EU's top diplomat warns 'tomorrow is already too late' for Israel-Hamas cease-fire

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The European Union's top diplomat warned Tuesday that every day that passes without a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war risks the lives of the hostages held by the militants and of those in the Gaza Strip as well as a regional war breaking out.

Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, came before journalists just after news broke from Lebanon of at least eight people killed and 2,750 others wounded by exploding pagers across the country, including members of the militant group Hezbollah. Suspicion immediately fell on Israel, which earlier Tuesday stressed that halting Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel's north to allow residents to return to their homes was now an official war goal.

Borrell said he would seek more information from Beirut, where he just traveled from, but acknowledged it could escalate the already-boiling tensions in the region.

“Certainly there is the possibility of the war spilling over to Lebanon,” Borrell said.

Borrell, when asked repeatedly about when he hoped a cease-fire could be reached, insisted he couldn't offer a time. Months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas has not seen any major hostage release, while the Gaza Strip has been decimated by an Israeli offensive.

Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. The Israeli military operation has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Meanwhile, Israel has launched repeated, dayslong operations in the West Bank, which the Palestinians also hope will form a part of a future state.

“President Biden announced a plan for a cease-fire. Everybody was expecting it to be agreed and quickly,” Borrell said. “I cannot foresee what can happen in the next days or weeks. The only thing I can say is that all actors involved have to continue pressure on both parties to reach this agreement.”

He added: “The trouble is not a matter of waiting for tomorrow. Tomorrow is already too late.”

Meanwhile, Borrell stressed that attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea also threatened both economies and the environment. He brought up the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which carries 1 million barrels of oil and has been burning for weeks after a series of Houthi attacks.

An EU naval mission called Operation Aspides just towed the Sounion away from Yemen so salvagers can attempt to offload the crude on board as the vessel remains on fire. Borrell stressed the mission would remain “defensive” and wouldn't attack Houthi positions, even if they come under fire.

The Houthi campaign is “not against Israel, it's against the freedom of navigation and about the economy of Egypt,” Borrell said, referencing the slowdown in traffic through the Suez Canal, a key source of hard currency for Cairo.

“Just before the war in Gaza, the prospect were good for the situation in Yemen,” he added, referring to peace talks to end a yearslong Saudi-led war sparked by the rebels seizing the capital, Sanaa.

“Then everything became stalled. And it is still stalled. This is one the examples of the spillover effect of the war" in Gaza, he said.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, listens to a question from a journalist during a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaks during a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaks during a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaks during a press conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Asian markets forged higher on Thursday after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession in the U.S. with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.1% to 37,155.33, lifted by major export manufacturers' shares. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 5.1%, Sony Group Corp. added 2.9% and Hitachi Ltd. advanced 5.8%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.9% to 17,993.30.

The Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.7% to 2,736.51, while Taiwan's Taiex was up 1.7%.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,579.86.

The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are also holding monetary policy meetings this week. Neither central bank is expected to move on rates, though the language of what the officials say could be an indicator of later moves and still influence markets.

Because the Fed's half-percentage point rate cut was so well telegraphed, markets had already climbed in anticipation. So, Wall Street’s reactions to the 180-degree turn on its policy rate were relatively muted.

“Markets barely reacted to the Fed’s 50 (basis point) rate cut, on balance, and our base case is that further cuts won’t move the needle too much either,” Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

It was the first cut to the federal funds rate in over four years, ending a stretch where the Fed kept rates at a two-decade high to slow the U.S. economy enough to stifle the worst inflation in generations.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, closing at 5,618.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2% to 41,503.10. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.3% to 17,573.30.

The Fed's move can help financial markets in two big ways. It eases the brakes off the economy, which has been slowing under the weight of higher rates, and it gives a boost to prices for all kinds of investments. Besides stocks, gold and bond prices had already rallied in recent months on expectations that rate cuts were coming.

Now that inflation has eased significantly from its peak two summers ago and appears to be heading toward 2%, the Fed says it it can turn more of its attention toward protecting the slowing job market and overall economy.

“The time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said. “That’s the situation we’re in.”

Some critics say the Federal Reserve may have already kept interest rates too high for too long, but Powell said that “We don’t think we’re behind.”

“We think this is timely. But I think you can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind,” Powell said in a press conference following the Fed’s announcement.”

“The focus has now decisively shifted to the labor market, and there’s a sense that the Fed is trying to strike a better balance between jobs and inflation,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management

Like stock prices, Treasury yields wavered up and down repeatedly immediately after the Fed announced its cut and published its projections.

Trading in Tupperware Brands remained halted after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its stock has been sinking, down to 51 cents, since a mini-revival early in the pandemic sent its stock above $30.

All told, the S&P 500 slipped 16.32 points to 5,618.26. The Dow dropped 103.08 to 41,503.10, and the Nasdaq composite lost 54.76 to 17,573.30.

In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 20 cents to $69.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, declined 22 cents to $73.43 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 142.58 Japanese yen from 142.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.1132 from $1.1120.

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Specialist Genaro Saporito, foreground, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The news conference of Federal' Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appears on a screen as trader Neil Catania works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Leon Montana works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)