Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel still eyeing a limited attack on Iran's nuclear facilities Israel's Netanyahu says military to increase pressure on Hamas JPost Editorial: As Trump's eyes and ears in Israel, Huckabee’s role as ambassador will be vital Iran says talks with U.S. to continue after ‘positive’ meeting Big gaps in intelligence on Iran’s nuke program threaten push for quick deal Kyiv is on the clock to respond to Trump plan to end Ukraine conflict Putin’s ‘Easter cease-fire’ doesn’t stop the shooting in Ukraine Hezbollah's airport arms smuggler killed in targeted IDF strike China warns against trade deal with U.S. at Beijing’s expense Sweden has the tanks. Finland has the troops. Welcome to the Pan-Nordic army. WSJ Editorial: Trump’s shipping tax goes ahead Hegseth faces heat after new signal chat emerges and claim of Pentagon ‘chaos’In The News
Israel
Israeli soldiers erred in killing 15 Gaza aid workers and violated orders when firing on a United Nations vehicle, the country’s military said Sunday in its report on the incidents. The military fired the unit’s field commander for giving an inaccurate and incomplete account when debriefed and reprimanded a brigade commander for his responsibility over the troops. – Wall Street Journal
The father of a U.S.-Israeli hostage held in Gaza said on Saturday he remains hopeful his 21-year-old son was still alive after Hamas said it could not account for his status. – Reuters
Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months despite President Donald Trump telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. was for now unwilling to support such a move, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he had instructed the military to intensify pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group this week rejected an Israeli proposal for another temporary truce, instead demanding a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages. – Reuters
An unnamed Palestinian source stated that Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades “opened the door” to recruit approximately 30,000 additional terrorists in Gaza, Saudi-owned Al-Hadath reported on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas told Arab mediators last week that it is willing to enter a long-term truce with Israel during which it would halt all military operations, including the development of weapons and the digging of tunnels, two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Sunday. – Times of Israel
Hamas on Saturday released a propaganda video of hostage Elkana Bohbot — the third time it has published footage of the captive held in Gaza. Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare. – Times of Israel
Editorial: It would be a mistake to only meet with those that share the government’s views, and Huckabee’s first task should be to learn as much as he can and meet with Israelis of every ilk. Many Israelis across the political spectrum, including the families of the hostages still languishing in Gaza, see the Trump administration as their main advocate in trying to return the captives and defeat Hamas. As Trump’s eyes and ears on the ground in Israel, Huckabee’s role is going to be vital. Too much is at stake for an ambassador who is inefficient or partisan. Hopefully, America’s new one will prove to be neither. We wish him well in his new position and give full support for all US efforts to return the hostages home. – Jerusalem Post
Neville Bearman writes: It is time for Saudi Arabia to inform the Palestinians that they cannot be an impediment to progress forever, and that they need to internalize that the Arab League resolution passed in 1967 in Khartoum, known as the Three No’s Resolution – “No peace with Israel. No negotiation with Israel. No recognition of Israel” – ended when Egyptian president Anwar Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and is no longer applicable. If Saudi Arabia does join the Abraham Accords, it would signal a brave new Middle East, where peace and prosperity between Jews and Arabs can become the new norm. It would be a remarkable milestone in the history and advancement of mankind, and a better future for the entire Middle East. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
Iran and the U.S. concluded a new round of talks Saturday in Rome in what Iranian officials described as a step forward, and opening the way for further talks next week. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump is calling for Iran to “go fast” to secure a new nuclear accord. But for any deal to work, Tehran will have to account for exactly what nuclear program hardware it has produced and stowed away. – Wall Street Journal
A battle within President Donald Trump’s inner circle over what to do about Iran has been resolved for the moment by Trump’s decision to pursue diplomacy with Tehran. – Washington Post
Now, as a second Trump administration negotiates with Iran on a deal that might have very similar contours to the previous one, the view from Saudi Arabia looks quite different. The kingdom’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement recently saying that it hoped the talks, mediated by neighboring Oman, would enhance “peace in the region and the world.” – New York Times
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran. – Reuters
Iran told the United States in talks last week it was ready to accept some limits on its uranium enrichment but needed watertight guarantees President Donald Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact, a senior Iranian official said on Friday. – Reuters
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit China on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, ahead of a third round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington due on Saturday in Oman. – Reuters
