Hamas says it is willing to move ahead with Gaza ceasefire

Hamas signalled on Thursday that a crisis threatening to unravel an already fragile ceasefire in Gaza could be avoided even after trading accusations with Israel this week of ceasefire breaches.

The 42-day ceasefire has appeared close to failure since Hamas on Monday unexpectedly announced it would stop releasing hostages, leading Israel to respond with a threat to return to war.

Hamas said it did not want the deal to collapse, though it rejected what it called the "language of threats and intimidation" from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump. They have said the ceasefire should be cancelled if the hostages are not released.

"Accordingly, Hamas reaffirms its commitment to implementing the agreement as signed, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified timeline," Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas, whose Gaza chief leader Khalil Al-Hayya is visiting Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials, also said both Egyptian and Qatari mediators would press on with efforts "to remove obstacles and close gaps".

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer later told reporters that three hostages must be released alive by Hamas on Saturday for the ceasefire to continue.

Hamas accused Israel this week of failing to respect stipulations calling for a massive increase in aid deliveries and said it would not hand over the three hostages due to be released on Saturday until the issue was resolved.

Israel has also accused Hamas of breaching the agreement, including on Thursday evening when the military said Hamas had fired a rocket from Gaza that landed in the enclave.

The military subsequently struck the launcher, it said.

A source in the Hamas-run police said the rocket was an unexploded Israeli ordinance that had ignited and fired into the air while it was being moved away from a residential area.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims.

After Hamas announced it would stop releasing hostages, Netanyahu ordered reserves to be called up and threatened to resume combat operations that have been paused for almost a month unless the hostages were returned.

Avi Dichter, a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, told Israeli public radio on Thursday that he did not believe Hamas would be able to get out of the agreement.

"There's a deal, they won't be able to give anything less than what is in the deal," he said. "I don't believe that Hamas can behave otherwise."

Egyptian security sources told Reuters they expected heavy construction equipment to enter on Thursday and if that happened then Hamas would release hostages on Saturday.

The standoff between Israel and Hamas has threatened to reignite their conflict, which has devastated Gaza and taken the Middle East to the brink of a wider regional war.

TENTS

The talks in Cairo have focused on issues such as Israel's allowing the entry of mobile homes, tents, medical and fuel supplies, and heavy machinery needed for the removal of rubble, Hamas said.

Salama Marouf, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, told Reuters only 73,000 of the required 200,000 tents had arrived in the enclave, while no mobile homes had been permitted so far.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing aid deliveries into Gaza, said 400,000 tents had so far been allowed in, while countries meant to supply mobile homes had not yet sent them.

International aid officials confirmed that aid was coming in despite considerable logistical problems, though they cautioned that far more was needed.

"We have seen improvement in some ways, but certainly, the response is nowhere near enough to meet the needs of so many people who face so much destruction and loss," said Shaina Low, an official from the Norwegian Refugee Council based in the Jordanian capital Amman.

She said shelter materials were going in, despite Israeli restrictions on so-called "dual use" materials, which could also be used for military purposes.

DOUBTS

Adding to doubts this week about the ceasefire deal has been hostile reaction in the Arab world to Trump's comments that Palestinians should be moved from Gaza to allow it to be developed as a waterfront property under U.S. control.

Under the ceasefire, Hamas has so far released 16 Israeli hostages from an initial group of 33 children, women and older men agreed to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first stage of a multi-phase deal.

Hamas also freed five Thai hostages in an unscheduled release.

Negotiations on a second phase of the agreement, which mediators had hoped would agree the release of the remaining hostages as well as the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, were supposed to be already underway in Doha but an Israeli team returned home on Monday, two days after arriving.

The threat to cancel the 42-day ceasefire that formed the basis of the agreement has drawn thousands of Israeli protesters onto the streets this week, calling on the government to stick with the deal in order to bring the remaining hostages home.

The war in Gaza erupted after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed at least 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw more than 250 taken as hostages.

This triggered a relentless Israeli response that has laid waste the coastal enclave and killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainians worry about Trump effort to end war with Russia, though some hope for the best

Ukrainians on Thursday worried that U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing to sell out their country following his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though some expressed cautious hope over his effort to swiftly end the war.

