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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel has accepted the latest Gaza ceasefire and hostage release proposal, an Israeli official said yesterday. According to the official, the updated framework provides stronger U.S. assurances about ending the war. Separately, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar yesterday said that there are “some positive signs” in the U.S.-led efforts to restart ceasefire negotiations, adding that Israel was eager for talks to resume “as soon as possible.” Hamas said that it is considering the new proposal. Aaron Boxerman, Ronen Bergman, and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times; Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell report for Reuters; Kristen Holmes, Kylie Atwood, and Jeremy Diamond report for CNN.
Israeli air strikes and shootings killed 82 Palestinians in Gaza overnight into today, including 38 people who were attempting to access humanitarian aid, according to local hospitals and the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Israel’s military did immediately comment on the strikes. The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war has now passed 57,000, the health ministry added. AP News reports.
U.S. contractors employed by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) are using live ammunition and stun grenades while guarding Gaza aid distribution sites, according to accounts and videos obtained by AP News. Contractors who spoke with AP journalists said that the security staff were often “unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed” and operating with “an open license to do whatever they wished,” including firing in the direction of desperate Palestinians scrambling for food. The U.S. contractors are sharing information on “suspicious” people coming to seek food with the Israeli military, one contractor added. Julia Frankel and Sam Mednick report.
The Hamas-run Gaza interior ministry yesterday accused Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of a well-armed Bedouin clan defying the group’s control of the territory, of treason and ordered the leader to surrender and face trial. The clan described the order as a “sitcom that doesn’t frighten us.” Reuters reports.
The GHF group yesterday announced it was planning to shut its Geneva branch after the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations earlier that day said it could order its dissolution over failures to fulfil legal requirements to operate in the country. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Any U.S. delays in supplying weapons to Ukraine “would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror, rather than seek peace,” Kyiv’s foreign ministry said yesterday, a day after the White House said it had cut off some weapons deliveries to Ukraine. According to a U.S. official, the pause includes some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery, and other weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Washington and Kyiv are “clarifying all the details on supplies.” Laura Gozzi and James Chater report for BBC News; Lisa Mascaro and Aamer Madhani report for AP News.
The Pentagon’s decision to halt some weapons shipments to Ukraine was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby and a small circle of advisers, blindsiding people who are usually closely briefed on such matters, including Congress members, State Department officials, and European allies, sources say. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said that he is “not even sure [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio was consulted” on the move and that “we essentially don’t have a national security adviser.” Jack Detsch, Paul McLeary, Felicia Schwartz, and Eli Stokols report for POLITICO.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
North Korea is set to send an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to assist Russia’s war in Ukraine in the coming months, tripling the number of its troops fighting for Moscow, according to an intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials seen by CNN and a Western intelligence official. The Ukrainian assessment also says there are signs that Russian military aircraft are being refitted to carry personnel in preparation for the new deployment. Nick Paton Walsh, Victoria Butenko, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Jo Shelley, Kosta Gak, Daria Tarasova-Markina, and Yoonjung Seo report.
Ukraine is looking to produce some weapons jointly with its international allies and create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defense manufacturers scale up and modernize production, the country’s foreign and defense ministry said this week. Illia Novikov reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE
Pentagon intelligence assessments suggest U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities set back Tehran’s nuclear program by up to two years, a Defense Department spokesperson said yesterday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said the strikes “were able to destroy [Iran’s] nuclear capabilities,” while International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi suggested Tehran could resume enriching uranium “in a matter of months.” Lara Seligman and Michael R. Gordon report for the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 rebels during their eastern Congo advance, according to a confidential report by a group of U.N. experts obtained by Reuters. The report concludes that Rwanda provided training to the rebels and deployed equipment to give them a “decisive tactical advantage.” Diplomats say the report, submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee in early May, is due to be published shortly. Michelle Nichols reports.
Haitian gangs have “near-total control” over the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and are expanding attacks into previously peaceful areas as state authorities struggle to stop escalating violence, the Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghada Fathy Waly, told the U.N. Security Council yesterday. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to face a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament today over her secret 2021 correspondence with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, sources say. The vote will be the first of its kind in more than a decade. Max Griera reports for POLITICO.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Pentagon’s review of weapons shipments abroad extends to all countries, not just Ukraine, a DOD spokesperson said yesterday. The spokesperson declined to say whether the United States has paused its deliveries of weapons to countries other than Ukraine. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
The United States and Vietnam have concluded a preliminary trade deal, President Trump announced yesterday. According to Trump and a draft joint statement, Vietnam will pay a 20% tariff on all imports into the United States and a 40% tariff on goods that are shipped through Vietnam from other countries in exchange for committing to opening up its market to a variety of U.S. imports. Phelim Kine, Megan Messerly, Daniel Desrochers, and Ari Hawkins report for POLITICO.
