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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN
Israel appears to be preparing to attack Iran, European and U.S. officials say. Israeli officials say the IDF has been on high alert in recent days for possible escalation with Iran, while a senior Iranian official said that Iranian military and government officials have discussed their response to a potential Israeli strike. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations yesterday advised commercial mariners to exercise caution while in the region due to “increased tensions … which could lead to an escalation of military activity.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Michael Crowley, David E. Sanger, Farnaz Fassihi, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
The State and Defense Departments yesterday began arranging the departure of non-essential personnel from diplomatic and military locations in Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait, U.S. and sources say. According to a defense official, the U.S. Central Command is monitoring “developing tension” in the Middle East, while President Trump said that the personnel are being moved out because “it could be a dangerous place.” Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, and Michael Williams report for CNN.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors today voted to declare that Iran has failed to meet its non-proliferation obligations, the first resolution against Teheran the watchdog has passed in 20 years. Steven Erlanger reports for the New York Times.
Russia yesterday said that it is ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel to help narrow U.S.-Iranian differences, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov telling Russian media that efforts to reach a solution should be redoubled. Guy Faulconbridge and Parisa Hafezi report for Reuters.
The sixth round of the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks will be held in Muscat this Sunday, the Omani foreign minister confirmed today. Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam report for Reuters.
U.S. PROTESTS RESPONSE
Trump is prepared to send National Guard troops into more U.S. cities, administration officials said yesterday. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon can send the troops if “there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened.” Cat Zakrzewski, Natalie Allison, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez report for the Washington Post.
National Guard troops have the authority to temporarily detain protesters in Los Angeles “until law enforcement makes the arrest” if “rioters attack ICE law enforcement officers,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Axios. The Associated Press also corrected its report that cited Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman as stating that such detentions had already taken place after Sherman retracted those comments. Sareen Habeshian reports; Lolita C. Baldor reports.
Activated U.S. Marines have completed their training and will be deployed to Los Angeles in the next 48 hours, the U.S. Northern Command said yesterday. Rhea Mogul, Isaac Yee, and Deva Lee report for CNN.
[Editor’s note: Today, Just Security and the Reiss Center on Law and Security will host a YouTube Live event on the situation in Los Angeles and use of the U.S. military. Join a group of leading experts on this topic at 11am ET here.]
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) late yesterday accused Hamas militants of killing at least five Palestinians working with the organization and wounding multiple others as they travelled on a bus. The GHF also accused Hamas of repeatedly threatening the organization in recent days. A unit of Gaza’s Hamas-run police force said that it killed 12 members of an Israeli-backed militia in the attack. The militia, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, said its fighters killed five Hamas militants and made no mention of its own casualties. Lauren Iszo reports for CNN; Reuters reports; Samy Magdy and Kareem Chehayeb report for AP News.
Israeli gunfire and airstrikes killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, 39 of whom were killed near GHF-operated aid sites, according to Gaza health officials and medical officials at Shifa, Al-Quds, and Nasser hospitals. According to BBC News, there were also reports of people being crushed by lorries and being shot by Palestinians. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Sebastian Usher and David Gritten report.
Ezzedin al-Haddad, a veteran Hamas fighter, has taken over Hamas operations in Gaza after Israel killed Mohammed Sinwar, according to Arab and Israeli officials and a former hostage. Summer Said, Dov Lieber, and Anat Peled report for the Wall Street Journal.
Israel has recovered the bodies of two deceased hostages from southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency announced late yesterday. Lauren Izso reports for CNN.
The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has now passed 55,000 deaths, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said yesterday. Wafaa Shurafa and Fatma Khaled report for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza and cease threatening an attack on Iran during the two leaders’ Monday conversation, according to a source. Eugenia Yosef and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.
The Trump administration is “urging governments not to participate” in a U.N. conference on a possible two-state solution between Israel and Palestine organized by France and Saudi Arabia next week, according to a diplomatic cable reviewed by Reuters. The Tuesday cable states that countries that take “anti-Israel actions” following the conference could face diplomatic consequences from Washington. John Irish and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The U.N. General Assembly will today vote on a draft resolution that demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza after the United States vetoed a similar draft resolution in a Security Council vote last week. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
SYRIA
Netanyahu told U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack that he is interested in negotiating an updated security deal and a potential full peace agreement with the new Syrian government and has asked the United States to serve as a mediator, according to Israeli officials. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Israeli forces have arrested several members of Hamas, the Israeli military said today. Syria TV reported that a force of about 100 Israeli troops stormed the southern Syrian village of Beit Jin near the border with Lebanon, killing one person. AP News reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The Ukraine Conflict Observatory at Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, a preeminent body tracking alleged Russian war crimes in the war with Ukraine, is preparing to shut down in the coming weeks after the Trump administration cut its funding, according to the Lab’s Executive Director Nathaniel Raymond. The observatory has transferred its data to Ukraine’s government and the State Department and hopes to share it with Europol, Raymond added. Kylie Atwood reports for CNN.