Trump's call to the Russian president - the first by a U.S. leader since Moscow's February 2022 invasion - followed remarks by his defence chief that cast doubt over the full restoration of Ukraine's borders and its aspiration to join the NATO alliance.

"It truly looks as if they want to surrender Ukraine, because I don't see any benefits for our country of these negotiations or Trump's rhetoric," said Kyiv resident Myroslava Lesko, 23, standing near a sea of flags downtown honouring fallen troops.

Ukraine has tried to urgently forge close ties with the new Trump administration, offering a minerals deal to win U.S. favour, while Russian forces, already occupying a fifth of Ukraine, keep up battlefield pressure.

Ukraine wants the White House to back any peace talks with security guarantees that would stop Russia invading again.

The Trump call with Putin on Wednesday and remarks by Pete Hegseth, who said NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and that the U.S. would not be sending in troops as peacekeepers, have shocked some of Kyiv's allies who believe Washington is sacrificing negotiating leverage.

Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his call with Putin.

In interviews with Reuters, Kyiv residents reacted to the prospect of fast-track peace talks with a mix of dismay and careful optimism.

"Trump is a strong-willed person," said 60-year-old Hryhoriy Buhoyets. "He can decide on whatever he wants, and regarding Ukraine, I think he has some plans."

Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Third Assault Brigade fighting in the war, wrote on the Telegram app that he had not expected Ukraine to receive quick NATO membership anyway.

"NATO is not ready for war with the Russian Federation. This is evident from their reaction to events and behaviour," he said.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics, said it looked like the Trump administration's views were in fact largely in keeping with those of the previous Joe Biden administration.

Some Ukrainians have expressed frustration that the U.S. under Biden, despite providing billions in military aid, had not done enough to tip the war in Kyiv's favour.

"The difference between Biden and Trump is that Trump says out loud what Biden was thinking and doing about Ukraine," Mylovanov wrote on X.

'FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Le Monde newspaper in an interview released on Thursday that Ukraine and Europe should not be excluded from future peace talks.

Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters it would be crucial "to establish systematic contact between Zelenskiy and Trump, so that they talk constantly rather than episodically".

He added that Ukraine should keep pushing for NATO membership despite Hegseth's comments: "Our survival depends on this. We will keep knocking on the door … until it opens, because we have no other choice."

Another lawmaker urged Ukrainians - many of whom have lost family members in fighting that has killed tens of thousands and ravaged swathes of the country - not to jump to any conclusions after the remarks.

"Ukraine doesn't exist because someone had a good conversation on the phone with someone. We survived because we showed the world that we can fight," said opposition member Oleksii Honcharenko.

Some officials, who have been lavishing praise on Trump in their effort to build relations, have tried to quickly extinguish what one of them described as "too many unnecessary rumours and conspiracy theories".

"A difficult process of fighting for Ukraine lies ahead, and we will go through it in unity," said Daria Zarivna, an adviser to Zelenskiy's chief of staff.

Olena Chiupika, 38, a manager in Kyiv, said Ukraine had already proven successful at securing foreign support that had once seemed unrealistic, citing the F-16 fighter jets provided by allies .

"I'm hoping for the best," she said. "I would like to, because the mood is not great."

The next diplomatic test for Ukraine is expected at the Munich Security Conference this weekend when Zelenskiy is likely to meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Hanna Maliar, a former deputy defence minister, appeared to acknowledge the uncertainty of the moment.

"Fasten your seatbelts. We're taking off," she said shortly after news broke of Trump's call with Putin. "A fascinating journey awaits us. The final destination is so far unknown."

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kremlin reveals Putin-Trump call details

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, spoke for nearly 90 minutes by phone on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed, adding that the two heads of state had agreed to first meet in a third country, with official state visits likely to follow.

The call marks the first known direct interaction between the US and Russian heads of state since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

In an interview with Russia 1 television on Thursday, Peskov described the conversation as constructive, adding that the two leaders concurred that the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden had done “enormous damage” to US-Russian relations. Putin and Trump agreed that “even the most complex problems should be resolved through peace negotiations,” according to Peskov.

Aside from extending invitations to each other to visit their respective nations, the two heads of state “agreed to quite swiftly organize and hold a working meeting somewhere in a third country,” the official stated.