For years, construction has been underway to transform the sun-drenched coastal town into an economic hub, including a spaceport that’s set to open this year. The plan is to build the equivalent of Florida’s Cape Canaveral to anchor the Islamic Republic’s space ambitions. – Bloomberg
The Iranian media is portraying Tehran as holding a strong position after Saturday’s nuclear talks with the United States, ahead of further discussions in Oman in the coming days. – Agence France Presse
Eric R. Mandel writes: So, who is in ascendancy on the Trump foreign policy team: isolationists or the highly experienced Rubio, Waltz and Huckabee team? Will Trump’s choices on Iran and Middle East policy be according to the trilogy of isolationism, non-intervention and protectionism, or are his ears still open to those in the Republican Party, like Rubio, Graham and Waltz, who believe that credible military threats are the best way to get a strong nuclear agreement, create stability and avoid wars. Trump’s rhetoric is aligned with the latter. Mr. President, please bring Rubio, Waltz, Huckabee and Graham back into the fold for America’s security interests in meeting your goal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. – The Hill
Neville Teller writes: In short, Khamenei allows talks when the regime is under existential pressure, when he can control and frame them, and when he can avoid blame if talks fail, or claim success if they work. The current rounds of negotiations with the US are not signs of a change of heart on the part of the Iranian regime or its supreme leader. They are a calculated survival tactic. Accordingly, not much credence can be placed on any agreement Iran might make to abandon its decades-long pursuit of a nuclear arsenal. As long as that regime survives, it will not abandon its cardinal objective – or the means to achieve it. – Jerusalem Post
Warren Kozak writes: Somehow, the UN overlooks this issue when it comes to Iran, which has consistently given the U.S. reasons why it cannot be trusted in anything, especially a deal intended to stop its nuclear ambitions. For both the new generation that’s grown up without firsthand knowledge of these events, as well as those who lived through it, these facts bear remembering as negotiations proceed. – New York Sun
Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine is under pressure to respond this week to a series of far-reaching Trump administration ideas for how to end the war in Ukraine by granting concessions to Russia, including potential U.S. recognition of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and excluding Kyiv from joining NATO. – Wall Street Journal
On Sunday afternoon in Moscow, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t prolong a so-called “Easter cease-fire” that he declared a day earlier. Ukrainian soldiers and officials said the announcement mattered little: Russian forces had in any case not paused attacks on Ukraine during its own truce. – Wall Street Journal
Russia dodged “Liberation Day” tariffs, but Moscow is still perilously exposed to President Trump’s trade war for one reason: oil. The industry is both the engine of the Kremlin’s economy and its primary source of vulnerability; oil and gas make up around a third of state-budget revenues. – Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump is ready to “move on” from peace talks between Ukraine and Russia if there is no progress “within days,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday. – Washington Post
Production of the Bohdana — Ukrainian for “God-given”— has surged in the course of the war against Russia, soaring from just six per month in 2023 to more than 20 in 2025 as part of a partnership with Ukraine’s European allies that may well represent the future of the country’s arms industry. – Washington Post
Ukraine proposes that Russia abandon drone and missile strikes on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. – Reuters
A Russian court handed down a prison sentence of nearly three years to Darya Kozyreva, a young activist who used 19th-century poetry and graffiti to protest the conflict in Ukraine. – Reuters
Several blasts ripped through Russian-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday amid an Easter ceasefire declared by the Kremlin, Russian news agency reported. – Reuters
Ukraine and Russia conducted a swap of more than 500 prisoners of war on Saturday, the latest in a series of exchanges since Russia launched a full-scale invasion more than three years ago. – Reuters
Moscow’s troops have driven out Ukrainian forces from nearly all of Russia’s western Kursk region, Russia’s military chief Valery Gerasimov said on Saturday. – Reuters
Ukraine imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies on Friday claiming they were involved in production of advanced Iskander missiles, a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alleged that China had been supplying weapons to Russia. – Reuters
Barry R. Posen writes: If Europeans want to deter Russia, reassure Ukraine, defend existing EU or NATO members, or even defend Ukraine, then they need combat power that can match to the challenges posed by Russia’s military. This means assembling a capable mass of maneuver that makes Moscow more cautious when it comes to the continent in every which way. Peacekeeping with American help is old think. Independent combat capability is the necessary new-think in Europe. – Foreign Affairs
Hezbollah
Lebanese authorities detained several people who were allegedly planning to launch rockets into Israel and seized the weapons, the military said Sunday. The army said the arrests were linked to other detentions announced earlier this week. It added that as military intelligence was investigating that case they got information that a new rocket attack was being planned. – Associated Press
