Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

As U.S. and Israeli forces bombed Iran early this year, a poultry farmer in northern Israel decided to check on his chickens. When he launched the app on his phone for the webcam outside his coop, he was alarmed to see that its language had been switched to Arabic. He contacted Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, which found that hackers had taken control of the Chinese-made camera. – Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led Israel’s denunciations on Friday of the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a human rights lawyer who was drawn into the international spotlight last year when a United Nations commission she chaired found that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. – New York Times

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday postponed legislative elections due next month until September 11, 2027, ‌and called a presidential poll for the same date, blaming Israel and the security situation in the Palestinian territories for the delay. – Reuters

An Israeli strike killed at least two Palestinians ​in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, health ‌officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted a militant in the area, without giving further information. – Reuters

Almost all of Gaza’s population need tents or help with shelter ahead of winter, with the El Niño weather phenomenon expected ​to bring heavier rainfall, while supplies remain scarce due to Israeli ‌restrictions, the UN migration agency said on Friday. – Reuters

One teenager was killed and others were wounded, according to Israeli emergency response services, after an explosion on an Israeli school trip near the Lebanon border. – CNN

Hamas’s leadership views its ability to withstand the IDF over the past three years as a form of “victory,” despite Israel’s control of approximately 70% of the Gaza Strip, according to Friday intelligence presented to Israel’s senior political and defense leadership, including the prime minister and defense minister. – Jerusalem Post

An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Addis Ababa was forced to turn around midair overnight between Sunday and Monday, after Israel refused to let it land because the pilot is a citizen of Indonesia, according to Hebrew media reports. – Times of Israel

The fate of a French shipment meant for Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems was unclear on Sunday after anti-Israel activists apparently prevented it from being loaded onto two successive flights, including one from El Al. – Times of Israel

The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that it had killed at least five Palestinian terror operatives in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip over the past week, adding to 12 such deaths announced earlier in the week for a total of 17. – Times of Israel

Editorial: China repudiated its treaty with Britain to allow autonomy for Hong Kong, and it sniffed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s 2016 ruling against Beijing’s lawless claims in the South China Sea. The Nobel Committee might have honored publisher Jimmy Lai, who languishes in a Hong Kong prison for supporting democracy. Yet the Norwegians decided instead that this is the moment to honor a bureaucrat bent on punishing an Israeli democracy that does its best to follow the rule of law. By rewarding such moral confusion, the Nobel Committee has shown again why its once formidable prestige is degraded. The last thing this prize will do is promote the cause of peace. – Wall Street Journal

Editorial: While it is true that Mr. Abbas cooperates with Israeli security, the PA also has not shaken its support for murdering Jews.For a contrast with Mr. Abbas’s disdain for the vote, feature Israel’s election, scheduled to proceed in two weeks. While the contest is contentious, much of the electorate is united in the conviction that any Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would be disastrous. For the Europeans, that gimlet eyed assessment proves Israel isn’t serious about peace. The truth, though, is that the Jewish state realizes that after the tottering tyrant at Ramallah, le déluge. – New York Sun

Matthew Continetti writes: A tossup—what an apt yet bleak description of today’s moral stakes, of the present situation wherein so many Americans can’t distinguish between what is real and what is fake, what is good and what is bad, what is justified and what is lawless. Three years after Oct. 7, Israelis can spot the difference between friends and enemies and act appropriately. Many in the West can’t. That must change. Every day since Oct. 7 brings a fresh assessment of our ability to see plainly and to choose the right side. Be sharp. This exam isn’t over. – Wall Street Journal

Eli Lake writes: The humorist Tom Lehrer once quipped that satire died when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Apparently the Nobel committee never received the memo, because it murdered satire once again. On Friday the panel awarded its peace prize to the octogenarian antisemite, Navi Pillay. Jonathan Swift himself could not conjure a greater irony than bestowing a peace prize on Pillay. She was the head of a kangaroo commission that in 2025 concluded Israel had committed a genocide by defending itself after the October 7, 2023, massacre unleashed against it. – The Free Press

Michael Herzog writes: For now, more focus should be put on truly reforming the PA in order to enable and enhance its role in Gaza. At the same time, all actors should avoid politically legitimizing Hamas, whether by helping it participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections or by planning additional direct U.S. engagement with its officials. Finally, demilitarization and delegitimization should be complemented by deradicalization efforts, especially programs educating Gazans against Islamist radicalization and hate. Such programs have been a critical missing link in Gaza for too long—pursuing them would signal that Jerusalem and Washington have the strategic wisdom, patience, and perseverance to prevail in what will be a long game. – Washington Institute

