Gaza Ceasefire Begins as Regional and Political Uncertainty Persists

Off Leash update 20 January

•Today's a big day in global events... •First, President Trump will be re-inaugurated at noon. The ceremony will be held inside the capital for the first time in 40 years due to freezing temperatures. And China's Vice President, Han Zheng, will attend the inauguration, marking the first time a senior Chinese official has ever attended a U.S. inauguration. •Trump's critics will prefer to celebrate Martin Luther King Day today. •The World Economic Forum starts today in Davos. This year's theme is "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age." •The Ohio State Buckeyes play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the NCAA football title at 7:30 pm ET tonight. The Buckeyes are favored by 8.5 points. You can watch on ESPN in the U.S. or stream on DirecTV, YouTube TV, etc. •The Winter X Games start Wednesday and end Friday in Buttermilk, Colorado. You can watch live and for free on the Roku Sports Channel in the U.S. and on YouTube abroad. •Belarus votes for president on Sunday, and I can already spare you the suspense and tell you that Pres. Lukashenko will be reelected. He's the only president Belarus has ever had, and all four of the candidates approved to run "against" him are staunchly pro-regime: they were only included on the ballot to create a veneer of democratic legitimacy for a sham vote to rubber-stamp Lukashenko's certain win. Commodity Prices •Aluminum: $2,685/ton •Antimony (ingot min. 99.65% fob China): $33,550/ton •Cobalt: $24,300/ton •Copper: $9,190/ton •Gold: $2,707/toz •Lead: $1,967/ton •Natural Gas (Nymex): $3.79/MMbtu •WTI Crude Oil (Nymex): $77.37/barrel •Zinc: $2,942/ton Gaza •Israel's security cabinet approved the Gaza ceasefire deal and it went into effect yesterday. •In accordance with the terms of the deal, Hamas released three hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners. •Their next exchange is due to take place on Jan. 25, when Hamas will release four living female hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 30-50 more Palestinian prisoners. •After the ceasefire went into effect, masked and armed Hamas fighters fanned out across Gaza in what the NYT called a "show of force" for the populace. An analyst assessed: "[t]hey’re conveying that Hamas must be a part of any future arrangements, or at least, be coordinated with." •Despite the public display of confidence, Hamas's future role in Gaza is at risk. Israel's foreign minister reiterated yesterday that Israel had not agreed to let Hamas remain in power in Gaza, and instead noted: "[w]e are determined to achieve the objectives of the war" (which included destroying Hamas). Yemen •Yemen's Houthis launched their Red Sea shipping blockade ostensibly in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, so watchers are wondering if they'll loosen their chokehold on regional shipping now that a ceasefire has taken effect in Gaza - or if the spoils of their ransom and protection payments are too attractive to forego. •Some analysts - including at The Economist - think the Houthis may choose to continue their lucrative racket exploiting the shipping industry even after the war in Gaza ends. •The Houthis released a statement yesterday saying they would be "stopping sanctions" on (i.e., no longer targeting) non-Israel-aligned ships...but they always claimed they were targeting only Israel-aligned ships, so this doesn't seem like a change of stance at all. •The Houthis plan to release a military statement today with further information about their future plans. China •TikTok said it would "go dark" in the U.S. after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law that would ban the app unless its parent company sold it to non-Chinese owners. •The app was down for about 12 hours, but then Pres.-elect Trump promised to issue an executive order delaying enforcement of the ban - "TikTok is back!" - upon taking office today, and the app re-opened to U.S. users. Libya 1/2