Hours after the phone call on Wednesday, Trump told journalists at the White House that the talks would take place in Saudi Arabia.

Peskov, in turn, pointed out that “no decision has been made as to where it will take place, but Saudi Arabia indeed cropped up.” The Russian official added that “both Russia and the US said that [Saudi Arabia] is a place that really suits everyone,” given both nations enjoy good relations with the monarchy.

Peskov noted that the fact that both presidents had expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue was a “very important achievement”that has “set in motion an apparatus of aides, ministries and so on, that will now gradually begin dialogue and prepare the next contacts.”

The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on which side had initiated the call, merely stating that “President Trump, already during his campaign and after the elections before the inauguration, said that he was going to call President Putin.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump wrote that he and the Russian president had among other things talked about the “great benefit that we will someday have in working together,” as well as their shared desire to put an end to the Ukraine conflict.

Reuters/RT

Many years ago, when my son was completing paperwork for a job with the Lagos State government, he was required to fill out a form that included his State of Origin. He paused.

It had been marked a compulsory field, and he wanted to know if not filling it would affect his chances. I said it would. He replied that he wouldn’t fill it, even if it meant losing the job. It didn’t make sense to him that his chances might come down solely not to his competence, merit, or the fact that he was born in Lagos where he has resided all his life – but to the state where he is from.

He didn’t fill it and didn’t get the job, though I cannot remember if there were other reasons. Nigeria is the only country I know where a citizen or resident is compulsorily required to fill out their state of origin and local government and provide details of their forbears to the fourth and fifth generation as a basis for getting a job or contract.

In the beginning

It's mainly a public sector thing – the sector that has been our blessing and bane. In its original form, “state representation,” apart from being a core unit of the federation, was also supposed to be a form of affirmative action. It was supposed to be a tool to encourage fair representation and protection, especially for ethnic minorities. The colonial government laid the foundation with the Henry Willink Commission in 1957 to examine the agitation of minorities on the eve of Nigeria’s independence.

But like all good things politicians touch, they have managed to debase it. It’s convenient to argue that it was not politicians but the military that started it. States have been created five times since former Head of State Yakubu Gowon created 12 from the four regions in 1967 to weaken Biafra.

But Gowon did it at the behest of politicians, as has every other military leader after him, including military President Ibrahim Babangida, who loved it so much he did it twice.

Growing obsession

Nigeria has since grown from 12 to 36 states. Former Head of State Sani Abacha delivered the last set of sextuplets of states in 1996. Yet, the urge for more has not only become a national pastime. It is perhaps the next single biggest obsession of politicians after “budget padding”, a practice that permits lawmakers to inflate the annual appropriation bill to gratify themselves.

All 10 National Assemblies since 1999 have never failed to mention and pursue the creation of more states. Committees on state creation have traveled the country at substantial public expense, selling new states as the snake oil to “marginalised” communities.

At the end of such jamborees, including the collection of tonnes of memos that only feed the public a false hope, the politicians leave expectant communities high and dry until the following memo collection by a new set of politicians who lie to themselves that state creation is the medicine for social injustice. Not exactly true.

Not a joking matter

State creation is a serious business. For example, the request for a new state in Nigeria must be supported by at least two-thirds of the representatives from the area, from the councils to the state and National Assembly.

That’s the first step. After that, it must undergo a referendum that must be ratified by a simple majority of all the states in the federation and by a simple majority of members of the National Assembly. Military governments in the country created states without much resistance because of their unitary command and control structure. Even at that, deadly disputes among splintered states lingered and still linger on for years.

The assets-sharing dispute between Kano and Jigawa States lasted 18 years, while the boundary dispute between Cross River and Akwa Ibom continues after 38 years, with many lives lost. The Oyo-Osun post-state creation clashes rank high on the violent dispute ladder, stoking agitation for the creation of the New Oyo State.The case between Bauchi and Plateau remained a low-intensity dispute that later morphed into ethnoreligious clashes.

States abroad

It's not for nothing that none of the world’s most prominent federations, such as India, the US, Canada, or Brazil, has created a new state in the last 50 years. This is not because of a lack of demand or because these countries have no ethnic minorities who feel endangered. Instead, they are evolving ways of managing their diversity that reduce the salience of statism as a basis for social justice, such as prioritising merit and competence.