Seth Mandel writes: I suppose France’s public-development agency could also threaten to wind down its equity investment in the Bank of Palestine. So there you have it. France has three main retaliatory options against the Palestinian Authority: boycott, divestment, sanctions. After all, BDS is just an economic pressure engine to bring about the two-state solution, right? That’s what I read in the papers. And Macron is serious about defending a path to the two-state solution. He says so all the time. And Macron would never lie to us. – Commentary Magazine

Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian strikes had hit energy infrastructure across his country hours after President Trump declared an energy ceasefire between the warring sides. – Wall Street Journal

NATO’s top military commander sought to steady an anxious Europe on Monday, outlining the alliance’s new military plan to thwart a potential Russian assault along its eastern flank with a mix of firepower, autonomous systems and sensors that borrows from the lessons of Ukraine.  – Wall Street Journal

President Trump pushed Russia and Ukraine to agree to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure, as the White House continued to face bipartisan criticism over moves in recent days to ease U.S. pressure on Moscow and shift blame for the continued fighting to Kyiv. – Wall Street Journal

Nearly two months had passed without any food deliveries to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky when Maria Zakhavko decided she and her husband had to leave. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump said Friday his administration reached an agreement for Russia to supply hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel, marking a major policy shift that eases pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine in hopes of lowering domestic fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. – Wall Street Journal

President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for stoking his country’s conflict with Russia and said that he should be replaced. – Washington Post

A Ukrainian drone barrage shut down Moscow’s airports for hours on Friday, as several Russian government aircraft reportedly bringing President Vladimir V. Putin and his aides back from a summit in Turkmenistan were returning to the Russian capital. – New York Times

Russia will be able to return diesel exports to levels above those US President Donald Trump has outlined under a ‌deal with Moscow which has been criticised by Ukraine and some US lawmakers, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday. – Reuters

Russia carried out drone strikes on various targets ​in Ukraine on ​Monday, including on vessels ⁠carrying military cargo, ​Russia’s Defence Ministry said. – Reuters

Ukraine expects the European Union ‌to approve opening the second and third stages of its accession talks on ​Tuesday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha ​said on Monday. – Reuters

The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea ​proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ‌to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall ​peace deal instead. – Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday in response to critical comments from US ​President Donald Trump that he will organize elections in Ukraine if ‌Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to a 60-day ceasefire. – Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed on Saturday that Russia was expressing its “thanks” for a diesel deal agreed with the United States by attacking Ukraine, after fresh Russian attacks killed 15 people, according to authorities. – Agence France-Presse

The European Union imposed sanctions on Monday on almost 1,600 Russian people and companies linked to Russia’s arms industry, notably targeting those suspected of involvement in making parts for drones and missiles. – Associated Press

Russia had more than 50,000 casualties in Ukraine last month, with as many as 28,000 personnel killed — vastly more than losses by Ukrainian forces, according to a senior NATO military official. – Bloomberg

Editorial: Mr. Trump is scapegoating Ukraine for rising diesel prices, and on Saturday he said Kyiv “better damn well stop” its strikes on Russian refineries. But is Ukraine supposed to sit back and take the Russian blitz? Oil and gas exports fund Mr. Putin’s military, and Russian energy production is a legitimate war target. Mr. Trump made a major concession Friday with a pause on diesel sanctions that will allow Russian energy companies to rake in some $4.5 billion. Yet Mr. Putin is giving him nothing we can see in return. The Russian refusal to accept an energy cease-fire is the latest evidence that Mr. Trump’s courtship isn’t working. – Wall Street Journal

Jillian Kay Melchior writes: The West can do more to help Ukraine get through this dangerous interval. F-16s are the most reliable defense against jet drones, but Ukraine is flying them far more than the West anticipated, and too many are now out of commission pending maintenance in Belgium. Ukraine was caught unprepared for the jet-drone threat in part because of financial constraints that force it to choose between competing defense research-and-development and procurement priorities. Europe has frozen billions in Russian assets, and it can strengthen its own deterrence by transferring some of that money to Ukraine. – Wall Street Journal

Marc Champion writes: The attempt to restore not necessarily the USSR or Russian Empire, but the idea of Russia as a great power supersedes all other Kremlin concerns, including for the economy, welfare or popular approval. Putin will abandon his vision only if he becomes convinced it cannot be achieved, and that to continue in the attempt is more dangerous to him personally than to settle. This question will be decided by force, even if it ends in a negotiated ceasefire, because Russia’s now sovereign neighbors have their own ideas of history and heritage. They, too, want to exist. – Bloomberg

