• Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at why Hamas will not attend upcoming cease-fire talks with Israel, Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, and a major wildfire in Greece.

Hamas RSVPs No

Hamas announced on Sunday that it will not attend a “final” round of cease-fire and hostage release talks scheduled for Thursday in either the Egyptian capital of Cairo or the Qatari capital of Doha. Instead, the group called on U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari mediators to “submit a plan to implement” the original truce proposal approved on July 2, which U.S. President Joe Biden announced and the United Nations Security Council backed.

Biden said the July 2 framework was originally proposed by Israel. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since added new demands, which Hamas claims is part of an effort to delay a cease-fire deal. These conditions include Israel being allowed to resume fighting in Gaza after a temporary truce lifts, Israeli troops retaining control of the Rafah border crossing and Philadelphi Corridor, thousands of Hamas members not being allowed to return to northern Gaza, and the formation of an international mechanism to prevent weapons transfers into northern Gaza.

Netanyahu has repeatedly advocated for “total victory” over Hamas; however, experts have questioned the feasibility of achieving that goal, and Israeli media reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told members of the Israeli parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee on Monday that Netanyahu’s “total victory” slogan was “nonsense.” In response, Netanyahu’s office criticized Gallant for adopting an “anti-Israel narrative” that “harms the chances of reaching a hostage release deal” and reiterated the call for total victory, “which means eliminating Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and releasing our hostages.”

Hamas cited last month’s assassination in Tehran of the group’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, as another reason for not attending Thursday’s negotiations; Israel is believed to be behind Haniyeh’s death. Iran and its allies have since vowed retaliation, which analysts worry could derail truce and hostage release efforts.

This is a “now-or-never” moment for the deal, Israeli officials said, with one adding that “if Hamas won’t come to the table, we will continue decimating their forces in Gaza.” Last week, Netanyahu said he would send an Israeli delegation to Thursday’s talks.

Ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza are yet another reason that Hamas cited for refusing to attend the planned negotiations. On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a school compound housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City killed around 100 people, marking one of the deadliest attacks since the war began 10 months ago. Israel accused 20 militants of operating at the compound, but several foreign governments have condemned the operation for its high civilian death toll.

“We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm,” the White House said.

Israeli forces on Sunday also ordered Palestinians to evacuate from part of a humanitarian zone in southwestern Gaza ahead of planned fighting in the area targeting alleged “embedded terrorist infrastructure.” Israel said it is redrawing the safe zone’s borders, but UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini noted that most people in Gaza have “nowhere to go.” More than 75,000 people have been displaced in southwestern Gaza in recent days, he said, and most of the enclave’s 2.2 million people have been displaced at some point since the Israel-Hamas war began.

Today’s Most Read

• Ukraine’s Invasion of Russia Could Bring a Quicker End to the War by Andreas Umland
• The State Department’s Gaza Policy Has Failed by Hala Rharrit and Annelle Sheline
• Harris and Walz Can Remake U.S. Foreign Policy by Mark Hannah and Rachel Rizzo

The World This Week

Tuesday, Aug. 13: Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.

Wednesday, Aug. 14: The Thai Constitutional Court rules on whether Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin violated the law when he appointed a cabinet minister who had served a prison sentence for bribery.

Abbas begins a two-day visit to Turkey.

Geneva hosts U.S.-led talks between Sudan’s warring military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Kiribati holds general elections.

Thursday, Aug. 15: Cease-fire talks for the Israel-Hamas war are expected to resume.

Monday, Aug. 19: St. Martin holds general elections.

What We’re Following

Kursk incursion. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Monday of using its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region to gain leverage for future negotiations as well as stop Moscow’s offensive in the eastern Donbas.

The surprise cross-border offensive began last Tuesday and has already captured 28 Russian settlements, acting Kursk Gov. Alexei Smirnov said. He added that more than 120,000 people have been evacuated, and at least 12 civilians have been killed thus far. Putin said the offensive bolstered Russian military recruitment numbers, though Foreign Policy was unable to verify this.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for a fire that sparked at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday. Authorities say the blaze had “no impact” on the facility’s nuclear safety. The plant has been at the epicenter of several battles since Russian forces occupied the site more than two years ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of starting the fire, but Zaporizhzhia’s Kremlin-installed governor said Ukrainian shelling was responsible.

“These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned on Sunday.

“Dangerous blaze” in Greece. A major wildfire spread through several neighborhoods outside of Athens on Monday as authorities urged residents to evacuate. Greek officials deployed more than 680 firefighters and 32 water-bombing aerial units to combat the blaze, which began on Sunday. This week’s fire was one of the worst to threaten Greece’s capital this year.

Although wildfires are common during Greek summers, climate scientists said global warming has exacerbated the issue. The flames in this fire spread particularly fast on Monday due to strong winds, drought conditions, and dense terrain. According to Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, the “extremely dangerous” blaze will likely continue until Thursday. The Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain, and Turkey have reportedly responded to Athens’s calls for assistance.

Hacking the Trump campaign. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign accused “foreign sources hostile to the United States” on Saturday of hacking some internal communications documents. Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the documents were obtained to “interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process.”

Last month, an anonymous account identified only as “Robert” began sending emails to Politico containing what appeared to be internal Trump campaign documents, including a dossier dated Feb. 23 on the potential vulnerabilities of Trump’s then-yet-to-be-declared running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. On Friday, Microsoft published a report accusing a group of hackers run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of sending a “spear phishing email” from the breached account of a former senior campaign advisor to a high-ranking campaign official in June.

Microsoft’s report also said “foreign malign interference” in the upcoming U.S. presidential election has ramped up in the past six months, citing both Russian and Iranian activity. This includes “adjusting their disinformation strategies to undermine democratic institutions, foment discord, and change public opinion,” a U.S. intelligence official told FP’s Situation Report earlier this month.

Odds and Ends

The United States and China may be vying for supremacy in the military and economic realms, but on the Olympic stage, at least, they are equal. For the first time in Olympic history, the two superpowers tied for the most gold medals. Each nation celebrated 40 first-place finishes at the 2024 Paris Olympics after the U.S. women’s basketball team clinched a final victory on Sunday. China earned 91 medals in total, and the United States secured a whopping 126 podium wins.