Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel’s endgame in Gaza: Finish off Hamas where the war started US, Israeli negotiators to discuss Gaza ceasefire deal in Doha Israel says it killed Hamas commander who doubled as U.N. aid worker New York Sun’s Editorial: Who will judge the prosecutor? 'Don't count on THAAD' for protection: IRGC issues renewed threats to Israel ISIS’s Victoria Cheng: Karl Lee network procures controlled materials for Iran’s ballistic missile program Russia provided targeting data for Houthi assault on global shipping Ukraine intelligence agency says North Korean units already in Kursk region US State Dept OKs possible sale of TOW missiles to Saudi Arabia, Pentagon says International Criminal Court reports Mongolia to its oversight body for failing to arrest Putin Mozambique’s governing party candidate wins disputed Presidential election US targets Sudan weapons procurement director with sanctions, Treasury saysIn The News
Israel
A year into the war in Gaza, Israel is back at the site of its first battles and engaged in one of the most ferocious campaigns of the conflict, a do-over that offers a cautionary tale for its other war in Lebanon. – Wall Street Journal
Al Jazeera said it denies and “vehemently condemns” a claim by the Israel Defense Forces that six of its journalists were affiliated with militant groups in the Gaza Strip. – Washington Post
U.S. and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha in the coming days to try to restart talks toward a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, officials said on Thursday. – Reuters
Israel’s military said on Thursday it killed a Hamas commander who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel and also worked for the U.N. aid agency in the Gaza Strip. – Reuters
The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency will travel to Doha on Sunday to try to restart talks for a deal to release Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he welcomed Egypt’s willingness to advance a deal for the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip. – Reuters
Israel’s central bank chief said he expects the country’s multi-front conflict to continue until early next year, but start to ease within about a month. – Bloomberg
An Israeli group representing families of Gaza hostages called Thursday on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas to secure an agreement for the release of captives, after new truce talks were announced. – Agence France-Presse
The Jewish Agency and Azerbaijani rabbis have issued strong responses to accusations against immigrants from the former Soviet Union, following the arrest of seven suspects in an Iranian-linked spy ring in east Jerusalem. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: In that hall of legal mirrors, Israel, as Mr. Netanyahu once quipped, is always presumed guilty before it’s pronounced guilty. It is reasonable to assume that in such an environment, Mr. Khan believed that those who constantly seek to portray the Jewish state in the darkest colors, including as a war crimes perpetrator, would overlook his own alleged personal sins. At Hague, the heavy task of convicting Israel would trump such trivialities. – New York Sun
Eric R. Mandel writes: America, based on its value-based foreign policy, its national security interests, and as a message to allies around the world that it supports its friends even when there are difficult choices, needs to stand firmly with Israel against Iran and stand with the Iranian people who yearn for freedom and a new government – and Iran’s return to the family of nations. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
As it braces for an expected retaliatory strike from Israel, Iran has ordered the armed forces to be prepared for war but also to try to avoid it, having witnessed the decimation of its allies in Lebanon and Gaza. – New York Times
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday condemned the 15-nation UN Security Council for failing to tackle the Middle East conflict. – Agence France-Presse
IRGC chief Hossein Salami issued new threats to Israel on Thursday, warning the country not to count on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system for protection, Saudi media site Al-Hadath reported. – Jerusalem Post
Victoria Cheng writes: On September 1, 2020, Qiao initiated a wire transfer of approximately $6,255 from a bank account in the Southern District of New York to an account in China held by Lexing International Trade Co. Another transfer occurred on September 23, 2021, when Qiao wired $8,840 from the same New York based account to Lexing International Trade Co. It was later discovered that Lexing International Trade Co. was a front company created to mask Sinotech Dalian’s procurement activities, allowing the sanctioned company to circumvent OFAC regulations and secretly acquire materials for Iran’s missile procurement. – Institute for Science and International Security
Russia & Ukraine
Russia provided targeting data for Yemen’s Houthi rebels as they attacked Western ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones earlier this year, helping the Iranian-backed group assault a major artery for global trade and further destabilizing the region. – Wall Street Journal
