Yemen: Houthis hijack cargo ship in Red Sea

Reportedly, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis have seized an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea. They said the vessel was then taken to a port in Yemen.

Israel said the ship was not Israeli, and no Israelis were among its crew. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said this was another act of Iranian terrorism.

Iran has not commented.

Houthis had threatened to hijack Israeli ship within their reach over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage during the surprise Hamas attack on the south of the country on October 07.

Israel has launched a massive military operation — involving air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops — with the aim of eliminating Hamas.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says the death toll in Gaza since then has reached 12,300. More than 2,000 more are feared to be buried under rubble.

The Houthis have fired several missiles and drones towards Israel just after Israel launched its retaliatory operation.

The United States said at the time that all the missiles and drones were intercepted by its warship in the Red Sea.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the attack on the ship — which it did not name — as a very grave incident of global consequence.

The IDF said the vessel was on its way from Turkey to India when it was seized in the southern Red Sea near Yemen.

Although, Israel says the seized vessel does not have any connection with it, unconfirmed reports suggest the ship may have an Israeli owner.

In Sunday’s statement on social media, Netanyahu said that Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel.

He said the ship was owned by “a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm”, adding that “25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican” were on board the ship.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has recently said that what he called resistance groups allied to Tehran were cleverly adjusting pressure on Israel and its supporters.

Earlier this month, the Houthis shot down a US military drone off Yemen’s coast, American officials said.

The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen’s official government since 2014.

Hamas HQ in Khan Yunis, claims Olmert

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claims that in Khan Yunis Hamas leadership is hiding, they have the bunkers, they have the command positions, they have the launching pads.

In an interview with Euronews on Friday, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the real headquarters of Hamas leadership were located in Khan Yunis.

“Every citizen, every baby, every child that is killed is terrible. So, I don't want to argue about the numbers. Everyone that is killed there, it’s terrible.” the former Israeli leader said.

He went on, though, asking that, when nations around the world voted against a ceasefire, an act, he argued that implicitly condoned the Israeli action, if those nations expected that there would be no casualties.

Euronews interviewer Shona Murray pushed back, stating that the narrative has been that Al-Shifa Hospital has been the center of the Hamas command structure, adding that Al-Shifa has not revealed Hamas tunnels or weaponry.

“You have seen the weaponry, you haven't seen the leaders,” Olmert clarified. “There [is] so many fake news. It’s now part of life. Everything is spread carelessly. Had you asked me two weeks ago, I’d have told you that the center is really in Khan Yunis. What Israel needs to do now is to announce that when the military battle is over, immediately, Israel is prepared to embark on negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for a two-state solution.”

A two-state solution would include Gaza in Palestinian state

This two-state solution, Olmert said, would include the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian state.

Israel has called on Gazan residents to evacuate cities in the southern portion of the Strip, including Khan Yunis. 

The Israeli military dropped leaflets making the request, asking civilians to go to designated areas where Israel could facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid.

Murray then asked the former prime minister if Israel should conduct an inquiry into why the IDF didn’t show up to the southern Israel communities as quickly as it should have on October 07, a mistake that left many residents of Israel to bear the brunt of Hamas’s brutality for an extended period of time.

“We’ll have to make a very thorough investigation,” Olmert answered. He added that he believed the Israeli leadership, on whose watch the October 07 massacre occurred, drastically underestimated Hamas.

In a recent interview on BBC Newsnight, Olmert explicitly names Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as this leadership, saying that up until October 07, Netanyahu had security responsibility for Gaza, before he completely failed.

In the Euronews interview, he says that Israel has learned not to underestimate Hamas anymore. “They are serious. They are sophisticated. They are just brutal. We will have to destroy them,” he said.

 

OPEC Plus may opt for deeper supply cut

OPEC Plus is most likely to consider additional oil supply cuts when the group meets on November 26. It may be prudent approach because oil prices have dropped by almost 20% since September 2023.

Brent crude has fallen to US$79 per barrel from US$98 in September this year. Concern about subdued demand and a possible surplus next year have kept prices under pressure, despite OPEC Plus production cuts and conflict in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC Plus have already pledged total oil output cuts of 5.16 million barrels per day, or about 5% of daily global demand, in a series of steps that started in late 2022. The cuts include 3.66 million bpd by OPEC Plus and additional voluntary cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

There is a growing perception that the existing curbs might be not enough and the group will likely consider if deeper cuts could be implemented.

