Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Revenge killing of Hamas policeman adds to pressure on group Hamas will not respond to Israel's counter Gaza ceasefire proposal, official says Hamas admits 72% of deaths are combat-aged men as it quietly reduces civilian death toll Military confrontation seems inevitable if no new Iran nuclear deal, France says Bessent pushes banks for help enforcing maximum pressure on Iran Putin sends powerful economic envoy to court Trump administration Israel strikes Syria military bases, infrastructure; kills armed militants Saudi Arabia emerges as key hub for Trump’s foreign policy ambitions Taiwan details surge in Chinese activity on last day of war games Hungary says it is withdrawing from ICC as Israeli leader visits Congo commutes death sentences for US citizens in failed coup WSJ Editorial: Trump’s new protectionist ageIn The News
Israel
Pressure is building on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where conflicts with Palestinian residents turned violent and Israel is expanding its ground operations in the enclave. – Wall Street Journal
Hamas decided not to respond or engage with Israel’s counter-proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, an official told Reuters on Wednesday, affirming it is committed to the mediators’ plan instead. – Reuters
A Gaza family’s open admission this week that they killed an officer from the Hamas-run police force after they said a relative was shot dead has added to signs of popular dissent against the militant group after 18 months of war with Israel. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a four-day visit to Hungary on Thursday, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the enclave. – Reuters
Israel’s economy looks set to rebound over the next two years if geopolitical tensions ease, but it needs structural reforms to support government finances and sustain growth over the long term, the OECD said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Germany assisted 19 German nationals and their close family members in leaving war-ravaged Gaza and flying to Germany after negotiating their departure with Israel. – Reuters
Hamas quietly removed the names of thousands of Palestinians it had previously alleged were killed during the Israel-Hamas war, Salo Aizenberg, from the US-based non-profit organisation Honest Reporting told The Telegraph on Tuesday after analyzing Hamas’s March 2025 casualty update. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas is prepared to release all of the remaining hostages at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the ongoing truce talks told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. – Times of Israel
Palestinians have a responsibility to rise up against Hamas and to call to free the hostages and end the war in Gaza, Muhammad, a law student from Gaza City, told Jewish Insider this week. – Jewish Insider
Eric R. Mandel writes: America needs a strong Israel, and a divided Israeli citizenry weakens it, harms American negotiating efforts, and emboldens shared adversaries like Iran. It is up to the Israeli people to sort out their domestic problems. Still, when the nation of Israel was divided as it was before October 7 over contentious judicial reform, Israel’s enemies interpreted it as weakness. As Israel and America are reaching a crucial point in dealing with an unrepentant Hamas, a weakened Hezbollah, and a vulnerable Iran, the last thing Israel needs is internal strife that contributes to regional destabilization. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
France’s foreign minister warned on Wednesday that if world powers were unable to quickly reach a new agreement with Iran over its contested nuclear programme then a military confrontation seemed “almost inevitable”. – Reuters
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi on Wednesday discussed ongoing negotiations regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme with Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. – Reuters
Iran’s foreign minister reiterated a willingness to engage in indirect negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration over the country’s nuclear program. – Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told officials from some of the world’s biggest banks that their help is a vital part of the Trump administration’s push to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran. – Bloomberg
The White House is seriously considering Iran’s proposal for indirect nuclear talks, while significantly increasing US forces in the Middle East in case President Donald Trump chooses to conduct military strikes, two senior American officials told Walla on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Nazee Moinian writes: Finally, in keeping with the spirit of this administration, Lebanon should become the next Riviera, as it used to be 50 years ago. To that end, a strong diplomatic push to include Lebanon in the Abraham Accords would invite FDI and signal to Tehran that the country is no longer its playing field. Socioeconomic incentives backed by a strong American commitment is the right course of action. It will take time, but after 50 years of Iran-induced solitude, the Lebanese might be willing to wait a bit longer. – Jerusalem Post
Russia & Ukraine
A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Washington for talks with the Trump administration, underlining the striking turnaround in relations between the United States and Russia, as the envoy is the most senior Russian official to visit since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. – Washington Post
Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, on Wednesday imposed restrictions on another major oil export route, suspending a mooring at the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk only a day after restricting loadings from a key Caspian pipeline. – Reuters
A Russian missile attack on Wednesday struck an enterprise in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least four civilians, officials said. – Reuters
NATO allies have pledged more than 20 billion euros ($21.65 billion) in military support for Ukraine in the first three months of the year, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russia said on Wednesday that Britain’s elite had shown its paranoia and intellectual inferiority by proposing to place anyone working for the Russian state on the highest tier of its upcoming foreign influence registration scheme. – Reuters
