Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

A group of Israeli military veterans published a letter Thursday calling on the Israeli government to bring home all the hostages in Gaza, even if it means ending the war against Hamas, as Israel expands its campaign against the militant group. – Wall Street Journal

Turkey and Israel have started talks to prevent conflicts between their troops in Syria, as an Israeli military campaign and a growing rivalry for influence have raised tensions. – New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said progress was being made regarding the return of the hostages being held in Gaza and that he was dealing with both Israel and Hamas, but he gave no other details about the talks. – Reuters

Ten Palestinians detained from Gaza by Israeli troops were freed and returned to the territory on Thursday, saying they had suffered constant abuse while imprisoned. – Associated Press

Relatives of hostages in Gaza say they feel the absence of their loved ones acutely during Passover, which commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their liberation from slavery – Associated Press

Israel controls more of Gaza than at any point during the war, part of a plan that officials increasingly describe as leading to a full military occupation. – Bloomberg

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denounced French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris could recognize a Palestinian state by June, saying it would be a “prize” for terrorism. – Agence France-Presse

Hamas, in an effort to achieve political legitimacy abroad, is appealing to the British government to revoke its designation as a terror group. The 106-page long legal application was sent to the U.K.’s Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, this week. – New York Sun

After Israel killed a string of its leaders, Palestinian terror group Hamas appointed new commanders to top ranks, this time shrouding their identities in secrecy to protect them from assassination. – Times of Israel

“Don’t start a war with Israel.” That is the lesson of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and the Gaza conflict that has ensued, according to former US president Joe Biden’s Mideast czar Brett McGurk. – Times of Israel

Indictments have been filed against four Palestinians who attacked Israeli civilians near Deir Dibwan in February, Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said in a joint statement on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post

The IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have killed eleven Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre since strikes in Gaza began again in mid-March, the military announced on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post

Israeli defense officials estimate that Hamas is avoiding deploying its combatants to its tunnel network, as parts of it are now controlled by the Israeli military. – Haaretz

Editorial: It can never be normal that there are human beings held in cruel captivity because they are Jewish and Israeli – not in ancient Egypt and not in modern-day Gaza. This Passover, we need to make clear – to Hamas, to our leaders, and to the rest of the world – that collectively declaration of “Next year in Jerusalem” means that long before next Passover, the 24 living hostages will be home with their families and the 35 slain hostages will returned to their families for proper burial, mourning and closure. – Jerusalem Post

Agam Berger writes: The Jewish people are told to remember—“remember what Amalek did to you,” “remember the Sabbath,” “remember the stand at Mount Sinai.” There is now a new, painful command: “Remember Oct. 7.” We are commanded to remember the Exodus every day. That demands that we continue our efforts to bring home our captive brothers, and to fight to ensure the atrocities of that autumn Sabbath never occur again. – Wall Street Journal

Rafael Castro writes: The ball is in Hamas’s court. This tactic is not about revenge or expansionism. It is about restoring the value of Israeli life in the eyes of an enemy that currently sees it as expendable. It is about introducing a strategic cost to hostage-taking that cannot be spun into propaganda or painted as victory. Most importantly, it is about bringing Israeli hostages home with fewer sacrifices than any other option on the table.- Arutz Sheva

Russia and Ukraine

The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine is leaving her post, the State Department announced Thursday, a move that may complicate the already delicate relationship between Washington and Kyiv, which has been strained by President Trump’s efforts to end the war. – New York Times

President Trump spared Russia from the tariffs he had imposed on 180 other nations in a bid to reshape global trade. But that did not exempt the country from the ensuing economic havoc. – New York Times

The United States and Russia both said on Thursday that they had made progress toward normalising the work of their diplomatic missions, with the United States saying it was still concerned about a Russian policy prohibiting the employment of local staff. – Reuters

Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday its forces had captured the village of Zhuravka in Ukraine’s northern border region of Sumy, although Ukrainian officials made no acknowledgement that it had been taken. – Reuters

Ukraine will receive fresh military support worth 450 million pounds ($580 million), Britain said on Friday, as European allies attempt to strengthen the country’s position ahead of any peace deal with Russia. – Reuters

The Kremlin on Thursday dismissed comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that China was being drawn into the conflict in Ukraine, saying that Beijing has a “balanced position”. – Reuters