"It is not pleasant to see that market volatility is greater ahead of the next meeting while fundamentals overall remain solid," one of the OPEC+ Plus sources said.

Ministers are likely to express some thoughts on what to do more, to secure a stable trend.

Ministers from OPEC Plus, which comprises of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, are scheduled to meet on November 26. The group already has a plan to curb supplies by 3.66 million bpd into 2024 made during its last meeting in June.

The price drop has deepened this week, even after OPEC in a monthly report said the oil-market fundamentals remained strong despite negative sentiment and stuck to its relatively high 2024 oil demand growth forecast.

The International Energy Agency, which also updated its outlook this week, has a lower 2024 demand growth forecast and said the market could shift to a surplus in the first quarter.

While some believe more cuts are required, two others say it is too early to say whether further cuts will be discussed. Some believe they may opt for "wait and see".

Most of OPEC Plus members depend on oil as a primary source of government income.

Analysts believe Saudi Arabia's oil cut extension raises the risk of economic contraction this year.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stressed during previous meetings it wants to see strong compliance with cuts so all members share the burden of producing less.

At its last policy meeting in June, OPEC Plus agreed on a broad deal to limit supply into 2024 and Saudi Arabia pledged a voluntary production cut for July of one million bpd that it has since extended to last until the end of 2023.

Some analysts including Energy Aspects expect Saudi Arabia to keep the voluntary cut to at least the first quarter of 2024.

 

 

Muslim countries seek Chinese help in resolving Gaza conflict

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan announced that China will be the first destination for the Islamic Ministerial Committee’s mission to exert international pressure aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in Gaza.

Addressing reporters during the Manama Dialogue 2023, Prince Faisal revealed that ministers designated by Arab and Islamic leaders, following the recent summit in Riyadh, will embark on their journey to Beijing on Monday.

The Saudi foreign minister emphasized that following their visit to China, the committee will visit several capitals to convey a resounding message emphasizing the urgency of an immediate ceasefire and facilitating the entry of relief and humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“We must strive to swiftly resolve this crisis and put an end to the war being waged against Gaza,” stated Prince Faisal.

The extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic Summit issued a resolution tasking the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Palestine to initiate immediate international action on behalf of all member states of the OIC and the Arab League.

The goal is to formulate an international initiative to halt the war in Gaza and push for a genuine and serious political process, leading to permanent and comprehensive peace in accordance with established international references.

On the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue 2023, the Saudi Foreign Minister met with Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

During their meeting, they discussed the developments in Gaza and its surroundings. Prince Faisal reiterated Saudi Arabia’s rejection of the ongoing military escalation and violations by Israeli occupation forces against civilians.

He underscored the importance of halting the escalation and preventing the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Prince Faisal emphasized the urgency of establishing humanitarian corridors to assist children, women, and civilians in Gaza.

Additionally, he called on the international community to condemn the blatant violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israeli forces against the people in Gaza.

Furthermore, Prince Faisal met with the UK’s Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, where they discussed the evolving military escalation in the Gaza Strip.

Both parties emphasized the importance of an immediate ceasefire and allowing humanitarian organizations to deliver urgent aid to Gaza.

The Saudi foreign minister reiterated the significance of the international community playing an active role in putting an end to the military escalation and preventing the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

 

A new cold war the world is getting used to

According to Shawn Donnan of Bloomberg, the relationship between the United States and China is the most important and arguably most fraught in the world today. The meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping near San Francisco was unequivocally the most important event in the global economy this week.

The summit did what was intended by both sides. It put a floor under the relationship and re-established lines of communication. The danger of tensions spiraling out of control seems less today than they did a week ago.

It was hard to be in San Francisco digesting the geopolitical theater and not come to the conclusion that this is what a 21st century Cold War looks like.

Jude Blanchette, a longtime China watcher based in Washington, was prescient when he said ahead of this week’s meeting that managing a geopolitical rivalry isn’t sexy. It’s full of small but important steps that never really resolve the fundamental differences. And that’s what we got.

The two leaders agreed to resume communications between their militaries and to work together to stem the flow from China to the US of precursors and pill presses that are fueling America’s fentanyl crisis. There were agreements before and during the summit to work together to address the climate crisis and mull the consequences of artificial intelligence.