Syria
Israel launched airstrikes on military airbases and infrastructure sites in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Hama and Homs on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. – Reuters
As President Trump reportedly plans to meet the Syrian interim president, Ahmed a-Sharaa, Israel is increasingly concerned about the former terrorist’s chief backer, NATO-member Turkey. – New York Sun
The recent airstrikes in Syria are to “convey a message to Turkey,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Wladimir van Wilgenburg writes: To improve the chances of successfully implementing the Damascus-SDF agreement, mediation by outside actors like the United States, France, and Germany will be critical—particularly on controversial joint committee issues, future power-sharing arrangements, and the thorny issue of decentralization. […] Once Damascus and the SDF reach a final constitutional agreement and reassure coalition authorities that they have a plan for keeping pressure on IS and securing detention facilities, the Trump administration would be better positioned to act on its stated goal of withdrawing U.S. troops. – Washington Institute
Turkey
Turkey’s government denounced opposition calls for a mass commercial boycott following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu that sparked nationwide protests, describing them on Wednesday as an economic “sabotage attempt”. – Reuters
Tom Barrack, the nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Turkey, fielded questions about how he will approach the significant gaps between the U.S. and Turkey on a variety of bilateral and regional issues, but provided few specific answers on his approach beyond saying that he would work to cultivate dialogue with Ankara and other regional partners. – Jewish Insider
Amine Ayoub writes: The time for appeasement has passed. The world’s tolerance of Erdogan’s belligerence has only emboldened him. He thrives on Western hesitation, using it to expand his reach while ensuring that the costs of intervention remain high. History has shown that unchecked expansionism does not stop on its own. It must be confronted decisively, with a clear strategy and the will to follow through. The forces opposing Erdogan are assembling, but they must act before Turkey’s ambitions become irreversible. – Jerusalem Post
Middle East & North Africa
In the months since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Saudi Arabia has found itself at the center of some of his most ambitious foreign policy and geopolitical goals, including hosting talks between U.S. and Russian officials, and facilitating negotiations both for a ceasefire and a lucrative minerals deal in Ukraine. – Washington Post
Eight OPEC+ countries meeting on Thursday will focus debates on how to convince Kazakhstan to stop exceeding its output quota and its plans to compensate for overproduction as the group steps up gradual production hikes, two delegates told Reuters. – Reuters
The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Russia-based people and entities working to help procure weapons and commodities – including stolen Ukrainian grain – for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, the Treasury Department said. – Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused the opposition of hypocrisy for their denunciation of his aides’ alleged PR work for Qatar, which is widely condemned in Israel for its sponsorship of the Hamas terror group. – Times of Israel
Michael O’Hanlon writes: Only two months in office, Trump has felt the need to strike Houthi positions in Yemen while helping Israel deal with an Iran threat and other dangers. Biden shared the same desire in his first few months in office — only to find that, after the regrettable pullout from Afghanistan, he no longer had the luxury of thinking he could further downsize U.S. military regional presence without serious risks to core American friends and interests. Reductions of our presence in the Middle East are best made surgically and gradually, not dramatically. – The Hill
Korean Peninsula
After grabbing their bounty, North Korean hackers are masters at escaping. At WazirX, investigators believe they used algorithms to spread funds through global crypto networks faster than any human could, making it almost impossible for authorities to catch up. Once the crypto is dispersed, North Koreans often lie low until investigators lose interest and move on, waiting months or years to convert their haul into traditional money that can be spent. – Wall Street Journal
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo called on Thursday for talks with U.S. officials to shield the export-reliant economy from the impact of U.S. tariffs and ordered emergency support measures for businesses. – Reuters
North Korea’s new class of warship can accommodate dozens of vertical launch cells to carry missiles its military has already developed, analysis of a satellite image showed, a step that would give its navy more punch and create an export opportunity. – Reuters
South Korean authorities found about two tonnes of suspected cocaine on Wednesday on a ship docked at a port, the customs service said, in what appears to be the largest haul of smuggled drugs in the country’s history. – Reuters
China
China on Thursday urged the United States to immediately cancel its latest tariffs and vowed countermeasures to safeguard its own interests, after President Donald Trump declared sweeping levies on all U.S. trading partners around the world. – Reuters
Two members of China’s Politburo, the Communist Party’s elite decision-making body, have swapped jobs, state media reported on Wednesday, without giving a reason for a reshuffle that analysts called unprecedented at this level of the Chinese hierarchy. – Reuters
Hong Kong’s new police commissioner played down the impact of recent U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials, while pledging to do more to safeguard national security in the financial hub. – Reuters
China’s military concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island. – Reuters
