Netanyahu rejects Trump-backed Gaza plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected a US-backed plan for Gaza, in a rare public break with US President Donald Trump. The 15-point plan that Trump’s Board of Peace unveiled last month calls for Hamas to disarm and Israeli troops to withdraw from the enclave. Netanyahu said Israel won’t pull back until Hamas gives up its weapons—a nonstarter for Hamas, which insists it won’t disarm until Israel withdraws first. Netanyahu is navigating competing pressures. Washington wants a Middle East peace deal as its separate war with Iran continues to stall. However, far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition blasted the Gaza plan soon after it was announced. With Netanyahu’s coalition trailing the opposition in the polls, any perceived concession on Gaza could carry a steep political cost at home.
Russia and Syria reach deal on future of military bases
After 18 months of negotiations, Moscow and Damascus concluded a memorandum of understanding on Russia’s presence in Syria. Under the deal, Damascus will take over commercial operations at the Hmeimim airport and Tartus naval base. Military facilities at the base will be converted to joint training centers over a three-month transition period. Both sites have been key Russian assets since the Soviet era, their sole hubs in the eastern Mediterranean for planes and ships traveling to and from Africa. Their future came into question after rebel groups ousted former president Bashar Al-Assad in 2024. President Ahmed al-Sharaa then began to restrict Russian access to Tartus and canceled Moscow’s port management contract. Though key details have yet to be worked out and relations are maintained, the move reflects how Russia’s presence in Syria has shrunk since the fall of Assad, whose regime it supported for 14 years.
Could football fans get a second World Cup?
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has reportedly opened preliminary talks with other football associations about creating a new international tournament to rival the FIFA World Cup. The move reflects growing frustration with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, whose proposal to sell stakes in World Cup rights to outside investors sparked widespread criticism from football federations that argued that such a step could undermine the tournament’s integrity. This isn’t the first time that FIFA has faced similar backlash: In 1966, 15 African nations boycotted the World Cup after FIFA refused to grant the Confederation of African Football a guaranteed place in the tournament. More recently, in 2021, UEFA threatened to sit out the tournament after Infantino floated the idea of holding the World Cup every two years.