Russia yesterday returned the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s coordination centre for the treatment of prisoners of war. Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that Russia received 27 bodies in return. Paul Adams and Tiffany Wertheimer report for BBC News.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China is putting a six-month limit on rare-earth export licenses for U.S. automakers and manufacturers, with the United States agreeing to relax some recent restrictions on sales of products such as jet engines to China, according to sources familiar with the deal concluded in London yesterday. Lingling Wei, Brian Schwartz, and Gavin Bade report for the Wall Street Journal.
The Trump administration has launched a review of the United States’ participation in the Biden-era AUKUS defense pact that would allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines to ensure it “is aligned with the President’s America First agenda,” a U.S. defense official said. Kirsty Needham, Renju Jose, and David Brunnstrom report for Reuters.
Trump is “highly likely” to push back the July 8 deadline to reach deals with top U.S. trading partners, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday. Ari Hawkins reports for POLITICO.
The Senate yesterday rejected resolutions seeking to block multi-billion-dollar arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in a 39-56 vote. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CN), who forced the votes, argued that allowing the deals to go through would personally benefit Trump. Joe Gould reports for POLITICO.
The State Department is pressuring Mexico to investigate and prosecute current elected officials with suspected links to narco crime, sources say. Diego Oré reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
The self-styled Islamic State has been attempting to exploit the fall of the Assad regime to stage a comeback, reactivating fighters in Syria and Iraq, and stepping up recruitment, propaganda, and weapon distribution efforts, according to security and political officials from Syria, Iraq, the United States, and Europe. Ahmed Rasheed, Timour Azhari, and Michael Georgy report for Reuters.
A motion by opposition parties to dissolve the Israeli Parliament failed early today, in a vote that posed the most serious challenge yet to Netanyahu’s right-wing ruling coalition. Isabel Kershner reports for the New York Times.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday won a vote of confidence in his pro-EU, centrist government that he called after the loss of the government-backed candidate in Poland’s presidential election. Adam Easton reports for BBC News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A court yesterday sentenced former CIA analyst Asif William Rahman, who in January pleaded guilty to leaking classified Israeli plans to strike Iran, to 37 months in prison, the Justice Department said. Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
The Justice Department has instructed immigration judges, who report to the executive branch, to permit DHS lawyers to make motions to dismiss orally and then quickly grant those dismissals without giving the immigrant a typical 10 days to respond, according to a memo obtained by NBC News. The move allows ICE agents to detain the immigrants immediately after their case is dismissed and deport them without a chance to raise their asylum case before an immigration judge. Julia Ainsley reports.
U.S. troops have begun detaining immigrants accused of trespassing on a recently designated national defense zone along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Chad Campbell said yesterday. Morgan Lee reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has imposed a more intensive review process for inter-agency reports in a move that intensified intelligence officers’ fears about political influence, U.S. officials say. Gabbard introduced the changes after a dispute over a National Intelligence Council report that cast doubt on the White House’s justification of deporting Venezuelans to El Salvador. Dave Lawler and Barak Ravid report for Axios.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday named eight people to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an influential federal panel that recommends vaccines to U.S. residents. At least three of Kennedy’s appointees have criticized the use of mRNA coronavirus vaccines. Lena H. Sun and Lauren Weber report for the Washington Post.
The entire board of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned on Tuesday, citing the Trump administration’s “usurpation” of the Board’s authority by denying a “substantial” number of its chosen recipients. Jason Lalljee reports for Axios.
The Education Department has agreed to send billions of dollars to the Labor Department to administer education grants and to detail several Education Department employees to help the Treasury Department manage collections of federal student loans, according to court documents viewed by POLITICO. The plans are currently blocked by a court injunction. Juan Perez Jr., Rebecca Carballo, and Nick Niedzwiadek report for POLITICO.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reinstating more than 400 employees whom it had previously laid off, according to an email seen by POLITICO. Sophie Gardner reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday blocked the Trump administration from deporting pro-Palestinian Columbia University protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil, ruling that the government’s effort to deport Khalil by arguing his presence would “have serious adverse foreign policy consequences” chills Khalil’s First Amendment rights. The judge also said that it was unlikely that the government could justify detaining Khalil by alleging Khalil failed to disclose all his past employment and membership in certain organizations when applying for a green card. Erica Orden, Josh Gerstein, and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
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