South Asia
India’s parliament early Thursday passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments. – New York Times
The U.S. slapped a 26% tariff on imports from India in a setback to the South Asian nation’s expectation of getting relief from President Donald Trump’s global trade policy that has unnerved world markets for weeks. – Reuters
India’s shares fell on Thursday after the U.S. imposed 26% reciprocal tariffs, but a surge in pharma companies on their exemption from the duties helped cushion the blow as did a relatively lower tariff rate compared to its Asian peers. – Reuters
Asia
Last week’s violent earthquakes tore through a part of Myanmar that had already borne the brunt of a brutal campaign by the country’s military junta to root out resistance. – Wall Street Journal
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 10% tariff on its ally was “not the act of a friend,” but ruled out reciprocal tariffs against the United States. – Reuters
Taiwan’s defence ministry on Thursday detailed a surge in Chinese military activity as Beijing wrapped up a second day of war games overnight Wednesday, saying it had detected 59 warplanes and 23 navy ships operating around the island. – Reuters
The potential purchase of F-16 jets by the Philippines from the United States does not harm the interests of any third party, including China, a Philippine security official said on Thursday. – Reuters
Taiwan’s government said on Thursday that U.S. tariffs levied on the island were unreasonable and it would discuss them with Washington, partly blaming U.S. tech curbs on China in President Donald Trump’s first term for driving the trade imbalance. – Reuters
Europe
Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Brussels on Thursday for a gathering of NATO foreign ministers amid high anxiety over the Trump administration’s approach to Europe, including the war in Ukraine, relations with Russia and President Trump’s growing trade war with the continent. – New York Times
Hungary’s government has decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, it said on Thursday, shortly after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, sought under an ICC arrest warrant, arrived in the country for a state visit. – Reuters
Britain on Wednesday joined the U.S., European Union and Japan in expressing concern over Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, calling for restraint and to avoid actions that undermine peace in the region. – Reuters
The Swiss government on Wednesday underlined the importance of respecting international law after U.S. President Donald Trump put higher tariffs on the export-oriented Alpine country than the European Union in a major trade policy announcement. – Reuters
The United States will not take over Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said after arriving on Wednesday for a three-day visit to the semi-autonomous Danish island. – Reuters
Britain on Wednesday sanctioned what it described as a pro-Russian group responsible for trying to rig a referendum in Moldova and destabilise its democracy, the Foreign Office said. – Reuters
European visitors to Britain will have to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips from Wednesday, as the UK government follows other countries in seeking to strengthen immigration security by screening people before they cross its borders. – Reuters
Greece aims to spend 25 billion euros ($26.99 billion) as part of a multi-year defence plan, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament on Wednesday. – Reuters
The European Union, the US’s largest trading partner, vowed to retaliate after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs against the bloc in his bid to dismantle the global trading system. – Bloomberg
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares for around 30 minutes on Wednesday, according to a Spanish foreign ministry official. – Bloomberg
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said European militaries should “step up” as the US tilts away from the region to focus more on threats from Asia. – Bloomberg
Africa
An 800-mile rail corridor stretching from Angola’s northern border to the Atlantic Ocean was former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s signature project in Africa, meant to counter Chinese influence and reshape America’s engagement with the continent. – New York Times
The death sentences of three U.S. citizens convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have been commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency said, ahead of a visit by the new U.S. senior advisor for Africa. – Reuters
The World Bank said on Wednesday it had approved a total of $1.08 billion in concessional financing for Nigeria to enhance education quality, build household and community resilience, and improve nutrition for underserved groups. – Reuters
South Africa’s parliament passed the budget’s fiscal framework on Wednesday after weeks of political wrangling, but the future of the coalition government was thrown into doubt after a key coalition partner voted against the measure. – Reuters
Guinea’s military leader has set September 21, 2025, as the date for a constitutional referendum, according to a decree read out on state television on Tuesday evening, in a potential first step towards returning to constitutional democracy. – Reuters
Leaders of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance will meet to discuss its involvement in the nation’s coalition government after lawmakers passed a budget framework that second-biggest party opposed. – Bloomberg
The Americas
The Costa Rican government said on Wednesday it will engage in dialogue with U.S. authorities to seek better access conditions for Costa Rican products, after Donald Trump announced 10% tariffs on the Central American country. – Reuters
A majority of Brazilians now disapprove of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s performance leading Latin America’s largest economy, a fresh poll showed on Wednesday, as high inflation levels increasingly worry voters ahead of polls next year. – Reuters
President Donald Trump’s administration rejected concerns that accused Venezuelan gang members deported under the Alien Enemies Act are at risk of torture in a notorious El Salvador prison. – Bloomberg
