Trump Welcomes Netanyahu for Talks at the White House

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at phase two of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal, China’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States, and an unprecedented U.S. deportation deal with El Salvador.

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Bibi in the Beltway 

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday. Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the possibility of an Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal were key topics of conversation; however, determining the second phase of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage release agreement remained at the top of both leaders’ agendas.

Hamas officials announced on Tuesday that negotiations on phase two of the deal had begun in Qatar. Netanyahu’s office also confirmed that Israel would send a delegation to the Arab Gulf country in the coming days and that Netanyahu would convene his security cabinet to discuss Israel’s demands once he returns home.

The deal’s second phase is intended to focus on securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza as well as the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the territory. Trump advisors told reporters on Tuesday that Trump and Netanyahu were united behind the belief that Hamas should not be allowed to return to power. That is not “an outcome that any of us will tolerate,” the officials said.

However, the leaders remain divided on major elements of the truce deal. Netanyahu has demanded total victory over Hamas to appease far-right partners who oppose the cease-fire. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet last month over the truce’s approval, threatening the ruling coalition, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to withdraw his party from the coalition if fighting doesn’t resume after phase one.

Meanwhile, analysts say Trump seeks a swift end to the Gaza war so that his administration can negotiate a long-sought normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Riyadh has said such a deal would only be possible if the war in Gaza ends and Palestinians are given a credible pathway to statehood.

The U.S. president has boasted his Middle East envoy’s role in clinching the deal’s first phase while President Joe Biden was still in office, but Trump said on Monday that “I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold.”

Trump has also called for the relocation of all Palestinians in Gaza to other countries, including Egypt and Jordan, either temporarily or longer term, citing the widespread destruction in the territory. Trump reiterated that argument on Tuesday. “I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “If we could find the right piece of land, or numerous pieces of land, and build them some really nice places—there’s plenty of money in the area, that’s for sure—I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.” Both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II have rejected Trump’s proposal.

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Today’s Most Read

• What IR Theory Predicts About Trump 2.0 by Stephen M. Walt
• Trump’s Not a Renegade—He’s a Loyal Republican Fighter by Julian E. Zelizer
• The Clash Over Civilizations by Ian Morris

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What We’re Following

China hits back. Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday for select U.S. imports, just minutes after the White House’s sweeping 10 percent duties on Chinese products went into effect. These countermeasures—which include 15 percent levies on coal and liquefied natural gas products; 10 percent on crude oil, agricultural machinery, and large-engine cars; and the opening of an antitrust investigation into Google—are set to begin on Feb. 10.

That gives the Trump administration six days to avoid a full-scale trade war with China.

It is unclear whether Trump still plans to impose steeper, 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, as he promised to do while on the campaign trail; on Monday, Trump described the initial 10 percent duties on China as an “opening salvo.” Yet, that same day, Trump temporarily backed down from 25 percent tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports, which has some experts suggesting that his economic threats may be more bark than bite.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump will call Chinese President Xi Jinping sometime this week to discuss the economic tit-for-tat. The conversation will be Trump’s first known talks with Xi since taking office. Trump sparked a U.S. trade war with China in 2018 during his first term, which saw both sides issue hefty tariffs on key goods.

Outsourcing U.S. prisons. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed on Monday to accept deportees from the United States of any nationality who have been convicted of a crime, including U.S. citizens and legal residents, and detain them in Salvadoran prisons. For transported inmates, Bukele wrote on X that El Salvador would charge a fee that “would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”

According to the U.S. State Department’s own website, El Salvador’s overcrowded megaprisons are “harsh and dangerous,” and many facilities have inadequate or nonexistent “provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control, and lighting.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the deal as “extraordinary” during his trip to the Central American country this week. However, rights activists have condemned the deportation deal, citing El Salvador’s inconsistent treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers, and experts have expressed concerns about the agreement’s legality. Naturalized U.S. citizens can have their citizenship status revoked only in rare instances to allow for deportation; being convicted of a crime does not necessarily qualify someone for denaturalization.

Attempted truce in Goma. Rwanda-backed insurgents fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a unilateral cease-fire on Monday, to go into effect the following day. However, residents of Goma, who have experienced the brunt of the deadly conflict, have since reported sporadic shootings and lootings across the provincial capital.

M23 rebels part of the militant Congo River Alliance cited humanitarian reasons for this week’s truce deal. Specifically, they demanded the creation of a safe corridor to help transport aid as well as the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the bloodshed. The announcement comes just days before Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi are set to attend an emergency summit in Tanzania organized by the East African and Southern African regional blocs.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 900 people were killed in Goma last week, when Congolese military forces clashed with Rwanda-backed rebels. Kigali has denied backing the Congo River Alliance; however, United Nations evidence refutes Rwanda’s claims, and Kagame told CNN on Monday that he does not know if his country’s troops are in Congo.

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Odds and Ends

German hunters equipped with a wide array of odd instruments visited the city of Dortmund last Friday to participate in its annual stag-calling championship. The competition awards those who can best imitate a male deer’s rival during mating season. The practice gives hunters a better opportunity to assess their prey before deciding whether to shoot it. No animals were at the event, though, which leaves World Brief wondering how human judges knew which sound was most convincing.