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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT
Satellite photos suggest Friday’s apparent Israeli strike on Iran hit an air defense radar system. The photos, taken yesterday, suggest the strike on Iran’s central city of Isfahan hit a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery, contradicting repeated denials by Iranian officials of any damage sustained in the attack. The strike in what appears to have been a limited Israeli response would represent far more damage inflicted than in Iran’s massive drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13. John Gambrell reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
A car attack in Jerusalem yesterday injured at least three people. The Israeli authorities said they had arrested two men after a vehicle was used to ram into pedestrians, in what the police called a terrorist attack. A video of the episode shows a car ramming into a group of people, who went flying over the vehicle. Afterward, the vehicle appears to crash into a parked car. Two young men then run out onto the street, pointing weapons, before fleeing the scene. The police said a weapon used in the attack had been recovered. Liam Stack reports for the New York Times.
A tent compound is rising in southern Gaza ahead of a possible Israeli offensive in Rafah. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis, as the Israeli military continues to signal its plans to launch an offensive on the southern city of Rafah. Israel has said it plans to evacuate civilians during a possible Rafah offensive, but the Israeli military said it was not involved in the tent construction. The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, without attributing the information, said that Egypt was constructing the tent compound.
Dozens more bodies were found in a mass grave within the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Emergency workers today recovered at least 35 more bodies from a mass grave within the medical complex, after Israeli forces withdrew from the neighborhood earlier this month. The total number of bodies found increased to 310, according to Colonel Yamen Abu Suleiman, the director of Civil Defense in Khan Younis. Suleiman previously alleged some bodies were found with hands and feet tied, and “there were signs of field executions. We do not know if they were buried alive or executed.” Ibrahim Dahman and Tim Lister report for CNN.
Aid missions to northern Gaza hospitals over the weekend were only partly successful because of delays at checkpoints and ongoing fighting, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. In a post on X, Ghebreyesus said the team nevertheless managed to evacuate four patients.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Mass arrests were made as protests over the war in Gaza spread across U.S. universities. Last night, police moved to break up a protest at NYU and made a number of arrests. Meanwhile, dozens of students were arrested at Yale earlier in the day, while Columbia canceled in-person classes. Similar “encampments” have sprung up at Berkeley, MIT, and other top colleges across the country. When asked about the protests, President Biden said yesterday that he condemned both “the antisemitic protests” as well as “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” James Fitzgerald and Bernd Debusmann Jr report for BBC News.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there is no “double standard” for Israel ahead of expected sanctions on an Israeli military unit. Speaking yesterday, Blinken said the State Department investigation into allegations of Israeli human rights violations and the role of U.S. weapons in potential abuses is being carried out to the same standard as that for any other country. “Do we have a double standard? The answer is no,” Blinken said in response to a question from Reuters. Blinken said an announcement is expected “in the days ahead” on whether to restrict assistance to the Netzah Yehuda unit over alleged human rights abuses. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
An Israeli strike deep into Lebanon today killed an Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah fighter. The fighter was killed as he was traveling in a vehicle, a source close to the group told Agence France-Presse, adding that he was an engineer attached to Hezbollah’s air defense forces. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an Israeli drone had fired on his vehicle. The Guardian reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
President Biden yesterday assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States will provide more aid as soon as the Senate passes the national security package. According to the White House, Biden told Zelenskyy that Washington has a “lasting commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends its freedom against Russian aggression” and that “his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental and he signs it into law.” Alex Gangitano reports for The Hill.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Britain’s parliament yesterday passed a law allowing the controversial deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. The plan has been subject to fierce criticism, and the U.K. Supreme Court ruled last November that the policy was unlawful. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said today that flights could take off within 10-12 weeks, adding that “nothing will stand in our way” of getting flights off the ground. However, the scheme could still be held up by challenges in the courts, with leading human rights organizations describing the plan as a “breach of international law.” Jennifer McKiernan and Ben Wright report for BBC News.