The U.S. Commerce Department yesterday notified three leading software companies that it has lifted restrictions on exports of chip design software to China, rescinding export curbs introduced in May in retaliation for Beijing’s halt on rare earth exports. John Liu reports for CNN.
Trump will host leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in Washington next week to discuss “commercial opportunities,” a White House official said yesterday. Reuters reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Kilmar Ábrego García has testified that he had suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, and psychological torture in the notorious El Salvador megaprison he was mistakenly deported to by the Trump administration, according to court documents filed yesterday. Lisa Baumann and Ben Finley report for AP News.
The first group of detained immigrants were scheduled to arrive at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades late yesterday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said on social media. Curt Anderson and Marta Lavandier report for AP News.
A federal judge yesterday ended an order blocking the deportation of the family of the man charged in the fatal firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, citing the government lawyers’ acknowledgement that the family is not eligible for expedited deportation proceedings. Jeff Gurney reports for CBS News.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
House Speaker Mike Johnson early today said he had secured the votes to ensure the final passage of Trump’s domestic policy bill later in the day. Calen Razor and Mia McCarthy report for POLITICO.
A politically motivated hacker last week briefly shut down Columbia University’s computer systems and stole troves of student documents, a university official said yesterday, without elaborating on the hacker’s motivations. Jake Offenhartz reports for AP News.
A judge yesterday imposed a life sentence on Edward Kelley, a Jan. 6 rioter who plotted to murder FBI agents who investigated him. Trump pardoned Kelley over his actions during the Capitol riot in January. Ryan J. Reilly reports for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The overall conclusion of the CIA investigation into Russia’s efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor exhibited “strong adherence to tradecraft standards,” despite the initial assessment being carried out too quickly and with excessive involvement by intelligence agency leaders, a CIA review released yesterday found. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who commissioned the review, said the inquiry shows that “agency heads at the time created a politically charged environment that triggered an atypical analytic process around an issue essential to our democracy.” Amy MacKinnon and John Sakellariadis report for POLITICO.
Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether DOJ lawyers can bring criminal charges against election officials if the Trump administration considers they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems, sources say. Department lawyers have struggled to find a criminal statute that could be used to implement senior officials’ instructions, the sources add. Devlin Barrett and Nick Corasaniti report for the New York Times.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem yesterday said she is seeking advice on “how to fire people who don’t like us,” adding that she considers that much of the Homeland Security Department workforce “hasn’t been required to do much” under the Biden administration and does not “support what we’re doing.” Ellen M. Gilmer reports for Bloomberg.
Trump yesterday said he wants to prosecute people responsible for the leak of a preliminary intelligence report on U.S. strikes on Iran and suggested the administration could pressure journalists who covered the report to reveal their sources. Annabelle Timsit reports for the Washington Post.
The Food and Drug Administration’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, Dr. Vinay Prasad, disregarded recommendations from the FDA’s scientists when personally intervening to place restrictions on COVID shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna, according to federal documents released yesterday. The scientists had concluded the vaccines’ benefits outweighed the risk of any possible side effects, which are rare. Matthew Perrone reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Trump’s attempt to impose restrictions on southern U.S. border crossings exceeded his legal authority and must be halted, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The judge held that Trump’s proclamation of an “invasion” established “an alternative immigration system” that had no basis in law and could not be used to justify the “sweeping” unilateral restrictions to asylum applications and migrants’ ability to seek protection from torture. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO.
Los Angeles immigrant advocacy groups yesterday filed a lawsuit seeking an order temporarily restraining the Trump administration from “unconstitutional” detention tactics that the groups say involve detaining people based on their race, warrantless arrests, and denying people access to attorneys in an immigration crackdown. Jaimie Ding and Christopher Weber report for AP News.
The Justice Department yesterday filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to allow Trump to dismiss three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge who last month blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate some grants for health and science research handed down his opinion yesterday explaining why he ruled that the cancellations are acts of discrimination based on race, gender and sexual identity. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
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ICYMI: yesterday on Just Security
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