Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

Israel said it used a laser air-defense system to shoot down drones in wartime, deploying weapons that would mark a technological leap on the battlefield. – Wall Street Journal

A new aid system backed by Israel delivered more food in Gaza on Wednesday, but residents who lined up outside distribution centers complained of limited supplies and disorder, one day after the effort was marred by scenes of chaos and looting. – Wall Street Journal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government hit back at growing international pressure over the war in Gaza on Wednesday, amid deepening signs of division over the war at home, 600 days after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. – Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief and the younger brother of the Palestinian militant group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack, Yahya Sinwar, had been killed. – Reuters

So Merz’s rebuke of Israel on Tuesday over its widening military operations in Gaza was a remarkable turnabout for many. “What the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, I no longer understand the goal,” he said. “To harm the civilian population in such a way, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism.” – Reuters

US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff has presented Israel and Hamas with a modified version of his outline for a partial hostage release-ceasefire deal, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post

The IDF is removing some of its wartime forces from the Lebanese border, moving Division 146 further inland for other missions while leaving Division 91 on the border, it said on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post

Six hundred days into the war that erupted on October 7, 2023, Israel has eliminated nearly all of Hamas’s senior leadership in Gaza, yet the group continues to wield strategic leverage through its extensive tunnel network and the captivity of 58 hostages. – Jerusalem Post

Moldova’s relations with Israel “have never been better,” Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi told The Jerusalem Post this week during his first-ever trip to Israel. – Jerusalem Post

The United Arab Emirates lays into Israel over this week’s Jerusalem Flag March, characterizing it as an “annual spectacle of unchecked violence and extremist provocation” while issuing a rare warning against Israel if Jerusalem does not take “decisive steps” against the phenomenon. – Times of Israel

Editorial: The threats failed: Gazans overran the Hamas blockades. The European nations that have taken to condemning Israel for continuing to seek Hamas’ surrender or destruction should take note. Hamas is the side out to commit genocide here, and wholly responsible for normal Gazans’ suffering — and those civilians know it. The Europeans and UN functionaries need to quit enabling the real war criminals, and start supporting Israel, the region’s beacon of humanitarianism. – New York Post

Editorial: Hamas might have achieved a Pyrrhic victory there, but it’s no achievement to be proud of. Israel is at a perilous time in its history. Never has its image in the public consciousness been so maligned, its actions never more scrutinized. It is imperative that, as the Jewish state, the representatives of Israel recognize the dangers that Jews worldwide face. – Jerusalem Post

Mordechai Kedar writes: For many years, Azerbaijan has been a steadfast friend to Israel and this did not change even after October 7, despite its geographic and cultural proximity to Iran. It deserves recognition from the United States as a key strategic partner. Azerbaijan mediates conflicts, collaborates closely with Israel, and just as it remains loyal to Jerusalem, it is ready to be a loyal partner to Washington as well. – Jerusalem Post

Moshe Phillips writes: Surely a “full-blown famine” a year ago would have meant a huge percentage of Gazans would have already starved to death – but that has not happened. How can anyone take WFP at their word? The facts do not add up. The WFP cannot be trusted. Gazans are not starving – and it is Israel that is preventing that from happening. The UN agency’s top leaders and its managers in the Middle East must be replaced if WFP is to be ever seen as a true source of information. – Jerusalem Post

Russia and Ukraine

Germany will step up financial and military aid to Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday, the latest sign that Europe is moving to replace the U.S. as Kyiv’s key military supporter in its war with Russia. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump played down the possibility of new sanctions on Moscow and said he would know in about two weeks if Russian President Vladimir Putin is committed to ending its war in Ukraine. – Wall Street Journal

Russia and Ukraine will meet next Monday in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks if the Kremlin produces its promised memorandum of terms for an agreement. – Washington Post

Turkey’s foreign minister will travel to Kyiv on Thursday for a two-day visit after discussing peace efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in Moscow earlier this week, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Wednesday. – Reuters

Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it struck several Russian weapon production sites during a major overnight drone attack that Moscow said its air defences had repelled. – Reuters

Ukraine has protested to the international atomic energy watchdog about reports that Russia is building power lines to connect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to its own grid, a Ukrainian official said on Wednesday. – Reuters

The Kremlin, commenting on remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” by refusing to engage in ceasefire talks with Kyiv, said on Wednesday that national interests were paramount to the Russian leader. – Reuters

President Vladimir Putin’s conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, according to three Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations. – Reuters

