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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
Israel and Egypt yesterday agreed to allow at least 19 sick children, most of them cancer patients, to leave Gaza for medical treatment. It is the first major evacuation of critically ill Gazans since the Rafah border crossing closed in early May. The Israeli military said that a total of 68 sick and injured patients were allowed to leave. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times; Miriam Berger and Hajar Harb report for the Washington Post.
The Israeli military stormed a neighborhood in Gaza City yesterday, ordering Palestinians to move south amid what it says are the final stages of an operation against Hamas militants there. The Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli air strikes killed at least seven people. Separately, the IDF said a soldier was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin. David Gritten reports for BBC News; Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
The Israeli security cabinet today approved legalizing five West Bank outposts and a series of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. In return for the measures, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will reportedly release frozen Palestinian Authority tax funds and extend a waiver allowing Israeli banks to work with their Palestinian counterparts. The Times of Israel reports.
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men blocked a major highway in central Israel for two hours yesterday to protest the recent Supreme Court decision ordering conscription for young religious men. Ami Bentov reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The Biden administration is expected to soon release 500-lb. bombs that were part of a weapons shipment to Israel put on hold in April over concerns about Israel’s Rafah offensive, U.S. and Israeli officials said. About 1,700 bombs are expected to be delivered after Israel’s operation in Rafah ends, which is expected to happen in two weeks, an Israeli official said. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The House yesterday passed 269-144 an amendment banning the State Department from citing the Hamas-run Health Ministry’s death toll statistics for the Gaza war, effectively halting discussion of the war’s deaths if the measure is signed into law. A group of 62 Democrats joined all but two Republicans in supporting the measure. Nick Robertson reports for The Hill.
Two agency watchdogs yesterday announced they are launching a review into the U.S. military’s humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip, as scrutiny mounts over the failure of aid to reach Palestinians. The Department of Defense’s inspector general said it was opening “coordinated, independent oversight projects” with its counterpart at USAID to investigate their agencies’ roles in delivering and distributing aid to Gaza. Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
An International Criminal Court case about arrest warrants for Israeli leaders may face delays after the court yesterday gave Britain permission to submit “observations” about its jurisdiction. The matter is technical and does not go to the substance of the accusations in the warrants. Britain has until July 12 to file a response. The New York Times reports.
Canada yesterday imposed sanctions on seven Israeli settlers it said had taken part in extremist violence in the West Bank. It marks the second time in just over a month that Ottawa has taken such a step. Reuters reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
North Korea will send a “large number” of engineering and construction troops to help rebuild Russian-occupied cities in eastern Ukraine, reports say. The soldiers will arrive as early as this month to take part in “reconstruction” work focusing on the Donetsk region, TV Chosun reported, citing a South Korean government official. Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder warned this week that North Korean troops would become “cannon fodder” if they joined Moscow on the battlefield. The Telegraph reports.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Kenyan High Court has approved the use of military force to quell protests and restore order, following days of deadly anti-tax protests. A judge said the military deployment was critical to protect the government, but gave authorities two days to clarify how long the deployment would last and other rules of engagement. Wycliffe Muia reports for BBC News.
Bolivia has arrested over a dozen high-ranking military and intelligence officials following a failed coup attempt allegedly led by its former army chief, Juan Jose Zuniga. Military officials first held meetings in May to plot Wednesday’s attempt, according to a Bolivian government report. Zuniga told reporters that President Luis Arce had asked him to do something to boost his popularity, an allegation Arce yesterday denied. Sahar Akbarzai, Abel Alvarado and Lex Harvey report for CNN; Monica Machicao and Lucinda Elliott report for Reuters.
At least 750,000 people are on the brink of starvation and death in Sudan, the global authority on famine said yesterday. The country’s civil war has left over half the population of 48 million in a situation of chronic hunger. “This is possibly the crisis of a generation,” the Europe director for the Norwegian Refugee Council said, adding, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Declan Walsh reports for the New York Times.
As of yesterday, people applying for naturalization in Germany will be required to affirm Israel’s right to exist under changes to the country’s citizenship law. The interior ministry said the new law came “in response to increasing antisemitism in Germany,” adding, “New exam questions have been added on the topics of antisemitism, the right of the state of Israel to exist and Jewish life in Germany.” Sophie Tanno reports for CNN.
Iranians are heading to the polls today for a snap election to choose a new president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. The election pits a reformist candidate leading in the polls, Masoud Pezeshkian, who favors re-engaging with the West, against hard-liners who want to strengthen Iran’s relationships with Russia and China, bolster its alliance of anti-Israel militias, and advance its nuclear program. Benoit Faucon reports for the Wall Street Journal.
E.U. leaders have nominated current European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen to run for a second five-year term in the bloc. At a summit in Brussels, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was chosen as the E.U.’s next foreign affairs chief, while former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was chosen as the next chairman of E.U. summits. Bethany Bell and Kathryn Armstrong report for BBC News.
The United States yesterday imposed fresh sanctions against Iran over apparent nuclear escalations. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tehran has expanded its uranium enrichment project “in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose.” Robert Tait reports for The Guardian.
The United States will confront Russia at the U.N. Security Council today over violating a North Korea arms embargo. Deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood also said Washington will push for China’s view on the growing military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
China yesterday expelled its former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor from the ruling Communist Party over corruption allegations, state media reported. Nectar Gan reports for CNN.
Voting is underway in Mongolia today, with 126 parliament seats at stake in the country’s newly expanded parliament. Ken Moritsugu reports for AP News.
Nearly 2 million people go to the polls tomorrow in Mauritania. President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who is also the president of the African Union, is widely expected to win a second term. Ahmed Mohamed reports for AP News.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Nearly 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on health care fraud schemes with false claims reaching $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said yesterday. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges against doctors, nurse practitioners, and others across the country accused of a variety of scams. Alanna Durkin Richer reports for AP News.
TRUMP-LEGAL MATTERS
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon yesterday rejected former President Trump’s claims that the FBI misled the court to obtain permission to search his Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into mishandling of national security secrets. Cannon also agreed to schedule an evidentiary hearing on two of Trump’s other efforts to toss key pieces of the prosecutors’ case, making it unlikely the classified documents case will take place before November’s election. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO.