Long Day’s Journey Into Peace

When asked who deserved credit for the Gaza ceasefire deal, Joe Biden asked: “Is that a joke?” The US president had earlier said his and President-elect Donald Trump’s teams worked as one to push the deal through. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had been parked there, but it’s unlikely Israel and Hamas, via mediator Qatar, would have reached an agreement without the January 20 deadline. And Benjamin Netanyahu did call Trump first.

Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people. The retributive assault on Gaza has seen around 46,000 people killed (Hamas’ health ministry numbers, not to be taken at face value). Taking effect on January 19, the deal will see the remaining hostages released, some Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, and an Israeli troop withdrawal. It should end the war. It won’t end the conflict. Within hours of the deal, Netanyahu had accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the ceasefire. Lebanon, meanwhile, has got a new president and prime minister. And Hezbollah had nothing to do with either. Trump will find the Middle East a changed place since his first term, despite what could be Biden’s only legacy.

Flying Blind

 

PIA didn’t learn. In 1979, its plane had eerily cast its shadow on the recently (1973) inaugurated World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Now, its aircraft appeared to be headed straight for the Eiffel Tower. The embarrassment, with attendant online trolling, caused by a PIA ad on the resumption of direct flights from Islamabad to Paris led to the prime minister finally ordering an investigation this week. What exactly is to be investigated? Ignorance? Idiocy? Or malice?

It’s not the devastation in LA. Nor the arson attacks across Europe blamed on Russia. Since as early as March 2022, less than a month into the invasion of Ukraine, mystery fires have been setting Russia aflame. From oil depots to military recruitment centres and ammunition lock-ups to railway bridges and power plants, the fires have been randomised enough of late to take out bank ATM terminals. While the earliest cases of arson were identifiably anti-war attacks, even the Kremlin is having trouble categorising the more recent cases as terrorism. It still calls them subversive psychological warfare, implying Ukraine.

In an intriguing case cited by the Economist and Russian outlets, a pensioner set two ATM terminals alight in late December and filmed it on his smartphone before getting caught at his third attempt. Why did he do it? Anonymous people on the phone told him to. According to a media investigation, there have been almost 280 such cases to date. What’s clear is that very few of these can be blamed on identifiable partisans or saboteurs. And yet, there is too much order in this chaos for the attacks to be truly random.

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