Agitation for more states remains a recurring problem in Nigeria because politicians have managed to frame it as perhaps the most viable route to development – the channel connecting neglected communities to Abuja’s drunken sailors.

Many governors have praised state creation not necessarily for the opportunities they have created from the exercise by looking inwards but because of their access to Abuja's monthly pie. For being a state, however miserably governed, Nigerian states are entitled to 26.72 percent of the monthly revenue from the federation account, which can run into billions of naira. Among politicians, the lust for a share of this pie or monthly allocation is at the heart of the relentless demand for new states.

Making it 67?

The House of Representatives' bill to create 31 additional states to bring the number to 67 is a joke. As far as demands for new states go, the most rigorous effort in the last 20 years was in 2014, when President Goodluck Jonathan's government set up the National Conference to discuss mainly structural issues facing the country.

The conference recommended 18 additional states to bring the number to 54. The main arguments were the arbitrariness in previous exercises by the military. In the case of the South East, the point was made that the region has remained maliciously underserved in political representation, making it look like a continuation of Nigeria’s Civil War by other means.

A fundamental difference between the conference's recommendation and others before and after it is the suggestion for six equipotent zones (with the same number of states), which would form the basis of the federating units with the centre. The conference further recommended that each zone could create more states if it deemed desirable and could finance it.

An unlikely adventure

There was no final agreement. “My experience at the conference,” Ajibola Ogunshola, one of the members representing the South West, wrote in a paper in 2017, “suggests that it is highly unlikely that the establishment of zonal governments now or in the near future can be achieved through voluntary, peaceful negotiations.”

It's even more unlikely now that the Federal Government is almost broke and only four of the 36 existing states are solvent. A 2023 report by the public sector transparency watchdog, BudgIT, said 32 states relied on Federal Allocation for at least 55 percent of their monthly revenue.

What matters

Are politicians genuinely interested in social justice, inclusiveness and development for their communities? They must look beyond the random creation of new states, quotas, privileges and other forms of affirmative action, often a disincentive to merit, resourcefulness and innovation.

States are not in short supply, yet because of primordial greed, the campaign for more will not abate until each of Nigeria's 350 ethnic nationalities has one. Politicians know the difference between greed and necessity but will not dare to make the right choice. They earn a living by feeding their communities false hope.

** Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book Writing for Media and Monetising It.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened nationwide action against telecommunications companies over a recent 50% tariff increase, setting up a major confrontation between labor unions and telecom operators.

The dispute centers on the telecommunications companies' implementation of a 50% price hike on February 11, despite ongoing negotiations with the government. The NLC claims this increase violates a previous agreement with the Federal Government and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Planned Labor Actions

The NLC has announced a two-phase response:

1. Immediate Action (February 13-28, 2025):

   - Daily service boycott of MTN, AIRTEL, and GLO between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM

   - Call for suspension of data purchases from these providers

2. Escalation (March 1, 2025):

   - Threatened complete shutdown of telecom operations nationwide if companies don't revert to previous tariffs

The labor organization's Central Working Committee, meeting in Lokoja, has directed state councils and affiliated unions to begin mobilizing members and the public for these actions.

Telecom Industry Response

Telecommunications operators have pushed back against the NLC's threats, warning that any attempt to shut down their operations would constitute a treasonable felony due to potential national security implications. The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators in Nigeria (ALTON) defended the price adjustment as necessary, citing:

- Rising operational costs

- Unsustainable current pricing

- Need for infrastructure investment

- Economic factors including currency flotation

ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo emphasized that "telecommunications cannot be used as a subsidy for economic hardship in other sectors" and warned that maintaining artificially low prices could lead to service deterioration and industry collapse.

Regulatory Oversight

The National Association of Telecom Subscribers in Nigeria (NATCOMS) has criticized the NCC's handling of the situation. NATCOMS President Deolu Ogubanjo called for immediate sanctions against operators who implemented the price increase while stakeholder discussions were still pending.

Background

The dispute emerged from a recent meeting between the Federal Government and NLC, where a 10-member committee was formed to evaluate the proposed tariff increase. The committee's two-week deliberation period had not concluded when telecommunications companies implemented the price hike.

