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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
Media reports will need to obscure the names and faces of most Israeli soldiers under new IDF media engagement rules, announced yesterday following a Brazilian court ordering an investigation into war crimes allegations against a former soldier. Lauren Izso and Hira Humayun report for CNN; James Mackenzie reports for Reuters.
The Israeli military yesterday said it found a deceased hostage’s body in an underground tunnel in Gaza, as well as evidence “raising serious concerns for the life” of another captive. Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said today. AP News reports.
Israeli overnight airstrikes on southern Gaza killed at least 19 Palestinians, including 8 children, according to local health officials. David Gritten reports for BBC News.
An Israeli strike killed three cousins, including two young children, in the occupied West Bank yesterday, Palestinian officials said. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
State Department officials warned the Trump transition team of the risk of a humanitarian “catastrophe” in Gaza once the Israeli ban on contact with the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) takes effect, U.S. officials said. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
SYRIA — U.S. RESPONSE
U.S. ground presence is still needed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State from reconstituting, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday. Tara Copp reports for AP News.
The Biden administration will maintain the terrorist designation of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) for the remainder of President Biden’s tenure, three U.S. officials said. John Hudson reports for the Washington Post.
SYRIA — REGIONAL RESPONSE
Iran’s top-ranking Syria general said Iran “was defeated very badly” but will still try to operate in the country in a speech last week, contradicting the Iranian leaders’ official line on the fall of the Assad regime. Farnaz Fassihi reports for the New York Times.
Turkish officials will tell Under-Secretary of State John Bass that Syria needs to be rid of terrorist groups during his visit to Ankara this week, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said yesterday. Tuvan Gumrukcu reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
The United States will provide Ukraine with an additional $500 million in weapons pulled from its existing stockpiles, two U.S. officials said. Tara Copp and Matthew Lee report for AP News.
A Russian strike killed 13 people and wounded dozens in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia yesterday, hours after Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot near a critical military airfield in Russia. Cassandra Vinograd and Oleksandr Chubko report for the New York Times.
Over 12,300 civilians have been killed since the start of the war in Ukraine, with a 30% rise in civilian deaths in late 2024 compared to last year, the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said yesterday, citing the tally of U.N.-documented deaths. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
North Korea is “significantly benefitting” from combat in Russia by increasing its war-waging experience, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Camille Shea told the Security Council yesterday. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
The Justice Department yesterday told a federal appeals court it plans to release the Jan. 6th volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report before President-elect Trump takes office but will not publicly release the other volume concerning Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Katelyn Polantz reports for CNN.
Trump asked the Supreme Court late on Tuesday to delay the sentencing hearing in his criminal hush money case, currently scheduled for tomorrow. Ann E. Marimow and Shayna Jacobs report for the Washington Post.
Justice Alito spoke with Trump on Tuesday not long before Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the sentencing in his criminal hush money case. Alito said the call was a routine job reference for a former law clerk. Trump made the call, though the task of checking references is generally left to lower-level aides. Adam Liptak reports for the New York Times.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis yesterday asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate her on the Trump election interference case. Danny Hakim reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
An alleged Japanese Yakuza leader yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials from Myanmar, as well as international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges, the Justice Department said. Jay Ganglani reports for CNN.
The Capitol Police arrested a man who brought a machete and three knives to a Capitol security screening hours before Trump arrived to pay his respects to former President Carter, a statement from the agency says. Zoë Richards reports for NBC News.
An ex-FBI informant who falsely accused Biden and his son of taking a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced yesterday to six years in federal prison. Marshall Cohen reports for CNN.
West Virginia lawmakers yesterday voted to oust a delegate-elect previously arrested on charges of making terroristic threats. Leah Willingham reports for AP News.
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND NEW CONGRESS
Biden yesterday said he is considering issuing pardons for people Trump has threatened to target but has not made a final decision yet. Susan Page reports for USA Today.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro yesterday said he has been invited to Trump’s inauguration and is seeking to obtain the return of his passport, confiscated as part of the domestic criminal probe into the 2023 coup attempt. Luciana Novaes Magalhaes and Ricardo Brito report for Reuters.
Hundreds of veterans and current and former U.S. officials asked Trump to preserve U.S. special visa and resettlement programs for Afghans at risk of retribution for working for the United States, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Jonathan Landay reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that a Greenland purchase “is obviously not going to happen.” AP News reports.
The United States has not yet submitted a formal request of extradition for an Iranian businessman detained in Milan, Italy’s Justice Minister said in an interview published today. Giulia Segreti reports for Reuters.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
France yesterday urged the EU to apply “with the greatest firmness” laws protecting the bloc against outside interference, as Spain’s prime minister accused Elon Musk of undermining democracy in Europe. John Irish and Lili Bayer report for Reuters.
An Italian journalist was released yesterday after her arrest last month while on a reporting trip in Iran, Rome announced. Emma Bubola reports for the New York Times.
Lebanon’s deeply divided Parliament will try to elect a new president today and end a yearslong political vacuum following diplomatic pressure from the United States and other foreign donors. Euan Ward reports for the New York Times.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court trying the impeachment case even if it decides to remove him, his lawyer said today. Ju-min Park reports for Reuters.
Libya’s eastern parliament on Tuesday approved a national reconciliation law aimed at reunifying the country, its spokesperson said. Ahmed Elumami reports for Reuters.
Chad’s security forces yesterday foiled an alleged attempt to “destabilize the country” after an attack on the presidential palace, the country’s foreign minister said, adding that nineteen people had died. Chris Ewokor and Christy Cooney report for BBC News.