Gaza negotiations remain stalled as pressure rises over captives

Off Leash update 4 August COMING UP THIS WEEK •August 6 and 9 are the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. •New U.S. tariffs go into effect August 7 - unless frantic bilateral negotiations result in a deal before then.

COMMODITY AND COIN MARKET PRICES •Aluminum: $2,566/ton •Antimony (trioxide min. 99.65% fob China): $30,950/ton •Bitcoin: $114,649 •Cobalt: $33,335/ton •Copper: $9,631/ton •Ethereum: $3,560 •Gold: $3,359/toz •Lead: $1,972/ton •Natural Gas (Nymex): $3.06/MMbtu •WTI Crude Oil (Nymex): $66.63/barrel •Zinc: $2,727/ton

GAZA •Hamas posted videos showing two Israeli captives looking extremely emaciated, causing new concern for their well-being and adding to calls for a ceasefire and hostage release deal amidst similarly disturbing reports of rising starvation in Gaza. •Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed "profound shock" over the hostage videos, and proposed that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deliver food and medicine to the hostages. Hamas said it was open to the idea - but only under the unlikely condition that Israeli attacks "of all forms must cease during the receipt of packages for the prisoners.” •Despite the reinvigorated sense of urgency for a ceasefire, substantive negotiations remain stuck at an impasse. Frustrated U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff suggested shifting to an "all or nothing" ultimatum in which Israel would demand the release of all remaining hostages and Hamas's full disarmament in exchange for an end to the war. •Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu can't end the war without jeopardizing the far-right support his fragile coalition depends on, and his critics believe - probably correctly - that he'll prioritize his own political survival over signing a ceasefire deal that could bring down his government. •That's likely why the latest ultimatum attaches a condition that Hamas has already categorically rejected: its full disarmament. Instead, Hamas unconstructively declared that it will not disarm until the creation of an "independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."

UKRAINE •With their independence newly restored, Ukraine's two anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO, announced that they had disrupted a major bribery scheme in which crooked officials - including a lawmaker, local officials, and National Guardsmen - agreed to pay inflated prices for drones and other military kit in exchange for kickbacks of up to 30% of the contracts' value.

SYRIA •Syrian state-run television reported that armed groups violated a shaky truce in predominantly Druze Sweida to attack government security forces there. •We may see more violations in the coming days: Sweida's Druze are growing agitated over what they call a government "blockade" cutting off their flow of supplies via a humanitarian corridor to Jordan. They want the government forces to fully withdraw from the region.

SOUTH AFRICA •South African scientists injected five rhinos' horns with a radioactive material called Rhisotope - which they say is harmless to the rhinos but easily detectable by airport scanners - as part of a new anti-poaching campaign. Conservationists estimate that poachers have killed an average of more than one rhino per day in South Africa since 2021. (Editor note: those rhinos die to supply Chinese bachelor parties with what Chinese herbalists think is a natural version of Viagra. Instead of just using Viagra.)