The Hamas delegation left Cairo Thursday after four days of fruitless talks that Israel boycotted, meaning there will be no cease-fire in Gaza ahead of Ramadan.
The impediments: Israel boycotted the talks because Hamas refused to provide a list of living hostages in advance. Hamas, for its part, said it could not agree to any cease-fire without Israel committing to withdrawing its troops in a phased pullout.
The nightmare for Gazans: A quarter of the population is reportedly "one step away" from famine conditions — with 575,000 on the verge of starvation.
France, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the US, and Jordan have airdropped aid, but the trickle won’t suffice. US President Joe Biden is expected to announce the construction of a floating pier off Gaza to take in aid by sea in his State of the Union speech tonight.
What we’re watching: Will Israel go ahead with its threatened invasion of Rafah? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set a March 10 deadline for hostages to be returned. A leaked US diplomatic cable this week said that such an invasion could result in “mass civilian casualties, extensive population displacement, and the collapse of the existing humanitarian response.”Xi Jinping will welcome Donald Trump with lots of pomp and circumstance. The summit, though, will be short on substance.
Israel used AI in Gaza in a way that felt "potentially uncomfortable for the US military tradition" says Bloomberg reporter Katrina Manson.
Ian Bremmer breaks down the complicated reality inside Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro’s removal from power. While the Trump administration sees the operation as a major foreign policy victory, Ian argues the harder challenge is only beginning; turning Venezuela into a stable economy and a representative democracy.
Even Eurovision cannot escape geopolitics, South Africa’s constitutional court opens door to Ramaphosa impeachment vote, Zelensky’s former right-hand man accused in corruption probe