What We’re Watching: Israel expands West Bank control, Orbán’s opponent publishes manifesto, Ethiopia trains Sudan’s rebel soldiers

Israel expands control in the West Bank

The Israeli government unilaterally passed measures that allow Jewish settlers to purchase land in the West Bank, overriding past laws that effectively banned the sale of property there to anyone other than Palestinian residents. Critics say the measures mark another step toward annexing the West Bank and violate international law. A US official criticized the move, noting that President Donald Trump rejects Israeli annexation. The measures come after a two-year period in which Israeli settlers established a record number of outposts in the West Bank, a development that has drawn relatively little attention as the world’s focus was instead on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza during that time.

Challenger to Hungary’s Orbán releases manifesto

The center-right Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar, a former acolyte of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has outlined its vision for a post-Orbán Hungary. In a manifesto shared over the weekend, the party says it wants to restore European Union funding that has been suspended over rule-of-law violations, tackle corruption, tax the ultra-rich, repair ties with the EU and NATO, review economic ties with Russia, and maintain Hungary’s strict refusal to accept EU migration quotas. That mix of nationalism in social spheres and Euro-Atlanticist outlook in foreign policy — reminiscent of Italian PM Giorgia Meloni — has won Magyar huge support, especially among younger Hungarians. Polls show that in the April election, he could dethrone the proudly “illiberal” Orbán, who has held power for 16 years.

Ethiopia exposed as another regional power in Sudan’s civil war

Ethiopia is reportedly home to a secret camp training thousands of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters, the paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in neighboring Sudan. The revelation marks the first concrete evidence that Ethiopia is among several actors at play in one of the world’s deadliest conflicts. The camp’s construction was allegedly financed by the United Arab Emirates, which reportedly also arms the RSF – the Emiratis deny this. Egypt and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, have backed SAF. Overall, more than ten countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and even Russia and Ukraine have reportedly been involved in Sudan’s civil war, which has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.