EsadeGeo Daily Digest, 03/07/2023

Haaretz – Jack Khoury, Yaniv Kubovich and Amir Tibon / Israeli army conducts large-scale operation in Jenin; five Palestinians killed

• The Israeli army launched an extensive West Bank operation in the Jenin area in the early hours of Monday, conducting air strikes on several targets within Jenin refugee camp, after which Israeli ground forces entered and exchanged fire with armed Palestinians in the camp.
• Five Palestinians were killed while 27 others were wounded, including seven in serious condition and one in light condition, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Medical sources in Jenin believe the number of victims to likely be higher, though there are no official figures yet due to difficult rescue conditions.
• At the same time in a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot dead in clashes with the IDF at the Beit El checkpoint near Ramallah in the central West Bank.
• Israeli forces raided what the military described as a “unified command center” for militants in the Jenin refugee camp, describing it as “an advanced observation and reconnaissance center” where militants would gather to coordinate and prepare for attacks as well as gather afterwards. It was also reported that the space served as a shelter for terror attack suspects in recent months.

Politico – Federica di Sario / In Kyiv, Sánchez says Ukraine’s EU candidacy to be a priority of Spain Council presidency

• Ukraine’s aspiration to join the EU will be one of the priorities of the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday on a visit to Kyiv.
• “Spain reaffirms its commitment to work with Ukraine as it makes progress in meeting the conditions in its EU accession,” according to a joint statement by Sánchez and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued on Saturday.
• Sánchez arrived in Kyiv on Saturday morning to meet the Ukrainian leader for what was meant to be a highly symbolic visit, taking place as Spain officially takes over the reins of the presidency of the Council for the next six months.
• “The war in Ukraine will be one of the great priorities of our presidency, with the focus being on guaranteeing the unity among all member states,” Sánchez said at Friday’s European Council in Brussels.

The Guardian / US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen to visit China to build ‘healthy’ ties with Beijing

• US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will visit Beijing this week, marking the second trip by a cabinet official to China since ties between the world’s top two economies deteriorated earlier this year.
• Yellen is expected to discuss with her counterparts the importance for both countries “to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to address global challenges”, said the Treasury Department in a statement on Sunday.
• Yellen’s planned trip from 6-9 July comes just weeks after secretary of state Antony Blinken met President Xi Jinping and foreign minister Qin Gang in Beijing in June.
• Blinken was the highest-ranking US official to visit the Chinese capital in nearly five years, and Xi said during the rare trip that he saw headway in the strained relationship between Washington and Beijing.

Euractiv – Paul Messad / Lula stalls EU-Mercosur talks, prepares counter-proposal

• Mercosur countries cancelled trade talks with the EU meant to be held in Buenos Aires starting on Thursday and Friday (29-30 June) in what was seen as an attempt by Brazil’s President Lula da Silva to buy time and present a counter-proposal to the bloc’s most recent demands.
• EU-Mercosur talks have been ongoing since the 1990s, but common ground between the bloc and Mercosur countries – Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – was only found recently, in 2019, though the positions of the Brazilian President Jaïr Bolsonaro on respecting the environment and indigenous peoples had stalled some progress.
• As negotiations continued, the European Parliament and national parliaments called for clauses that provided for mutual respect for the environment and human rights,  to which the European Commission proposed a “side letter” as an annex to the agreement reached in 2019 that reflects the concerns raised “reaffirming their commitment [both side] to the effectively implement the Paris Agreement”.
• However, as the letter is non-binding for either of the trading blocs, it fails to quell the demands made by those who still oppose the free trade deal in its current form.

Our opinion reads for today:

• Politico – Wofgang Ischinger / Security for Ukraine – but how?
• Project Syndicate – Joseph S. Nye, Jr. / India and the global balance of power