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on western allies to provide about $30 billion by the end of the year to boost domestic weapons production and hold off Russia’s advance. – Bloomberg

Editorial: An emboldened and war-hardened Russia will endanger Europe, strengthen China and undermine America’s strategic position globally. A bipartisan bill with 80 cosponsors in the Senate includes a 500% tariff on imports from countries buying Russian energy exports. If the administration really wants to bring peace, it should consider letting some version of the legislation go ahead — and calling Putin’s cynical bluff. – Bloomberg

Editorial: Trump says he’ll give Putin two more weeks to prove he’s willing to take measurable steps toward peace, but the president’s patience is clearly running out. Time to line up “bad thing” No. 1: the bipartisan Senate “secondary sanctions” bill. With zero coverage by elite media, Trump brokered this month’s cease-fire between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan; he may yet pull off a peace in Ukraine. But first he needs to face down the bluffs and bring Putin to his senses. – New York Post

Seth Cropsey and Harry Halem write: Washington would also escalate intelligence activity against Russian spies in Europe and apply sanctions and intelligence pressure to Georgia, Belarus and even within Russia if Moscow doesn’t negotiate in good faith. Mr. Trump was right when he said Mr. Putin has been “just tapping me along.” The only answer is effective deterrence—or history, with its many failures, will repeat itself. – Wall Street Journal

Kseniya Kirillova writes: But the authorities will strive to avoid such unpopular measures, and one way of doing so would be to engineer a pause in the war or a reduction in its intensity. It is important for both Ukraine and the West to understand this weakness in Moscow’s negotiating position. – Center for European Policy Analysis

Middle East & North Africa

Lebanon’s army has largely disarmed Hezbollah in its southern strongholds—in part with the help of Israeli intelligence—as the country’s new government moves to enforce a cease-fire that halted an intense wave of fighting with Israel last year. – Wall Street Journal

Despite claims by the Defense Department to the contrary, legal teams representing the U.S. and Qatari governments have not finalized an agreement for transferring the luxury Boeing 747-8 jetliner that President Donald Trump wants for Air Force One amid outstanding requests by Qatar for Washington to clarify the transaction’s terms, said officials familiar with the matter. – Washington Post

Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia are considering allowing more cross-border financial products, authorities said on Thursday, as the two markets seek to deepen financial ties amid rising trade uncertainties. – Reuters

Henri J. Barkey writes: The fact is that the indomitable Erdogan has run out of room to maneuver. By choosing the time and manner of his exit, he could help ease the transition to a new leader and ensure Turkey is at peace with itself. He can still shape his legacy. His personality, however, suggests that he is unlikely to embark on such a shift. If he sticks to his typical approach, there is a significant risk that the Turkish public will turn decisively against him—and that his long, eventful tenure in office will be remembered more simply as an era of autocracy. – Foreign Affairs

China

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced plans to crack down on Chinese holders of student visas and ramp up scrutiny of new visa applicants from China and Hong Kong, escalating the Trump administration’s confrontational approach to Beijing. – Washington Post

European companies, many of which have operated in China for decades, are finding it increasingly difficult to do business in the country, another sign of how China’s weak domestic economy and opaque regulations are testing even longstanding multinational business ties. – New York Times

The Trump administration has suspended some sales to China of critical U.S. technologies, including those related to jet engines, semiconductors and certain chemicals and machinery. – New York Times

China has a space station and, in just a few short years, has landed robots on the moon and Mars. This week the country’s space agency is targeting new, far-flung destinations and setting off for an asteroid that could contain secrets that explain how Earth and the moon formed. – New York Times

Satellite imagery shows China landed two of its most advanced bombers in the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea this month – a gesture that some analysts described as Beijing’s latest signalling of its growing military capabilities to rivals. – Reuters

China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. – Reuters

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged increased support from the world’s second-largest economy to Pacific Island countries in addressing climate change, during a summit China’s Xiamen on Wednesday, according to a ministry readout. – Reuters

Asia

Japan, which has the highest government debt among leading economies, is finding it difficult to spend like it used to. Debt-fueled public spending, enabled by low interest rates, has long been a way to address the country’s problems. – New York Times

Cambodian authorities have said they detained some Japanese nationals in a joint effort to crack down on fraud centres in Cambodia, a Japanese government spokesperson said on Thursday. – Reuters

Japan is considering using the purchase of U.S. defence equipment as a bargaining chip in tariff talks, its top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Thursday as he heads for a fourth round of the negotiations in Washington this week. – Reuters