Matteo Mecacci writes: Finally, increasing Ukraine’s ability to defend itself would not only help protect its people, but also improve the prospects for meaningful negotiations. It could make serious talks possible. When a government negotiates while its civilian population and energy network remain systematically exposed, it is being coerced rather than offered a sustainable peace. Any viable settlement will require monitoring, enforcement, credible guarantees, and Ukraine’s continued ability to defend itself. – The National Interest

Lebanon

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to establish a new support ​mission in Lebanon aimed at advising and training the ‌country’s military and internal security forces. – Reuters

Lebanon will carry out a thorough investigation to track down the suspected members of the militant Hezbollah group believed to be linked to an explosives-laden truck intercepted at the Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint last week, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday. – Associated Press

Lebanon said an Israeli attack on Friday wounded six people, as Israel said it targeted a Syrian terror operative who planned attacks under Iranian instructions. – Times of Israel

Middle East & North Africa

Oil prices recovered from early losses and settled slightly higher Friday as traders weighed President Trump’s pledge not to attack Iran before the U.S. midterm elections against persistent shipping risks in the Persian Gulf and extensive offshore production shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico. – Wall Street Journal

Morocco’s centrist Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), who topped last month’s parliamentary election vote, will form a ​coalition government with three other parties, the four ‌parties said on Monday. – Reuters

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that Moroccan naval vessels entered Spanish waters off Ceuta without permission after late July’s mass ​migrant crossing into the North African enclave, state broadcaster TVE reported. – Reuters

Libya’s military brigade seized more than 1.3 million narcotic pills after a firefight with ​smugglers in a southeastern town that injured three soldiers, ‌the military said on Friday. – Reuters

King Mohammed VI said on Friday that Morocco’s efforts to curb irregular ​migration had produced “concrete results,” but that the current cooperation ‌model with Spain had reached its limits amid recurring crises. – Reuters

Editorial: Put aside the question of Iranian involvement in the incident. The Islamic Republic failed last week. Two slogans of the Iranian Revolution come to mind: “death to Israel” and “death to the United States.” Since 1979, the regime has funded terrorist groups and attacks outside its borders through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to achieve those aims. Through funding groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Tehran seeks to divide the Middle East and keep the U.S. out. It’s still not working. A Middle East where U.S.-brokered agreements facilitate Arab-Israeli cooperation is anathema to Iranian hegemony. – Washington Post

Anna Borshchevskaya and Sabina Henneberg write: Russia is using a network of military and private aircraft to sustain its forces in the Sahel, and Libya is a frequent launchpad for these operations. The United States and its partners can curtail this growing air fleet by adding to the sanctions they have already imposed in the past for activities such as supporting the Africa Corps/Wagner Group, abetting Russian arms proliferation in Africa, and so forth. These sanctions should be enforced through denial of overflight and refueling efforts, to make this tactic more expensive and time-consuming. – Washington Institute

China

China’s campaign to expand its reach in the Pacific has a new target: a chain of tiny Philippine islands that would be critical to any U.S. defense of Taiwan. – Wall Street Journal

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, intent on pouring trillions into making China a technological and military superpower, is presiding over a dangerous spiral of debt that is strangling the economy at home and damaging trade partners around the world. – Wall Street Journal

China is on the cusp of becoming a high-income country by the World Bank’s classification. But Beijing would rather not be grouped with the world’s wealthy nations. – Wall Street Journal

China-linked hackers compromised a regional organization’s network based in Suva, Fiji, between ​July and August 2026, the US ‌Embassy in Fiji said on Monday. – Reuters

China’s maritime actions off Taiwan’s east coast are “deeply destabilising” and only worsen tension, the US State Department said, after Reuters reported the first known sighting ​of a Chinese militia boat in those waters in August. – Reuters

Asia

A mosque in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and its leader have come under the spotlight because the co-pilot of the Israel-bound FlyDubai flight attended it during the period when investigators say he started on his path to radicalization. – New York Times

Singapore-based data centre developer DayOne on Tuesday said it secured ​an additional 15 billion ringgit ($3.67 billion) ‌in financing from a consortium of seven banks, including DBS Group and Standard ​Chartered, to fund its expansion ​in Malaysia. – Reuters

