World
Samoan PM blocks country’s daily newspaper. Philippine protests allege misuse of flood funds. China–Japan tensions. By Jonathan Pearlman.
UN backs Trump’s Gaza plan, but Hamas rejects security force
Great power rivalry
Gaza: The United Nations Security Council this week approved Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, but the resolution was opposed by Hamas, which rejected the deployment of an international security force.
The Security Council’s resolution – which was passed by a 13-0 vote, with Russia and China abstaining – calls for the creation of an international stabilisation force that is expected to include troops from Arab and Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia. The plan also includes the formation of a temporary “board of peace”, to be chaired by Trump, and outlines moves towards reconstruction and an eventual pathway to Palestinian statehood. Most of the plan’s details are yet to be determined.
Welcoming the “historic” resolution, Trump said on social media the board of peace will be “chaired by me, and include the most powerful and respected Leaders throughout the World”.
The international force is set to secure Gaza’s border areas, escort aid, oversee the disarming of Hamas and other militant groups, and train and vet a new police force.
But Hamas said on Telegram it rejected the imposition of an “international guardianship mechanism”, apparently referring to the stabilisation force.
“Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation,” the group said.
Hamas agreed in October to the plan’s initial call for a ceasefire that included the release of hostages and the withdrawal of Israel from about half of Gaza, but rejected the demand that it disarm. Israel has said it will not withdraw from the remainder of Gaza unless Hamas disarms.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, this week welcomed the Security Council resolution but said ahead of the vote that he would oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was due to meet on Wednesday with Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya in Istanbul to discuss the Gaza plan, including disarmament. Witkoff was also expected to discuss efforts to arrange safe passage for up to 200 Hamas fighters holed up in tunnels beneath Rafah, a city in Gaza that remains under Israeli control.
Meanwhile, Israel on Tuesday launched an air strike on Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it was targeting a Hamas training camp. Hamas denied that the site was a military installation.
The neighbourhood
Samoa: La‘aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, Samoa’s new prime minister, this week banned the country’s daily newspaper, the Samoa Observer, from covering his and his ministers’ press conferences.
La‘auli imposed the ban on Monday, citing various reasons, including a confrontation outside his home between a journalist and security officials. The journalist was reporting on whether the prime minister, who had spent eight weeks in New Zealand on medical leave, had returned to the country. La‘auli also objected to several articles, including one about the government digitally manipulating a photograph to show the prime minister sitting in a normal chair rather than a wheelchair.
“They don’t respect me as the prime minister,” La‘auli said at a press conference this week, after asking the Samoa Observer’s reporter to leave. “In my time in New Zealand, I never saw any reporters writing so disrespectfully about leaders.”
La‘auli replaced the country’s first female prime minister, Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa, as head of the ruling FAST party earlier this year. Fiamē had demoted La‘auli after he was charged with criminal offences including corruption and harassment. La‘auli, the chairman of the party, then expelled her from the party. At a snap election in August, La‘auli’s FAST party won a majority.
Samoa Observer, which was founded in 1978, said in an editorial on Tuesday: “They say the march toward authoritarian rule begins with one simple act: taking control of the narrative and silencing the independent press. Yesterday, Samoa witnessed a step in that direction.”
Democracy in retreat
Philippines: More than 600,000 people have attended anti-corruption protests in the Philippines over concerns about the misuse of billions of dollars intended to be spent on projects to control floods.
The protests were organised by the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church Of Christ), a Christian sect with about three million members, amid revelations that much of the US$26 billion allocated to flood-control programs in the past 15 years was used as bribes involving officials, engineers and construction firms.
Some officials have estimated as much as 50 to 70 per cent of the funds were stolen and misused. Hundreds of projects that were listed as completed were never started.
The corruption was revealed in an address in July by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who promised to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials and contractors. A series of investigations since has exposed widespread corruption and prompted the resignation of several politicians, including former House speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin.
An estimated 650,000 attended rallies last Sunday and about 200,000 on Monday.
The organisers said on Facebook: “We come together not to meddle in politics but to stand with our fellow Filipinos who are calling for truth after more than 100 days of unanswered wrongdoings.”
Iglesia ni Cristo did not target Marcos Jr but demanded action over the failure to prepare the nation for devastating floods.
The Philippines is regularly hit by deadly typhoons and tropical storms that wipe out villages and farmland.
Flooding and damaging winds from a typhoon earlier this month killed at least 268 people and resulted in the evacuation of 450,000 people. Days later, another typhoon killed at least 28 people and forced 1.4 million people to evacuate.
Marcos Jr promised last week to jail at least 37 politicians and officials accused of involvement in the scandal.
“They will not have a merry Christmas,” he told reporters.
Spotlight: China–Japan tensions
China has lashed out at Japan – including blocking Japanese films and warning Chinese tourists not to holiday there – after Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested Tokyo could support Taiwan if it were invaded by China.
During an address to the Diet on November 7, Takaichi, a strident nationalist, said Chinese moves to militarily seize Taiwan could “threaten Japan’s survival” and would warrant Japan’s right to exercise self-defence.
The comment sparked a furious response from China, which flew military drones near a Japanese island, issued a travel warning about visiting Japan, and suspended the release of two Japanese films. In a social media post about Takaichi’s comments, Xue Jian, China’s consul general in Osaka, said “the dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off”.
Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest about Xue’s comments. Beijing then summoned the Japanese ambassador over Takaichi’s comments.
Takaichi has promised to be more careful with her language but refused to withdraw her remarks, insisting they were “consistent with the government’s traditional position”.
Japanese leaders have previously avoided publicly stating how they would respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, which is only 110 kilometres from Japanese territory.
China’s travel warnings, along with offers by Chinese airlines to refund cancelled trips to Japan, have reportedly resulted in hundreds of thousands of cancellations. On Monday, Japan warned its citizens travelling to China to “pay attention” and avoid large crowds.
The two countries have a history of conflict and quarrels, and relations remain scarred by Japan’s brutal military campaign and occupation during its war with China from 1937 to 1945.
Japanese and Chinese officials held talks in Beijing on Tuesday to try to defuse tensions. China’s foreign affairs ministry said after the meeting it had strongly protested Takaichi’s “erroneous remarks”.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on November 21, 2025 as "UN backs Trump’s Gaza plan, but Hamas rejects security force ".
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