Ukraine has told the U.S. that accepting curbs on the size of its armed forces or on its military’s overall readiness would be a red line, a senior Ukrainian official said, as Donald Trump strives to negotiate an end to the war with Russia. – Reuters

Technical consultations between the U.S. and Ukraine on a minerals deal will begin in Washington on Friday and will not interfere with Kyiv’s other financial commitments, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Thursday. – Reuters

The UK and France will accelerate the military planning of the “coalition of the willing” over the next two weeks to focus on ensuring the security of Ukraine’s air, sea and land as well as the regeneration of its forces, UK Defense Secretary John Healey and French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu told reporters. – Bloomberg

Middle East & North Africa

Somalia has signed a $306.5 million debt relief deal with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), in what the government in Mogadishu called a critical milestone in its economic reform programme. – Reuters

Sudan told the International Court of Justice on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates was violating the Genocide Convention by supporting paramilitary forces in Darfur, but the UAE argued the case should be thrown out as the court lacked jurisdiction. – Reuters

China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had discussions with his Saudi Arabian and South African counterparts to exchange views on responding to the United States’ “reciprocal tariffs”, the Chinese ministry said on Friday. – Reuters

Syrian Kurds are set to demand a federal system in post-Assad Syria that would allow regional autonomy and security forces, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters, doubling down on a decentralised vision opposed by the interim president. – Reuters

China

The gloves are off. The next chapter of U.S.-China decoupling has begun. The pain will be felt everywhere. In jacking up his tariffs on China—and pausing steep duties on dozens of other nations—President Trump is pushing the world’s two biggest economic powers into a battle that will leave neither unscathed and risks tanking the global economy. – Wall Street Journal

Beijing said it will reduce the number of U.S. film imports in the latest tit-for-tat retaliation against President Trump’s increased reciprocal tariff on China, opening a new front in the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies. – Wall Street Journal

China reaffirmed its support on Thursday for peace efforts in Ukraine and said relevant parties should avoid “irresponsible remarks”, in an apparent jab at President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comment about Chinese citizens fighting there for Russia. – Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping will embark on a three-nation Southeast Asia tour next week in his first overseas trip this year to consolidate ties with some of China’s closest neighbours as trade tensions with the United States escalate. – Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would love to get a deal with China to end an escalating trade war. Trump made the comments during a Cabinet meeting opened to press. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during the meeting that as they settle deals with countries, it will bring more certainty on trade policy. – Reuters

European Union leaders are planning to travel to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late July, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday citing five people familiar with the arrangement. – Reuters

Beijing on Friday increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, hitting back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains. – Reuters

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is visiting China on Friday, his third trip to the country in two years as his government seeks to boost investment from the Asian giant amid global economic uncertainty caused by a chaotic U.S. tariff policy. – Associated Press

UK Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin traveled to China this week for discussions with the country’s military, the first such visit by the UK’s most senior military official in a decade. – Bloomberg

Editorial: China violated its treaty obligations to the U.K. when it extinguished freedom and rule of law in Hong Kong, and the pro-democracy newspaperman Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, now faces up to life in prison there. Letting the mega-embassy open would be “a counterproductive and unearned reward” for Beijing, U.S. Reps. Chris Smith of New Jersey and John Moolenaar of Michigan wrote in a letter to the British ambassador in February. China’s treatment of Ms. Cheung proves their point. – Wall Street Journal

Karishma Vaswani writes: Now is the time to negotiate rules on some of the most egregious issues that foreign investors have with Beijing, including intellectual property protection, subsidies and technology transfers. They should also carve out a new bilateral agreement that is fit for purpose. Both leaders are playing to their domestic audiences and want to look tough. But this is one of the ugliest splits the global economy has ever seen, and for now, the rest of us are just collateral damage. – Bloomberg

John Lee writes: Isn’t this the charge against Trump? And even then, Trump’s tariffs only apply to firms wanting to sell to Americans, while Chinese policies directly affect the market share of all firms in virtually every important sector in the global economy. Major economies such as the EU and Japan might take issue with Trump’s tariffs. But they certainly do not accept China’s claim to be the champion of the liberal economic order and free trade. –  Financial Review

Asia

The lawyers representing an American academic accused of insulting the Thai monarchy said on Thursday that they feared he could soon be deported after his visa was revoked. – New York Times

