Pricey reader,
Here’s what you missed final week if you’re not an Al-Monitor subscriber:
From Tel Aviv: Are Sinwar’s days numbered?
“Regardless of robust home stress to succeed in a take care of Hamas for the remaining hostages in return for a Gaza cease-fire, prospects of Sinwar’s seize or assassination are fueling [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s delaying techniques within the ongoing talks,” writes Ben Caspit. “Israel’s profitable extraction on Tuesday of a hostage from a Gaza tunnel for the primary time in nearly 11 months is reinforcing assessments that its troops are near catching or killing Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, in hiding underground since Oct. 7.”
“With the arrest of Pavel Durov, the UAE’s apply of granting citizenship and residence to high-profile traders is again within the information,” stories Jennifer Gnana.
“Durov grew Telegram to 900 million subscribers earlier this 12 months. As he contemplated a possible public providing of the corporate, Durov mentioned that traders valued his firm at round ‘$30 billion-plus,'” provides Gnana. His arrest is probably the most high-profile of any tech entrepreneur’s, making his worth as a high-stakes investor within the UAE’s financial system all of the extra crucial.”
From Tehran: Khamenei says there’s ‘no hurt’ in speaking to the enemy
“We should always not belief the enemy,” Iran Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned this week, including that “this doesn’t imply that we can’t work together with the identical enemy in sure conditions. … There is no such thing as a hurt in that, however don’t place your hopes in them.”
Khamenei’s remarks observe these of Iran’s new overseas minister, Abbas Araghchi, who known as for reopening discussions to revise the principally, if not absolutely, useless Joint Complete Plan of Motion (JCPOA).
“Inside the evolving scenario, the Pezeshkian administration is dealing with the urgent problem of balancing out the calls for of home politics, financial maladies and worldwide stress, all of the whereas adhering to Khamenei’s directives to confront the enemy,” writes our correspondent in Tehran. “The reasonable president asserted his allegiance to Khamenei and struck a observe of defiance towards Western sanctions in a speech on Tuesday after his assembly with the supreme chief.”
From Amman: Al-Aqsa Mosque flares once more
“The most recent flareup got here this week after Israel’s far-right nationwide safety minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, mentioned in an interview with Military Radio {that a} synagogue ought to be constructed on the contested holy web site,” writes Daoud Kuttab. “The name for Jews to wish on the compound is in violation of the 1967 Standing Quo Settlement. In an indication of the severity of the event, the workplace of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli protection minister mentioned that the established order has not modified at Al-Aqsa.”
From Ankara: Egypt as cause for Turkey’s turnaround on Libya
“Turkey, one of many two overseas powers with the most important navy presence in Libya, has maintained conspicuous silence over the latest political upheaval amongst Libyan rival armed teams threatening the 2020 cease-fire,” writes Ezgi Akin. “Consultants argue that Ankara’s place may be linked to efforts to protect its flourishing rapprochement with Egypt in addition to its dropping endurance with a few of its allies in Tripoli.”
