Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

Israel and Iran exchanged volleys of fire that extended into Monday morning, in a tumultuous resumption of violence that tested President Trump’s fragile Middle East ceasefire. – Wall Street Journal

An Arab gunman opened fire from a car at multiple locations around central Israel on Sunday, killing an Israeli reserve soldier and injuring at least five people in what authorities called a terrorist attack. – New York Times

The Bank of Israel bought $801 million in foreign currency in May, it said on ​Sunday, in a bid to combat a strong shekel that is ‌trading near a 33-year high against the dollar. – Reuters

The Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group that controls much of Yemen, declared a ban on Israeli ships in the Red Sea, saying it had a right to “confront the American-Israeli aggression.” – Bloomberg

The Israeli military vowed on Sunday to press ahead with its military campaign in Lebanon and said it would step up operations against Hezbollah. – Agence France-Presse

A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught and was planning attacks on troops was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip last week, the IDF and Shin Bet announced on Sunday. – Agence France-Presse

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon over the weekend, the military announced Saturday night, as fighting with the Hezbollah terror group continued despite the nominal truce in effect between Israel and Lebanon. – Agence France-Presse

A Bat Yam man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of maintaining contact with Iranian intelligence officials and carrying out security-related missions for them, Israel Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said in a joint statement on Monday. – Jerusalem Post

The IDF will not give up on its mission to fully disarm Hamas, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said Sunday. “The multifaceted reality continues to be the primary framework,” he said during a visit with soldiers in the Gaza Strip. – Jerusalem Post

Amichai Stein writes: So, at least for now, Israel appears to have succeeded in halting the wave of Iranian demands regarding Lebanon and in establishing a new strategic equation. Could Trump change his mind? Certainly. He is Trump, after all. How likely is that to happen? Now that the agreement has received approval from the highest levels of the US administration, including its most senior officials, the chances appear lower for the time being, but they have not disappeared. – Jerusalem Post

Paul Rotenberg writes: Israel’s own EurosatoryTA, this year, opens the door to doing it again next year, and avoiding the inevitable threats completely. Israel could still offer the flights and the lodging, but may not need to, and if you were India, or another friendly country, working with Israeli defense companies, where would you choose to display? In other words, doing this changes the playing field forever, at several levels. But we must start, and the first step is deciding what kind of Jews we are in 2026. Showing France that Israel isn’t going to be pushed around, is a different way of thinking. It is just the beginning, and a good one that could also have a global effect. Never again. – Arutz Sheva

Russia and Ukraine

Ukraine launched a mass drone attack on St. Petersburg a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech there rejecting a call for peace from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. – Wall Street Journal

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport is home to a sleek white Bombardier Global 7500—a $75 million Western-built jet that caters to the world’s wealthy and business elites. – Wall Street Journal

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine met with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London on Sunday, as Europe considers taking a more active role in peace talks with Russia after more than a year of unsuccessful U.S. mediation. – New York Times

Over the past month, President Vladimir V. Putin has said on two separate occasions that Russia’s war against Ukraine is “moving toward its conclusion” and “coming to an end.” – New York Times

Russian satellites have caused seconds-long GPS outages across Europe on several occasions, according to new research provided to The New York Times by scientists who specialize in GPS technology and a person familiar with a U.S. Air Force briefing on the jamming. – New York Times

Russia has unleashed what researchers are calling an unusually intense barrage of overt and covert influence operations before a parliamentary election on Sunday in Armenia, which has sought closer ties with Europe and the United States. – New York Times

Russian forces deliberately struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near Ukraine’s Chornobyl power plant, President Volodymyr ​Zelenskiy said on Sunday, in an “extremely vile” attack that did not ‌lead to a spike in radiation. – Reuters

The Russian-installed management of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant said on Saturday ​that it had restored the Ferrosplavnaya-1 ‌power line, which supplies electricity to the plant. “All systems and equipment at the ZNPP are operating normally,” ​the management said via its Telegram ​channel. – Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a one-on-one meeting with former ​German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, which was “good and friendly,” Kremlin ‌aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying on Friday by Russian news agencies. – Reuters

Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of killing Azerbaijani crew on board two cargo vessels headed for ​a Russian port, in a drone attack which Baku ‌said had killed at least five of its citizens – Reuters