The confrontation highlights broader tensions in Nigeria's telecommunications sector as operators attempt to balance service sustainability with affordability amid challenging economic conditions.

Nigeria’s national power grid suffered a system collapse on Wednesday morning, plunging many parts of the country into darkness.

Reports indicate that the grid lost power shortly after 11 a.m., leading to widespread outages. Sources within power generation companies confirmed a general disturbance in the grid, causing a major drop in electricity supply.

According to data reviewed by our correspondent, the grid’s power generation stood at 4,064 megawatts at 11 a.m. but dropped sharply to 1,203MW by noon before completely shutting down to 0.00MW at 1 p.m. Most power plants connected to the grid lost generation capacity during the incident.

This marks the first nationwide grid collapse of 2025, following a line tripping incident in January. In 2024, the grid collapsed 12 times, and over the past decade, it has failed more than 100 times.

Confirming the outage, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) addressed customers via its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.

“Dear Valued Customer, we regret to inform you that a system disturbance occurred on the national grid at 11:34 a.m. today, causing a power outage across our franchise areas. While gradual restoration of power supply has commenced, please be assured that we are working closely with relevant stakeholders to fully restore electricity as soon as the grid is stabilized. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to serve you better,” the statement read.

Oil prices settled down more than 2% on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump took the first big step toward diplomacy over the war in Ukraine he has promised to end, a war that has supported oil prices on concerns about global supplies.

Brent futures settled down $1.82, or 2.36%, at $75.18 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down $1.95, or 2.66%, to $71.37.

U.S. crude futures fell more than $2 at their session low. The declines follow three days of gains, during which Brent climbed 3.6% and WTI rose 3.7%.

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the war in Ukraine in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Trump doing peace talks, I think that has taken some of the risk premium out of oil prices right now," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he and Putin had "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskiy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now."

Zelenskiy's office said Trump and Zelenskiy had spoken by phone for about an hour.

Investors also tried to gauge the Federal Reserve's next moves on cutting interest rates following comments on Tuesday by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and after data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer prices increased more than expected in January.

"The combination of higher inflation and the possibility of peace (in Ukraine) is causing a bit of a sell off in the market at the moment," said Price Futures Group's Flynn.

Powell said the economy is in a good place and the Fed is not rushing to cut rates further, but is prepared to do so if inflation drops or the job market weakens.

Consumer price data released by the U.S. Labor Department showed surprisingly strong U.S. inflation in January, stoking fears that a heating economy and looming tariffs could undercut hopes for rate cuts. Higher rates can slow economic activity and dampen demand for oil.

"The inflation numbers came in hot, reducing the chances of the Fed cutting rates from September to December," said Price Futures Group's Flynn.

U.S. crude oil stocks posted a larger-than-expected build last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. Gasoline inventories meanwhile posted a surprise draw while distillate stocks posted a surprise build. Elsewhere, Russia may be forced to throttle back its oil output in the coming months as U.S. sanctions hamper its access to tankers to sail to Asia and Ukrainian drone attacks hobble its refineries.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a monthly report that global oil demand will rise by 1.45 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 and by 1.43 million bpd in 2026. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month.

The EIA increased its estimate for U.S. crude production while leaving its demand forecast unchanged. It now expects U.S. crude oil output to average 13.59 million bpd in 2025, up from its previous estimate of 13.55 million bpd.

The Trump administration named Kathleen Sgamma, a vocal oil and gas advocate for Western states, to head up the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, which manages the use of the country's nearly 250 million acres of public lands.

Reuters

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has revealed that approximately 14 million Nigerians are estimated to be involved in the abuse of harmful substances. This alarming statistic was shared by Yetunde Joyifous, Deputy Commander of the NDLEA, during an awareness program organized by the Oijefon Youth Council for secondary school students in Ile Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Wednesday.

Joyifous emphasized that tackling the issue of drug abuse requires a collective effort from all members of the community. She highlighted that the most commonly abused substances are chemical drugs, which have detrimental effects on the mental health of users.

“The only way to address this growing problem is to involve all stakeholders in the community and encourage them to collaborate with authorities in the fight against this dangerous trend,” she stated.

She also pointed out that secondary school students are particularly vulnerable to drug abuse and called for increased efforts to safeguard them from its harmful effects.

