” in Gaza, but mentioned the possibility that Gulf Arab countries, Indonesia, Israel, and Turkey might “work together” to ensure peace, without detailing how. He added that while flare-ups could occur during the truce, he felt confident that “we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts.” Israel said an attack Sunday violated the truce, while Gaza’s media office has accused Israel of dozens of truce violations. Both Vance and U.S. President Donald Trump publicly said yesterday that Hamas would be met with force if it did not comply with the ceasefire and disarm.     

What comes next. So far, Indonesia is one of the rare countries that has publicly said it would send troops to help oversee the Gaza ceasefire. Multiple governments are hesitant to commit troops without a UN Security Council mandate or an understanding of the exact rules of engagement, the New York Times reported. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program yesterday called for the opening of additional crossings into Gaza, saying that food aid was well below target levels because only two crossings have been opened since the truce. Neither aid corridor is located in Gaza’s north, where international monitors have declared a famine. Israel disputes that declaration.

“Let’s say the hostage exchange for prisoners happens, the ceasefire is in place, you have an Israeli pullback of sorts. You have aid going in. I think the real challenges come after that…You need people on both sides who are willing and able to make compromises, to make peace. And I think on both sides of this, both the Israeli side as well as the Palestinian side, that’s a big question mark.” —CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass on CNN

Across the Globe

Trump-Putin meeting cancelled. A prospective summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been called off, the White House said yesterday after a call between top diplomats from both countries. Trump had announced the summit, aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, last week. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Russia will not agree to a ceasefire before a peace agreement.

North Korean missile launch. North Korea conducted its first ballistic missile tests in five months today, South Korea’s military said. The launch comes as Trump and other world leaders are slated to visit South Korea next week. These were the first such missile tests since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office in June, pledging to restore peace on the peninsula. 

UK delists Syrian group. The United Kingdom (UK) removed its terrorism designation for Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian group that led the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad. Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led HTS, now serves as Syria’s interim president. London said that delisting HTS will enable closer cooperation with Syria’s new government on issues like counterterrorism, migration, and chemical weapons destruction.

Mosquitoes in Iceland. Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland for the first time, an insect expert at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland confirmed. The country has long been too cold for mosquitoes, but scientists had predicted that could change as its temperatures rise and glaciers melt due to climate change. Mosquitos that can carry tropical diseases were also recently discovered in the UK.  

Anti-terrorism finance sting. Police alliances Afripol and Interpol cooperated to arrest more than eighty-three people in six African countries as part of a first-of-its-kind operation against terrorism financing, Interpol announced today. Authorities from Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Sudan participated in the operation. Around $260 million worth of government-issued currency and cryptocurrency was uncovered as a result.

Takaichi’s first steps. New Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae will meet with Trump on October 28 during his visit to Japan. She has vowed to strengthen the Japan-U.S. relationship while bolstering Japan’s defense capabilities to ensure the country can defend itself independently. Though Takaichi had promised to appoint many women to her cabinet, she only named two yesterday.

H1-B fee update. The new $100,000 fee for skilled foreign workers obtaining H1-B visas will primarily apply to new applicants from abroad, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said late Monday. The fee will not apply to people moving from one type of visa to another, such as an F-1 student visa to an H-1B. The fee has sparked two lawsuits, including one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Colombia conviction reversed. An appeals court overturned the witness tampering conviction of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe yesterday, citing insufficient evidence and methodological errors in the trial. Uribe had been convicted in August in Colombia’s first-ever sentencing of a former president.

What’s Next