Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

When Israel launched its 12-day attack on Iran in June, a network of secret agents on the ground proved critical in crippling Tehran’s defenses. Some of the most secret operatives weren’t professional spies or commandos in camouflage. They were ordinary locals empowered by Israeli high-tech gadgetry. – Wall Street Journal

Israel’s military said it killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza City on Saturday, the most senior military leader of the group to be killed in the enclave since a fragile cease-fire took effect. – Wall Street Journal

Trump administration officials are seeking to recruit a multinational force of around 10,000 troops under a U.S. general to stabilize postwar Gaza, officials say, but acknowledge it will take much of the next year to get them in place. – Wall Street Journal

Israel’s assassination of a senior Hamas commander threatens the viability of the Gaza ceasefire, the chief negotiator of the militant group said on Sunday, calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to demand Israel comply with the terms of the truce. – Reuters

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Sunday against a government push to oust the attorney general, who has sparred with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious coalition over the legality of its policies, court documents showed. – Reuters

International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a U.N.-authorized stabilization force, two U.S. officials told Reuters, but it remains unclear how Palestinian militant group Hamas will be disarmed. – Reuters

U.S. intelligence officials temporarily suspended sharing some key information with Israel during the Biden administration over concerns about its conduct of the war in Gaza, according to six people familiar with the matter. – Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Sunday’s deadly shooting at a Jewish holiday celebration in Sydney and said he had warned his Australian counterpart that the country’s support for Palestinian statehood would fuel antisemitism. – Reuters 

New footage of six Israeli hostages shows them celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah while being held captive in a tunnel in Gaza, several months before they were killed. – Associated Press

Omer Shem Tov was dancing with friends at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched a devastating attack, killing hundreds and loading Shem Tov and dozens of others onto the backs of pickup trucks bound for Gaza. – Fox News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu on Sunday participated in the cornerstone-laying ceremony for a Dimona neighborhood named after the Prime Minister’s late brother, Lt.-Col. Yoni Netanyahu. – Arutz Sheva

Just days before the October 7th massacre, Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit carried out a final exercise during which they rehearsed infiltrating deep into Israeli territory and the kidnapping of Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. – Arutz Sheva

Israel has joined the Pax Silica Initiative, a strategic move led by the United States and unveiled during an international conference attended by nine leading countries in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and advanced industries, the Prime Minister’s Office reported Saturday night. – Arutz Sheva

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said on Sunday that the terror group’s arms are “a right guaranteed by international law,” and rejected the International Stabilization Force (ISF) envisioned by US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which was enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution last month. – Times of Israel

Yashar party chair and ex-military chief Gadi Eisenkot drew backlash from both the government and members of the opposition on Saturday for appearing to indicate that Zionist opposition parties might rely on the cooperation of Arab parties to form a government after the next elections. – Times of Israel

The National Security Council on Sunday released new precautions for Israelis abroad, shortly after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, which claimed 15 lives at a Hanukkah party.- Jerusalem Post 

Conspiracy theories that the Sunday night Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre was a false flag operation conducted by Israel spread online in the wake of the terrorist attack that left at least 16 people dead. – Jerusalem Post 

Thousands of Israelis took part on Saturday in demonstrations against the Israeli government, calling to return the final hostage, Ran Gvili, and establish a state commission of inquiry into the disaster of October 7, 2023. – Haaretz

Bret Stephens: Though we’ll probably learn more in the weeks ahead about the mind-set of Sunday’s killers, it’s reasonable to surmise that what they thought they were doing was “globalizing the intifada.” That is, they were taking to heart slogans like “resistance is justified,” and “by any means necessary,” which have become ubiquitous at anti-Israel rallies the world over. For many of those who chant those lines, they may seem like abstractions and metaphors, a political attitude in favor of Palestinian freedom rather than a call to kill their presumptive oppressors. But there are always literalists — and it’s the literalists who usually believe their ideas should have real-world consequences. On Sunday, those consequences were written in Jewish blood. History tells us that it won’t be the last time. – New York Times 

Melanie Phillips writes: Western liberals repeatedly describe UNRWA as “indispensable” and as a “neutral, humanitarian actor” in the Middle East drama. By contrast, a U.S. State Department official called it a “corrupt organization with a proven track record of aiding and abetting terrorists.” As Huckabee also observed about the Hamas-associated NGOs, to be silent is to be complicit. The United States is putting itself on the side of civilization. The silent, complicit United Kingdom and the rest of the liberal West have chosen to side with barbarism. – Arutz Sheva