Adedokun Adeyonu, President of the Oijefon Youth Council, explained that the program was designed to educate and discourage young people from engaging in drug abuse. He defined drug abuse as the use of harmful substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs, in ways that damage both physical and mental health.

Adeyonu identified curiosity, peer pressure, and the desire to escape life’s challenges as key factors driving drug use among young people. He also noted that exposure to certain movies and music could contribute to the normalization of drug abuse.

The event was attended by secondary school students from Ile Oluji and representatives from the National Orientation Agency (NOA), underscoring the importance of community-wide initiatives to combat this pressing issue.

Israel calls up reservists as fears for fragile Gaza ceasefire rise

Israel has called up military reservists to brace for a possible re-eruption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to free further Israeli hostages and a nearly month-old ceasefire unravels.

Concern that the truce will collapse is growing as fury mounts in the Arab world over President Donald Trump's plan for the United States to take over Gaza, resettle its Palestinian inhabitants and build an international beach resort.

Hamas said Egypt and Qatar, which with U.S. support mediated the ceasefire deal that took effect on January 19, had stepped up efforts to break the impasse and the Palestinian militant group's Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo for talks.

Hamas agreed under the deal to free three more hostages on Saturday but said this week that it was suspending the handover over what it said were Israeli violations of the terms.

Trump responded by saying all hostages must be freed by noon on Saturday or he would "let hell break out".

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the truce was meant to bring about a swift release of hostages held in harsh conditions in Gaza. "If Hamas stops the hostage releases then there is no ceasefire and there is war," he said in remarks at Israeli defence headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Katz added that "the new Gaza war" will be of another intensity altogether and "allow the realisation of Trump's vision for Gaza".

"Hamas ... will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats," Hamas spokesperson Hazaem Qassem said in a statement. "Contacts are underway with mediator countries to conclude the implementation of the ceasefire deal."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israel would resume "intense fighting" if Hamas did not meet the deadline, but did not say how many hostages should be freed.

Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to gather forces in and around Gaza, and the military announced it was deploying additional forces to Israel's south, near Gaza, including mobilising reservists.

Trump, in a White House meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday, asked him to ensure Hamas understood the "severity of the situation" if hostages were not freed by Saturday, the White House said on Wednesday.

SHATTERING WAR

The standoff threatens to reignite a conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip, internally displaced most of its people, caused shortages of food and running water, and driven the Middle East to the brink of a wider regional war.

Gazans expressed alarm that the ceasefire might collapse and urged Hamas and Israeli leaders to agree on an extension.

"We had barely started believing that a truce would happen and that a solution was on the way, God willing," said Lotfy Abu Taha, a resident of Rafah in southern Gaza. "The people are suffering. The people are the victims."

The armed wing of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, which is also holding Israeli hostages, warned that their fate was tied to Netanyahu's actions.

"The only way to retrieve hostages and for stability to come back is through a (hostage-prisoner) swap deal," its spokesperson said on Telegram.

In a further sign of Arab anger over Trump's vision of Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would not go to Washington for talks if the agenda included Trump's plan to displace Palestinians.

The date for such a visit has not been announced, and the Egyptian presidency and foreign ministry did not comment.

SOME HOSTAGES ALREADY FREED

The Gaza war was triggered by the lightning Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In response, Israel began an air and ground war against Hamas which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in small, densely populated Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas has freed 16 Israeli hostages from an initial group of 33 children, women and older men to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first stage of the ceasefire deal. It also returned five Thai hostages.

Negotiators hope a second phase of ceasefire talks will secure agreement on releasing the remaining hostages and a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.

Palestinians fear a repeat of the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when nearly 800,000 people fled or were driven out of Palestine during the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation. Israel denies the account that they were forced out. Trump has said they would have no right to return under his plan for Gaza.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Trump says Putin and Zelenskiy want peace; phone calls kick off talks to end Ukraine war

Donald Trump said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him on Wednesday, and Trump ordered top U.S. officials to begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The conversations came after Trump's defense secretary earlier said Kyiv would have to give up its long-held goals of joining the NATO military alliance and regaining all of its territory seized by Russia, signaling a dramatic shift in Washington's approach to the conflict.

After speaking with Putin for more than an hour, Trump said the Russian leader, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, wants the war to end and they discussed "getting a ceasefire in the not-too-distant future."

