Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
A damaged building, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, according to an Israeli official, in Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025.
What We’re Watching: Israel strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar, Nepal prime minister resigns, Norway election results
Israel strikes Hamas leaders in Qatar
Israel on Monday conducted a brazen assassination attempt on senior Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha. As of now, their fate is unknown. Qatar and other Gulf Arab monarchies condemned the strike, which came as the Hamas leaders were discussing a Gaza ceasefire proposal from Donald Trump. The US president on Sunday had issued a “last warning” to Hamas to accept his terms, which he said Israel had agreed to. Israel says it carried out the operation entirely on its own, but what the US or others knew about it and when is a big question. Another question: will Qatar continue to act as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after this?
Nepal’s prime minister steps down amid growing protests
Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday, while protestors set the parliament on fire and attacked politicians’ homes, a day after at least 19 demonstrators were killed on Monday in ongoing protests over corruption and a social media ban. Oli, the leader of Nepal’s Communist Party, has run the Himalayan nation for much of the last decade, and his exit leaves a dizzying power vacuum. The “Gen Z” protest movement wants youth representatives to lead an interim government. Army leaders have called for calm. But no one has stepped in with a plan, risking a deeper descent into violence.
Norway’s center-left party wins again
Norway’s governing Labor Party claimed victory in Monday’s general election, with the center-left bloc winning 87 of 169 seats. The campaign centered largely on the country’s wealth tax, which Labor vows to preserve. The result bucked the trend of establishment center-left incumbents getting hammered at the polls in Europe, but it also underscored the rising appeal of the right: Norway’s anti-immigration, Eurosceptic Progress Party surged to its best-ever result. Labor will now have to rely on a coalition of smaller left-wing parties to pass its agenda.Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, in Doha, Qatar, on Oct. 2, 2024.
Qatar suspends Hamas-Israel mediation efforts
The Gulf Arab emirate announced this weekend it would stop mediating efforts to broker a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel until “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war.”
For months, talks have failed, despite efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt. Hamas demands a permanent cease-fire and complete withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, while Israel, which has sworn to destroy Hamas, insists on only a temporary truce and the right to occupy the enclave indefinitely.
Relatedly, reports suggested the Qataris, under US pressure, have asked Hamas political leaders to leave the kingdom, where they have enjoyed a safe haven for more than a decade.
Qatar, a US ally, has long served as a channel for talks with Hamas and other groups listed as terror organizations by the West.
Whether Qatar’s gambit will revive productive talks remains to be seen, but with Benjamin Netanyahu now comfortably awaiting the return of his close ally Donald Trump to the White House, it may put more pressure on Hamas than on the Israelis.
While the group could relocate elsewhere, there are no viable options that would offer channels to the West as direct as Qatar’s. Meanwhile, Trump, who has promised to “end” the conflict, has reportedly spoken with Netanyahu at least three times since the election alone.
For a broader look at how Trump 2.0 might shake up US foreign policy, including on the Middle East, see our recent report here.Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in a rally calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 25, 2024.
Palestinian Authority PM resigns amid truce talks for Gaza
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh tendered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, in a move that could set the stage for Gaza’s future government. Meanwhile, negotiations for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza have resumed in Doha between “experts” from Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, and representatives of Hamas.
What are the terms?
According to a framework drawn up in Paris on Friday, hostilities would pause for six weeks. Hamas would release approximately 40 hostages, while Israel would free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli troops would be “redeployed” within Gaza, but not fully withdraw as Hamas had demanded. Israel would also enable the return of Palestinian women and children to northern Gaza.
The clock is ticking
March 10 marks the start of Ramadan and is considered the unofficial deadline for the talks. War cabinet minister Benny Gantz has said Israel will expand its offensive into Rafah if there is no hostage release deal by then.
Will a deal stave off operations in Rafah?
Not necessarily. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel’s incursion into Rafah “will be delayed somewhat” if the parties reach a hostage deal but will still happen. According to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, however, “the White House hasn't seen any Israeli plan for an operation in Rafah and for keeping Palestinian civilians safe,” and that no action in Rafah should go ahead in its absence.Why did Shtayyeh resign?
Longer term, the United States has been pressuring the PA to clean up its act. Washington envisions a technocratic PA government overseeing post-war Gaza, but with its reputation for corruption and low esteem in the eyes of West Bank residents, a major government overhaul is seen as indispensable.
The Palestinian Authority has not held elections in nearly two decades, with Abbas ruling by presidential decree since the expiration of his nominally four year long term. The last time they attempted to democratically choose leadership, in 2006, Hamas won control of Gaza and pushed the Palestinian Authority out by force within a year. We have our eye on how the PA decides its future leadership, and whether a return to Gaza is even a feasible proposition.
EU/NATO summits intensify support for Ukraine
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Doha on European support for Ukraine.
Is European support for Ukraine holding up?
I mean, the answer is, very distinctly, is yes. There was a remarkable, you can call it the summit of summits, in Brussels on Thursday, where we had, first the NATO summit with President Biden as well, we had the G7 summit and we had the EU summit with President Biden as well. There's never been, to my knowledge, any summit of summits of that particular sort. And that took place on the day, one month after President Putin started his aggression against Ukraine. Sanctions are being intensified. Weapons deliveries to Ukraine are intensified. The thing that worries the Europeans somewhat is, of course, energy dependence and energy prices. And you've seen a lot of people coming to--quite high up--at the moment Doha in Qatar, in order to secure supplies of natural gas and other energies in order to get Europe off its dependence, or the dependence of some of the country's, on natural gas from Russia.
That will happen as well. So support, certainly holding up.
- Biden's Europe trip to show strengthened alliance against Russia ... ›
- The Graphic Truth: Who partners with NATO? - GZERO Media ›
- European support for Ukraine remains strong ahead of Biden's visit ... ›
- The worst may be yet to come in Russia-Ukraine energy crisis ... ›
- Natural gas prices are soaring. Here's why you care. - GZERO Media ›
- Ukraine’s long road to EU membership ›