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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
The U.N. Security Council yesterday adopted a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza. Fourteen council members voted in favor, while Russia abstained. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington would work to ensure Israel agreed to the deal and that Qatar and Egypt would work to bring Hamas to the negotiating table. Israel vowed shortly after the vote to persist with its military operation, saying it won’t engage in “meaningless” negotiations with Hamas. A senior Hamas official today said the group accepts the U.N. ceasefire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details. Mariya Knight, Mia Alberti, Richard Roth, Abeer Salman, and Hamdi Alkhshali report for CNN; Farnaz Fassihi reports for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday in Jerusalem. Blinken “reiterated that the [ceasefire] proposal on the table would unlock the possibility of calm along Israel’s northern border and further integration with countries in the region,” according to a State Department readout of the meeting. Blinken is expected to meet today with Benny Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu’s war cabinet on Sunday.
Biden administration officials have discussed the option of negotiating a unilateral deal with Hamas to release five U.S. hostages if current ceasefire talks involving Israel fail, according to U.S. officials. Such negotiations would not include Israel and would be conducted through Qatari mediators, the officials said. Monica Alba, Carol E. Lee and Courtney Kube report for NBC News.
The U.S. military said yesterday it plans to stockpile humanitarian aid shipments on a secure beach in Gaza after the World Food Program announced a temporary pause on aid deliveries from the U.S.-built pier. The WFP said yesterday the U.N. would conduct a security review to assess the safety of its staff handling aid deliveries from the pier. Ellen Knickmeyer, Edith M. Lederer, and Lolita C. Baldor report for AP News; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Bipartisan talks in the Senate over possible sanctions against the International Criminal Court have reached an impasse, according to two sources. Stephen Neukam and Stef W. Knight report for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese yesterday called for “respectful political debate and discourse” after the U.S. consulate in Sydney was vandalized with pro-Palestinian graffiti. It marks the second incident this month targeting a U.S. diplomatic outpost, after a gunman opening fire at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. Ivana Saric reports for Axios.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Four U.S. university tutors from Iowa Cornell College were stabbed yesterday by an unknown assailant at a public park in China. All four have been hospitalized. China’s foreign ministry today said the incident was “isolated” and that it would “not affect normal people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States.” Laura Bicker and Frances Mao report for BBC News; Laurie Chen reports for Reuters.
South Korean soldiers fired warning shots on Sunday after North Korean troops briefly crossed the land border, South Korea’s military said. The military has assessed that the soldiers didn’t appear to have intentionally crossed the border. Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP News; Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon report for CNN.
Czech prime minister Petr Fiala said that last week’s failed arson attack in Prague was “very likely” organized and financed by Russia. Police said a foreign citizen was arrested on Saturday, and remains in custody on terrorism charges. Fiala said the attempted attack was part of a “hybrid” campaign of sabotage by Moscow. Rob Cameron reports for BBC News.
A search is underway in Malawi after a plane carrying the country’s vice president and nine others went missing yesterday in poor weather conditions. Kelly Kasulis Cho reports for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH TENSIONS
The Israeli military said a barrage of around 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel earlier today, with some intercepted and others falling into open areas. Firefighters are battling a number of blazes sparked by the rockets, including in the Golan and in the Upper Galilee. Yesterday, an Israeli drone operating over southern Lebanon was shot down, the IDF said, confirming that the aircraft was operating in Lebanese airspace at the time. The Times of Israel reports.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Yemen’s Houthis said yesterday they had broken up an “American-Israeli spy network,” several days after the group arrested about a dozen U.N. personnel. The Houthis’ intelligence chief announced the arrests, saying the spy network had first operated out of the U.S. Embassy, but continued “under the cover of international and UN organizations” after it shuttered in 2015. AP News reports; Reuters reports.
U.S. intelligence has learned of discussions between the Houthis to provide weapons to the Somali militant group al-Shabaab, according to three U.S. officials. Officials are now searching for evidence that Houthi weapons have been delivered to Somalia, and assessing whether Iran is involved in the agreement. Katie Bo Lillis and Kylie Atwood report for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
The Biden administration has lifted a weapons ban on a controversial Ukrainian military unit. The ban was imposed years ago on the Azov Brigade, a one-time militia now part of Ukraine’s National Guard, after U.S. officials determined some of its founders espoused extremist views, and the U.N. accused the group of human rights violations. The brigade will now have access to the same U.S. military assistance as any other unit. Michael Birnbaum, Siobhán O’Grady and Alex Horton report for the Washington Post.
Russia said today its troops had started the second stage of drills to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in partnership with Belarusian troops, after what Moscow said were threats from Western powers. Russia has said the United States and Europe are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by arming Ukraine. Guy Faulconbridge reports for Reuters.
The head of Ukraine’s restoration and infrastructure development agency resigned yesterday, claiming the government is undermining his agency’s work. His resignation came a day before the start of a two-day conference in Berlin dedicated to international support for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. Veronika Melkozerova reports for POLITICO.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Juror deliberation began yesterday in Hunter Biden’s gun trial. During the trial, the defense team focused on the month Hunter Biden purchased the weapon, arguing there was no direct evidence he was a drug user at that time. Prosecutors said the addiction at the time was well documented. Holmes Lybrand, Marshall Cohen and Hannah Rabinowitz report for CNN; Erica Brown, Caroline Linton, and Scott MacFarlane report for CBS News.
The Baltimore shipping channel fully reopened yesterday, after a colossal cleanup effort following the downing of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March that killed six workers. Michaell Laris reports for the Washington Post.
The Biden administration is considering a proposal to protect undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation and permit them to work in the country legally, according to four officials. The officials said no final decision has been made and the shape of the policy remains unclear. Hamed Aleaziz, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jazmine Ulloa report for the New York Times.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
The federal judge presiding over former President Trump’s classified documents trial yesterday ruled he would not be charged for waving classified papers, as that conduct was not on trial. Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to remove a paragraph from the indictment about an incident where Trump reportedly waved around a classified document at his Bedminster club in New Jersey, saying Trump was not charged with a crime for the conduct it described and that it would be unfairly prejudicial if a jury saw it later at trial. Hugo Lowell reports for The Guardian.