France and Indonesia have signed a preliminary defence pact that could lead to new orders of French military equipment including Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene submarines, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday. – Reuters

The Economist’s latest printed edition for Asia featuring Vietnam’s top leader To Lam on its cover has been banned in Vietnam, sources at two local media distributors told Reuters, in a new instance of censorship in the Communist-run country. – Reuters

Samoa’s parliament will dissolve on June 3 and the Pacific Island nation will hold an election at an unspecified date, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said on Wednesday. – Reuters

East Timor said Thursday it would deport a former Filipino congressman charged with multiple murders in the Philippines and added that he was a national security threat whose presence could damage the country’s image ahead of its entry to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. – Associated Press

Japan is stepping up efforts to deter China’s military ambitions in the Asia-Pacific as Tokyo and other US partners seek clarity from the Trump administration about its plans to counter Beijing’s power in the region. – Bloomberg

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet agreed to resolve a border row “as quickly as possible” after gunfire exchanges between rival troops early on Wednesday left a Cambodian soldier dead. – Bloomberg

Africa

The Trump administration is wading into a long-running dispute between its allies in the oil patch and six Central African countries that could derail fossil-fuel projects valued at more than $130 billion. – Wall Street Journal

Namibia honoured the victims of mass killings during German colonial rule with an inaugural memorial day on Wednesday, as politicians and affected communities voiced fresh calls for reparations from Berlin. – Reuters

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) faces growing threats of terrorism, climate change, military coups, and poverty, its most senior official said on Wednesday as leaders marked 50 years since the bloc’s formation in Nigeria. – Reuters

Destroyed bridges, blackouts, empty water stations and looted hospitals across Sudan bear witness to the devastating impact on infrastructure from two years of war. – Reuters

United States

President Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 26 people in recent days, including former Republican lawmakers, reality-television stars and a one-time gang leader convicted of murder. – Wall Street Journal

A federal trade court ruled President Trump didn’t have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on virtually every nation, voiding the levies that have sparked a global trade war and threatened to upend the world economy. – Wall Street Journal

Justice Department lawyers said on Wednesday that the government was taking steps to comply with a court order to facilitate the return of a man who had been deported to Mexico and was then sent to Guatemala. – New York Times

China’s wariness of bitcoin should encourage the U.S. to embrace the world’s largest cryptocurrency and build on its strategic advantage in the digital asset, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday. – Reuters

The Trump administration is telling immigration officials to ramp up arrests to 3,000 per day with a goal of more than 1 million a year, according to a person familiar with the discussions, a target that would significantly escalate the pace of detentions. – Bloomberg

Editorial: The Trump EOs are an abuse of executive power that isn’t justified under any fair reading of the Constitution. The rulings against the EOs are powerful enough, and the Administration’s arguments in defense are flimsy enough, that we suspect the firms will prevail again if the White House appeals. Mr. Trump doesn’t like to lose, but in these cases he would be wise to cut his losses before he goes zero for nine at the Supreme Court. – Wall Street Journal

Kyle Balzer writes: Thus, to ignore the conventional factor in nuclear deterrence would be to raise the threshold for U.S. involvement in Europe while lowering the threshold for Russian aggression, all the while weakening deterrence in Asia. Prioritization is a necessary ingredient in any sound strategy. However, for a global power like the U.S., prioritization can hardly be construed as an ingredient for deciding in which theater to skirt responsibility. Such an approach would constitute throwing strategy making to the wind. – The Hill

Brahma Chellaney writes: Trump is forcing the conversation. And while sowing some chaos, he is shaking the international order toward a long-overdue realignment. Whether history sees him as a reckless disruptor or a reluctant reformer will depend on whether his shock therapy leads to a sturdier global architecture — or merely a deeper rupture. – The Hill

Defense

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will try to convince Asian defence leaders this weekend that the United States is a more trusted partner for the region than China, U.S. officials told Reuters, as questions linger about the Trump administration’s commitment to the region. – Reuters

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered staff cuts at the congressionally mandated Pentagon office that oversees tests of major weapons systems, to ensure they’re effective and maintainable, before billions of dollars are spent on them. – Bloomberg

The U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air Wing 1 engaged in the largest maritime strike in Navy aviation history in terms of bomb tonnage earlier this year, a defense official confirmed to Military Times. – Navy Times

Marine Corps and Army missile systems are set to deploy to a key chokepoint in the Philippine Island chains for anti-ship drills during the military exercise known as KAMANDAG. – Defense News