A sophisticated network of fake social media accounts sprang to the impassioned defence of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after he was sent to the International Criminal Court to face charges over his bloody drug war. – Reuters

Taiwan prosecutors on Friday for the first time charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging undersea cables off the island in February, after a rise in sea cable malfunctions alarmed Taiwan officials amid tensions with China. – Reuters

Imposing tariffs on U.S. imports from the Philippines could affect the U.S. ally’s ability to afford U.S. weapons systems and a long-discussed $5.58 billion plan to acquire F-16 fighter jets, Manila’s ambassador to Washington told Reuters. – Reuters

In hope of avoiding punishing U.S. tariffs, Vietnam is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory and will tighten controls on sensitive exports to China, according to a person familiar with the matter and a government document seen by Reuters. – Reuters

Japan will continue to urge the US to rethink its tariff plans in hopes of winning a longer-term reprieve even after President Donald Trump put a portion of the duties on hold, the nation’s top trade representative said. – Bloomberg

Vietnam’s deputy prime minister held high-level talks in Washington with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as the nation pushes for a trade deal amid a 90-day pause in Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. – Bloomberg

Africa

Recent battlefield gains by an Islamist insurgency in Somalia have prompted some State Department officials to propose closing the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu and withdrawing most American personnel as a security precaution, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations. – New York Times

Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, could take measures to make the product more expensive if tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump go into effect, the West African country’s agriculture minister said on Thursday. – Reuters

Congolese officials and negotiators for the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have arrived in Doha for talks to hammer out a ceasefire and end months of fighting that have raised fears of a wider regional conflict, four sources told Reuters on Thursday. – Reuters

Tanzanian opposition party leader Tundu Lissu was on Thursday charged with treason, a capital offence, for comments he made last week that prosecutors said called on the public to launch a rebellion and disrupt an election due this year. – Reuters

The Red Cross raised alarm on Thursday at the growing use of drone attacks by warring parties on hospitals, electricity and water infrastructure in Sudan, which it said was contributing to widespread human rights violations. – Reuters

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has replaced its foreign minister with his deputy, Monday Simaya Kumba, state media reported, following a migration dispute with the United States. – Reuters

The proceeds of looted and smuggled gum arabic and gold helped the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan sustain access to sophisticated weapons in its fight against Sudan’s army during the country’s brutal two-year civil war, according to an unpublished report by UN investigators. – Bloomberg

Several European nations and the United States have raised concern about the continued detention of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar and other high ranking opposition officials, and asked authorities to release them to facilitate negotiations. – Bloomberg

North America

With the capital of Haiti on the cusp of falling to gangs, authorities in the crisis-racked Caribbean nation are turning to a new weapon in their fight against the armed groups: weaponized drones. – Washington Post

Back home for the first time since the start of the campaign, Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader seeking to become Canada’s next prime minister, fired up his most ardent supporters with his greatest hits. – New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Mexico with sanctions and tariffs in a dispute over water sharing between the two countries, accusing Mexico of breaking an 81-year-old treaty and “stealing the water from Texas Farmers.” – Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday said he would convene a meeting of top cabinet colleagues on Friday to discuss the threat posed to the economy by U.S. tariffs. – Reuters

Cybersecurity

President Donald Trump’s administration has been predicting its barrage of tariffs targeting China will push Apple into manufacturing the iPhone in the United States for the first time. – Associated Press

President Donald Trump signed legislation to block an Internal Revenue Service rule that would have forced some cryptocurrency brokers to provide tax information on transactions conducted on their platforms, delivering another victory to the digital asset industry he has vowed to champion in office. – Bloomberg

The Russia-backed threat group Gamaredon, typically known for spreading malware via phishing emails, recently appeared to have used an infected removable drive to target a Ukraine-based military mission of an unnamed Western country, researchers said. – The Record

The U.S. plans to sign an international agreement designed to govern the use of commercial spyware, the State Department said Thursday. – The Record

Researchers have discovered a novel tactic used by Moroccan cybercrime group Atlas Lion to attack big-box retailers, apparel companies, restaurants and more. – The Record

South Africa’s fourth-largest mobile network operator, Cell C, has confirmed that its data was leaked on the dark web following a cyberattack last year. – The Record