Another Israeli-Palestinian flashpoint

Violence in the West Bank is intensifying [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. In the aftermath of the gruesome Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas, the daily images of bomb blasts and humanitarian tragedy that have come out of the Gaza Strip have dominated world attention. As pressure grows on Israel to agree to an extension of a [four-day pause]( in its war with the militant group in Gaza, [conflict is intensifying]( inside the bigger of the two Palestinian territories a few dozen miles away. Palestinians in the West Bank, a swathe of territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that remains under occupation, have experienced a surge in attacks from heavily armed Jewish settlers, who have received hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding toward infrastructure and weapons. Hundreds of incidents including shootings, vandalism, arson and physical violence have been documented. The Israeli military — which has security control over most of the West Bank — has also killed more than 200 Palestinians during the same period. Together, the West Bank and Gaza are meant to form an eventual Palestinian state. The rising tensions have sparked fears that a second front in Israel’s war against Hamas could open up, so much so that US President Joe Biden has threatened sanctions against extremist settlers should attacks continue. The army says it has targeted Hamas sympathizers and is preventing terrorism activities. Palestinians feel wrongfully persecuted, oppressed and occupied. While the dispute over the West Bank territory has existed for years, assaults against Palestinians are becoming bolder and more recurrent. Support for the Palestinian Authority that governs Palestinians in the West Bank has waned amid widespread sentiment it is acting merely as an Israeli subcontractor. Militant groups in places like Jenin and Nablus are entrenched and angry. Whatever happens in Gaza, the West Bank could hold the key to an eventual peace deal. — [Simon Marks]( Mourners at the funeral of one of three Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid near Nablus, West Bank, on Oct. 29. Photographer: Wahaj Bani Mofleh/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads Elon Musk and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today toured a southern town that was the site of some of the worst violence during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, a visit that comes [as furor rises over antisemitic content]( on Musk’s social media platform X. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, who is the world’s richest man, has denied being racist after endorsing an antisemitic post, which drew condemnation from the White House and rights groups. The £21 billion in UK tax cuts announced to great fanfare last week are largely funded by a reduction in government spending after the next election, according to the official fiscal watchdog. But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak denied the country is facing a fresh bout of austerity, saying [in a Bloomberg TV interview]( that any such suggestion was “simply unfounded.” Sunak also said that he’s “not focused on elections,” despite growing speculation around a May ballot that was fueled by the budget giveaways. WATCH: Sunak discusses the economy and the government's Rwanda deportation policy. Source: Bloomberg Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei is in Washington to meet with officials from the White House, the US Treasury and the International Monetary Fund to explain his incoming [administration’s economic plans](. As he left for the US yesterday, his envoy Diana Mondino visited Brazil to invite President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Milei’s inauguration next month, reinforcing his team’s more accomodating tone as it prepares to take office. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the government will secure the funding for all projects [essential for the transformation]( of Europe’s biggest economy despite the turmoil created by this month's Constitutional Court budget ruling. The governing alliance remains committed to key initiatives including subsidies for expanding domestic semiconductor and battery production, greening buildings and local heating networks and building out solar energy capacity. China said a surge in mycoplasma-caused pneumonia in children shows signs of ebbing, but warned that other respiratory [illnesses]( are likely to hit the broader population hard during the mainland’s first winter after Covid restrictions were lifted. China’s National Health Commission said late last week that the spread of several respiratory pathogens could converge into a major outbreak between now and spring. North Korea appears to have deployed soldiers and weapons to guard posts near the border that were shut in a 2018 deal with South Korea [as tensions escalate]( in the wake of Pyongyang’s recent spy satellite launch. Taiwan’s vice president is leading the first poll since China-friendly opposition parties failed in their last-ditch efforts [to form an alliance]( aimed at winning the presidential election in January. Sierra Leone security forces arrested several perpetrators who [attacked a key military base]( in the capital Freetown and released prison inmates, President Julius Maada Bio said. Washington Dispatch Washington emerges from the Thanksgiving holiday today with much left unresolved regarding domestic and foreign policy even as an approaching election year threatens to make agreements even more elusive — and a government shutdown more likely. In the US House, Speaker Mike Johnson must confront an increasingly restive Republican right flank that demands an agenda of slashing the federal budget as the price of keeping the government open when spending deadlines again run out. Yet the kind of huge spending cuts the conservative Republicans want will go nowhere in the Senate. In that chamber, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell want to quickly [approve assistance for Israel and Ukraine](, yet obstacles remain in their path. One thing to watch today: Biden will discuss new actions to bolster supply chains. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Carbon offsets once looked primed for unstoppable growth, forecast to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years. Yet overall [demand for them has fallen](. Purchases that did rise were for wind, hydro and solar projects, which most experts have written off because power from these sources is already the cheapest option in most of the world. So the extra funding from the sale of carbon offsets won’t move the needle on emissions. And Finally Row after row of hundreds of solar panels cover an otherwise barren stretch of China’s Inner Mongolia and are just one piece of President Xi Jinping’s plan to deliver [the largest ever deployment of man-made power capacity](. By the end of the decade, China aims to build the equivalent of 225 more of these massive renewables bases across vast tracts of the country’s interior. Solar panels in a Kubuqi Desert project that will help generate enough electricity to power more than 1 million homes. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Thanks to the 29 people who answered the Friday quiz and congratulations to Bill Brown who was the first to name the Philippines as the country whose former leader threatened to come out of political retirement if his daughter is impeached as vice-president. More from Bloomberg - Watch the [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - Listen to [The Big Take podcast]( on how the US middle class is down about the economy. It’s also available on [iHeart](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Spotify]( - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](