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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel and the mediators have agreed on a draft of the Gaza ceasefire deal and have forwarded it to Hamas, two senior Israeli officials said, with a response expected in the next 24 hours. Axios’ Barak Ravid reports.
The U.N. and Israel are arguing over who must fill the gap in aid delivery if the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) stops operating in Gaza and West Bank later this month when an Israeli law comes into force. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
Israel’s reliance on U.S. weapon supplies is unlikely to be changed by its investment in domestic heavy weapon production, experts say. Adam Taylor reports for the Washington Post.
SYRIA
Syria’s Intelligence Directorate thwarted a planned Islamic State attack on a Damascus Shi’ite shrine, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported Saturday. Menna Alaa and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters.
SYRIA — REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday, according to a statement from Mikati’s office. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times.
U.S., French, and German envoys have warned Syria’s HTS that its appointment of foreign jihadists to senior military posts is a security concern and harmful to its international reputation, according to a U.S. official. Timour Azhari and John Irish report for Reuters.
EU foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing Syria sanctions, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said yesterday, as Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister urged top EU diplomats gathered in Riyadh to lift the sanctions. Baraa Anwer reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE
An Israeli airstrike killed five people in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said. Israel’s military claimed it targeted a vehicle loaded with Hezbollah weapons. Maya Gebeily and Enas Alashray report for Reuters.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Israel bombed a power station and two ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen on Friday in retaliation for Houthi strikes against Israel. Pro-Houthi media said at least one person was killed. Clauda Tanios and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday announced that Ukraine had captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia, saying he was willing to exchange the captives for Ukrainian prisoners of war. Cassandra Vinograd reports for the New York Times; Mallory Moench reports for BBC News.
Ukraine on Saturday claimed to have struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in a drone attack, with satellite imagery appearing to show a fire in the facility. Daria Tarasova-Markina and Jennifer Hauser report for CNN.
The Biden administration on Friday announced new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies and 183 oil tankers, in what a senior official called “most significant sanctions yet against the Russian energy sector.” Karen DeYoung reports for the Washington Post.
U.S FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Panama’s president, José Mulino, said privately this week that he could take Trump’s threats against his country to the U.N. Security Council if they continue, according to the country’s former president. Ben Schreckinger reports for POLITICO.
The Biden administration announced new sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other government officials on Friday, increasing the bounties against Maduro and his interior minister to the maximum levels under U.S. law. Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.
Italy yesterday released an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States over a drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last year. Anthony Faiola, Susannah George, Stefano Pitrelli, and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
Denmark recently expressed willingness to discuss boosting security or increasing the United States’ military presence in Greenland in private messages to Trump’s team, two sources told Axios. Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler report.
The Biden administration concluded that China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, according to sources familiar with the investigation’s results. Andrea Shalal reports for Reuters.
The United States will return $52.88 million in seized assets to Nigeria as part of a corruption probe against Nigeria’s former oil minister, the DOJ said in a statement on Friday. Wilson McMakin reports for AP News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Maduro was sworn into office on Friday after claiming to have won Venezuela’s July election without providing evidence of his victory. Samantha Schmidt reports for the Washington Post.
The Sudanese army on Saturday said it recaptured the capital of Gezira province, one of its biggest gains to date in the war against the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF’s leader acknowledged the loss of the city in an audio message. Samy Magdy reports for AP News; Jake Lapham and Youssef Taha report for BBC News.
Brazil’s Solicitor General Jorge Messias on Friday gave Meta 72 hours to explain the changes to its fact checking program. He did not specify what will happen once the deadline expires today. Isabel Teles reports for Reuters.
Iran has shipped nearly 3 million barrels of oil from a storage site in China in a bid to shore up funds to support allied militias, sources say. Laurence Norman, Bojan Pancevski, and Costas Paris report for the Wall Street Journal.
Iran this month launched its most extensive military exercises in decades in response to what an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson described as “new security threats.” Susannah George and Mustafa Salim report for the Washington Post; Jennifer Hauser reports for CNN.
An Iraqi strike in the country’s east on Friday killed four Islamic State members, including two senior leaders, Baghdad officials said. Moayed Kenany reports for Reuters.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday resigned from the Justice Department after completing his work on two criminal investigations into President-elect Trump, according to a court filing in the DOJ’s appeal against the order temporarily blocking the release of Smith’s Jan. 6 report. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO.
[Editor’s note: For a detailed timeline of the litigation over whether the Justice Department can publicly release the January 6th report, see Steve Vladeck’s analysis this morning at Just Security.]
Trump was sentenced on Friday following his hush money trial conviction. While the President-elect received no penalty, he will be the first president to enter office as a felon. Shayna Jacobs, Derek Hawkins, and Mark Berman report for the Washington Post.
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND NEW CONGRESS
The top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were briefed on Friday on the FBI’s background check findings on Trump’s Defense Secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, according to a person familiar with the briefings. His Senate hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. Karoun Demirjian reports for the New York Times.
Several ethics experts say the Trump Organization’s ethics plan for Trump’s second presidency released Friday contains insufficient safeguards on dealing with foreign governments. Marianne LeVine reports for the Washington Post.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The self-styled Islamic State group said its online propaganda inspired the man who killed 14 people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day in a newsletter dated Thursday, but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack. Eve Sampson reports for the New York Times.
The Biden administration on Friday extended temporary humanitarian protections for nearly 1 million immigrants in the United States, days before the potential start of a deportation campaign by the Trump administration. Nick Miroff, Maria Sacchetti, and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
Federal prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of at least 15 years for former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in a court filing last Thursday, following his July conviction in an extensive bribery and corruption scheme. Salvador Rizzo reports for the Washington Post.
A federal judge on Saturday temporarily prevented the U.S. government from transferring a disabled Guantánamo detainee to Iraq until the man’s claim that he would be at risk for abuse and inadequate health care there is resolved. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
A Turkish-American businessman pleaded guilty on Friday to making illegal straw donations to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign in a scheme that Adams has also been charged in. Jeff Coltin reports for POLITICO.
The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was the result of “a coordinated, military-style attack” by white citizens but no person alive can be held criminally responsible, the Justice Department said in a report released Friday. Audra D. S. Burch reports for the New York Times.
Border Patrol last week arrested a former Wagner Group mercenary illegally crossing the Rio Grande near Roma, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda McColgan said on Tuesday. Dave Hendricks reports for ValleyCentral.com.