A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Leading the week
The coming week will again be dominated by the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and the fallout from the explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital likely to continue leading the conversation. Rishi Sunak may go before MPs on Monday (October 23) to discuss his trip to Israel and talks with regional leaders, while James Cleverly will get the opportunity to discuss his own travel at a pair of committee appearances that bookend FCDO departmental questions on Tuesday (October 24). Further rounds of shuttle diplomacy by senior Cabinet figures may also be scheduled as discussions among international players on a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors develop over the coming days.
The first witnesses are set to appear before the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan this week, as a series of high-ranking military officials face questioning over their knowledge of potential extra-judicial killings. The inquiry, commissioned by then-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in December 2022, examines the activities of British Special Forces operating in Afghanistan from 2010-2013 amid allegations of extra-judicial killings of civilians in night raids and other operations.
Foremost among the witnesses this week is Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who appears before the inquiry on Monday (October 23) and Tuesday (October 24). He is followed by representatives from the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday (October 25) and from the Royal Military Police – whose investigations of the alleged incidents have come under close scrutiny – on Thursday (October 26) and Friday (October 27).
Environmental activist group Just Stop Oil has pledged to resume its protests on the streets of London on Sunday (October 29) after a series of high-profile stunts at sporting events this summer. In a letter issued to police unions in September, the group warned they would be back in action if the government refused to negotiate with them on the environment and climate change. Police appear to be taking their warnings seriously, with the co-founders of the group both arrested at their homes this week. Just Stop Oil gave the government a taste of what could happen when they organised a blockade to stop a coach carrying refugees to the Bibby Stockholm barge yesterday, while campaigners worry that another campaign could be a deciding factor in next year’s London mayoral election if Londoners face sustained disruption. Sadiq Khan and rival Susan Hall are neck-and-neck according to polls, so all eyes will be on how Khan, who is seen by the majority of voters as a soft touch on crime, deals with them.
Looking abroad
Following a grim week that has seen hundreds of civilians killed, the number of Israelis taken hostage rise, and a last-minute visit by President Joe Biden that was almost overtaken by recriminations surrounding the October 17 explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, the crisis in the Middle East shows no sign of abating.
With an Israeli ground operation in Gaza possible at any moment, and the prospect of a regional escalation still very much on the cards, European foreign ministers will discuss the latest news when they meet in Luxembourg on Monday (October 23) ahead of a two-day gathering of European leaders in Brussels that opens on Thursday (October 26). In New York, Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira chairs a UN Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian situation on Tuesday (October 24) after this week saw members unable even to agree on a resolution calling for a ceasefire. The US ultimately vetoed a text put forward by Brazil, a move that will trigger a debate at the UN General Assembly in the coming days.
Ultimately, though, it will be developments in the region that will matter most. This week has seen a hectic diplomatic schedule as leaders and ministers scramble to respond to and defuse rising tensions, and on Saturday (October 21) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is due to host what is being dubbed the Cairo Peace Summit, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres plans to attend. But with Iran issuing ominous warnings about the consequences of a ground offensive in Gaza and escalating clashes between Hezbollah and Israel at the Lebanese border, there appears to be little hope of a resolution to the conflict any time soon.