Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel is targeted by militants in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon on Oct. 7 anniversary Hamas will rise 'like a phoenix' from the ashes, leader-in-exile says US targets Hamas with sanctions on anniversary of Gaza war After speculation he was killed, Sinwar said to renew contact with Qatar A weakened Iran still has a major deterrent: the nuclear option Iran warns Israel against any attack, threatens stronger retaliation Kremlin says Russia will appoint a new ambassador to the United States Israel says it killed a senior Hezbollah commander as more rockets are fired North Korea’s Kim again threatens to use nuclear weapons against South Korea and US Russian, Chinese ships conduct joint drills in Pacific, Russia's agencies report Claremont McKenna College’s Minxin Pei: The Middle East is a quagmire for China, too US expecting foreign actors to question validity of electionIn The News
Israel
Militants in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon targeted Tel Aviv with rockets and missiles on the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that sparked an expanding multifront war in the Middle East. – Wall Street Journal
Two years ago, dozens of Israeli fighter jets roared over the Mediterranean Sea, simulating a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a drill the Israeli defense forces openly advertised as an exercise in “long-range flight, aerial refueling and striking distant targets.” – New York Times
Israel’s military kept up its strikes on two fronts Monday, with an intense barrage on southern Lebanon and a retaliatory attack targeting Hamas in southern Gaza, a sign of how significantly the fighting has spread in the year since Hamas’s cross-border assault. – New York Times
Israel has rejected the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for its prime minister and defense minister over their conduct of the war in Gaza, in filings to the court made late last month that were reclassified as public on Friday. – New York Times
Israelis gathered on Monday to mourn the anniversary of the deadliest day in the country’s history, the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre that set off the longest war that Israel has known, one that was still raging in Gaza and Lebanon amid the solemnity of Israel’s commemorations. – New York Times
Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal said the Palestinian group would rise “like a phoenix” from the ashes despite heavy losses during a year of war with Israel, and that it continues to recruit fighters and manufacture weapons. – Reuters
Israel hosted an event at the United Nations on Monday to mark one year since a deadly Hamas attack, vowing to fight until all hostages held in Gaza by the Palestinian militants are freed and assailing the world body for failing to condemn the massacre. – Reuters
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they fired two missiles at Jaffa, a city in central Israel, and Israel said it intercepted a missile aimed at the area from Yemen. – Reuters
Israel sent tanks deeper into Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and advised people to leave as it pounded the historic Palestinian refugee camp from the air, residents said. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Monday that sirens sounded in central Israel after approximately five projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. – Reuters
Israel’s military declared areas around a number of towns in northwest Israel as closed to the public on Monday, after carrying out a security assessment. – Reuters
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on an international Hamas fundraising network, accusing it of playing a critical role in external fundraising for the Palestinian militant group, in action marking the first anniversary of the Gaza war. – Reuters
Britain has withdrawn the families of its embassy staff working in Israel due to the escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and the risk of a wider regional conflict. – Reuters
Israel’s defense minister is traveling to Washington soon as the country continues to weigh how to respond to an Iranian missile attack and the US urges restraint – Bloomberg
Israel’s military on Monday said it would soon launch operations on Lebanon’s southern coast, which would mark a further escalation of its fight against Hezbollah. – The Hill
The war in Gaza is set to wrap up during the coming year and a new governing authority will be put in place to run the conflict-ravaged enclave, Israel’s ambassador to the European Union told POLITICO. – Politico
Health Minister Uriel Busso held talks with Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Transportation Minister Miri Regev on Monday, calling for their urgent intervention in the crisis involving passengers returning from Uman. – Jerusalem Post
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called for a strike on Iran’s nuclear program following Israel’s progress in Gaza and its ground invasion in Lebanon. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his government’s response to October 7 on Monday evening during an official state ceremony marking the first anniversary of Hamas’s brutal attack, while relatives of the victims demanded government accountability at an alternative memorial event. – Times of Israel
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has reestablished contact with hostage-ceasefire deal mediators in Qatar after weeks of silence that had stirred speculation he might have been killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, according to multiple reports Monday. – Times of Israel
On the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, Gazan social media featured considerable criticism of Hamas for bringing devastation upon the Strip and its people, and of its leaders for living in safety while civilians endure hunger and displacement. Still, the vast proportion of Arabic social-media posts hailed the terror group’s rampage. – Times of Israel