The fundamental differences between the two nations won’t go away. One is a democracy, the other a single-party Communist state. One has a market economy, the other an increasingly state-directed one. They are both in a competition that many on either side see as existential.

Xi deployed a smile rarely seen at home and sought to charm US business leaders who gave him a standing ovation. He pledged to send pandas that China had recalled just weeks before.

Biden rolled out a picture of a young Xi in front of the Golden Gate Bridge and sought to make him comfortable. But he also couldn’t resist doubling down and calling Xi a dictator again after he had left, laying it out as a plain factual label rather than a potential slight.

How this all plays out in 2024 with presidential elections coming in Taiwan in January and the US in November isn’t yet scripted.

Economics matter if it is power you want. Biden went into the meeting with the wind at his back as one US official put it thanks to an economy that has recovered better than its peers from the pandemic shock. And Xi was clearly on a charm offensive given the foreign investment he needs to turn around a slowing Chinese economy.

That could change in the months to come. There are signs the US economy is slowing. Consumers are still grumpy about inflation and more recently the higher interest rates deployed to rein it in.

Both sides have their own weaknesses, in other words. Xi has an economy undergoing a structural slowdown based in large part on demographics. Biden has an economy which many Americans still aren’t convinced works for them.

Historians will get to decide in the years to come whether this week’s meeting marked a turning point. But, regardless of whether they decide history turned or not, they very likely will agree we are living through a cold war that we’re all just getting used to.

 

Israeli narrative on Al-Shifa Hospital

"Israel needs to offer the outside world more than a few rifles and other armaments to justify its attacks on Gaza's hospitals and ill and injured civilians," said Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

A human rights monitor in Geneva on Friday called on the United Nations to help get to the bottom of Israel's claim that its bombing and raid of Gaza's largest medical complex this week was necessary to stop Hamas from running a vast military compound beneath it—an allegation that more than two days after the attack began, has been backed up only by images Israel released of a small cache of weapons.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said the time has come for an independent international investigation into "Israel's absurd narrative" about Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, and noted that administrators at the facility are also demanding a probe that includes a United Nations inspection.

Israel did extensive damage to al-Shifa's cardiac care department, surgical ward, and a pharmaceutical warehouse when it began bombing the hospital at dawn on Wednesday in just one of more than 245 attacks on medical facilities in Gaza since October 07. Israeli officials said they expected to find "the beating heart" of Hamas' military operations in the hospital.

After searching basement areas and several health departments as well as conducting a "violent interrogation campaign" targeting displaced people and medical personnel, Euro-Med said, Israel has so far produced only a video showing a small number of weapons.

"The absence of any neutral international party's involvement in the Israeli military raids and searches of al-Shifa Medical Complex and other hospitals in the strip raises widespread doubts about the Israeli narrative," said Euro-Med. "Israel needs to offer the outside world more than a few rifles and other armaments to justify its attacks on Gaza's hospitals and ill and injured civilians."

Separately, the BBC aired a segment on Friday in which the network noted the Israel Defense Forces first released a seven-minute video displaying the weapons it found—a video that appeared to be edited despite IDF claims that it was filmed in a single shot with no edits, and that raised several other questions.

"This IDF video was posted, then deleted, then reposted, this time without a section referring to an Israeli soldier who'd been held hostage," reported the BBC.

Reporters from the network arrived at Al-Shifa a few hours after the IDF released the original video, and were shown a different selection of weapons than those that appeared in the military's video.

"What we see in this IDF video doesn't equate Israel's description of an operational command center for Hamas,” the BBC reported.

The footage, released late at night after long hours of searches and fruitless inspections, said Euro-Med, raises a lot of questions, especially since no gunman has been arrested and no evidence has been found to back the previous claims about the presence of tunnels beneath the hospital.

The IDF has also claimed that Hamas knew we were coming" and had likely made off with or hidden traces of their presence at Al-Shifa, The New York Times reported.

Israel's narrative about al-Shifa has also drawn scrutiny from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, who said that even if the hospital were being used as a command center for Hamas, protecting patients is paramount.

"Even if health facilities are used for military purposes, the principles of distinction, precaution, and proportionality always apply," Tedros said.

