Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

A man who shouted “Free Palestine!” fatally shot two Israeli Embassy staff members late Wednesday near a Jewish museum in downtown Washington, law-enforcement officials said. – Wall Street Journal

In the days following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israelis were unified in the belief that the country had to fight back. More than 19 months later, many are saying it is time to stop. – Wall Street Journal

Israeli soldiers fired warning shots near a large group of diplomats from Europe, the Middle East and Asia who were touring the West Bank city of Jenin, sparking criticism from participating countries at a time when Israel faces growing pressure to end the war in Gaza. – Wall Street Journal

About 90 trucks carrying flour, baby food and nutritional supplements entered the Gaza Strip late Wednesday, local officials and the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency said, the first tranche of aid to reach the besieged territory in more than two months. – Washington Post

Pope Leo XIV called on Wednesday for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, using his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square to highlight a situation he described as “heart-rending.” – New York Times

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed speculation of a falling out with the U.S. administration following a visit to the Gulf by U.S. President Donald Trump that left out Israel. – Reuters

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that a government decision to sack the head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet was “illegal and contrary to law”, Israeli media reported on Wednesday. – Reuters

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen targeting Israel early on Thursday, in the latest attack bearing the hallmarks of Yemen’s Houthi militants. – Reuters

Britain pledged 4 million pounds ($5.4 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza, the government said on Wednesday, as its Minister for Development Jenny Chapman visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. – Reuters

Israel has probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. – Reuters

The U.N. said Wednesday it was trying to get the desperately needed aid that has entered Gaza this week into the hands of Palestinians amid delays because of fears of looting and Israeli military restrictions. Israeli strikes pounded the territory, killing at least 86 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. – Associated Press

The United Nation’s humanitarian relief chief is being called on to resign after his incorrect interpretation of a UN food security report kickstarted a widespread misinformation campaign about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. – New York Sun

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he is somewhat optimistic that a deal between Israel and Hamas will soon be reached that would see the release of all the hostages and end the war in Gaza, but he subsequently acknowledged that he has felt this way before. – Times of Israel

Following long months of bureaucratic processes, the Hamas ban in Switzerland finally came into effect last week. – Jerusalem Post

Anti-Hamas protests erupted in the Gaza Strip for a third straight day on Wednesday, after indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group in Qatar failed to yield any breakthroughs. – Algemeiner

Michael Koplow writes: Aside from being a critical tool of U.S. diplomacy in the region, the Office of the Security Coordinator is also a model for sustainable multilateral American engagement. The U.S. leads the mission, and 11 other NATO countries participate, providing their own personnel, funding and expertise.  It is an example of successful burden sharing, one that costs the U.S. less than $40 million annually and that acts as a force multiplier by drawing in other partners. It is precisely the type of vision that President Trump has articulated for the U.S. role in the world and in relation to American allies. – The Hill

Eric R. Mandel writes: Still, they must remember that unless Israel is perceived as strong and has reliable American backing, those nations will not take the chance to engage diplomatically and economically. A new foreign policy era is upon America and Israel. Still, I am cautiously optimistic that future administrations will return to the realization that America needs Israel as much as Israel needs the US, based on both shared national security and value-based interests. – Jerusalem Post

Gabriel Epstein writes: The document—spotlighting the massive scale of the human tragedy unleashed by Hamas’s massacre—reflects a significant effort by Gaza health officials to record and identify all those killed. Yet methodological questions persist about the ministry’s opaque revision process and vetting of reports from family members. Moreover, the tally itself is far from complete, exemplified by unknowns about unreported deaths and missing persons that could eventually reshape media narratives about the war’s cost. And the ministry’s findings remain irreconcilable with the competing, entirely false figures published by the Hamas-run Government Media Office. – Washington Institute

Russia and Ukraine

On a call Monday, President Trump told European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t ready to end the Ukraine war because he thinks he is winning, according to three people familiar with the conversation. – Wall Street Journal