Dr. Shmuel Katz and Chaim Silberstein write: Radical Islam has already targeted Europe. Appeasing evil never works. Israel will not allow itself to be sacrificed on the altar of European fecklessness-which would ultimately imperil Europe itself. Israel must reaffirm through education and information its historical, legal and exclusive rights to the Land of Israel, with Jerusalem as its eternal and exclusive capital. Western nations must understand that their own future depends on the defeat of radical Islam. Israel is leading that fight. Do not condemn Israel; support it. The future of the West depends on it. – Arutz Sheva

Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the help of his European allies, has carefully crafted a response to President Trump’s peace plan that essentially boils down to: Yes, but… – Wall Street Journal

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin this weekend, officials said, a crucial encounter as the White House presses for a deal halting the war with Russia before the year’s end. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump’s top envoys held five hours of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on Sunday, with Washington hailing progress as the administration steps up pressure on Kyiv to seal a peace deal with Russia by year-end. – Wall Street Journal

The generals say all goals of the war will be achieved. The economists say that despite the pressure, the economy will outlast Ukraine’s. Even President Donald Trump says that Russia is much stronger and Kyiv has no cards left to play in the war. – Washington Post

Secret meetings between Ukraine’s top peace negotiator and FBI leaders have injected new uncertainty into the high-stakes talks to end the war there, according to diplomats and officials familiar with the matter. – Washington Post

Russian drones and missiles pummeled Odesa, Ukraine, overnight on Friday into Saturday in one of the biggest attacks of the war on the southern port, causing major power outages that plunged parts of the city into darkness. – New York Times 

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy offered to drop Ukraine’s aspirations to join the NATO military alliance as he held five hours of talks with U.S. envoys in Berlin on Sunday to end the war with Russia, with negotiations set to continue on Monday. – Reuters

Ukraine’s offer to forgo joining the NATO military alliance probably will not significantly change the course of peace talks, two security experts said on Sunday. – Reuters

Russian air defence units destroyed a drone heading for Moscow late on Sunday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said emergency crews were examining fragments where they hit the ground. – Reuters

Two people were killed overnight in a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Saratov, regional governor Roman Busargin said on Saturday. – Reuters

Russia attacked two Ukrainian ports on Friday, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels including a ship carrying food supplies, Ukrainian officials and one ship owner said, days after Moscow threatened to cut “Ukraine off from the sea”. – Reuters

Several dozen people protested on Sunday in the Siberian city of Tomsk against Russia’s ban on U.S. children’s gaming platform Roblox, a rare show of public dissent as popular irritation over the ban gains some momentum. – Reuters

The Kremlin said on Sunday that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remarks about preparing for war with Russia were irresponsible and showed that he did not really understand the devastation wrought by World War Two. – Reuters

Ukraine’s navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports. – Reuters

European leaders are expected to cement support for Ukraine Monday as it faces Washington’s pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal. – Associated Press

Russia’s Central Bank has filed a lawsuit against Belgian financial institution Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of Moscow’s frozen assets in Europe, the bank said Friday. – Associated Press

While Ukraine peace proposals pingpong across the Atlantic, Russia and Ukraine fight naval warfare — 21st century-style. Yesterday, Russian drones and missiles hit three Turkish ships in two Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The attack came hours after Turkey’s president held a face-to-face meeting with Russia’s president to ask for a “ports” ceasefire. – New York Sun

A 1,000-strong “dark fleet” of rogue oil tankers skirting sanctions has emerged as a new target for the U.S. and Ukraine, a senior maritime intelligence analyst claims. – Fox News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the frontline city of Kupiansk on Friday, just weeks after Russia claimed its forces had taken control. In a video posted to X, Zelenskyy is seen wearing a flak jacket and speaking in front of a heavily damaged sign in Cyrillic that says “Kupiansk.” – Fox News

Lebanon

Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to “address a breach” of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said. – Reuters

Lebanon has received warnings from Arab and international parties that Israel is preparing for a wide-scale military operation against Hezbollah, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told Al Jazeera on Friday, as Beirut intensifies diplomatic efforts to avert further escalation. Rajji also issued a striking denunciation of Hezbollah’s state sponsor, Iran, accusing it of destabilizing Lebanon. – Times of Israel

The IDF on Sunday struck and eliminated Zakaria Yahya al-Hajj, a senior terrorist of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Jwaya area in southern Lebanon. – Arutz Sheva

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem slammed the United States following its efforts to pressure Lebanese authorities to disarm his terror group. – Arutz Sheva

Korean Peninsula

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, welcomed home specialized soldiers this week after a deployment in Russia’s war against Ukraine, honoring nine killed in action with his country’s highest medal, state media reported on Saturday. – New York Times