Artillery thudded nearby one recent evening as medics rushed a soldier with blast wounds into a new type of Ukrainian field hospital buried underground. In the relative safety of their bunker, which lies under 10 feet of sandbags, earth, steel and pine logs, surgeon Yevhen Antoniuk and his team got to work. – Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions. – Wall Street Journal
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to obliquely acknowledge the presence of North Korean troops in Russia to foreign journalists Thursday and cited the article on mutual defense in the nations’ new security treaty. – Washington Post
Russian President Vladimir Putin cut a confident figure as he took the stage Thursday to give a closing news conference with hundreds members of the foreign press — a rare event since his invasion of Ukraine — to conclude a three-day summit designed to show the world that Russia is not a global pariah. – Washington Post
Russian President Vladimir Putin told BRICS leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of a full-scale war after a sharp rise in tension between Israel and Iran, though the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine. – Reuters
Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Thursday that the first North Korean units trained in Russia had been deployed in the Kursk region, a Russian border area where Ukrainian forces staged a major incursion in August. – Reuters
Russia sent two waves of drones at the Ukrainian capital overnight in its 15th air attack on Kyiv this month, city officials said on Friday. – Reuters
The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, voted on Thursday to ratify a treaty of partnership between Russia and North Korea. – Reuters
Tom Rogan writes: Were Putin to believe he could replace Lukashenko with another leader who would deploy Belarusian forces, he would likely do so. Putin’s problem is that such an action might lead to another uprising that saw Belarus align with the West. And that would be a disaster for Putin’s strategic vision. Put simply, it’s always a mistake to deal with Putin. Unless, that is, you can either hold him to his word, or you’re the one with the leash. – Washington Examiner
Ieva Ilves writes: Poland is taking a leading role, but the potential extends across the region. Ukraine’s example represents a living example of what can be achieved when necessity drives innovation. As the global tech race intensifies, nations, companies, and regions must find synergies to ensure that the future world driven by tech rests on democratic values. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Hezbollah
Israel’s military chief said there was a possibility for a “sharp conclusion” to the conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the military said on Thursday. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Thursday that five soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in southern Lebanon, where troops have been battling Iran-backed Hezbollah. – Reuters
IDF soldiers have raided several underground bases belonging to Hezbollah’s special unit, the Radwan Forces, the military announced on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
Turkey
Turkey’s foreign minister will travel to Djibouti next week to attend a Turkey-Africa ministerial meeting and discuss improving cooperation between Ankara and the continent, officials from his ministry said. – Reuters
Turkey launched fresh air strikes on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Syria and Iraq overnight, killing 59 militants, in response to a gun attack that killed five people in Ankara, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
Turkish drone maker Baykar is devoting resources to bring more component production in-house amid industry supply chain pressures, and will invest $300 million to develop jet engines, its chief executive told Reuters. – Reuters
Lebanon
World powers raised $1 billion to ease the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and support its army at a conference in Paris on Thursday, with France’s foreign minister urging Israel to heed the message to cease fire and focus on diplomacy. – Reuters
Prime Minister Netanyahu said as much in a new interview with the French television channel Cnews, evoking the need to “free Lebanon from the terror of Hezbollah and Iran.” – New York Sun
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in London on Friday with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati as Washington appeals to Israel to keep its military campaign against Hezbollah short, a US official said. – Agence France-Presse
Carlo Caro writes: Under Hezbollah’s influence, Lebanon’s political system has grown increasingly authoritarian, with key state institutions falling under clerical control. Its political machinations have worked to ensure that key allies like the Christian FPM and Frangieh’s Marada Movement remain beholden to its agenda. […] By embedding itself in Lebanon’s institutions and exploiting sectarianism, Hezbollah has paralyzed the country’s future and directly threatened U.S. interests in the Middle East. – Washington Examiner
