Recently, there has been a dramatic turning point in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations – Hamas announced through intermediaries that it accepted the ceasefire plan proposed by US envoy Witkov, but both the US and Israel quickly denied it, causing concerns in the market about the escalation of the situation in the Middle East.

On the early morning of May 23rd, Iranian Foreign Minister Aragorzi harshly stated in a letter to United Nations Secretary General Guterres: “If Israel dares to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, the United States will be seen as a ‘joint aggressor’, and Iran will take ‘special measures’ to protect its nuclear assets.” This statement, along with the “destructive counterattack” statement issued by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on the same day, forms a dual deterrence.

On May 19th local time, the US House Budget Committee passed the Trump administration’s proposed “American Economic Recovery and Growth Act” with a vote of 22 in favor and 19 against. This $4.2 trillion tax reduction plan aims to extend the corporate tax incentives in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and add personal income tax exemptions for the middle class. It is worth noting that five Republican “deficit hawks” who had previously staunchly opposed expanding the fiscal deficit suddenly changed their stance, with four members of Congress, including Chip Roy and Ralph Norman, voting in favor, directly reversing the situation where the bill was rejected on May 16th.

On May 15th local time, US President Trump once again proposed the plan to turn the Gaza Strip into a “free zone” at a business roundtable meeting held in Qatar, claiming that “there is nothing salvageable in Gaza” and advocating for the United States to take over the area and lead the reconstruction. At the same time, he demanded that Gaza residents relocate to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan. Since its first proposal in January 2025, this plan has repeatedly sparked strong opposition from Arab countries and the international community, and has been criticized as “forcibly depriving the Palestinian people of their rights”.