NATO countries are considering a new €70 billion military funding commitment for Ukraine that would be unveiled during the alliance’s summit in Ankara next month, four NATO diplomats told POLITICO. – Politico

Robert Doar writes: Of all the things I saw in Ukraine, the most painful was the sadness in the eyes of Ukrainians who love America. They are grateful for all the U.S. has done. But they also feel let down—first by the Biden administration, which feared provoking Russia and hamstrung their war effort for three years, then by Mr. Trump, who shows such warmth toward Mr. Putin, ally of Iran’s mullahs and stooge of China’s Xi Jinping. Ukrainians don’t understand how the successor of American presidents who were apostles for freedom—most memorably Ronald Reagan—can’t see that Ukraine’s cause is the free world’s cause. After 70 years of our “long twilight struggle,” which successfully defeated tyranny across Eastern Europe, Mr. Trump is calling for retreat in Ukraine. To freedom-loving Ukrainians, that’s the opposite of making America great again. – Wall Street Journal

Tom Rogan writes: After all, Putin and his generals know Russia would cease to exist in a nuclear war with the U.S. While the U.S. would suffer gravely from such a war, it would likely survive as a sovereign nation. The key, then, is for the U.S. and NATO to remain resolute. Russia is losing a war of aggression. The West should continue to support Ukraine so that Putin is eventually forced to choose between another domestic coup or making serious concessions at the negotiating table. But just as Putin is deterred by unambiguous strength, he perceives timidity as a Bull Shark smells blood in the water. – Washington Examiner

Turkey

Two decades of state investment have transformed Turkey into a major exporter of drones and other military equipment, and the NATO member is now looking to build on that momentum as the ​West rearms and security alliances are reshaped. – Reuters

Turkey’s three state-run Islamic banks will merge, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, declaring a new initiative to boost the share of so-called participation banking in the financial system. – Bloomberg

Turkey is trying to connect underground fuel pipelines as part of a $28 billion infrastructure expansion by NATO to enhance the alliance’s fuel security, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg

Gonul Tol writes: Ukraine badly needs allies and revenue streams, and its entry into the Middle East will establish its role as a security provider. That Mr. Erdogan is helping to open the doors for Ukraine starkly underscores Mr. Putin’s waning ability to project global power and how much has changed in the relationship. It’s clear that Ankara is no longer balancing between Moscow and NATO and is tilting the field against Mr. Putin. Russia’s decline has given Turkey, after a decade of deference to Moscow, the freedom to pursue its interests. Ukraine is the beneficiary. – New York Times

Gulf States

Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates closed higher on ​Friday, with Dubai outperforming its ‌regional peer despite fading hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with ​Iran. – Reuters

Petroleum Development Oman ​said on Friday that operations at ‌Mina Al Fahal port are proceeding normally, after three sources told Reuters earlier that ​oil loading had been suspended ​following an explosion near its mooring berths. – Reuters

Last month’s drone attack on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant was a “serious compromise of nuclear safety, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday, adding any such attack “is unacceptable, a no-go, taboo.” – Agence France-Presse

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to roll out a new program to help Gulf allies rebuild after a series of Iranian attacks – paid for by tapping into Iran’s own assets. – New York Post

Korean Peninsula

After more than 100 visits to North Korea, Rowan Beard had come to expect long waits for a taxi under the Kim Jong Un regime. But on a recent visit to Pyongyang—his first in years—a vehicle arrived within minutes. – Wall Street Journal

Chinese President Xi Jinping said it was China’s ​unwavering policy to upgrade ties with North Korea, ‌and the two countries would work together to fight hegemony and attempts to revive militarism, according to comments published ​in North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun on ​Monday. – Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that ballot paper shortages in last week’s local elections dealt a serious blow ​to the country’s reputation as a model democracy, and he ‌welcomed the protests questioning the fairness of the process. – Reuters

North Korea plans to build a ‌10,000-ton destroyer and develop secret underwater weapons, state media said on Saturday, ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. – Reuters

South Korean President Lee Jae ​Myung has chosen Han Seongsook, ‌the country’s minister for small and midsize businesses and startups, to be prime ​minister, the presidential office ​said on Sunday. – Reuters

