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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
A gunman yesterday killed three Israelis at a sensitive border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, according to the Israeli military. Israel has not identified the assailant, but Jordan’s Interior Ministry said an initial investigation has identified the gunman as a Jordanian citizen who acted alone. Adam Rasgon reports for the New York Times.
An American woman volunteering for a pro-Palestinian activist group was killed on Friday in the West Bank, the U.S. State Department said. Two witnesses said Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot in the head by Israeli forces. The IDF said it was investigating the incident. Kareem Fahim, Loveday Morris, John Hudson, and Michael Birnbaum report for the Washington Post.
The Israeli military on Saturday said it launched a “precise strike” on two schools turned shelters in northern Gaza that Hamas was using as a military base. Gazan rescue services said at least four people were killed in the first strike, while a second strike on a different school in Gaza City killed three and injured 20. Erika Solomon and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad report for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The White House is reassessing its strategy for a ceasefire and hostage deal, U.S. officials say, as President Biden’s top aides weigh whether there is a point in presenting a new proposal as both sides harden their positions. Meanwhile, CIA director William Burns said on Saturday a more detailed proposal is expected in the coming days. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Michael Holden reports for Reuters.
U.S. officials “have charged a Canadian resident with plotting to travel to New York to try to carry out a mass shooting against Jewish people on the first anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks,” authorities announced Friday. Devlin Barrett reports for the Washington Post.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT
An Israeli strike killed three Lebanese paramedics and wounded two others in Faroun, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday. The Israeli military said it had “struck and eliminated terrorists from the Amal terrorist organization that operated within a Hezbollah military structure” in the area. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced an emergency meeting today to address the ongoing hostilities. Laila Bassam reports for Reuters.
IRANIAN-BACKED MILITIAS
Israeli strikes in central Syria yesterday killed 14 people and wounded 43, Syrian state media reported. A U.K.-based monitoring group earlier reported that at least four soldiers and three civilians were killed in strikes where Iran-backed armed groups were present. BBC News reports.
HOUTHI ATTACKS
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed yesterday they shot down a U.S.-made drone flying over the country. The United States launched airstrikes over Houthi-controlled territory afterward, the militia said. The U.S. military said it was aware of the claim but has “received no reports” of U.S. military drones being downed over Yemen. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
VENEZUELA DEVELOPMENTS
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez landed in Madrid yesterday, Spain said, after “after fleeing his home country with an arrest warrant accusing him of terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes related to July’s disputed presidential election.” He is now seeking asylum in Spain, reports say. Mauricio Torres, Stefano Pozzebon, Alex Stambaugh, Manuel Cobela, and Pau Mosquera report for CNN.
Venezuelan security forces have surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital city of Caracas, which is sheltering six Venezuelan opposition figures. The Venezuelan government also revoked Brazil’s custody of the embassy on Saturday and said it can no longer represent Argentina’s diplomatic interests in the country, putting the Maduro opponents at risk. Aleks Phillips reports for BBC News; AP News reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Sudan’s military-led government has rejected a call by a U.N.-fact finding mission for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to protect civilians from the ongoing civil war. Meanwhile, recent videos from “Sudan’s killing fields reveal ethnic hatred behind massacres,” according to a Washington Post analysis. Katharine Houreld, Hafiz Haroun, Lucy Provan, Klaas van Dijken, and Maud Jullien report; Farouk Chothia reports for BBC News.
An abducted senior Tanzanian opposition official was found dead with signs he was beaten and acid had been poured on his face, his party said. Ally Kibao’s body was found in Dar es Salaam Saturday, a day after two armed men abducted him from a bus, his party chairman said. Tanzanian police say they are investigating. Reuters reports.
The chief of El Salvador’s national police, who played a major role in the government’s crackdown on gang violence, died in a helicopter crash, authorities said today. President Nayib Bukele said the crash could not be considered an “accident,” and that his government would ask for international help with an investigation. Mike Ives reports for the New York Times.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined his two opponents in claiming election irregularities after authorities yesterday announced him the landslide winner of the vote. AP News reports.
Tens of thousands of people protested on Saturday against French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint a conservative prime minister, after a coalition of left-leaning parties secured the most seats in July’s parliamentary elections. Opponents say Michel Barnier’s selection ignores the results of recent snap elections. Noemie Bisserbe reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Latvia’s defense ministry said yesterday that a unmanned Russian drone violated its airspace and crashed in the east of the country, having flown in through Belarus. The country has provided details of the incident to NATO. Joe Stanley-Smith reports for POLITICO.
North Korea launched a new salvo of propaganda trash-filled balloons in recent days that landed in South Korea. The South’s military said the balloons do not contain “harmful substances,” but that they have become a nuisance. Jin Yu Young reports for the New York Times.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, according to U.S. and European officials. Europe and the United States are said to be working on a sanctions response to Tehran’s move. Laurence Norman, Michael R. Gordon, and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal.
The United States has pushed back against Ukraine’s calls to lift weapons restrictions preventing it from striking deep inside Russia with Western weapons. “There’s no one capability that will, in and of itself, be decisive in this campaign,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Friday. Koen Verhelst reports for POLITICO.
A Russian offensive toward the Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk has stalled along one key section of the front, but Moscow’s troops are continuing to advance in other parts of eastern Ukraine. Andrew E. Kramer reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS
The House Foreign Affairs Committee announced yesterday the release of its 354-page report on the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The report from the Republican-led panel criticizes the Biden administration’s actions, arguing it “prioritized the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground.” Juliegrace Brufke reports for Axios; Karoun Demirjian reports for the New York Times.
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Former President Trump on Saturday threatened to jail people “involved in unscrupulous behavior” related to voting in the election. He also baselessly suggested that the election could be stolen from him, the most overt sign yet that he will not accept the result if he loses. Amy Gardner, Colby Itkowitz, and Mariana Alfaro report for the Washington Post.
A network of fake news websites with pro-Iranian leanings is spreading disinformation linked to November’s election, targeting minority and veteran voters among other groups, according to the researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Maggie Miller reports for POLITICO.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
Trump alleged on Friday that he “never met” writer E. Jean Carroll, moments after his lawyers attempted to overturn a ruling that he defamed and sexually assaulted her. John Sudworth and Brandon Drenon report for BBC News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
A trial is beginning today in Texas over the alleged “Trump Train” ambush of a Biden-Harris bus in 2020. Plaintiffs allege they were terrorized for over 90 minutes as at least 40 vehicles encircled the bus, which was canvassing for the Democratic ticket. Ed Pilkington reports for the Guardian.
Iraqi banks used a U.S.-created system to funnel finances to Iran, according to U.S. officials. The New York Federal Reserve’s process to move Baghdad’s oil earnings lacked money-laundering safeguards, resulting in illicit transfers that funded terrorist militia groups for years, officials say. David S. Cloud reports for the Wall Street Journal.