Two weeks after ascending the throne of Saint Peter, the first pope from the United States is being floated by world leaders for another pivotal role: peacemaker between Ukraine and Russia. – Washington Post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had spoken by telephone to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and that they had discussed joint steps and the need to put pressure on Russia to secure “a just peace”. – Reuters

Russia said on Thursday that it shot down 105 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, including dozens heading towards Moscow, as the war in Ukraine heats up while major powers discuss ways to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. – Reuters

Russian forces in Ukraine have made only small territorial gains this year amid steady resistance from Kyiv’s military, undercutting President Vladimir Putin’s assertions that his army has gained the upper hand in the war. – Bloomberg

Ukraine said its drones damaged a Russian semiconductor plant that it said is used to help produce fighter jets and missiles. – Bloomberg

Hours after President Trump announced that America is bailing out of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, Europe turned to Plan B. Britain and the European Union announced new sanctions on Russia. Germany moved ahead with its new plan to build Europe’s largest army. – New York Sun

Alexander J. Motyl writes: Meanwhile, Ukraine’s armed forces have effectively fought Russia to a standstill, while its military-industrial complex is well on the way to producing millions of drones and becoming self-sufficient with respect to armaments. […] More importantly, Ukraine can defeat Russia by continuing to stop its advances and thereby weakening its military beyond repair, undermining its economy and eliminating the real “root causes” of the conflict: Putin and his commitment to waging a genocidal war. – The Hill

Turkey

The United States will appoint President Donald Trump’s longtime advisor and current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack, as a special envoy for Syria, a person with direct knowledge of the matter and a diplomat in Turkey said. – Reuters

Israel and Turkey have established a 24/7 hotline aimed at preventing potential military flare-ups and misunderstandings in Syria, sources familiar with the discussions confirmed to Middle East Eye on Wednesday. The development follows direct talks between the two nations held in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, since April – Arutz Sheva

Turkish defense firm STM unveiled its new Multi-Role Support Ship design at this year’s Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia (LIMA 2025), underscoring Ankara’s efforts to expand its naval footprint and defense partnerships in Southeast Asia. – Defense News

Gabriel Mitchell writes: Still, the path to normalization must be laid now. If both sides can recognize that their long-term interests – regional security, economic growth, and connectivity – are better advanced through cooperation than confrontation, then mediation over military deconfliction today can open the door to broader and more meaningful engagement tomorrow. – Jerusalem Post

Korean Peninsula

A serious accident occurred on Wednesday during the launch of a new North Korean warship while Kim Jong Un was attending the event, with the isolated state’s leader calling it a “criminal act” that could not be tolerated, state media KCNA reported. – Reuters

North Korea fired multiple unidentified cruise missiles on Thursday morning, South Korea’s defence ministry said. – Reuters

South Korea will prepare support measures for agricultural and food exporters, while closely monitoring the impact of U.S. tariffs on the sector, the finance ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters

South Asia

More than a week after a ceasefire between Pakistan and India brought calm to this disputed borderland, the dead have been buried and much of the rubble cleared in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. But the subtler ways in which the fighting has changed the regional status quo are still emerging. – Washington Post

Security forces killed at least 27 people in central India on Wednesday, in an operation that the police said had targeted Maoist militants, as the authorities intensify a military campaign aimed at defeating the country’s decades-old leftist insurgency. – New York Times

Even after President Trump hit it with a 26 percent tariff, India had reason to be hopeful about trade negotiations with the United States. – New York Times

Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir is the most powerful man in the country, but his popular support has surged after the worst conflict in decades with arch-rival India, shattering criticism of interference in politics and harshly cracking down on opponents. – Reuters

Pakistan will not get water from rivers over which India has rights, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, a month after a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir led New Delhi to suspend a key river water-sharing treaty between the neighbours. – Reuters

Europe

The European Union launched an antidumping investigation into tires for passenger cars and light trucks imported from China. – Wall Street Journal

Gunmen killed a senior aide to the former Ukrainian president Viktor F. Yanukovych outside a school in a suburb of Madrid on Wednesday morning, according to the Spanish authorities and local news reports. – New York Times