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a U.S. push for the denuclearization of North Korea an “anachronistic dream,” saying Sunday the North will steadily expand its nuclear arsenal in the face of U.S.-led threats. – Associated Press

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said his administration will unveil a large-scale investment project aimed at supporting a wider range of future growth engines while also preparing plans to leverage excess tax revenue generated by the semiconductor industry. – Bloomberg

South Asia

Until recently, Ashish Savita spent his days assembling earbuds and smartwatches at a factory on the outskirts of New Delhi and his nights studying for a college degree. The 22-year-old earned about $160 a month, barely enough to cover expenses. Then, after the factory raised production quotas by a fifth, he resigned. – Wall Street Journal

India and the United States are moving swiftly toward finalising the first tranche of ​a bilateral trade agreement that could be concluded ‌by mid-July, Indians Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. – Reuters

Lebanese army commander General ​Rudolf Haykal has ‌left on a visit to ​Pakistan, Lebanon’s ​army said on Saturday, ⁠amid Pakistani ​efforts to mediate ​an end to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with ​Iran that ​has also spilled into ‌Lebanon. – Reuters

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern over the arrest and detention of women in a western province for allegedly ​failing to comply with “dress requirements” and urged Taliban authorities to ‌treat all people equally. – Reuters

Europe

In a Great Game-style tug of war between Russia and the West for influence in the strategic South Caucasus, tiny Armenia is reaching toward the European Union and the United States, drawing punishing economic penalties from Moscow and even an oblique threat from President Vladimir Putin that the country could face the same terrible fate as Ukraine. – Washington Post

For eight decades since World War II, members of neo-Nazi parties have never been directly elected mayor of any town in Germany, amid a postwar effort to shape its national identity around a rejection of the Nazi era. – New York Times

French prosecutors said on Friday that they had opened a preliminary investigation into the treatment of French activists who have accused the Israeli authorities of abuse after the pro-Palestinian flotilla they were on was intercepted en route to Gaza. – New York Times

Italy has called for the creation of a new European defense alliance to safeguard the continent amid growing threats from Russia and a rising reluctance by the United States to guarantee Europe’s security. – New York Times

France is working with several countries to step up pressure on Israel by pressing ​ahead with coordinated national sanctions targeting individuals linked to violence in the West Bank, three European diplomats ‌said on Saturday. – Reuters

U.S. Defense Secretary ​Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday that Europe faced what he ‌called an invasion of dangerous ideologies arriving by sea, linking immigration to the legacy of the D-Day landings in remarks in Normandy. – Reuters

Two Romanian men whom British prosecutors said were acting as proxies for the Iranian government were on Friday found guilty of stabbing ​a journalist working for a Persian-language media organisation in London. – Reuters

The White House is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, the Telegraph reported on ​Sunday. U.S. officials have drawn up a proposal to bypass the U.K. ‌and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the report said. – Reuters

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party ‌won Kosovo’s parliamentary election on Sunday, the Balkan country’s third in just 18 months, but fell short of the majority needed to end the country’s prolonged political crisis. – Reuters

Hungary’s government will submit to parliament next ‌week anti-corruption legislation needed to release billions of euros worth of suspended European Union funding, Transport and Investment Minister David Vitezy said on Friday. – Reuters

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said he had spoken to JD Vance to contest comments the US vice president had made regarding the death of UK teenager Henry Nowak, which Vance blamed in part on Britain’s immigration policies. – Bloomberg

Switzerland’s army chief said the country is fast-tracking the purchase of anti-drone systems as incursions mount over civilian and military infrastructure. – Bloomberg

Top officials in the government of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán should be investigated over billions of euros in missing EU funds, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog told POLITICO. – Politico

France and Cyprus will sign on Monday a status of forces agreement allowing Paris to station troops on the Mediterranean island, two senior Cypriot government officials told POLITICO. – Politico

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to invade Greenland earlier this year were misunderstood, the American ambassador to the European Union said Friday. – Politico

Ireland announced on Friday that it has banned Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, slamming their behavior towards Gaza flotilla activists. – Agence France-Presse