Washington is taking aim at Chinese banks aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine. According to people familiar with the matter, the United States is drafting sanctions that threaten to cut Chinese banks off from the global financial system, arming Blinken with diplomatic leverage that officials hope will stop Beijing’s commercial support of Russia’s military production. “China can’t have it both ways,” Blinken said at a G7 meeting in Italy last week. “It can’t purport to want to have positive friendly relations with countries in Europe, and at the same time be fueling the biggest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.” Officials say they hope the combined Western diplomatic pressure will avert the need to take escalatory action that could break a fragile U.S.-China detente. Ian Talley and Alan Cullison report for the Wall Street Journal.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised launches of the country’s “super-large” multiple rocket launchers that simulated a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media KCNA reported today. The news comes a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected Pyongyang firing what they suspected were multiple short-range ballistic missiles from a region near its capital toward its eastern seas. KCNA said yesterday’s launch was the first demonstration of North Korea’s nuclear-weapons management system and described the drill as aimed at signaling the strength of the country’s nuclear forces. Kim Tong-Hyung reports for ABC News.
Prosecutors have arrested a man working for a far-right politician on suspicion of spying for China. Jian G, 43, named by German media as an assistant to AfD member and European election candidate Maximilian Krah, allegedly passed information about the European Parliament to Chinese intelligence. Jian G is also suspected of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany. A spokesperson for the AfD party said the arrest was “very disturbing.” Jessica Parker and Paul Kirby report for BBC News.
An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned Europe that Russia has already drafted legislation to retaliate if Russian assets were seized by the West and used to help Ukraine. “We have a draft law, which we are ready to consider immediately, on retaliatory measures. And the Europeans will lose more than we do,” a speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament said. It follows the U.S. House of Representatives passing legislation on Saturday that includes a provision allowing the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets, though the vast majority are in Europe. Reuters reports.
China has accused the United States of “stoking military confrontation” with the recent deployment of a powerful missile launcher in the Philippines. The U.S. army has not said how long the first-ever deployment of the Mid-Range Capability missile system will remain in the Philippines. Its arrival in the region follows a series of Chinese-Philippine faceoffs in the South China Sea, during which Philippine ships have been targeted with water cannons. Brad Lendon reports for CNN.
Indonesia’s top court yesterday rejected appeals lodged by two losing presidential candidates who are demanding a revote. The candidates alleged they lost the February vote due to widespread irregularities and fraud, but the 5-to-3 majority decision by the eight-judge panel of the Constitutional Court rejected the arguments. The court held that the candidates had failed to prove allegations that Prabowo Subianto’s victory was the result of widespread fraud. Niniek Karmani and Fadlan Syam report for AP News.
Two Malaysian navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal for a naval parade today, killing all 10 crew members aboard, the navy said in a statement. Reuters reports.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Senate is returning to Washington today to vote on the $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The legislation has faced months of delays and contentious internal debate. The bill would send $61 billion to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza, and $8 billion to counter China in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. The Senate could pass the aid package as soon as today if timings for a vote are agreed. Mary Clare Jalonick reports for AP News.
TRUMP-LEGAL MATTERS
Former President Trump’s hush money trial is continuing today after opening arguments began yesterday. Trump’s attorney told the court that the former president is “cloaked in innocence,” while the prosecution said the hush-money payment was “election fraud, pure and simple.” Join Just Security Journalism Fellow, Adam Klasfeld’s Daily Dispatches from the Trump Trial Courtroom in New York for updates from inside the courtroom.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron yesterday accepted the $175 million bond Trump posted to appeal his civil fraud case, but imposed several new conditions to ensure sufficient cash funds remain available. The requirements include that the insurance company which issued the bond retain “exclusive control” of the $175 million account, and that both the company and Trump will provide a monthly account statement certifying there are sufficient cash funds for the bond. In addition, the agreement between the company and Trump cannot be amended without court approval. Ivana Saric reports for Axios.
Trump was urged to return classified documents nearly a year before FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago home, according to newly unsealed findings. A summary of an unnamed associate’s FBI interview was among a trove of documents that the judge handling Trump’s classified documents case released with redactions yesterday. Other revelations included that the FBI initially referred to the Trump investigation with the code name “PLASMIC ECHO; Mishandling of Classified or National Defense Information.” Representatives for Trump have not commented at the time of writing. Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.