North America
Thousands of Haitians took to the streets in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday to express their anger against armed gangs that control nearly all of the capital and surrounding areas and the government’s failure to hold them off. – Reuters
Mexico and Canada avoided fresh tariffs on Wednesday with President Donald Trump exempting the United States’ top trading partners from his new 10% global tariff baseline, although previous duties remain in place. – Reuters
Canada will fight U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs with countermeasures, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that Mexico does not plan to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on the United States, ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned announcement of new tariffs. – Reuters
United States
President Trump’s biggest tariff blitz yet sends a clear message to U.S. and foreign companies alike: The era of globalization is over. Trump’s “Liberation Day” plan to impose sweeping new duties on trillions of dollars in imports shows that the White House wants goods sold to American consumers to be built in American factories—bringing down the curtain on U.S. support for the turbocharged globalization that powered the world economy for decades. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump on Wednesday unveiled the centerpiece of his tariff agenda, saying he will impose sweeping import taxes on goods from all nations. He called the levies necessary to rebuild the U.S. economy and to retaliate against nations he described as engaging in unfair trade practices. – Wall Street Journal
A handful of Republican senators broke with President Trump on trade policy, joining with Democrats to pass a resolution aiming to undo the president’s 25% tariff on Canadian imports. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump says he is outraged by the fact that the United States imports more goods than it sends to the rest of the world. What he rarely mentions, though, is that when it comes to services, the tables are turned. – New York Times
As the Trump administration pursues a maximum pressure sanctions strategy against Iran and contemplates potential nuclear talks or military strikes, a new bipartisan bill aims to add another tool to the U.S.’ engagement with Iran: “maximum support” for the Iranian people. – Jewish Insider
Editorial: Mr. Trump’s new tariff onslaught is giving China another opening to use its large market to court American allies. South Korea and Japan are the first targets, but Europe is on China’s list. Closer trade ties with China, amid doubts about access to the U.S. market, will make these countries less likely to join the U.S. to impose export controls on technology to China or to ban the next Huawei. – Wall Street Journal
George Fishman writes: This began with Mahmoud Khalil, who, according to the White House press secretary, “organized group protests [at Columbia University] that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers.” The Trump administration should continue — must continue — its efforts to seek the removal of noncitizen immigrants who celebrate the killing of innocent people. America will be a better place for it. – The Hill
Cybersecurity
Chinese companies including ByteDance, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have placed at least $16 billion in orders for Nvidia’s H20 server chips in the first three months of the year, the Information reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the transactions. – Reuters
A prominent Indiana University cybersecurity professor who was abruptly fired and disappeared from public view has not been detained and there are no pending criminal charges against him or his wife, a lawyer representing him told Reuters. – Reuters
International cyber assistance has played a vital role in supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian cyberattacks. However, as the war continues, Western support is waning, raising growing concerns about the long-term effectiveness of these efforts, according to a recent report. – The Record
North Korea’s IT worker scam has expanded widely into Europe after years of focusing on U.S. companies, according to new research. – The Record
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman write: If that happens, Big Tech will have no one to blame but itself. Its response to geopolitical changes has been to build a closer relationship with the U.S. government, anticipating that it could continue to thrive in a world of U.S.-Chinese rivalry. Tech leaders willingly embraced Trump after his reelection, when they could have kept their distance. Big Tech companies may be about to discover that not only are they never going to have access to the Chinese market but they are increasingly persona non grata in European markets, too. – Foreign Affairs
Defense
The Army has released the identity of the fourth soldier who died in a training accident in Lithuania, a day after his body was recovered during a weeklong search that took hundreds of troops and other rescue workers from three nations. – Associated Press
The U.S. Army has scheduled a test of its Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, or LRHW, for December, the service’s program executive officer for missiles and space told Defense News in a recent interview. – Defense News
The Navy has awarded defense and aviation technology company Shift5 a contract to test predictive maintenance technology on the V-22 Osprey, which the company hopes might prevent gearbox catastrophes that have proven fatal in recent years. – Defense News
James Lacey writes: In the rapidly evolving professional contexts professional military education students will enter, proficiency with AI tools will not be optional but essential. Professional military education institutions that proactively incorporate AI will produce graduates far better equipped for strategic decision-making, adaptive problem-solving, and innovative leadership. […] Ultimately, the critical integration of AI into professional military education promises not only to revolutionize educational methodologies but also to create adaptive leaders who are thoroughly prepared to confront the complexities of future military and strategic landscapes. – War on the Rocks