Taiwan Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun will attend a meeting of APEC finance ministers in ​Hong Kong next week, her ministry said on ‌Tuesday, at a time when Beijing has stepped up military and political pressure on Taipei. – Reuters

ASEAN foreign ministers ​will during a ‌meeting next month seek to ​tackle the ​transboundary haze blanketing ⁠parts of ​the region, the ​bloc’s chair, the Philippines, said on ​Tuesday. – Reuters

Taiwan defence minister Wellington ​Koo said on Monday that the military is monitoring a series of Chinese live-fire drills ‌taking place along the country’s coast this week. – Reuters

The Philippines on Monday moved a step closer to restricting social media ‌use among minors after its lower house of Congress approved a measure banning access to platforms for children under 13. – Reuters

New Zealand votes in a general election on November 7 with opinion polls pointing to another close contest between the ruling centre-right National-led coalition and opposition parties, the largest of which is the centre-left Labour Party. – Reuters

Taiwan cherishes peace but will not give up its ​freedom, and there must be respect for the right of Taiwan’s people to exist, President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday in a National ‌Day speech, adding that boosting defences is not a provocation. – Reuters

Thailand is preparing to host the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok from October 12–18, bringing together more ​than 15,000 participants from 191 countries, including central bank ‌governors, economic policymakers and business leaders, for discussions on the world economy. – Reuters

The United States lifted on Friday sanctions on the ​daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the country’s military, according to the US Treasury Department’s website, ‌after she filed a suit seeking removal from the blacklist. – Reuters

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip next week’s annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok, Thailand, due to domestic ​engagements, a US official said on Friday. – Reuters

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will ​say in his national day speech that boosting defences and spending more on the ‌military is not a “provocation” but a reflection of the Taiwanese people’s hope to maintain peace and freedom, an official said. – Reuters

The leader of an Australian Islamic center said he has no links to the FlyDubai co-pilot who attempted to hijack a plane, following allegations from the United Arab Emirates that there was an association with the center. – Bloomberg

Africa

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South African human-rights lawyer and judge Navi Pillay in recognition of a decadeslong career “ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.” – Wall Street Journal

Dozens of gold workers in northern Sudan were killed over the weekend after warplanes bombed an open air mine near the Egyptian border, according to Sudanese rights groups, graphic video and eyewitnesses interviewed by The New York Times. – New York Times

Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has launched a new political-military coalition to replace the AFC-M23 alliance fighting government forces in ​eastern Congo, taking a more direct role in an ‌insurgency he had previously stopped short of openly backing. – Reuters

Ethiopia has launched its first gold refinery, ​a $50 million joint venture aimed ‌at turning the East African nation into a regional processing hub for precious metals, ​Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said ​over the weekend. – Reuters

At least 139 migrants, including at least 15 children, have died and around 84 are missing after a boat carrying more than 300 people capsized while sailing from Djibouti to Yemen, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration said on Sunday. – Reuters

Gunmen ambushed a convoy of traders travelling to a ​market under military escort and killed at least 20 ‌people in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, a witness and a military source said on Monday. – Reuters

Eritrea ​asked the UN Security Council on Saturday to take deterrent measures against Ethiopia, according to a letter seen by Reuters, saying Addis ‌Ababa’s accusations of an invasion by Eritrean forces amounted to a “declaration of war”. – Reuters

Ethiopia said an “all-out invasion” by Eritrean forces had left it with no option but to defend itself, in a letter to the UN ‌shared with Reuters on Friday, as blasts continued near the border between the two countries. – Reuters

Clashes last week between armed groups from rival communities in the central part of South Sudan left scores of people dead and overwhelmed a hospital with wounded people, officials said. – Associated Press

Mauritania appointed Mohamed Ould Abdel Vetah as energy and petroleum minister in a government reshuffle announced Saturday, marking the return of a former minister who was in office during a key gas sales deal. – Bloomberg

United States

The Trump administration announced sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, threatening to dismantle the institution after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. – Wall Street Journal

President Trump has appointed Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator, as the new White House press secretary. Zacharia currently serves as a communications adviser to Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social platform where Trump frequently posts. – Wall Street Journal

US federal agents searched the Washington home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Monday as part of a criminal investigation, US media reported, marking a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump’s confrontation with the outspoken lawmaker. – Agence France-Presse

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Chinese espionage is “extremely pervasive” in the U.S. following the arrest of an alleged Chinese agent in Los Angeles this month. – Fox News

The FBI accused an 18-year-old man of buying an AK-47 assault rifle with plans to commit a mass shooting in support of ISIS at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, the largest indoor shopping mall in North America. – Times of Israel