Israeli forces killed terrorist Hussein Ali Nasser, who served as deputy head of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, in an intelligence-based airstrike, the IDF confirmed on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
The Lebanese army announced Sunday that it foiled a planned rocket attack from Lebanon at Israel for the first time since a November ceasefire cut short a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. – Times of Israel
Syria
Easter, for Syria’s historically persecuted Christians, was therefore something of a test. How would the new government led by President Ahmed al-Shara, a former Al Qaeda member who says he has moderated and who has promised inclusivity and tolerance, handle one of Christianity’s most important holidays? Would it pass as peacefully as it had under Mr. al-Assad, who courted minority support with his secular outlook? – New York Times
Over three days, gunmen went house to house, summarily executing civilians and opening fire in the streets, according to dozens of residents who spoke to The New York Times. My colleagues and I managed to report from the city for nearly a day as the killings unfolded. What we found was evidence of a massacre — and a broad failure by the new, rebel-led government to protect Alawites, the group that dominated Syria’s elite circles during the Assad family’s decades-long dictatorship. – New York Times
The U.S. military will consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Friday. – Reuters
The United Nations Development Programme is hoping to deliver $1.3 billion over three years to support war-ravaged Syria, including by rebuilding infrastructure and backing digital start-ups, its assistant secretary-general told Reuters. – Reuters
Turkey
Turkey will manage its economy dynamically rather than use “autopilot” policies in this period of trade wars and increasing global uncertainty, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said. – Reuters
Turkey’s daily natural gas production at its flagship Sakarya field in the Black Sea has reached around 9.5 million cubic metres, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said, as the country ramps up its energy ambitions both at home and abroad. – Reuters
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted a Hamas delegation on Saturday evening in Ankara and discussed efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, Turkish state media reported. Hamas’s delegation was led by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, head of Hamas’s Political Council. – Jerusalem Post
Middle East & North Africa
In the latest sign of deepening repression in what was once virtually the sole Arab democracy, a court in Tunisia has handed down heavy sentences to prominent opposition figures convicted on charges of conspiring against state security, the country’s official news agency said on Saturday. – New York Times
The latest round of U.S. airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has killed dozens of people in bombardments targeting a port in the country’s northwest, the Houthis said on Friday. – New York Times
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s leading presidential candidate, Lee Jae-myung, pledged on Monday to revive legislation to curb abuses by controlling shareholders, as part of a plan to boost the stock market and eliminate the so-called “Korea Discount”. – Reuters
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said on Monday he expected trade talks with the United States this week in Washington to be the start of meaningful cooperation, but added that negotiations may not be easy. – Reuters
South Korea has found increased attempts to disguise foreign products as Korean exports, primarily from China, to avoid U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, its customs agency said on Monday. – Reuters
South Korea and the United States will hold trade consultations this week in Washington at the suggestion of the United States, Seoul’s trade ministry said on Sunday. – Reuters
North Korea denounced on Sunday U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent order to ease weapons exports and called the decision “war escalation measures.” – Reuters
Thomas Byrne writes; The importance of the economic relationship between the U.S. and South Korea was cast into sharp relief last week. South Korea’s Acting President Han Duck-soo was among the first world leaders to call President Trump and begin trade-rebalancing negotiations to avoid steep new U.S. tariffs. Despite the political turbulence in both countries — the U.S. is attempting to remake the global trading order and South Korea removed its president from office early this month — the economic bond between the U.S. and South Korea remains resilient and is even poised for growth. – The Hill
China
China has warned countries against making trade deals with the U.S. that could hurt China’s interests, in response to news reports that said the Trump administration planned to pressure nations to limit trade with Beijing in exchange for tariff exemptions. – Wall Street Journal
China’s foreign minister said on Monday that China and Indonesia should oppose “any form” of unilateralism and trade protectionism at a press conference on Monday. – Reuters
China’s Southern Theatre navy said a Philippines frigate had “illegally intruded” into the waters of Scarborough Shoal on Sunday, “seriously violating” Chinese sovereignty and laws, according to a statement. – Reuters
China sharply reduced imports of many US commodities last month, in some cases to zero, as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies intensified. – Bloomberg
South Asia
Longtime adversaries India and China, concerned by President Donald Trump’s disorienting early moves in trade and diplomacy, are testing a fragile thaw in relations. – Washington Post
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, are set to arrive in New Delhi on Monday as U.S.-India relations enjoy a period of relative calm. – Washington Post
