The New York Times - Michael Crowley and Thomas Fuller / U.S. Draft Resolution Would Call for ‘Immediate and Sustained Cease-Fire’

• Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, traveling in the Middle East on Thursday, pressed for a halt to fighting in the Gaza Strip as the United States prepared to introduce a resolution at the United Nations on Friday calling for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire.”

• The Security Council resolution drafted by the United States contains the strongest language that Washington has supported so far, and was an apparent shift for Israel’s closest ally. In February, the United States vetoed a Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. 

• The new resolution also condemns the Hamas-led attacks on Israel of Oct. 7 that set off the war and the hostage-taking that day, and expresses support for the negotiations to free those still being held in Gaza. 

• When the United States vetoed the earlier resolution, American officials said they had done so because they were concerned that it could disrupt hostage negotiations. But Biden administration officials have grown more outspoken in recent weeks in their push for a cease-fire, as experts have warned of imminent famine in Gaza and pressure grows for stronger international action.

   

The Washington Post - Ishaan Tharoor / Mexico rejects Texas’s ‘draconian’ migrant law
 

• A controversial Texas state law that empowers local authorities to deport migrants illegally crossing the border is being buffeted by legal whiplash. Earlier this week, the conservative majority in the Supreme Court cleared the way for the law, known as S.B. 4, to be enforced. 
• But only hours later, a federal appeals court blocked enforcement of the law ahead of subsequent deliberations. The proceedings are expected to make their way back to the Supreme Court. 
• The law makes it a state crime for migrants to illegally cross the border and allows Texas judges to order the deportation of undocumented individuals — even though such measures regarding immigration are the province of federal authorities. 

• Critics in the United States and abroad have warned that it is unconstitutional, counterproductive and creates a climate of fear in Texas where anyone potentially suspected of being an undocumented migrant can be subject to questioning by local police.

   

The Guardian - Ana Lucía González Paz, Lucy Swan, Paul Scruton and Harvey Symons / ‘Man-made starvation’: the obstacles to Gaza aid deliveries – visual guide

• Israel’s siege of Gaza has created what aid officials are referring to as “man-made starvation”, with the territory facing the threat of mass deaths from famine in the coming weeks. Children are already dying from hunger. 

• As part of its devastating war strategy against Hamas, Israel has restricted shipments of food and medicine to just a fraction of what Palestinian civilians need to survive. 

• The crisis is an artificially created one. Gaza, population roughly 2.3 million, is not geographically isolated. The small strip of land on the eastern Mediterranean coast served as a well-connected port for centuries, linking Asia with Europe. 

• “Starvation is used as a weapon of war,” the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said this week. “Israel is provoking famine.”

   

SCMP - Shi Jingtao / Removal of Vietnamese president Vo Van Thuong raises concerns over stability, but ties with China expected to remain stable

• The sudden departure of Vietnam’s president Vo Van Thuong after just 14 months has raised concerns about the country’s stability, but Chinese observers do not expect it to have an impact on relations between the two countries. 

• Vo Van Thuong became the second Vietnamese president to step down in 14 months following a vote by the National Assembly in a closed session at an extraordinary meeting, state media reported. 

• While details about his effective dismissal remain unclear, Thuong was allowed to tender his resignation. The Communist Party’s official statement said “violations by Vo Van Thuong have left a bad mark on the reputation of the Communist Party” – a comment widely understood to refer to corruption. 

• Thuong became president just 14 months ago after the departure in similar circumstances of Nguyen Xuan Phuc in January last year due to what were described as “violations and wrongdoing” by officials under his control.

   

Our opinion reads for today:

• Foreign Policy - Stephen M. Walt / The United States Has Less Leverage Over Israel Than You Think 

• Financial Times - Kim Ghattas / Iran-Saudi ties prove an unlikely Middle East safety valve 

• Project Syndicate - Robert Skidelsky / Post-Capitalist Pessimism 

• The Economist / The Department of Justice wages war on Apple