Five people were wounded in Haifa on Sunday when Israel’s air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of five rockets launched from Lebanon, allowing at least one rocket to strike a busy urban area. One person was also seriously injured in a separate barrage launched at Tiberias shortly after. – Times of Israel
Abu Obaydah, Hamas’ spokesman for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the terror group’s military arm, has declared that the war against Israel will continue. – Arutz Sheva
Editorial: Ah, the “cycle of violence” theory of war. If only Israel would stop targeting those trying to kill its citizens, somehow the violence would end. Note, too, the passive tense for “violence is escalating,” including in Lebanon. No mention that Hezbollah launched 8,000 missiles at Israeli towns and cities before Israel decided to act to stop the bombing. No mention of Iran. No mention that Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields. This is naive in the extreme about the brutal neighborhood Israeli inhabits, but it’s worse than that. It condemns an ally trying to protect its people from annihilation more than it does the enemies who would annihilate them. This is the anti-Israel mind at work.– Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Mr. Guterres used his bully pulpit to pander to the League of Arab States in May, telling them that the “speed and scale” of the war in Gaza was “the deadliest conflict in my time as Secretary-General—for civilians, aid workers, journalists, and our own UN colleagues.” In October, Israel Foreign Minister Israel Katz banned Mr. Guterres from entering Israel after the Secretary-General failed to “unequivocally condemn” Iran’s missile attack. These aren’t peace makers. They’re apologists for war makers. – Wall Street Journal
Einat Wilf writes: This is the part that demands we change. In our desperation to be accepted and to finally experience peace, we have allowed the realities that go by the names of peace, ceasefires, and disarmament to be degraded and altogether denied. To use the cliché of “Peace begins with us,” it is up to us to restore standards and dignity to our conduct so that when we say that we expect peace, it shall be known that we mean it. – Jerusalem Post
Gary Willig writes: As long as world leaders and politicians insist on creating a Palestinian state where the only possibility is for it to be a failed state and proxy for the Ayatollahs like Lebanon, constantly at war with its neighbors, with no functioning economy or society beyond what it receives in international aid, as long as they insist that a Palestinian state that would be incapable of living in peace is the only way to achieve peace rather than the consequence or reward for achieving peace, there will never be a Palestinian state. – Arutz Sheva
Idit Ohel writes: Two months after my son was stolen, a few of his friends arrived at my house to give us a key to their new apartment. That’s where his room is, waiting for him. The last time I saw him, at around eleven o’clock on the night of October 6, Alon played his piano for us a bit before leaving for the festival. He played a cover of Yehudit Ravitz’s “Song Without a Name.” It was beautiful. He left the piano open and it’s been open ever since, waiting. – The Free Press
Bari Weiss writes: Our Jay Solomon reports that Netanyahu is now weighing direct strikes against Iranian nuclear, military, and energy installations. Current and former Israeli officials told our reporter that the prime minister sees the next four months—when the U.S. is helmed by a diminished president and consumed by an election and political transition—as a singular window for Israel to pursue its military aims without Washington’s constraints. – The Free Press
Niall Ferguson writes: You will now see why, when I first saw the video footage of what Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had done on October 7 last year, my first thought was of the Holocaust. I recognized immediately what the terrorists were doing. By murdering defenseless women and children, as well as men, they were enacting a trailer for a second Holocaust. The sexual violence that accompanied the massacre was also familiar. Rape—nearly always followed by murder—was a recurrent feature of the Holocaust, despite the strictures of Nazi legislation against “racial defilement.” – The Free Press
Iran
Israel has shown Iran’s two most important deterrents against an attack—its ballistic missiles and allied militia Hezbollah—are less powerful than previously thought. Now attention is turning to whether Iran will accelerate its nuclear program to deter its biggest regional foe. – Wall Street Journal
Iran’s foreign minister warned Israel against launching an attack, saying on Tuesday any strike on Iranian infrastructure would be met with a stronger retaliation – Reuters
Israeli military strikes are targeting Iran’s armed allies across a nearly 2,000-mile stretch of the Middle East and threatening Iran itself. The efforts raise the possibility of an end to two decades of Iranian ascendancy in the region, to which the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq inadvertently gave rise. – Associated Press
Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns warned that misjudgments could get in the way of efforts to dampen rising tensions between Iran and Israel over the next few weeks. – Bloomberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time on Friday, at a forum in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan. – Agence France Presse