The Taliban’s acting foreign minister on Saturday expressed “concern and sadness” during a rare meeting with Pakistan’s foreign minister over the deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans, according to a statement. – Reuters
Pakistan has expelled over 80,000 Afghan nationals since the end of March, a senior official said on Friday, as part of a repatriation drive ahead of the April 30 deadline. – Reuters
India is planning to ease its nuclear liability laws to cap accident-related penalties on equipment suppliers, three government sources said, in a move mainly to attract U.S. firms that have been holding back due to the risk of unlimited exposure. – Reuters
A Christian man accused of blasphemy in the eastern Pakistani town of Jaranwala will appeal against a death sentence handed down by an anti-terrorism court, his lawyer said on Saturday. – Reuters
A mob attacked a place of worship of Pakistan’s Ahmadi minority community in Karachi on Friday, killing one man, police and a community spokesperson said. – Reuters
Asia
Chinese leader Xi Jinping didn’t mention President Donald Trump once during his three-nation tour of Southeast Asia this month. But it was clear at every stop that Trump and his tariffs were on his mind. – Washington Post
Cambodia and China have signed a $1.2 billion deal to finance an ambitious canal project that aims to boost trade efficiency by linking a branch of the Mekong River near Phnom Penh to a port on the Gulf of Thailand, the Cambodian government agency heading the project announced Friday. – Associated Press
Two Japanese naval ships docked Saturday at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, whose recently completed Chinese-funded upgrade has heightened U.S. concerns that it will be used as a strategic outpost for China’s navy in the Gulf of Thailand. – Associated Press
The US and the Philippines will start their flagship annual military drills Monday, touted as a “rehearsal” for the defense of the nation amid ongoing tensions with China. – Bloomberg
Julian Spencer-Churchill, Ulysse Oliveira Baptista, and Maximilien Hachiya write: Japan in its current state is a potentially disruptive backdoor against U.S. efforts in the event of a Taiwan invasion. Strengthening Japanese counterespionage capabilities will be critical to the U.S.-Japan alliance and furthering QUAD collaboration. Intelligence vulnerabilities in Japan are not solely a Japanese problem, but an alliance problem that undermines the security of the United States as well as the wider Indo-Pacific region. – The National Interest
Europe
For a long time, the Nordic countries were better known for their peace efforts and cozy living than militarism. Now, they are shedding that persona. The Nordics have emerged as a model for Europe’s defense. They are leading efforts to reverse decades of military drawdowns to counter both Russian aggression and uncertain security guarantees from the Trump White House. – Wall Street Journal
Pope Francis, who rose from modest means in Argentina to become the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, who clashed bitterly with traditionalists in his push for a more inclusive Roman Catholic Church, and who spoke out tirelessly for migrants, the marginalized and the health of the planet, died on Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. He was 88. – New York Times
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, discussing trade between the two nations among other subjects including the situation in Ukraine and Iran, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday. – Reuters
Climate and human rights campaigners filed a complaint against the European Commission on Friday, accusing the EU executive of weakening sustainability laws without first consulting the public about the changes or assessing their impact. – Reuters
EU membership isn’t on the ballot in Canada’s crucial election later this month — but polling shows Canadians are intrigued by the idea of joining the bloc. – Politico
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he plans to attend Russia’s Victory Day military parade in Moscow next month despite warnings from European Union officials that such a visit risks hindering the country’s ambitions to join the bloc. – Defense News
Africa
A draft of a Trump administration executive order proposes a drastic restructuring of the State Department that includes eliminating almost all of its Africa operations and shutting down embassies and consulates across the continent, according to American officials and a copy of the document. – New York Times
Democratic Republic of Congo suspended former President Joseph Kabila’s political party and ordered his assets seized over accusations of supporting Rwandan-backed rebels in the east, the government said. – Reuters
The death toll in attacks by suspected cattle herders on communities in central Nigeria’s Benue State has risen to 56, Governor Hyacinth Alia said on Saturday, underscoring a resurgence of such deadly clashes in Africa’s most populous nation. – Reuters
Tanzania’s main opposition party said on Saturday its leader Tundu Lissu, who has been held and charged with treason, had been moved to a different prison, a day after the party said his whereabouts were unknown. – Reuters
Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM said it killed 70 soldiers in raids on two military posts in north Benin, the biggest death count claimed by jihadists in the country in over a decade of activity in West Africa, the SITE Intelligence Group said on Saturday. – Reuters
The Americas
Few people shine brighter in the MAGA universe after President Trump than Argentine President Javier Milei, who has won praise from U.S. conservatives by slashing spending and berating progressives. – Wall Street Journal
