Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

U.S.-mediated talks between Syria and Israel have resumed after an interruption of several months, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported on Monday, with Damascus seeking withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. – Reuters

Azerbaijan has no intention of sending a contingent of its troops to take part in peacekeeping operations outside its borders, including in Gaza, President Ilham Aliyev said late on Monday. – Reuters

The Israeli military on Monday began striking what it described as Hezbollah and Hamas “targets” in Lebanon after issuing evacuation orders for four villages in the country’s east and south. – Reuters

Israel’s central bank is set to hold interest rates steady in its first monetary decision of 2026, weighing lowered inflation expectations and a strong shekel against lingering geopolitical and fiscal uncertainty. – Bloomberg

Israel’s government has told the Supreme Court that a ban on international media access to Gaza should remain in place due to security risks in the enclave, according to a court submission. – Agence France-Presse

State prosecutors on Monday filed an indictment against a Rishon Lezion resident accused of carrying out surveillance missions on behalf of a foreign agent,  including filming the street outside the home of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, in what authorities described as another attempt by Iranian intelligence to collect information on senior Israeli figures. – Jerusalem Post

A soldier from the IDF’s Golani Brigade was injured during an “operational accident” in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the military confirmed on Tuesday morning. – Jerusalem Post

Israel is running out of chances to block Turkey from being involved in various projects in the Middle East, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. – Jerusalem Post

The IDF authorized the use of electronic monitoring bracelets to enforce restraining orders in the West Bank, in an apparent attempt to crack down on Jewish extremists in the territory. – Times of Israel

Gangland shootings claimed the lives of three people within hours in the Arab Israeli community on Monday, in what President Isaac Herzog lamented as a “national scourge.” – Times of Israel

Pesach Wolicki writes: So when Netanyahu tells would-be empire builders to “forget it,” he is not posturing. He is stating a strategic reality: Jerusalem is not Constantinople, the Eastern Mediterranean is not Ottoman territory, and Israel will not accept a region dominated by jihadist neo-imperial fantasies. That is not the language of isolation: It is the language of resolve. The civilizational values that shaped the West were born in Jerusalem more than 3,000 years ago, and Israel is now stepping forward to defend them – freedom of religion, the protection of minorities, and human dignity – with strength. – Jerusalem Post

Ilan Amit writes: Real security is not built by oscillating between neglect and coercion, but by sustaining the civilian, social, and institutional foundations that prevent crisis in the first place. If Israel is serious about safety, resilience, and cohesion – for all its citizens – it must break this cycle, and choose investment over improvisation, partnership over control, and long-term stability over short-sighted politics. – Jerusalem Post

Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday dismissed Vasyl Maliuk, the powerful head of the nation’s security services and the architect of Operation Spiderweb, one of the most audacious attacks on Russian territory since Moscow’s 2022 invasion, which destroyed Russian aircraft sitting on the tarmacs of air bases. – Washington Post

Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has stirred memories of a barter reportedly offered by Russia seven years ago, during another moment of heightened tension between Washington and Caracas. – New York Times

As Ukraine peace talks have stretched on for nearly a year, through fits and spurts and dozens of rounds, President Volodymyr Zelensky has accentuated the positive. The talks are now “90 percent complete,” he said. Ukraine works every minute to end the war, he insisted. – New York Times

Russia launched five missile strikes on Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv on Monday, damaging energy infrastructure, and attacked an enterprise owned by U.S. agricultural producer Bunge in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukrainian officials said. – Reuters

President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner will represent the United States at talks on Ukraine in Paris this week, a White House official said on Monday. – Reuters

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s capture by the United States has deprived Vladimir Putin of an ally and could increase U.S. “oil clout”, but Moscow is eying potential gains from President Donald Trump’s division of the world into spheres of influence. – Reuters

Russia is intensifying covert attacks on key infrastructure in Germany in a campaign of hybrid warfare that Berlin views as a possible prelude to a wider conflict, according to a military document obtained by Bloomberg. – Bloomberg

Editorial: On Christmas Day 2024 a tanker identified as part of Russia’s shadow fleet dragged an anchor that damaged an Elisa data cable and the Estlink 2 electricity cable that supplies nearly 15% of electricity for the Baltic states. […] A few weeks after the Eagle S incident, NATO said it would send frigates, aircraft and drones to patrol the Baltic Sea for undersea threats. But the patrols won’t make a difference if sea saboteurs know that international law will shield them from consequences. – Wall Street Journal

Korean Peninsula

At a Monday meeting in Beijing, South Korea’s leader broached with Xi Jinping one of China’s most striking foreign-policy pivots in recent memory: North Korea’s denuclearization. – Wall Street Journal

