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BREAKINGBREAKING,

The temporary pause in fighting will continue for another 24 hours.

The truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended for a seventh day, sources from both sides announced just minutes before the agreement was set to expire.

Israel’s military said on Thursday that the temporary pause in fighting in the Gaza Strip will continue “in light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing hostages, and subject to the terms of the agreement”.

In a separate statement, Hamas said an agreement has been reached to extend the temporary ceasefire, which initially began on Friday.

The truce will be extended for another 24 hours.

Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides, said the agreement was being extended under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

Until the last hour, the prospect of an extension was in question, after the two sides failed to agree on the new list of Israelis to be released from Gaza on Thursday.

More to come …

Washington, DC – Advocates calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were often interrupted by their own tears as they gathered outside the White House and read the names of Palestinians killed in the war.

Several speakers, including Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and actors Cynthia Nixon and Denee Benton, took turns reading from a long list of names on Wednesday evening. But they barely got through a fraction of the more than 15,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks.

Activists warned that the list of the dead would only grow if the current truce is allowed to expire and a permanent ceasefire is not secured.

The vigil – attended by Tlaib and other progressive Congress members – was organised by activists, state lawmakers and artists, who are hunger striking in Washington, DC, in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.

Tlaib and her colleagues gathered to show support for the hunger strikers and warned that the war in Gaza must end, stressing that a temporary pause in fighting was not sufficient.

“How many more lives will be enough? How many more children need to be killed? How many more families have to be traumatised and torn apart? There is nothing humanitarian, my friends, about giving innocent civilians a few days of rest before they are bombed again,” Tlaib said.

She called on President Joe Biden to listen to people calling for a ceasefire, which is backed by most Americans and an overwhelming majority of Democrats, according to public opinion polls.

‘Our movement is working’

Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American member of Congress, hit out at the White House for calling lawmakers who demanded a ceasefire early in the war “repugnant”.

“The bombing of innocent civilians and children is repugnant and disgraceful. The refusal to support a ceasefire and an end to violence and the killing is repugnant and disgraceful. Our president calling on Congress to fund more bombs that are being dropped on innocent civilians is repugnant and disgraceful,” Tlaib said.

Biden is seeking more than $14bn in additional funding for Israel to support the war on Gaza, on top of the $3.8bn that Israel receives from the US annually.

Tlaib underscored that leading human rights groups and Pope Francis have called for a ceasefire, stressing that the demand is not controversial.

Congresswoman Cori Bush, who introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives last month demanding a ceasefire, echoed Tlaib’s remarks, highlighting that the campaign to demand a ceasefire is making progress.

“Our movement is working. They feel our energy in the White House. They hear our demands. They see us marching in the streets. They are watching the polls,” Bush said.

The congresswoman noted that when she first introduced a resolution on October 16, the measure had just 13 cosponsors. Now more than 40 lawmakers in the House and the Senate have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“It’s clear that our constituents and people all around the world want a ceasefire,” Bush said.

Biden sparked speculations on Tuesday with a social media post that could be interpreted as a call for Israel to wind down the war, suggesting that the violence would only boost support for Hamas.

“Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace,” Biden wrote.

“To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek.”

But White House national security spokesperson John Kirby was quick to reemphasise US support for Israel’s war effort later that day, suggesting that the country has a “responsibility” to eliminate Hamas.

The war

The war on Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw more than 200 people taken as captives.

The Palestinian group said the assault was in response to Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners and incursions at Al-Aqsa mosque.

Israel responded with a relentless bombing campaign that has turned into one of the deadliest conflicts for children in modern history. It also launched a ground invasion into parts of the besieged Gaza Strip and severely restricted the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into the Palestinian territory.

The war has displaced more than one million Palestinians inside Gaza.

The nearly unprecedented scale of the violence has prompted United Nations experts to warn that Palestinians are at a “grave risk of genocide”.

The Biden administration voiced unwavering support for Israel early on, backing its objective of destroying Hamas. But after seven weeks of fighting in Gaza, Israel seems to remain far from achieving that goal.

Last week, an agreement, brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt, was reached to temporarily halt the fighting to allow for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the ramping up of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The truce was extended for two days, but it is set to expire early on Thursday.

Outside the White House on Wednesday, Congressman Jamaal Bowman said calling for a ceasefire was about reaching for our shared humanity.

“We’ve all read about genocides. We have all read about mass murders. I cannot believe I’m living through one. And I cannot believe I’m living through one, and the US government is condoning it, and being complicit. Shame,” he said.

For his part, Congressman Jonathan Jackson said “too many” innocent people are suffering in the war.

“We have seen too much bloodshed, and we stand here with a sense of moral outrage with our courage and our conviction,” Jackson said.