Middle East & North Africa
An Egyptian security delegation met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo as part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Thursday, citing an unnamed official source. – Reuters
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of TOW missiles to Saudi Arabia for an estimated cost of $440 million, the Pentagon said on Thursday. – Reuters
A car bomb exploded in the area surrounding Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, wounding one civilian, state TV reported. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that the size of Egypt’s $8 billion loan programme is “still appropriate”, and that it will assess as a priority how effective the country’s social protection programmes are. – Reuters
Sonia Dahmani, a prominent Tunisian lawyer and critic of President Kais Saied, was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday on charges of insulting her country, her lawyer said. – Reuters
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Qatar for talks on Thursday with the key mediator on the war in Gaza, as he seeks momentum for a ceasefire after Israel’s killing the leader of Hamas. – Agence France-Presse
Korean Peninsula
For decades, Pyongyang’s growing nuclear arsenal has generated headlines. Now, as thousands of North Korean soldiers pour into Russia to help it fight the war in Ukraine, a much older threat has become relevant again: North Korea’s massive conventional forces, one of the largest in the world. – New York Times
South Korea plans to start regulating cross-border transactions of virtual assets such as cryptocurrency, bringing in registration and reporting requirements from the second half of 2025, the finance ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware of North Korean troops being in Russia, after the United States said it had seen evidence that North Korea had sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine. – Reuters
China
When Janet Yellen traveled to Beijing earlier this year, there was one person in particular she wanted to talk to: He Lifeng, one of the men holding the keys to the Chinese economy. – Wall Street Journal
When an alliance led by three rebel armies seized swathes of territory near Myanmar’s border with China from the military junta last October, Beijing looked the other way. A year on, rebel forces have ground down the junta, pushing the military out of vital borderlands and making inroads into the contested heart of Myanmar. – Reuters
India and China have started pulling back their troops from the face-off points on the disputed Himalayan frontier, an Indian government source familiar with the matter said. – Reuters
A potential Donald Trump victory and economic troubles at home have prompted China to embark on a charm offensive, particularly with US allies and partners. – Bloomberg
South Asia
The police in Sri Lanka have arrested three people over possible threats against tourists, specifically targeting visitors from Israel, Sri Lankan officials said on Thursday. – New York Times
The deafening roar of rocket launchers and mortar explosions shattered the tranquillity of Kurram, a Pakistani district of majestic peaks, ancient maple forests and fertile fields bordering Afghanistan. People huddled in makeshift bunkers, exchanging desperate volleys as their villages became battlegrounds. – New York Times
At least four people, including two soldiers, were killed when militants ambushed an army vehicle in India’s restive Kashmir on Thursday night, officials said, the second attack in the region this week. – Reuters
Pakistan is targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for funding from the IMF facility that helps low and middle income countries mitigate climate risk, its finance minister told Reuters. – Reuters
At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, police sources said. – Reuters
An Afghan province has banned all media from showing images of living things to ensure compliance with the Taliban’s morality laws. Thursday’s decision was announced by Information Ministry officials in Helmand, the latest province to crack down on broadcasting and photography of humans and animals. – Associated Press
Asia
A prominent Cambodian journalist known for his work exposing compounds in which people are forced to scam others online was released on bail on Thursday. He had been detained three weeks in a case that has been denounced by the United States and rights groups as an attack on press freedom. – New York Times
Japan’s voters could end more than a decade of Liberal Democratic Party dominance on Sunday, forcing the ruling party into power-sharing deals that could undermine the country’s leadership. – Reuters
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed recent exchange-rate moves, among other topics, in a bilateral meeting held on Thursday, a senior Japanese finance ministry official said. – Reuters
Taiwan cherishes its freedom and democracy and no “external force” can change its future, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Friday, visiting sensitive frontline islands next to China for the 75th anniversary of a key victory over communist forces. – Reuters