Eliot Wilson writes: Burnham currently benefits from being the grass on the other side. He is a multipurpose messiah who promises economic growth and equality, first-rate public services, social justice, a quiescent private sector and a well-paid state sector, high wages and low unemployment and, perhaps, the secret to a perfect cup of tea. […] The cards will probably fall his way and see him become prime minister, though it is not inevitable. Starmer might walk away, or fight like the Spartans at Thermopylae. The government is currently paralyzed by internal warfare and will be for some weeks. Will Britain have a new prime minister by autumn? Yes. Or possibly no. More significantly, will it make any difference? – The Hill

The Americas

Her father saved Peru from hyperinflation and a blood-spattered Maoist insurgency but ended his presidency in disgrace, accused of vote-rigging, kleptocracy and murder. She herself has been jailed on charges of money laundering. – Washington Post

Right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella will face left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda on June 21 in a presidential runoff in ​Colombia, after Cepeda on Sunday belatedly acknowledged his defeat in the ‌first round of voting. – Reuters

Bolivia’s lower house approved a bill easing requirements for state of emergency declarations as protests and road blockades demanding President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation disrupt transport routes, deepen shortages and strain the economy. – Bloomberg

Chile’s government, like the US, is eager to return undocumented Venezuelans to their homeland. Washington needs to help by wielding its influence over the Venezuelan regime, according to a top Chilean lawmaker. – Bloomberg

Editorial: But it’s possible to overlearn the lessons of Iraq. Some form of imperfect democracy is necessary for long-run stability in Venezuela. No number of photo ops with senior U.S. officials will change the reality that Rodríguez is in charge because she and her former boss stole the last election — a fact that makes her hold on power tenuous. The Venezuelan government’s illegitimacy raises the risk of investing capital. Once real elections are held, U.S. companies will gain a clearer sense of whether it’s worth pouring in money. – Washington Post

Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes: Chavistas are said to be unhappy with where Ms. Rodríguez is taking the country. But she can point to her continued crackdowns on the opposition. It’s true, as Mr. Rubio said, that hundreds of political prisoners have been released since the start of the year and that some of them are important government critics. But the regime still holds more than 400 dissidents. And those who are no longer behind bars are often subject to gag orders, travel bans and orders to periodically appear in court. They haven’t regained their freedom. Neither has Venezuela. – Wall Street Journal

United States

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special ​envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law ‌Jared Kushner traveled to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee on ​Thursday to consult with experts ​that could play a role in ⁠nuclear negotiations with Iran, a source ​familiar with the trip said ​on Friday. – Reuters

President Donald Trump’s long-delayed immigration enforcement funding bill passed the US Senate early Friday, overcoming pushback from Republican dissidents concerned the administration would resurrect a controversial fund to pay political allies who claim to have been unfairly targeted by the federal government. – Bloomberg

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the Trump administration official laid out an ambitious campaign to reshape an institution critics say has become bloated, inefficient and increasingly disconnected from its founding mission. The effort comes at a pivotal moment for the United Nations. – Fox News

US sources have indicated to The Jerusalem Post that they reject the Saturday Pentagon leak to NBC News claiming Israeli espionage activity against the US and a related special alert, defining them as likely anti-Epic Fury sources. – Jerusalem Post

Editorial: These measures would broaden the scope of what the Wolf Amendment seeks to accomplish while providing NASA with the tools that it clearly needs. America’s scientific and technological know-how helped win the last Cold War, and it will be just as essential to winning this one. NASA’s mission may be “for the benefit of humanity,” but American taxpayers should not be underwriting research that strengthens Beijing’s military-industrial base. Congress should strengthen the Wolf Amendment, fund real enforcement, and make clear that access to U.S.-funded research is a privilege, not an entitlement for America’s adversaries. – Washington Examiner

Defense

Fourteen weeks after President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran, the U.S. military is adjusting to an unusual state of conflict that is not full-scale war, but also far from peace. – Reuters

The U.S. approved the $1.5 billion sale of five Seahawk maritime helicopters to New Zealand, which has ​pledged to nearly double its military spending as it seeks to ‌boost defence capabilities. – Reuters

The US Army has warned against lawmakers’ efforts to increase oversight for Defense Department data centers, saying the proposals risk jeopardizing efforts to build the facilities on military bases just as demand for computing power soars. – Bloomberg

The U.S. Army plans to order thousands of next-generation, short-range air defense missiles to replace the aging FIM-92 Stinger. – Defense News