More than 160 world leaders are expected to attend the COP28 climate summit, which begins in Dubai today.

The COP (Conference of the Parties) summit brings together a broad range of the biggest names in politics, business and climate activism – but there is controversy over several names on the invite list.

So who are some of the notable people attending this year’s event?

Bashar al Assad

The Syrian president was invited to the Dubai climate summit in May after he was readmitted to the Arab League – but this has not gone down well everywhere.

“I think morally it’s repugnant,” says Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army chemical and biological expert who has spent a decade investigating Mr Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons.

“He should be arrested in Abu Dhabi, not flaunted on the world stage,” he told Sky News.

Just two weeks ago, an international warrant for Mr Assad’s arrest was issued.

International arrest warrants for serving leaders are exceptionally rare, and while Mr Assad is unlikely to face trial in France the move will have sent a strong message at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold.

A report by a former International Criminal Court judge recently argued Mr Assad should not be invited to this year’s COP28 climate talks because of the environmental destruction he and his regime have caused.

Syria says its prime minister will lead its team at COP28 – and has not indicated if Mr Assad will attend.

Read more: What is COP28 and why is it controversial?

Sultan al Jaber, the oil chief

The first CEO to serve as COP president, Sultan al Jaber’s appointment raised a few eyebrows when it was announced.

Why? He’s head of the massive state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, which produces millions of barrels of oil every day.

Adding to the controversy, with COP28 just days away it was alleged the UAE planned to use the summit to strike oil and gas deals.

“These allegations are false, not true, incorrect and not accurate,” Mr al Jaber told journalists on Wednesday.

“I promise you never ever did I see these talking points that they refer to or that I ever even used such talking points in my discussions.”

US v China? John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua

Former Secretary of State John Kerry (who also ran for president in 2004) and Xie Zhenhua are the US and China’s respective climate envoys.

As representatives of the two countries with the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a lot of eyes will be on the pair and how well the two superpowers are able to work together.

In climate negotiations, Beijing argues that wealthy developed countries like the US, the biggest historical CO2 emitter, should move first and fastest in climate policy and finance.

Despite having the world’s second largest economy after the US, China considers itself as a developing nation in the climate talks.

The US supports a deal that would phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuel use but its delegates will face pressure for climate finance after Washington pledged no new climate cash to the United Nations this year

Cancelled trip – Pope Francis

Pope Francis, who has been outspoken about climate change, had to cancel his trip to COP28 on the advice of doctors.

The pontiff warned in October that the world is nearing the “point of no return” and said the transition to renewable energy from fossil fuels was not progressing fast enough.

He stressed the “irreversible” damage under way to the planet and its people, adding that the world’s poor and most vulnerable were paying the highest price.

According to the Holy See, the Pope still wants to participate in the climate summit in some way.

Bill Gates

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is also set to be in the UAE for the summit.

Writing on his blog earlier this week, the billionaire philanthropist said there is “more reason to be optimistic than most people realise”.

“But it’s still a big challenge, and since the world has finite resources for fighting it, we need to focus on the efforts that will save and improve the most lives.

“That means funding more innovations that reduce carbon emissions while making clean energy affordable for everyone, help people (especially in poor countries) survive and thrive in a warming world, and continue the world’s progress on fighting disease and poverty.”

King Charles

King Charles will give the opening address of this summit on Friday – his first major climate speech since ascending the throne.

The monarch has devoted much of his attention to the environment over the last several decades.

It will be the third time that the now-King will deliver the opening speech, having done so at Glasgow’s COP26 and at COP21 in Paris.

But this year’s COP summit comes amid a PR storm for the King after the Dutch translation of a new book about the Royal Family reportedly appeared to name a member of the family who allegedly questioned what colour Harry and Meghan’s son Archie’s skin would be when he was born.

The UK is sending one of its most lethal warships to the Gulf to deter growing threats to shipping from Iran and Iranian-backed groups in the wake of Israel’s war against Hamas.

The deployment of HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, with the ability to shoot missiles out of the sky, comes after Houthi rebels in Yemen hijacked an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea last week and the US military had to rescue another vessel on Sunday.

Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, said he was beefing-up a long-standing Royal Navy maritime security operation in the Gulf to reduce the risk of the current crisis between Israel and Tehran-backed Hamas escalating into a regional conflict.

“This is a response to what’s happening in the region,” he told a group of reporters.

In a statement, the senior minister added: “It is critical that the UK bolsters our presence in the region, to keep Britain and our interests safe from a more volatile and contested world.”

The dispatching of a destroyer is the most substantial, publicly-declared military move by Britain since a Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October triggered war.

It follows the deployment of two support ships and surveillance aircraft to the region.