"He wants it to end. He doesn't want to end it and then go back to fighting six months later," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"I think we're on the way to getting peace. I think President Putin wants peace, President Zelenskiy wants peace and I want peace. I just want to see people stop getting killed," he added.

Trump has long said he would quickly end the war in Ukraine, without spelling out exactly how he would accomplish this.

The Kremlin earlier said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow. Trump said their first meeting would "probably" take place soon in Saudi Arabia.

In a post on his social media platform, he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff would lead negotiations on ending the war.

Trump and Zelenskiy spoke after Trump's call with Putin, and Zelenskiy's office said the conversation lasted for about an hour.

"I had a meaningful conversation with @POTUS. We... talked about opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to work together ...and Ukraine's technological capabilities... including drones and other advanced industries," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

No Ukraine peace talks have been held since the early months of the conflict, now approaching its third anniversary. Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, oversaw billions of dollars of military and other aid to Kyiv and had no direct contact with Putin after Russia's invasion.

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has demanded Kyiv cede more territory and be rendered permanently neutral under any peace deal.

Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured territory and says it must receive NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.

European powers, including Britain, France and Germany, said on Wednesday they had to be part of any future negotiations on the fate of Ukraine, underscoring that only a fair accord with security guarantees would ensure lasting peace. They said they were ready to enhance support for Ukraine and put it in a position of strength.

'ILLUSIONARY GOAL'

Earlier on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered the new administration's bluntest statement so far on its approach to the war, saying Kyiv could not realistically hope to return to previous borders or join NATO.

"We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," Hegseth told a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering."

Russia in 2014 annexed Crimea, which Ukraine and many Western countries consider to be occupied Ukrainian territory.

Hegseth said any durable peace must include "robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again". But he said U.S. troops would not be deployed to Ukraine as part of such guarantees.

Zelenskiy, hoping to keep Trump interested in continuing to support his country, has lately proposed a deal under which the United States would invest in minerals in Ukraine.

Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in Kyiv on Wednesday on the first visit by a member of Trump's cabinet, said such a mineral deal could serve as a "security shield" for Ukraine after the war.

Trump also said Rubio and Vice President JD Vance will hold talks about the war on Friday in Munich, where Ukrainian officials were expected to attend an annual security conference.

The new diplomacy followed a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap that got under way on Tuesday, which the Kremlin said could help build trust between the two countries.

Russia on Tuesday freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who was serving a 14-year sentence in a Russian prison, in exchange for a Russian cybercrime boss imprisoned in the U.S., according to a official.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Moscow confirms massive strike on Ukrainian military plants

Russia has launched a major missile strike on Ukrainian military drone production plants, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry confirmed that Russian forces had carried out a “group missile strike on workshops of Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises producing unmanned aerial vehicles and FPV drones.”

“The goals of the strikes have been accomplished, all designated facilities have been hit,” officials added.

According to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, the wave of strikes resulted in one death, four injuries and infrastructure damage.

Ukraine’s air force said that Kiev, Sumy, Poltava, and Chernigov regions, as well as the city of Krivoy Rog, were affected by the strikes. It noted that the attack involved Iskander-M ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones, and claimed that Ukrainian forces shot down six Iskanders and 71 UAVs.

According to media reports, Kiev was one of the hardest-hit cities. Russian Telegram channels cited eyewitnesses reporting a 16 explosions across the city. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported fires in several districts, including one in the industrial zone in the northern part of the capital.

Officials in Chernigov Region reported a drone strike on critical infrastructure, resulting in two injuries and a fire.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, also weighed in on the strikes, mocking Zelensky’s claim that Kiev’s large-scale incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region sought to achieve “peace through strength.”

“Peace through strength, you say? Sometimes this concept really works. For example, when it showcases the real, not the imaginary balance of power. Like today in Kiev, after our missile and UAV strikes,” he said.

However, Medvedev voiced doubts that the latest attack would be able to “clear the minds of those illegitimate buffoons” who he said “talk nonsense on camera about exchanging territories. For such people, the only way to heal is to feel Russian again.”