Editorial: Even now, as Mr. Rubio drops the hammer, he’s still giving the ICC an 180-day grace period on many of the sanctions for it to “address fundamental U.S. concerns.” More likely, the ICC will use these months as it used the past 21 months—to run out more of the clock on the Trump Presidency. The European Commission has pledged to help the court continue operations, which will probably include preparing to evade U.S. sanctions. If Messrs. Trump and Rubio leave this too late, the ICC will outlast them and seek revenge. – Wall Street Journal

Tim Echols writes: Mr. Hegseth didn’t say that his Fortress America would include nuclear power, and maybe that’s why it didn’t cause a stir. But old energy regulators like me, who have suffered through the construction of two nuclear units in Georgia, know there is no other way to do what Mr. Hegseth is aspiring to do. This would be a 50-year project, but it would be the most significant legacy from the Trump administration. Here’s hoping they can get it started.  – Wall Street Journal

Bret Stephens writes: Finally, it is obscene because Mamdani is the mayor for about one million Jewish New Yorkers, many with close relatives in Israel, who deserve better on a day of grief than to be offered the equivalent of an “All Lives Matter” homily. This is yet another of the double standards through which modern-day Jew hatred manifests itself: Whenever antisemitism is mentioned in progressive circles, it is inevitably accompanied by nods about Islamophobia or other bigotries. It would be better to have a mayor who, if only on Oct. 7, can say: Jewish Lives Matter. Israeli Lives Matter. Full stop. The lectures about Gaza can come some other day. – New York Times

Defense

In August, President Trump directed the Navy to figure out how to return to using steam catapults on aircraft carriers to hurl fighter jets into the air. For U.S. military officials, the order marked the return of an old foe: Bill Jones. – Wall Street Journal

Under a blistering desert sun, the U.S. Army strained to show it had become a modern, AI-powered fighting force. Some blamed the heat. It was July in the Mojave Desert, and the thermometer climbed toward 110 degrees. Servers overheated. – Wall Street Journal

Soon after a July cabinet meeting ended at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland, President Trump turned to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with an order: “Get Feinberg on the phone.” – Wall Street Journal

Trump said the Pentagon would place the new home of the US Submarine Component Repair Center in Cleveland, calling it “a big deal that everybody wanted.” The 46,000 square foot facility “will manufacture, repair, maintain key parts for virtually all new and existing submarines,” he added. – Bloomberg

Eighty-one aircraft in the US military have been destroyed or damaged during the war with Iran, a congressional Research Service report released this week said. – Jerusalem Post

The U.S. Army kickstarted a military occupational specialty focusing on robotics and unmanned systems with an induction ceremony this month at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. – Defense News

The latest iteration of Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 family of missile interceptors is designed to bring extreme agility to bear against a diverse array of missile threats, Defense News learned. – Defense News

Sikorsky on Monday introduced a containerized kit that packs four of its Nomad 100 drones and the gear needed to fly them into a single shipping container. The announcement came as the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting opened in Washington. – Defense News

GM Defense announced on Monday that the Army has expanded orders for the Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, from the initial 649 to nearly 12,000. – Defense News

The South Carolina-based startup Powerus unveiled a fully autonomous version of its Guardian interceptor on Monday at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting. – Defense News

The U.S. Army has taken delivery of its first Korean-made mobile tactical cannon less than a year after first issuing a solicitation, service officials said Thursday. – Defense News

Editorial: Anduril’s new submarine facility in Baltimore will be an exciting addition to an ossified defense industrial base that needs to accelerate production of Virginia-class attack submarines. But the U.S. government did not need to take an equity stake in a project where it’s the main customer. Having a guaranteed customer cuts out a level of risk that most private ventures face when coming to market. Anduril’s payoff will depend largely on future defense appropriations, but there’s strong bipartisan demand for building subs. That alone gives investors in the capital markets plenty of confidence to invest, which is why Trump’s 40 percent announcement was puzzling. – Washington Post

Glen VanHerck writes: Third, the FAA, DoW, and interagency stakeholders must establish joint policy and funding frameworks—updating policies, formalizing shared operating procedures, and jointly funding this digital bridge. The required investment is negligible compared to the massive national security and economic returns. SMART keeps national airspace moving efficiently. By feeding it live, accurate military airspace data—and providing defense commanders with the same operational picture—the Golden Dome architecture will gain the foundation required to execute its mission safely and decisively while ensuring the security of civil aviation. – The National Interest