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae on Monday inspected the construction of a memorial for North Korean troops who died fighting overseas, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday. – Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday their summit is an important opportunity for full restoration of South Korea-China relations. Lee said in opening remarks during their summit talks that they will continue efforts to develop the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries into an irreversible trend. – Reuters

South Asia

Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), said on Tuesday it is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January, a move that could sharply cut India’s Russian oil imports during the month to the lowest in years. – Reuters

Pakistan and China called for more “visible and verifiable” steps to eliminate terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan and to prevent Afghan territory from being used for militancy against any country, according to a joint statement. – Associated Press

The Tata Group has started scouting for a new Chief Executive Officer for Air India as it grows impatient with the carrier’s slow recovery after a deadly crash that killed over 241 passengers and crew last year, people familiar with the matter said. – Bloomberg

Europe

German political leaders were incensed when they learned in 2013 that U.S. intelligence had been eavesdropping on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone calls. “Spying among friends, that just does not work,” Merkel said. – Washington Post

Denmark’s prime minister said on Monday that President Trump “should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” a day after Mr. Trump repeated his threats — following the U.S. military raid on Venezuela — to also take the semiautonomous Danish territory. – New York Times

Greenland hopes to improve relations with the United States and can’t be compared to Venezuela, the Arctic island’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a press conference on Monday. – Reuters

Latvian police have found no evidence linking a ship docked in the port of Liepaja to damage to an underwater telecoms cable running in the Baltic Sea from Latvia to Lithuania, but are investigating the incident further, authorities said on Monday. – Reuters

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she raised the importance of complying with international law with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following the American removal of Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela. – Bloomberg

European officials pledged to support Greenland after US President Donald Trump restarted his campaign to take the self-governed island in the wake of his strike on Venezuela. – Bloomberg

The Swiss government has frozen any assets held in Switzerland by Nicolas Maduro and people close to the Venezuelan president. The order is to ensure that potentially illegally acquired assets cannot be transferred out of Switzerland, the government said in a statement on Monday. – Bloomberg

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he’s not planning a transition to a presidential system ahead of parliamentary elections expected in April. – Bloomberg

The UK Home Secretary has banned an extremist Islamist preacher who praised Hamas from entering the country to carry out his planned speaking tour. – Jerusalem Post

Seth Mandel writes: It shows that officials piled several layers of anti-Semitism on top of each other in an attempt to justify the initial act of official anti-Semitism. The scandal implicates law enforcement and members of the UK parliament in collaboration with Islamic extremists among the public. What in God’s name is happening to Britain before our eyes? Whatever it is, it will become impossible to undo unless every official involved in this rancid corruption is held properly accountable. Anything less will be too little, too late. – The Commentary

The Americas

Maduro’s top lieutenant, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as the country’s acting president Monday, as small groups of armed civilians known as colectivos, paramilitary units in support of the ousted president, sped around Caracas on motorbikes—a reminder that while Maduro is gone, his loyalists are still very much in power. – Wall Street Journal

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to narcotrafficking charges during his arraignment in U.S. federal court Monday, defiantly telling a judge that he was still the head of his nation despite being whisked away by U.S. forces over the weekend. – Wall Street Journal

When Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez gave a speech condemning the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, she was accompanied by two men who can make or break the regime’s future. – Wall Street Journal

Venezuelan authorities detained at least 14 members of the news media on Monday as they were working inside or outside the National Assembly building in the capital, Caracas, according to the country’s main union for journalists and media employees. – New York Times

Last winter, Chevron appeared to be running out of time in Venezuela. The company was the last major U.S. oil company still producing oil in the South American country, many years after others, like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, had left. – New York Times

James Luckey-Lange, an American traveler who went missing in Venezuela in early December, is being held in the detention center run by the country’s military counterintelligence in Caracas, according to a Venezuelan familiar with the matter. – New York Times

The United States is undergoing preparations in case President Donald Trump decides to reopen the U.S. embassy in Venezuela’s capital Caracas, a senior State Department official said on Monday. – Reuters

The administration of President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from U.S. oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after U.S. forces ousted its leader Nicolas Maduro, according to a source familiar with the matter. – Reuters

The state of emergency put in place by the Venezuelan government since the U.S. attack that ousted President Nicolas Maduro orders police to “immediately begin the national search and capture of everyone involved in the promotion or support for the armed attack by the United States,” according to a text of the decree published on Monday. – Reuters

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a phone call on Saturday with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, his office said on Monday, after the United States attacked the South American country and deposed President Nicolas Maduro. – Reuters

