Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.
A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE
The bodies of 54 unidentified Palestinians, handed over by the Israeli authorities, were buried yesterday at a grave site in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. Forensic doctors at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital have been unable to identify roughly two-thirds of the returned bodies. The Israeli military said the deceased had been combatants in the Gaza Strip, but this has not been independently verified. Dr Ahmed Dheir, a senior forensic specialist at Nasser Hospital, said that many of the bodies had signs of traumatic injuries. Liam Stack and Bilal Shbair report for the New York Times.
The World Health Organization yesterday led a medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of Gaza, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post. Tedros added that around 15,000 more patients in Gaza are awaiting medical evacuation. Chandni Shah, Olivia Le Poidevin, and Emma Farge report for Reuters.
Israel’s Supreme Court today pushed back the hearing of a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association demanding independent access for journalists to Gaza. The Israeli State Attorney told the court that “the situation has changed” and requested an additional 30 days to examine the circumstances. No date has been set for the next hearing. Patrick Keddie and Urooba Jamal report for Al Jazeera.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – POLITICAL RESPONSE
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel today following U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit this week. Rubio said yesterday that he plans to visit the new civilian military coordination centre in southern Israel, where U.S. troops are working alongside the Israeli military and delegations from other countries planning the stabilization of Gaza. Renata Brito and Josef Federman report for AP News.
Vance yesterday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “give a shot” to the ceasefire deal, two U.S. officials and one Israeli official told Axios. The implementation of the deal “takes monitoring … not in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler … It’s about the fact that it’s a lot of work,” Vance said following his meeting with Netanyahu. Barak Ravid reports.
The International Court of Justice yesterday issued an advisory opinion stating that “as an occupying power,” Israel is “obliged” to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population in Gaza are met. The opinion states that Israel must accept humanitarian support from U.N. entities, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Israel’s foreign ministry said on social media that it rejected the court’s finding and added, “Israel fully upholds its obligations under international law.” The U.S. State Department also responded to the advisory opinion yesterday, saying, “This so-called ‘court’ issues a nakedly politicizing non-binding ‘advisory opinion’ unfairly bashes Israel and gives UNRWA a free pass for its deep entanglement with and material support for Hamas Terrorism.” Stephanie van den Berg reports for Reuters; Faith Wardwell reports for POLITICO.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE AND RAIDS
A bill applying “the sovereignty of the State of Israel” to the occupied West Bank won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament yesterday. Netanyahu’s Likud party did not support the legislation, which was put forward by lawmakers outside his coalition and was passed by a vote of 25-24 out of 120 lawmakers. This is the first of four votes required for the law to pass. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that the United States was “not supportive of [the bill] right now,” adding “we think it’s potentially threatening to the peace deal.” Maayan Lubell reports for Reuters; Al Jazeera reports.
Dozens of Israeli settlers today attacked Palestinian olive pickers in Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission says it has documented 158 attacks against olive pickers since the beginning of the season two weeks ago. Patrick Keddie and Urooba Jamal report for Al Jazeera.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The Trump administration yesterday announced new sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies: Rosneft and Lukoil. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate cease-fire,” describing the oil companies as twin engines of “the Kremlin’s war machine.” President Donald Trump said that he “just felt it was the right time” for the sanctions and explained that he had also cancelled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as it “just didn’t feel right to me.” Shawn McCreesh reports for the New York Times.
European Union officials today approved a fresh package of sanctions against Russia, banning liquefied natural gas imports and targeting Russia’s banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. Jeanna Smialek reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration has quietly lifted a restriction on Ukraine’s use of some long-range missiles provided by Western allies, enabling Kyiv to increase attacks on targets inside Russia, U.S. officials said yesterday. The officials added that they expect Ukraine to conduct more cross-border attacks using the British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile, which relies on U.S intelligence to hit its targets. Lara Seligman, Michael R. Gordon, and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
U.N. Security Council members yesterday warned Haiti’s transitional presidential council that time is running out to hold general elections before February 7, when the council is supposed to step down. Haiti’s Electoral Council President Jacques Desrosiers told Reuters yesterday, “We cannot hold elections before February […] It is impossible” due to the expansion of armed gangs cutting off many areas from electoral registries. Danica Coto reports for AP News; Sarah Morland reports.
