Israel’s weird war clock: 12 days for Iran, 21 months in Gaza
Making peace with the Palestinians looks much harder than with Iran’s regime or Shias in Lebanon
To donald trump, peace seems simple. On July 1st the American president announced on social media that Israel had agreed to the “necessary conditions” for a ceasefire in Gaza. Little matter that neither Hamas, the Islamists who still run parts of Gaza, nor Israel had endorsed the idea. Unless they did, warned Mr Trump, things would “ONLY GET WORSE”.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Why do they never end?”
Middle East & Africa
July 5th 2025
From the July 5th 2025 edition
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Donald Trump’s approach to Africa is very, well, African
What a meeting with five leaders says about his administration’s interest in the continent
Can Donald Trump force a ceasefire in Gaza?
As Binyamin Netanyahu travels to Washington, negotiators in Doha are racing to hammer out the details
The Israel-Iran war has not yet transformed the Middle East
Peace deals may be elusive, and Gulf states fear the war is far from over
Kenya’s president is bad news for Kenya and Africa
William Ruto’s tenure is a how-to guide for sowing cynicism about democracy
Iran’s “axis of resistance” was meant to be the Shias’ NATO
But today transnational political Shiism is struggling for its survival
A peace agreement in Africa that will probably not bring peace
The truce signed by Congo and Rwanda leaves out some important details