Colombia will continue to work with the United States to fight drug trafficking using Washington’s intelligence and technology, the South American nation said on Monday. – Reuters

At least four oil tankers — and maybe as many as 16 — got through a US blockade on sanctioned vessels moving oil from Venezuela since the capture on Saturday of the Latin American country’s president Nicolas Maduro, according to TankerTrackers.com. – Bloomberg

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he would “take up arms” against the U.S. if it attacks his country, following U.S. military action in Venezuela and the capture and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. – Fox News

Editorial: The only defense against global rogues is the deterrent of Western military force. That force was on display with flawless precision in snatching Mr. Maduro. And the demonstration of U.S. nerve and military prowess will do more than a thousand U.N. resolutions to protect the free world and make Russia, China and Iran think twice. Liberal internationalism is a moral and political failure if it can’t distinguish between the aggression of Russia and China to swallow neighboring democracies and a U.S. military action to arrest a lawless dictator in league with the world’s worst actors. – Wall Street Journal

Editorial: The Trump administration has worthy foreign policy objectives in Venezuela, including the ejection of Russian, Iranian and Chinese influence. It’s grafted a highly debatable legal justification onto a classic U.S. exercise of power politics. But the lesson isn’t that international law will now be violated with impunity. It’s that international law is always a flimsy constraint on state behavior, and the United States needs other tools to defend itself and its friends. – Washington Post

Gerard Baker writes: So much for the myths. The reality is this: The Maduro grab was a superbly executed act of strategic opportunism that removed a troublesome enemy in the region most vital to U.S. interests. Ultimate judgment on it will rest on its long-term outcome. But for now it sends a message to friends and foes alike: We have the capacity and the will to eliminate ruthlessly those who would cause us harm. – Wall Street Journal

United States

The U.S. may have decided it no longer wants to be the world’s policeman, but the military operation that captured Venezuela’s autocratic president shows it is far more willing now to be the enforcer in its own hemisphere. – Wall Street Journal

The New York ritual of public protest soon began, a distillation of a global fury in the span of half a block, two sides separated by metal barricades. Next to them stood Manhattan’s looming federal courthouse, where Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s captured president, and his wife, Cilia Flores, sat quietly behind a defense table in a courtroom on the 26th floor, two days after the U.S. raid that wrested them from their home country. – New York Times

The United States was condemned at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday for what even its staunch allies called a violation of international law in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and the military incursion into a sovereign state. – New York Times

President Donald Trump does not plan to occupy or nation-build in Venezuela, Republican U.S. lawmakers said on Monday after attending a briefing by top officials on the administration’s policy toward the South American nation. – Reuters

President Donald Trump asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead the process to implement economic and political reforms in Venezuela and the US believes it is getting “full, complete and total” cooperation from the government in Caracas after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Monday. – Bloomberg

The Trump administration is awarding a total of $2.7 billion to three companies to support uranium enrichment for nuclear energy. – The Hill

In the wake of the US operation that brought Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to the United States to face charges, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the mission is also about ending Iran and Hezbollah activity inside Venezuela. – Jerusalem Post

Law enforcement arrested an individual suspected of vandalizing at Vice President JD Vance’s Cincinnati, Ohio, residence early on Monday morning. – Jerusalem Post

Matthew Kroenig writes: Instead, Mr. Trump made a bold decision, and it was a success. Indeed, alongside getting NATO allies to spend more on defense and setting back Iran’s nuclear program, the raid against Mr. Maduro may be one of the top three most important foreign policy victories of Mr. Trump’s second term in office. For the good of the country, let us hope it is not the last. – New York Times

Eric Farnsworth writes: The new NSS reimagines US policy toward the Americas and has already framed direct action in Venezuela. But without meaningful efforts to advance a mutually-rewarding hemispheric economic agenda, the broader benefits will not fully materialize. As 2026 starts, we have a real opportunity to focus on the overriding objectives and get this right. – National Interest

Defense

IAI brings a demonstrated capability to intercept threats beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, directly aligned with the core objectives of Golden Dome’s strategic mission. – Jerusalem Post

As the U.S. Space Force enters 2026 amid escalating threats from China and Russia, the service faces a pivotal year as it transitions to full-spectrum warfighting. – Defense News

That includes for the US military, a new customer Electra is courting with the EL9, also called the Ultra Short, and the recent establishment of a defense business unit. According to the company, the EL9 will accommodate nine people, or a maximum of 3,000 pounds. For the Pentagon, that could mean moving small amounts of people and cargo in austere conditions, whether for regular resupply runs, standard transport, or special ops missions. – Breaking Defense