The police in Germany arrested five teenagers in a raid on a violent neo-Nazi group founded by young people, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, as the country records the highest number of politically motivated crimes in nearly a generation. – New York Times

The British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer, said on Wednesday that he had spoken to diplomats who were affected by Israeli soldiers’ fire near a diplomatic delegation in the occupied West Bank, and said an investigation was needed. – Reuters

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil met United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday for a bilateral conversation on the sidelines of the G7 finance ministers’ consultations in Canada, a German source in G7 circles told Reuters. – Reuters

Greenland on Wednesday handed a 30-year mining permit to a Danish-French mining group aiming to extract a moon-like rock that could offer a climate-friendly alternative in aluminium production. – Reuters

Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the first time publicly advocated spending up to 5% of the German economy on defense. – Bloomberg

Romania will back Nato’s increased spending goal even as it starts to cut its own record public deficit, new president-elect Nicușor Dan has said, seeking to reassure foreign partners and investors about his country’s pro-western orientation. – Financial Times

Italy’s decision to tighten citizenship rules for the descendants of overseas emigrants has triggered an uproar in the US, home to a large Italian diaspora. – Financial Times

A German intelligence service has condemned the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as “hostile to the constitution” as a newly released report highlighted a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across the capital city of Berlin. – Algemeiner

KNDS Deutschland and Elbit Systems plan to form a EuroPULS joint venture this year to offer Precise and Universal Launching System (PULS) multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), Janes learnt at Defence iQ’s Future Artillery 2025 conference being held in London from 20 to 22 May. – Janes

The Americas

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne met Wednesday on the sidelines of the Group of Seven finance and central bank meeting as the two countries try to tamp down trade tensions that have roiled the bilateral relationship for months. – Wall Street Journal

Two top aides to Mexico City’s mayor were shot dead by at least one gunman on their way to work, officials said. – Washington Post

Dozens of people were injured during a protest outside Argentina’s Congress on Wednesday where activists and retired Argentines demanded higher pensions, according to Reuters witnesses. – Reuters

Canada’s finance minister said on Wednesday that he had a good meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and that both were pleased with the progress they were making. – Reuters

Canada is looking at potential investments in U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed $175-billion Golden Dome missile defense shield, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday. – Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the United States would sanction four Cuban judicial officials for their role in the detention of a political dissident in 2020. – Reuters

The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas. – Associated Press

Cybersecurity

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said U.S. export controls limiting the sale of advanced chips to China were a failure, contending they have galvanized Beijing to push ahead faster with its own artificial-intelligence technologies. – Wall Street Journal

The Intel factory is in the same neighborhood as the one set up by AMD, a rival chipmaker. A quick drive away is a plant built by HP. They are all part of a large thicket of buildings that evokes Silicon Valley but is in Malaysia. – New York Times

Marks & Spencer, one of Britain’s largest retailers, said on Wednesday that disruption from a “highly sophisticated” cyberattack that crippled operations over the last month was expected to linger until July and would cost the company about 300 million pounds ($400 million) in lost profits this year. – New York Times

Argentina-based investment group Grupo Werthein launched Illumia, a humanized generative AI service, with an initial investment of $40 million, the company said on Wednesday. – Reuters

Global companies are grappling with a surge in cyber and ransomware attacks, with increasingly sophisticated threat actors disrupting operations and compromising sensitive data across diverse sectors—from healthcare and financial services to retail and regulatory bodies. – Reuters

Britain and allies including the United States issued an advisory on Wednesday warning of a Russian state-sponsored cyber campaign targeting the delivery of support to Ukraine and Western logistics entities and technology companies. – Reuters

A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broader swathe of American officials than has previously been reported, according to a Reuters review, potentially raising the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the Trump administration. – Reuters

The European Union has unveiled a new sanctions package targeting individuals and entities linked to Russia’s hybrid warfare efforts, including its disinformation, sabotage and espionage campaigns across Europe and Africa. – The Record