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed sending 252 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. and imprisoned in his country to Venezuela, in exchange for taking “political prisoners” held by Venezuela. – Reuters
The United States will impose visa restrictions on more than 250 officials of the Nicaraguan government of President Daniel Ortega, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday, citing human rights abuses. – Reuters
At least 12 people were killed in an attack in Ecuador’s coastal province of Manabi, police said on Friday. The attack took place overnight at a cockfighting ring, a venue where people gather to watch rooster fights. – Reuters
The Caribbean Private Sector Organization said it welcomed a decision to exempt certain Chinese ships traveling to its ports from millions of dollars in fees proposed by the Trump administration. – Bloomberg
North America
Here are a few matters on which the front-runners in Canada’s federal election agree: The United States is no longer a reliable partner. Canada cannot control President Donald Trump. His tariffs on Canadian goods are unjustified. And Canada will never be the 51st state. – Washington Post
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign platform plans released on Saturday include tax cuts and new spending on infrastructure and defense, as he pledges a new economic order that is less reliant on the United States. – Reuters
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that China is one of the largest threats with respect to foreign interference in Canada and is an emerging threat in the Arctic. – Reuters
United States
Pope Francis met briefly Sunday with Vice President JD Vance, the Vatican said, before the pontiff in his Easter message called for better treatment of migrants and other vulnerable and marginalized people and urged a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration further embraced the theory that the deadly Covid-19 pandemic emanated from a lab in China, updating the government’s main websites about the virus to detail that argument. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration has grown so furious with Harvard University after a week of escalating dispute between the two sides that it is planning to pull an additional $1 billion of the school’s funding for health research, according to people familiar with the matter. – Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted what he calls the return of manufacturing to the United States, hailing companies that have vowed to pour large amounts of money into making everything from computer chips to cars in America. – CNN
William “Bill” Muntean III writes: The U.S-created Antarctic Treaty system has buffered 10 percent of the world from global political turmoil for almost 70 years. It does so by freezing conflicting territorial claims and minimizing incentives to sort out those claims by reducing the region’s economic and military potential. Maintaining this unique and successful system is in the interest of the United States for geopolitical and fiscal reasons. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Cybersecurity
Hackers linked to Russia’s government launched a cyberattack last spring against municipal water plants in rural Texas. At one plant in Muleshoe, population 5,000, water began to overflow. Officials had to unplug the system and run the plant manually. – Associated Press
An alleged operator of the SmokeLoader malware is now facing federal hacking charges in Vermont after accusations that he stole personal information on more than 65,000 people. – The Record
Financial institutions should be on alert for a scam that combines social engineering, previously undocumented malware and mobile phones’ near-field communication (NFC) capabilities to compromise payment cards, researchers said Friday. – The Record
Radha Iyengar Plumb and Michael C. Horowitz write: DeepSeek’s success demonstrates that a U.S. lead is far from guaranteed and that there will be many fast followers for any breakthrough. Especially because it is unclear to what extent having the most advanced models will translate into economic gains, the competition for AI leadership is likely to end up being mostly about adoption. It is the adoption of AI in the U.S. military, government, and private sector—and the ability of U.S. firms to export AI technologies to the rest of the world—that will most clearly demonstrate U.S. strength in AI. To get there, the United States needs to cut through the red tape while accelerating the foundational investments, stronger energy grids, low-cost technologies, and strategic partnerships that will make possible the use of AI at scale. – Foreign Affairs
Defense
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created a Signal chat with his wife, his personal lawyer and others, and posted sensitive military information into it, people familiar with the matter said Sunday, a revelation that has added to the increasing scrutiny of the novice leader. – Wall Street Journal
Dan Caldwell, once one of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s most senior advisors, issued a joint statement on Saturday along with two other Pentagon officials casting doubt on an internal leak investigation that led to their ouster this week. – Reuters
Joe Kasper, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff will leave his role in the coming days for a new position at the agency, according to a senior administration official, amid a week of turmoil for the Pentagon. – Politico
Aircraft Carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) made its first port call since departing its Indo-Pacific deployment, arriving in Guam on Friday with two of its escorts. Meanwhile the U.S. Navy and Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) wrapped up a mine warfare exercise in South Korean waters on last week. – USNI News