At least 40 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries died yesterday after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia, officials said, adding that this is one of the deadliest maritime disasters in 2025. No further details have been reported yet about the causes or circumstances of the incident. Wycliffe Muia reports for BBC News.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels yesterday released 12 U.N. international employees, allowing three others to move freely within the U.N. compound, following their detention over the weekend. More than 50 U.N. staffers are still detained by the Houthis. Farnoush Amiri and Samy Magdy report for AP News.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
More than 100 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will arrive in the San Francisco area today, as reported yesterday by the San Francisco Chronicle and confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie condemned the move, saying, “These [federal] tactics are designed to incite backlash, chaos, and violence, which are then used as an excuse to deploy military personnel.” Janie Har reports for AP News.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced yesterday that the public should submit photos, videos, and other documentation of ICE operations to her office for review, adding “every New Yorker has the right to live without fear and intimidation.” Ted Hesson and David Dee Delgado report for Reuters.
Roberto Mosquera del Peral, a Cuban man deported from the United States to Eswatini, is on hunger strike in a maximum security prison, according to his U.S.-based lawyer. The lawyer said that Mosquera has been held there for more than three months without charge or access to legal counsel, adding “my client is arbitrarily detained, and now his life is on the line.” Gerald Imray reports for AP News.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
“We are allowed” to carry out strikes on vessels near Venezuela, Trump said yesterday, adding “if we do [it] by land, we may go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing.” Trump further said that his government was “totally prepared” to start targeting alleged drug traffickers on land. Reuters reports.
U.S. Special Operations forces killed five people in two separate strikes on vessels suspected of carrying drugs in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday. Hegseth said the first strike in the Pacific, killing two, was carried out on Tuesday; the second strike, yesterday, killed three people. Hegseth did not provide further geographical details. There have now been at least nine strikes in total against alleged drug traffickers, killing 37 people. Eric Shmitt, Charlie Savage, and Chris Cameron report for the New York Times; Allison Griner reports for Al Jazeera.
[Editor’s note: Readers may be interested in The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part III, Just Security, October 21, 2025; Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Just Security, October 3, 2025.]
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration is considering a plan to restrict global shipments of goods containing or made with U.S. software to China, according to a U.S. official and three other sources. A former trade official said that software was a natural leverage point for the United States, adding, however, that such controls would be extraordinarily difficult to implement. Alexandra Alper, Michael Martina, Jeffrey Dastin, and Karen Freifeld report for Reuters.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Former prosecutors Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney, who both worked with Jack Smith on criminal cases involving Trump and were fired from the Justice Department in January, have opened a new law firm offering to help local and state governments investigate public corruption. Gaston and Cooney said that the widespread layoffs of prosecutors from the DOJ’s Public Integrity section have shifted the burden to local investigators to unearth public corruption. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. Scott MacFarlane reports for CBS News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Defense Department yesterday announced that a “new generation” of journalists would be given access to the Pentagon, after they signed rules that were rejected by most major news organizations. More than 60 journalists “representing a broad spectrum of new media outlets and independent journalists” received the required credentials, according to a Defense Department spokesperson. The list of new outlets includes conservative sites such as Human Events, The Post Millennial, RedState, and The Washington Reporter. Erik Wemple reports for the New York Times; Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO
The State Department has removed the Human Rights Reporting Gateway, an online platform for reporting alleged human rights violations by foreign military units supplied with American weapons. BBC News learned during the summer of plans to delete HRG and confirmed this week that officials phased out HRG during the State Department’s restructure. Tom Bateman reports.
The Justice Department yesterday announced that it has struck a deal with the University of Virginia, which requires the university to adopt the administration’s legal view on diversity, equity, and inclusion in exchange for a pause on civil rights investigations and continued eligibility for federal funding. Andrew Goudsward reports for Reuters.
The Trump administration’s cuts to federal programmes have eroded U.S. cyberspace defenses, according to Maine Sen. Angus King and a cyber defense nonprofit organization. “I would call it almost an across-the-board retreat from the national security defenses that we built up over the past five years,” just as the threats are increasing, King said. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday extended a block on the deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area until the case has been decided either in her court or the Supreme Court intervenes. Christine Fernando and Gene Johnson report for AP News.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
If you enjoy listening, Just Security’s analytic articles are also available in audio form on the justsecurity.org website.
ICYMI: yesterday on Just Security