Adam Gross writes: And so long as the core Israel-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved, Iran will have a pretext for its stated mission to destroy Israel as a step towards its long sought-after regional hegemony. Therefore, what it comes down to is whether Iran, facing the decimation of its proxies, as well as worsening economic woes that could imperil the regime, would be willing to give up its quest for regional hegemony? And whether, if it would, could Israel take some risks for a far-reaching regional peace? – Times of Israel
Shukriya Bradost writes: Thus, it’s premature to conclude whether the decline of Hezbollah will reduce Iran’s influence in the region; it could lead to a shift in strategy, though. If the Houthis obtain significant Russian support, they could prove to be far more useful partners. How the United States and its allies deal with the Yemeni Houthis and their threat to the vital Red Sea waterway is a question that will grow in importance going forward. – The National Interest
Russia & Ukraine
A Russian court on Monday sentenced 72-year-old American Stephen Hubbard to six years and 10 months in prison after being accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, Russian state media reported. – Washington Post
Russian forces have entered the outskirts of the eastern Ukraine frontline city of Toretsk, Ukraine’s military said late on Monday, less than a week after the fall of the bastion town of Vuhledar. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin was hailed a ‘tsar’ on his 72nd birthday on Monday by some supporters who said the former KGB spy had raised Russia up from its knees and would deliver victory against the West in the Ukraine war. – Reuters
A Russian missile hit a Palau-flagged vessel in Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa on Monday, killing a Ukrainian national and injuring five crew members in the second such attack in as many days, officials said. – Reuters
Russian shelling killed one person and wounded six others in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, a town near the front line of the 2-1/2-year-old war that Russia’s military hopes to capture. – Reuters
A Ukrainian sabotage operation has damaged a Russian minesweeping vessel in Russia’s Kaliningrad region and put it out of action, Ukraine’s military spy agency said on Monday – Reuters
A Russian court on Monday sentenced U.S. citizen and ex-Marine Robert Gilman to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator, the local prosecutor’s office said. – Reuters
A Russian hypersonic missile struck the “area” of Ukraine’s major Starokostiantyniv airbase on Monday morning, Kyiv said in a rare admission, after a drone and missile attack that also targeted the capital. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Monday that a new Russian ambassador to the United States would be appointed, dismissing speculation that relations with Washington were being downgraded at the end of the term of the current envoy Anatoly Antonov. – Reuters
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Monday denounced Russian missile attacks on two vessels in its southern ports as a “deliberate terrorist tactic”. – Reuters
Ukraine will not extend its gas transit agreement with Russia after it expires at the end of 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Monday. – Reuters
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that it has opened criminal cases against 14 foreign journalists since Aug 17 for illegally crossing the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region. – Reuters
Russia said on Tuesday that it still had an emergency hotline with the United States and the NATO military alliance to deflate crises as nuclear risks rise amid the gravest confrontation between Moscow and West since the depths of the Cold War. – Reuters
Ukraine’s military said it struck a major oil terminal Monday in Crimea that provides fuel for Russia’s war effort as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war has entered a key phase. – Associated Press
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris declined to say if she would support Ukraine’s push to join NATO if elected, but vowed she would insist Kyiv’s leaders were part of any US negotiation with Vladimir Putin over ending the ongoing conflict. – Bloomberg
Poland and Ukraine are close allies when it comes to defeating their common enemy Russia, but their own bloodstained history is now straining Kyiv-Warsaw relations. – Politico
Hezbollah
Israel cannot confirm whether the potential successor to the slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, a government spokesperson said on Monday, following reports that he was targeted in an Israeli air strike last week. – Reuters
The Israeli military said Tuesday it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut, a day after the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack was marked by mourning and demonstrations around the globe. – Associated Press
Two weeks after Israel upended a US-led ceasefire proposal with Hezbollah, the US is not actively trying to revive the deal and has resigned itself to trying to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran rather than halting hostilities, US officials told CNN. – CNN
IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents of Lebanon to avoid beaches as the IDF will take imminent action against Hezbollah, in a post on X on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Lebanon
As the manager at one of Beirut’s top nightclubs, Gaelle Irani is usually preoccupied with booking DJs and taking reservations. Now, she’s in charge of looking after 400 displaced people, converting a venue for revelry into a place of refuge. – Washington Post
The United States does not want United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon to be put in danger in any way, including being attacked by Israel, the State Department said on Monday, adding that the mission plays an important role in establishing security in the country. – Reuters