The director of Al-Shifa, Muhammed Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera Friday that staff are still trying to save as many of the 7,000 patients and refugees in the hospital as they can amid Israel's ongoing siege, but they lost all those who were in the intensive care unit following the attack on Wednesday.

"We are left with nothing—no power, no food, no water," said Abu Salmiya. "With every passing minute, we are losing a life. Overnight, we lost 22 persons."

The Biden administration, which has continued supporting Israel's bombardment of Gaza as the death toll has grown to at least 11,470 in less than six weeks, said this week it believed the IDF's claims about Al-Shifa, with President Joe Biden saying it was a fact that Hamas has their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital.

A day after the bombing, as observers awaited evidence of an extensive command center beneath the hospital, US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller appeared less confident in Israel's narrative, telling reporters that the White House never said there were command posts in every hospital in Gaza.

"We don't want to see hospitals struck from the air," said Miller. "We understand that Hamas continues to use hospitals in places where they embed their fighters."

After the BBC reported on the IDF's changing video documentation of its findings, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft called Israel's propaganda supporting its onslaught in Gaza increasingly clownish.

"Only Joe Biden seems to believe it," said Parsi.

Journalist Jeremy Scahill pointed out that Israel itself is known to have built an underground operating room and tunnels under the hospital in 1983.

"This is not a secret," Scahill wrote on social media, noting that Israel has claimed Hamas expanded the tunnels in recent years.

Allegations of a Hamas command center, supported by the US, said Scahill, "should be backed up by clear evidence, not a Geraldo Rivera/Al Capone's vault-style video presentation featuring an English-speaking IDF soldier."

"No matter what is or is not found, there is no justification for the repeated attacks against civilian hospitals—in fact Al-Shifa is the largest hospital treating the most vulnerable people in Gaza, including NICU babies," he added.

"The mere existence of tunnels, originally built by Israel, does not prove the specific allegations made by the US or Israel. The standard for such evidence should be very, very high."

Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark index posts 3.02%WoW increase

Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) sustained its positive momentum and surged to record highs. The benchmark index closed at record high of 57,397 points on Thursday before posting a slight correction to close at 57,063 points on Friday, posting an impressive 3.02%WoW increase.

During the week investors remained focus on the IMF review, concluding with a successful staff-level agreement, paving way for a US$700 million inflow post-IMF Board approval.

A major but negative development was the government’s decision to impose a 40% tax on banks' windfall income, meeting IMF demands and to agree on further revision in the gas prices in January 2924.

There was a noteworthy increase in remittances, surging to US$2.21 billion. In addition, international oil prices experienced a considerable ease, attributed to increased US strategic reserves and reduced demand from China.

Market participation witnessed a substantial improvement, taking average daily trading volume to 687 million shares, registering a 26%WoW increase from earlier week's average of 544 million shares.

Notably, Thursday saw participation cross one million share mark for the first time in last 28 months.

On the currency front, the rupee appreciated marginally by 0.19%WoW against the greenback, closing at PKR286.5/US$ on Friday.

Other notable news of the week included: 1) MSCI keeping Pakistan’s Frontier Market Index unchanged, 2) Debt/ liabilities soaring to PKR78 trillion, 3) Bank deposits rising 18%YoY on high rates and currency crackdown, 4) Car sales plunging by 24%MoM in October, 5) UAE firms expressing intent to invest US$25 billion in real estate sector.

Close-end Mutual Funds, Synthetic & Rayon, and Woollen were amongst the top performing sectors. Vanaspati & Allied Industries, Commercial Banks, and Textile Weaving were amongst the laggards.

Major net selling was recorded by Banks with a net sell of US$9.14 million. Foreigners remained bullish with a net buy of US$8.22 million.

Top performing scrips during the week were: HGFA , PAEL, RMPL, IBFL, and PKGP, while top laggards included: BIPL, BAFL, CNERGY, PABC, and MEBL.

Despite the benchmark index reaching record highs, the market remains at attractive valuations.

Analysts maintain their positive outlook on the market owing to favorable economic developments like improving inflation and expected monetary easing in the current fiscal year.

While the market is flourishing, Analysts strongly advise market participants to avoid potential pitfalls and instead concentrate on companies with robust fundamentals.

Furthermore, companies with healthy dividend yields can be a prudent strategy for navigating inflation safely.