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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN HELICOPTER CRASH
Iran’s supreme leader led tens of thousands in mourning at a grand funeral in Tehran yesterday for the country’s late president, foreign minister, and others killed in a helicopter crash. Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, top leaders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Hezbollah and Houthi representatives attended the ceremony. Yuliya Talmazan reports for NBC News; Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel’s war cabinet has instructed its negotiating team to resume talks on a hostage release deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early today. The statement came after the families of five female Israeli soldiers released a video of their capture by Hamas on Oct. 7, in the hopes it would push Israeli leaders to restart negotiations. The Washington Post reports.
Israel will withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority following the decision by Spain, Norway, and Ireland to recognize a Palestinian state, the country’s finance minister said yesterday. The decision by far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich threatens to push the Palestinian government into a deeper fiscal crisis. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times.
Israeli forces extended a military raid into the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank into a second day. The Israeli military entered the town on Tuesday, in the latest of a series of raids that Israeli officials have described as counterterrorism operations. Palestinian officials have updated the death toll to at least 11 civilians. Raja Abdulrahim reports for the New York Times; Kareem Khadder reports for CNN.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant yesterday lifted restrictions barring Israelis from areas of the northern West Bank that Israel pulled out of 19 years ago, a move that would mean Israeli citizens could enter the areas legally. However, chief of the IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox has since signed an order again making the areas a closed military zone. The Times of Israel reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The Biden administration is in talks with an E.U. organization to potentially take control of the Rafah border crossing, according to a senior administration official and another source. Washington is proposing bringing in the European Union Border Assistance Mission to the Rafah Crossing Point as a neutral third party to help open and run the crossing. Erin Banco reports for POLITICO.
Humanitarian aid finally started to flow into Gaza through the U.S.-built pier after days of delays due to logistical and other problems, U.S. officials said yesterday. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan yesterday rejected criticism of the pier, saying the delay in the aid flowing is “not a failure of planning.” Lara Seligman reports for POLITICO; Sam Fossum reports for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Colombian president Gustavo Petro ordered the opening of an embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, foreign minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said yesterday. The announcement was made hours after Spain, Ireland, and Norway said they would recognize a Palestinian state. Mauricio Torres reports for CNN.
Israel is considering further diplomatic steps against Spain, Ireland, and Norway after they announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state. Steps under consideration include canceling visits by officials from the three countries to Israel and revoking visas from their diplomats, which would limit their ability to enter parts of the West Bank. Tamar Michaelis reports for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Russia is deploying banned toxic gas across the front line, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. “We assessed Russian forces used the chemical weapon chloropicrin and riot control agents as a method of warfare to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions,” U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said Monday. A Kremlin spokesperson called the accusations “baseless.” Jane Lytvynenko reports for the Wall Street Journal.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday called a snap general election for July 4, months earlier than expected. Mark Landler reports for the New York Times.
China started two days of military exercises around Taiwan today as “punishment” for the island’s “separatist acts.” The drills come three days after the inauguration of President William Lai, who Beijing has labeled a “dangerous troublemaker.” BBC News reports.
President Biden yesterday welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House for a three-day state visit. The trip comes as Kenya prepares to deploy forces to Haiti as part of U.N.-led effort to address the country’s security crisis. Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller report for AP News.
The U.N. is scheduled to vote today on establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The prospect has sparked vehement opposition from Serbs who fear it will brand all of them as supporters of the mass killing. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
Germany’s far-right AfD party has banned its most prominent candidate, Maximilian Krah, from appearing at election events. It follows a string of scandals, including comments suggesting that not all of Nazi Germany’s SS officers should be considered criminals. The remarks prompted France’s far-right National Rally, nominally an ally of AfD, to say it would no longer sit with them in the European Parliament. Kate Brady reports for the Washington Post.
French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia to hold talks with pro-independence leaders. It remains unclear what strategy Macron will pursue to defuse tensions in the French territory, which has been rocked by deadly protests for more than a week. Pete McKenzie reports for the New York Times; Noemie Bisserbe and Stacy Meichtry report for the Wall Street Journal.
The Czech Constitutional Court has rejected an Indian man’s petition against his extradition to the United States over an alleged plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen. The United States has charged Nikhil Gupta with attempting to hire a hitman to assassinate a U.S.-based Sikh separatist leader. Gupta is in jail in Prague, and a final decision on his extradition will be taken by the country’s justice minister. BBC News reports.
Haiti’s health system is “on the verge of collapse,” UNICEF has warned, saying six out of 10 hospitals in the country are barely operational. Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News.
A deputy chief of the Russian military general staff has been arrested on charges of large-scale bribery, Russian news reports said today, the latest in a series of bribery and corruption arrests of high-ranking military officials. AP News reports.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A federal judge yesterday granted Hunter Biden’s request to delay his trial on tax charges. Biden’s trial was scheduled to take place next month in California, but U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi granted the motion to move the trial to Sept. 5. Bryan Lavietes, Madeline Morrison, and Zoë Richards report for NBC News.
An “Appeal to Heaven” flag was hung outside Justice Samuel Alito’s vacation home in New Jersey last summer, according to interviews and photographs obtained by The New York Times. It is the second symbol reportedly displayed outside one of Alito’s homes that was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Jodie Kantor, Aric Toler, and Julie Tate report for the New York Times; Erin Doherty and Justin Green report for Axios.