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tried to provoke North Korea into mounting an armed aggression to justify his December 2024 martial law declaration and eliminate political opponents, a special prosecutor said on Monday. – Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith agreed at a summit in Seoul on Monday to upgrade bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership, Lee’s office said. Seoul sees Laos as a key partner in building supply chains for critical minerals, Lee said at the meeting, according to his office. – Reuters

South Korean police launched a raid on Monday to search the offices and compounds of the Unification Church in and near Seoul, including an imposing palace northeast of the capital that serves as its international headquarters, police said. – Reuters

South Asia

The Taliban regained control of the country and, within weeks, the network of military bases the United States had occupied over 20 years of war was lost. – Washington Post

Tens of thousands rallied for the party of Nepal’s ousted prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, on Saturday, in the largest gathering in the Himalayan country since youth-led anti-graft protests forced him out three months ago. – Reuters

India and France have struck a deal to revise their 1992 treaty which will halve the tax on dividends paid by Indian units to French parents, potentially saving millions for companies with major operations in the South Asian nation, documents show. – Reuters

Myanmar’s military regime appealed to the international community on Sunday to take back hundreds of foreigners who have been detained in a crackdown on scam centers in the country’s eastern Kayin state near the Thai border. – Associated Press

Myanmar’s military on Saturday acknowledged there was an airstrike on a hospital in the western state of Rakhine, which a local rescuer and media reports said killed more than 30 people, including patients, medical workers and children. – Associated Press

Intelligence services in India have put out a high-level alert regarding a potential terror attack at Jewish institutions over the Hanukkah holiday, a message that has been amplified after yesterday’s terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, which killed at least 15. – Times of Israel

Europe

Belarus freed scores of prisoners after a U.S. diplomat said some sanctions would be lifted on the country in a sign of a thaw between Washington and President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. – Wall Street Journal

For two decades, Germany and China were an economic couple made in heaven, both benefiting handsomely from booming global trade: Germany supplied the machines China needed to make consumer goods for the rest of the world. Now China no longer needs Germany—and Germany wants a divorce. – Wall Street Journal

Two prominent Belarusian opposition leaders released by Belarusian authorities in a deal brokered by the U.S. said on Sunday they had no regrets over the actions that led to their incarceration. – Reuters

The head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign spy service known as MI6, will warn that Russia poses an “aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist” threat, in her first speech since taking office. – Reuters

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday discussed work on U.S.-led peace proposals for Ukraine and moves to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to help provide funds for Kyiv. – Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale said on Saturday that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had promised to stop weather balloons flying from his country into Lithuania. – Reuters

Thousands of Hungarians marched to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s offices on Saturday, led by opposition leader Peter Magyar, who urged the veteran nationalist to resign over an abuse scandal at a juvenile detention centre. – Reuters

The European Union agreed on Friday to indefinitely freeze Russian central bank assets held in Europe, removing a big obstacle to using the cash to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia. – Reuters

Violent protests erupted Sunday night in Amsterdam after pro-Palestinian Arab activists organized demonstrations against the performances of IDF Chief Cantor Shai Abramson in the city. – Arutz Sheva

Estonia has begun installing the first concrete bunkers along its southeastern border with Russia as part of the Baltic Defense Line, marking a key milestone for the trilateral fortification project despite delays.​​ – Defense News

Filipp Piatov writes: When Mr. Trump and his administration criticize Europe’s migration policies, they raise a legitimate concern. The Continent will grapple for years with the consequences of illegal immigration from Islamist countries. But a paradigm shift is afoot in Europe’s largest nation, and Washington should take note. – Wall Street Journal

The Americas

Chileans on Sunday elected their most right-wing president in a generation, with hard-line conservative José Antonio Kast winning easily after vowing to clamp down on crime and illegal immigration. – Wall Street Journal

A U.S. move this week to seize an oil tanker out of Venezuela is poised to make a bad situation worse for a crisis-stricken Cuba already struggling to source enough oil to power its ailing economy and electrical grid. – Reuters

A Bolivian judge on Friday said ex-President Luis Arce will be held in pre-trial detention for five months following his detention earlier this week as he is investigated for alleged embezzlement. – Reuters

The top leaders of Colombia’s Clan del Golfo crime gang, the country’s largest illegal armed group, would definitely serve prison time under a possible deal with the government, the government’s chief negotiator said on Friday, adding that officials are seeking to make progress at talks “irreversible” before a new administration takes office next year. – Reuters

The United States has removed sanctions against the Brazilian Supreme Court judge targeted for overseeing a criminal case against an ally of President Donald Trump, the Treasury Department said on Friday. – Reuters