Vietnam is ready to work with BRICS, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said as he attended the group’s summit for the first time this week and held meetings with Chinese and Russian leaders. – Reuters
Indonesia has expressed its desire to join the BRICS group of major emerging economies, which accounts for 35% of global economic output, as a means to strengthen emerging countries, its foreign ministry said in a statement. – Reuters
A Chinese coast guard vessel was driven out of Indonesia’s waters for a second time this week after it initially disrupted a survey by state energy firm Pertamina in the South China Sea, Indonesia’s maritime security agency said on Thursday. – Reuters
Australia and Britain plan to work together to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy technologies, such as green hydrogen and offshore wind, to support decarbonisation, the two countries’ leaders said on Friday. – Reuters
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected accusations from Beijing that his country is “plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes” after an Australian diplomat led a group of Western nations in renewing concerns about human rights violations in China. – Associated Press
A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court reported Mongolia to the court’s oversight organization on Thursday for failing to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited the Asian nation last month. – Associated Press
Europe
Agriculture is the “most problematic” area in talks to secure a free trade deal between India and the European Union, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Thursday, suggesting that it would be better to focus on the industrial sector first. – Reuters
Moldova’s pro-European president said on Thursday that mass bribery had affected a presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union, but vowed to press on with a Nov. 3 runoff vote to win a second term, instead of ordering a new election. – Reuters
Bulgarians head to the polls on Sunday in the seventh snap election inside four years as the country’s fractured political parties struggle to form a stable coalition and voters become increasingly apathetic about the outcome. – Reuters
Hungary’s opposition Tisza party has a small lead over the ruling Fidesz party, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday, the second survey this week to show Tisza overtaking Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party. – Reuters
The Czech Republic signed a treaty over its relations with the Vatican on Thursday, becoming one of the last European Union countries to do so. – Associated Press
Portugal has increased police presence in Lisbon’s suburbs after buses were set on fire and other incidents were recorded in the region this week. – Bloomberg
The European Union is debating whether to hike tariffs on more Russian agricultural and food products, as well as fertilizers, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg
After years in the making, plans to implement a U.S.-style register of foreign influence-peddlers operating in the U.K. have been put on ice as Britain’s new government attempts to rethink its relationship with Beijing. – Politico
Spanish police on Thursday said they had broken up a network suspected of smuggling at least 70 Syrian and Algerian migrants to Spain and made three arrests. – Agence France-Presse
With trench warfare back in Europe, the Royal Netherlands Army would like to dig ditches to train for defense of NATO’s eastern flank – but environmental regulations make taking a shovel to its exercise ranges all but impossible. – Defense News
Mikheil Saakashvili writes: Georgia’s long-suffering civil society needs all the help it can get. After a stolen election, it might be too late. The West won the Cold War. But in an increasingly volatile world, it now risks ceding ground. As war rages in Ukraine, the United States and its allies cannot afford more instability in places such as Georgia. Now is the time to show the Kremlin’s stooge some teeth. – Washington Post
Thomas Kent writes: No one can predict a country’s ultimate fate based on one referendum. Macedonia received NATO membership immediately after its vote and name change, but is still struggling to join the EU. In Moldova’s case, it must still traverse some highly dangerous months of what Sandu and her allies call all-out, last-ditch Russian efforts to turn it away from its Western course. In that effort, the courage, visibility, and solidarity of Moldova’s Western allies will be essential. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Africa
Daniel Chapo was declared the winner of Mozambique’s presidential election on Thursday after a process marred by violence and widespread accusations that his party, Frelimo, which has run the country for nearly five decades, committed fraud. – New York Times
Islamist militants fighting in Burkina Faso are discreetly using Ghana’s north as a logistical and medical rear base to sustain their insurgency, seven sources told Reuters, a move that could help them expand their footprint in West Africa. – Reuters
