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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
Israeli troops conducted major raids in the occupied West Bank yesterday, killing at least 10 Palestinians. The operation was concentrated in Jenin and Tulkarm, two cities that have become militant strongholds, an Israeli military spokesperson said. Over 580 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, according to the U.N., amid increased Israeli raids and settler violence. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times; Amelia Nierenberg reports for the New York Times.
The World Food Program yesterday suspended the movement of its staff across Gaza after one of its marked vehicles was hit by bullets, which U.N. officials said had been fired by Israeli troops. There were no injuries. “This is totally unacceptable,” the organization’s executive director Cindy McCain said. Farnaz Fassihi reports for the New York Times; Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
The Israeli military yesterday reported that it had failed to protect civilians against a deadly settler attack on the West Bank village of Jit. Four suspects have been arrested over the attack, which took place on Aug. 15 and killed at least one Palestinian. Reuters reports.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs office said Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah have “severely impacted” its ability to deliver aid. John Hudson, Adela Suliman, Andrew Jeong and Hazem Balousha report for the Washington Post.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved “limited pauses” in fighting to allow for polio vaccinations for children in Gaza, according to an Israeli official. The pauses will only be in designated areas, the official said. Jordana Miller reports for ABC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – U.S. RESPONSE
The U.S. State Department announced sanctions against Israeli-government funded right-wing extremist settlers in the West Bank. The sanctions target an Israeli NGO and an individual with “long involvement in the intimidation of Palestinians with the aim of seizing their land.” The Guardian reports.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT
The U.N. Security Council yesterday unanimously passed a resolution demanding a halt to escalating attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, warning that further escalation “carries the high risk of leading to a widespread conflict.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News.
HOUTHI ATTACKS
Iran’s mission to the U.N. said Yemen’s Houthis have agreed to temporarily pause their Red Sea attacks to allow ships to reach the damaged Sounion oil tanker. It comes after Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder on Tuesday said two tugboats had been sent to bring the ship to port, but the Houthis threatened to attack them. Tom O’Connor reports for Newsweek.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in the Kamensky district of Russia’s Rostov region, its governor said yesterday. Following the attacks, a drone hit an oil products reservoir in Russia’s Kirov oblast, over 930 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border. Ukraine’s military confirmed it carried out the attack. The Guardian reports.
Ukraine has stepped up calls for permission to use Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. Ahead of a meeting with his E.U. counterparts in Brussels today, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Ukraine wanted permission to use Western munitions to strike “legitimate military targets” deep inside Russia. E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and several NATO countries today echoed Ukraine’s call to lift such restrictions. The Guardian reports.
Russia said the West was “playing with fire” by considering allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western missiles and cautioned the United States that “World War Three” would not be confined to Europe. Guy Faulconbridge and Vladimir Soldatkin report for Reuters.
Russia yesterday launched an overnight attack on Kyiv, the third attack in four days. Ukraine today said it shot down two missiles and 60 out of 74 drones. Meanwhile, Moscow’s TASS news agency yesterday reported that Russian forces seized the settlement of Komyshivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, citing Russia’s defense ministry. The Guardian reports; The Telegraph reports.
Russia’s economy has shown strong growth in many sectors while unemployment remains at a record low, new data showed yesterday, despite Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Reuters reports.
U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS
In a rare meeting, Jake Sullivan today met with top Chinese general Zhang Youxia and discussed maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Youxia reportedly demanded that the United States stop “collusion” with Taiwan. Sullivan also met today with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said Beijing was committed to a stable relationship with Washington. The meetings wrap up three days of talks aimed at easing U.S.-China tensions. Jenny Leonard and Josh Xiao report for Bloomberg; Trevor Hunnicutt reports for Reuters.
29 Colombians were deported from Panama to Colombia on a U.S.-funded flight as a result of the July 1 memorandum of cooperation between the United States and Panama to reduce migration through Panama to the United States. Elizabeth González and Veronica Calderón report for CNN.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
A Hong Kong court today convicted two former editors of a shuttered news outlet, in a sedition case that is widely seen as a “barometer” for freedom of the press in Hong Kong. Kanis Leung reports for AP News.
French authorities indicted Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on multiple charges, including disseminating child abuse images, drug trafficking, and failure to comply with law enforcement. French authorities also issued an arrest warrant for Pavel’s brother, Telegram co-founder Nikolai Durov. Bobby Allyn reports for NPR; Océane Herrero, Victor Guroy-Laffont, and Elisa Braun report for POLITICO.
Brazil’s Supreme Court threatened to ban X last night, giving CEO Elon Musk 24 hours to name a legal representative for the social network in Brazil or face a countrywide ban. Musk closed X’s office in Brazil last week in response to the Supreme Court’s orders to suspend certain accounts. Kate Conger and Jack Nicas report for the New York Times.
The U.N. is investigating two of its World Food Program officials in Sudan over allegations of fraud and concealing information from donors. Sudan is suffering one of the world’s most severe food shortages. Giulia Paravicini and Maggie Michael report for Reuters.
The Iranian hacking group, believed to work on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that breached Donald Trump’s campaign this summer is the same one that targeted John Bolton in June 2022, and has also targeted former members of the Trump and Biden administrations, Sean Lyngaas, Zachary Cohen, and Evan Perez report for CNN.
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro yesterday revived protests in Caracas following last month’s contested presidential election. Joshua Goodman and Jorge Rueda report for AP News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to revive President Biden’s student loan debt relief plan, known as SAVE. This decision comes after the Court struck down a previous effort to forgive student loan debts this past June. Lawrence Hurley reports for NBC News.
A joint investigation by CNN and the Centre for Information Resilience found at least 56 fraudulent X profiles being used to back the Trump-Vance campaign. The accounts are made up of stolen photos from various European influencers. Katie Polglase, Pallabi Munsi, Barbara Arvanitidis, Alex Platt, Mark Baron, and Oscar Featherstone report for CNN.