Thousands of Brazilians on Sunday protested in major cities against a legislative effort to lower the jail sentence of former President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters for plotting to overthrow democracy after he lost his 2022 reelection bid. – Reuters

Weeks before Honduras’ November 30 presidential election, a test run exposed deep flaws in the vote-counting system: only 36% of practice ballots were processed, according to electoral council member Marlon Ochoa. That warning proved prescient. – Reuters

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo on Sunday said he had declared a state of emergency in two municipalities in western Guatemala a day after armed men attacked a military post and a police station, cut off roads and hijacked buses, killing at least five people. – Associated Press

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, during a Hanukkah celebration. – Arutz Sheva

Editorial: Without Republican majorities in either chamber of Congress, Mr. Kast will need to build legislative coalitions. But he has a mandate that says Chilean self-confidence is back and voters will want him to put it to good use. The Trump Administration can help him succeed by reducing tariffs on Chile and making it a trade and economic partner. – Wall Street Journal

Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes: One can only speculate what President Trump might do with U.S. Navy assets in the Caribbean, Ms. Álvarez de Toledo says. But it makes no sense “for the U.S. or any reasonable democracy” to allow “that kind of narco-regime, criminal organization with ties to enemies of security and freedom, to operate with total impunity.” – Wall Street Journal

Kevin Whitaker writes: The next Colombian administration would be unwise to advocate for a mere return to the status quo ante, which Trump clearly views as having benefited Colombia more than the United States. Rather, it should focus on the critical interests that Trump has identified in the region—drugs, migration, Venezuela, and Chinese influence—and determine how best to collaborate with the United States in one or more of those areas. As the successes of Plan Colombia demonstrate, a fruitful partnership between Bogotá and Washington is not just possible but desirable as well. – Foreign Affairs

Cybersecurity

A federal moratorium threatening state-level artificial intelligence laws could upend efforts to safeguard the rental and homebuying markets from manipulation, even as both backers and critics of the executive order warn that legal uncertainty could hinder action to lower housing costs ahead of next year’s election. – Politico

Germany on Friday summoned Russia’s ambassador after accusing Moscow of carrying out a cyberattack on the country’s air traffic control authority and conducting a disinformation campaign ahead of February’s general election, the Foreign Office said. – The Record

Editorial: The order also says the administration will prepare legislative recommendations to implement the AI policy. That’s the right thing to do. It has the added benefits of being constitutional and creating more certainty for businesses as they bring products to market. Bullying state governments on AI policy isn’t a good way to create the stable business environment the administration says it wants. Trump’s instinct is correct, but the process matters, both for the rule of law and the economy. – Washington Post

Robert Maginnis writes: The real challenge is in proving that a free society can lead in AI without surrendering human judgment, liberty and dignity to machines. That requires national leadership — not 50 state rulebooks but also not blind faith in technology. Trump is right to demand speed and unity. Now Washington must deliver substance: clear federal guardrails that protect innovation while defending citizens.  If we repeat the internet era’s mistakes — moving quickly and thinking later — we may win the race and still lose the country we’re trying to defend. – Fox News

Long War

The attacker who killed three Americans in an ambush on U.S. forces in Syria on Saturday was a member of the Syrian security forces who was set to be fired for holding extremist views, according to Syrian and U.S. officials. – Wall Street Journal

Two gunmen killed 15 people during a Hanukkah event Sunday on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in what officials called a terrorist attack on Australia’s Jewish community. One suspect was also killed and the other is in critical condition. – Wall Street Journal

Syria has arrested five people suspected of having links to the shooting of U.S. and Syrian troops in the central Syrian town of Palmyra on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. – Reuters

Australian police said on Monday that the alleged offenders behind the attack at Sydney’s Bondi beach were a father and son duo, and that they were not looking for a third offender. – Reuters

Major cities including Berlin, London and New York stepped up security around Hanukkah events on Sunday following the attack on a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. – Reuters

German authorities have arrested five men suspected of being militant Islamists planning an attack on a Christmas market in southern Bavaria, police and prosecutors said in a joint statement. – Reuters

Editorial: In Australia, police identified the shooters as father and son, the latter named Naveed Akram, reportedly of Pakistani origin. They fired into a Jewish crowd, killing men, women and children. Australia has seen worsening antisemitic incitement and Iran-sponsored attacks on Jews since Oct. 7, 2023, while the Labor government joined the libels against Israel […]The ghastly toll is a reminder of the continuing danger from Islamic terrorism. U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, Christians in the heart of Europe, and Jews as far-flung as Australia are all considered targets. – Wall Street Journal