But the most significant attempts to de-escalate the crisis and deter Iran have come from the US, which has sent two huge aircraft carrier strike groups to the region and very unusually flagged the presence of a submarine.

The UK’s HMS Diamond will join a long-standing mission, dubbed Operation Kipion, which operates out of Bahrain and works with allied navies to provide additional maritime security to commercial shipping in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

The operation was particularly active in 2019 amid escalating tensions between the US, the UK and other allies with Iran when Donald Trump was the US president.

Equipped with a Wildcat helicopter, the Royal Navy destroyer will be joining HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 frigate, as well as three smaller minehunters and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship, the Ministry of Defence said.

Mr Shapps said Arab leaders would welcome the enhanced British footprint as a stabilising presence. “We will be working in the region really to assure our many partners there.”

Concern about the security of vital commercial shipping routes in the region was heightened last week when Houthi militants seized the Galaxy Leader cargo ship.

A video released by the militants showed at least seven masked men, carrying what appeared to be AK-47s, drop from a helicopter and land on the top deck of the ship.

It purportedly showed the rebels successfully capturing the vessel raising both the Yemeni and Palestinian flags on board.

Israeli officials said the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated. But ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ship’s owners with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham “Rami” Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel.

Mission in Europe

Separately to the Gulf mission, the defence secretary also announced that a Royal Navy task force of seven ships will deploy with allies early next month on a mission in European waters to protect critical underwater infrastructure such as cables, which are known to be a high-value target for hostile states such as Russia.

The joint patrols will be the first operation by a UK-led grouping of 10 like-minded European nations called the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

Read more:
US warship aids Israeli-linked tanker after attack in Gulf of Aden
Freed Palestinian prisoners complain of mistreatment

The mission will cover a wide area from the English Channel to the Baltic Sea.

The aim will be to deter threats to a mass of undersea communications lines, oil and gas pipelines and other critical infrastructure that criss-crosses over the seabed.

The UK contribution to the deployment will include two Royal Navy frigates, two offshore patrol vessels and mine countermeasures vessels, as well as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship – supported by a Royal Air Force P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

To a lot of people, Dubai might seem a dubious choice for a climate summit.

It owes its very existence to oil money. Not to mention energy-hungry air conditioning. Temperatures can reach 50C (122F) in the desert in summer.

It’s something that could help focus the minds of delegates from 198 countries as they arrive in the United Arab Emirates for COP28.

This year’s COP president, Dr Sultan, who is also head of the state oil company ADNOC, wants them to focus on something else: the UAE as a leader in the transition to low-carbon energy.

The small confederation of Arab monarchies is one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers but has been spending a good chunk of that wealth on clean energy.

By one estimate it’s invested around $200bn (£157bn) globally in solar, wind and other renewable energy projects.

At home, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned renewable company Masdar has just completed the largest single-site solar plant in the world.

ADNOC has brought forward its pledge to reach net-zero emissions to 2045 – not from the oil and gas it produces – but the energy it expends extracting and shipping it to customers.

But, before the global climate talks had even begun, Dr Sultan was forced to respond to reports that, as hosts, they were planning to use a summit about cutting emissions to cut deals with other oil producers.

That could be dismissed as “false” and “untrue”. What is harder for the UAE to deny is that its significant investment in renewables is dwarfed by its spending on oil and gas.

“The reality is the world needs energy,” said Mussabeh al Kaabi, director of low-carbon solutions at ADNOC.

A commitment to phasing out fossil fuels – a key ask of many of the 198 nations represented at COP – isn’t up for discussion.

“If you look at the energy demand growth from now until 2050, you’re talking about 20% minimum additional demand,” he said.

“The issue now is how do we achieve these 2050 targets of net zero with a more practical, pragmatic way,”

Pragmatism at COP is needed. A fact not often discussed among environmentalists is that 80% of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels – and emissions are the highest they’ve ever been.

That, despite 28 years of climate summits.

One reason for the lack of progress is fossil fuel-dependent economies have consistently blocked it.

Read more:
What is COP28, who’s going, and what’s at stake?
Activists criticise oil chief as COP president

As hosts of COP, the UAE, which is allied with many major oil producers, could help influence them: Around the climate science that informs the climate summit process and calls for net-zero emissions by 2050, for example.

“I strongly believe that they can be met,” says Mussabeh al Kaabi.

“Let’s not underestimate human innovation. When we come together, we act. Let’s not underestimate when there is a clear and present danger.”

Stark language from an oil executive. But until emissions start falling, and falling fast, the danger is increasing.

The UAE wants to use its presidency to inject pragmatism into the climate talks, but unless it can support the call to phase out fossil fuels – as well as accelerate clean energy – it’s hard to see how COP28 can be called a success.