Thousands of security cameras have been installed across Somalia’s capital to monitor the movement of al Shabaab militants and reassure residents, but they have also made business owners fearful of reprisal attacks. – Reuters
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has announced plans to establish a commission to explore revisions to the country’s constitution, potentially removing term limits and paving the way for his pursuit of a third term. – Reuters
South Sudan will resume pumping crude oil for export through a port in neighbouring Sudan within a few days, a South Sudanese government official told Reuters on Thursday, following repairs to a key pipeline ruptured during fighting in Sudan. – Reuters
The Americas
Canada’s immigration cuts, meant to ease strained housing and social services, could hurt the country’s labor pool, some industry groups said on Thursday. – Reuters
More than 10,000 people in Haiti have been internally displaced in the last week as armed gangs operating in and around the capital Port-au-Prince ramp up attacks on areas they do not yet control, according U.N. migration agency estimates on Thursday. – Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he would lead his Liberal Party into the next election despite mounting unhappiness among some of legislators about his performance. – Reuters
Brazil’s government will make announcements soon that will partly address financial markets’ fiscal concerns that are affecting the country’s risk premium, central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Thursday. – Reuters
A car bomb left outside a police station in the town of Acambaro in western Mexico wounded three people, prosecutors in the violence-wracked state of Guanajuato said Thursday. – Associated Press
A prominent lawmaker behind a bill that spooked Colombian markets this week said congress is discussing ways to limit its fiscal cost. – Bloomberg
United States
Today, imbalances once again threaten global harmony. China’s massive trade surplus is fueling a backlash. The U.S. attributes those surpluses to China holding down consumption while subsidizing manufacturing and exports, inflicting collateral damage on its trading partners. And it would like the IMF to say so. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. government is concerned about China’s use of artificial intelligence to repress its population, spread misinformation and undermine the security of the United States and its allies, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday. – Reuters
The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday against Mirghani Idris Suleiman, a leading figure in the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) efforts to get weapons for the war against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Treasury Department said in a statement. – Reuters
The Pentagon’s inspector general has begun an audit of Israel’s “proper use, storage and physical security” of American armaments, including missiles, drones and night vision devices. – Bloomberg
Vivek Chilukuri writes: For too long, Washington has been asleep to the growing risks of Chinese cyberthreats. The question is not whether the United States should “decouple” from Chinese technologies, but what will determine the extent of the new decoupling—a thoughtful policy that separates unacceptable risks from tolerable ones, or a politically driven, improvisational whack-a-mole that risks needless costs to the United States’ consumers, businesses, industry, and foreign policy? – Foreign Policy
Cybersecurity
Intel scored a win Thursday after the European Union’s top court ruled the bloc couldn’t reimpose a penalty of 1.06 billion euros ($1.14 billion) on the company in a long-running case over alleged anticompetitive practices in the market for computer chips. – Wall Street Journal
The problem of fake remote tech workers attempting to gain employment at Western companies has been in the news quite a bit these days. Quite a bit. – CyberScoop
A leading U.S. Senator sent letters out to six CEOs of the largest internet domain companies questioning their role in recently-uncovered disinformation campaigns tied to the Russian government. – The Record
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) put industry on notice Thursday, warning companies against improperly using digital surveillance and artificial intelligence tools to spy on staff. – The Record
Defense
The Air Force is likely to award Northrop Grumman a second low-rate initial production contract to build the B-21 Raider by the end of the year, company officials said Thursday. – Defense News
After testing networking and command-and-control capabilities aboard airborne platforms, the Army could be sending those packages outside the U.S. for further feedback from units. – DefenseScoop
Stavros Atlamazoglou writes: It took Navy crews three days to refloat the sunk submarine. The whole incident caused a commissioning delay of almost three years and up to $140 million in repair costs. Building and maintaining a naval fleet is not an easy task. And enemy fire is not the only danger to the longevity of a fleet. – National Interest