Earlier this week, Zelensky signaled that he intends to use the areas Ukraine has occupied in Russia’s Kursk Region as leverage in possible negotiations with Moscow to return some of the territory claimed by Kiev.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has dismissed the idea out of hand, saying that “Neonazis rampaging in Kursk Region will receive land without any swap, measured a meter wide, two long, and roughly a meter and a half deep.” 

Reuters/RT

Aditi Shrikant

Jim Guinn has gotten out of 38 speeding tickets. What’s his trick? He can get along with anyone.

At least that’s the central claim of his upcoming book, “How to Get Along with Anyone: The Playbook for Predicting and Preventing Conflict at Work and at Home,” which he co-authored with John Eliot.

Guinn is the president of the Resolution Resource Group, a company that coaches other companies on how to solve conflict, and Eliot mentors professional sports teams and athletes on how to improve performance.

A common mistake people make when trying to solve a problem with a co-worker or family member is “they try to fix what they believe to be the root issue without assessing what that person’s conflict personality style is,” Guinn told CNBC Make It.

“We try to jump in and we try to fix it to get if off our plate, but we are resolving superficial issues that aren’t really the true trigger [of the conflict],” he says.

There are five conflict personality styles the two outline in their book: avoider, competitor, analyzer, collaborator, accommodator.

Here’s how to best negotiate with each one, according to Guinn and Eliot.

Avoider

This person is uninterested in minor details and does best working alone. “They view most conflict as an extraneous distraction to their goals, smarter passed than getting caught up in,” Guinn and Eliot write in their book.

To negotiate with an avoider you should:

• Be time efficient. They hate pointless meetings and small talk
• Be persistent. They will probably ignore you at first
• Focus on the issue at hand and don’t bring in other details

Competitor

A competitor is always pushing the envelope and prone to taking risks. They often have the reputation of being aggressive, but their urgency comes from a place of wanting to solve problems completely and quickly.

To negotiate with a competitor you should:

• Adhere to deadlines
• Give them an early win during the interaction
• Follow through on what you say you’ll do

Analyzer

This person is evidence-based and methodical. They will patiently gather information before acting. They are usually OK with compromise and expect you to be the same.

“Once they feel that they’ve exhaustively considered all viewpoints and have arrived at a decision, they can get attached to it,” Guinn and Eliot write.

To negotiate with an analyzer you should:

• Show them you are willing to be flexible
• Not flake on meetings
• Not rush their thinking process, but try to be part of it

Collaborator

A collaborator prides themselves on being a relationship manager. They are observant, emotionally astute, and empathetic. But they often aren’t direct about what they want.

“Their desire to dig into others’ thoughts, feelings, and perspectives can be off-putting or prompt others to put up defenses,” Guinn and Eliot write. “Collaborators will work hard to make things personal to get you to let your guard down.”

To negotiate with a collaborator you should:

• Validate their need to be part of the group
• Steer the conversation back to them, as they often try to redirect discussions to other people’s desires.
• Don’t be “all business.” They gravitate toward solving “people” problems

Accommodator

An accommodator prioritizes the achievements and well-being of those they care about over their own. They are great at empowering their teammates but are triggered when they feel underappreciated.

“Accommodators are talented at sustaining their rationality when disgruntled, frustrated, tired, and so forth,” Guinn and Eliot write.

To negotiate with an accommodator you should:

• Demonstrate that you’re reliable
• Stick to the plan they are anticipating
• Don’t take them for granted

Figuring out which conflict style your boss, colleague or partner has can help you predict their behavior.

Guinn says his quick read of a cop has saved him hundreds of dollars.

“If the cop gets out [of their car] very quickly and walks up to your window, we know we’re dealing with a competitor or a collaborator,” he says.

If the former, be direct. Apologize, but don’t make small talk. If you sense the cop is a collaborator, take the opposite approach. Ask how their day has been and chit chat.

“If they sit in their car for a long time and they’re checking your registration, license and making you wait, they are probably either an avoider or they are an analyzer,” he says. “Most likely you won’t have a traffic cop who is an accommodator.”

An avoider you treat the same as a competitor — just get to the point. And you’ll want to give as much information as possible to an analyzer.

Guinn stresses these strategies aren’t foolproof and work best with people you see more often.

Getting out of a speeding ticket, though, is a “fun little bonus,” he says.

CNBC