China will provide emergency medical supplies to Lebanon, China’s official foreign aid agency, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said on Tuesday, as Israel-Hezbollah fighting intensified. – Reuters
The World Bank is looking to free up emergency funds for Lebanon, potentially including up to $100 million through the use of special clauses in existing loan deals, its managing director of operations told Reuters. – Reuters
The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the peacekeeping force deployed along the border with Israel say that a negotiated solution is the only way to restore stability and the time to act is now. – Times of Israel
Middle East & North Africa
Six Moroccan migrants escaped through a hole in the ceiling of a holding room in Madrid’s international airport, police union Jupol said on Monday, in a new embarrassment for Spanish authorities after a similar breakout last week. – Reuters
One of five inmates who staged a spectacular escape from a high-security prison near Lisbon a month ago has been recaptured in Morocco, Portuguese police said on Monday, while the other four, including foreign nationals, remain at large. – Reuters
Turkish navy ships will evacuate Turks who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region starting on Tuesday to discuss regional issues and work on stopping Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran’s state media reported. – Reuters
Korean Peninsula
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his country has agreed with Singapore to enter into a strategic partnership next year, the 50th anniversary of the two nations setting up diplomatic relations. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned again that he could use nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with South Korea and the United States, as he accused them of provoking North Korea and raising animosities on the Korean Peninsula, state media reported Tuesday. – Associated Press
North Korea is likely sending its soldiers to fight and die in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, Seoul’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, said Tuesday. – Politico
China
The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has issued rare criticism of China over last month’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, saying the Pacific is not “isolated pockets of ocean” and it “does not welcome” Beijing’s action. – Reuters
China on Tuesday announced provisional anti-dumping measures on brandy imports from the European Union, according to a statement from the Chinese commerce ministry, reversing an earlier move amid continued tense trade talks. – Reuters
Chinese lithium producers are flooding the global market with the critical metal and causing a “predatory” price drop as they seek to eliminate competing projects, a senior U.S. official said on a visit to Portugal that has ample lithium reserves. – Reuters
Russian and Chinese navy warships have practiced anti-submarine missions in the northwestern Pacific Ocean as part of a joint patrol in the Asia-Pacific region, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday. – Reuters
Minxin Pei writes: So far, China has been able to play both sides, throwing Iran an economic lifeline by purchasing most of its exported oil at a discount, without crossing any red lines by directly arming the country’s military or contributing to its nuclear program. Bilateral security cooperation has been limited to symbolic naval drills. China has been similarly careful in its support for Russia and North Korea. Now Russia may press China to provide more lethal aid to Iran, which is reeling from Israeli attacks on its territory and its proxies. Any overt Chinese military support, though, would only accelerate the breakup with the West, with no guarantee that Iran or other partners will be able or willing to hold up their end of the bargain. – Bloomberg
South Asia
Shuttered movie theaters are now open, as are new cafes, market roads and sports facilities. Government schools have been renamed after police officers […]After decades of violent conflict between separatists and Indian authorities that killed thousands, the Indian government now speaks of a “new Kashmir.” – Washington Post
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved into the lead in elections in the northern state of Haryana on Tuesday, reversing early trends when it was trailing the main opposition Congress party, TV channels reported. – Reuters
India will be able to navigate through any hit to oil supplies from the potential widening of the Middle East conflict, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. – Reuters
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering on Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the federal government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources. – Reuters
India stepped up its development assistance to the Maldives after the two leaders held talks in New Delhi on Monday in a bid to repair strained ties that saw the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago forging closer relations with China. – Associated Press
Asia
Before Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines and ordered a war on drugs in which tens of thousands of innocent people are estimated to have died, he was the mayor of the southern city of Davao. It was where he first sponsored the deadly tactics for extrajudicial killings that would go on to ravage the country for years. – New York Times
Southeast Asian leaders will meet in Laos this week as Myanmar’s civil war and mounting tensions in the South China Sea risk corroding the ASEAN grouping’s central role in the region. – Reuters
Vietnam and France have officially upgraded their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, Vietnam’s highest level, during a visit by Vietnamese President To Lam to Paris. – Reuters
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Monday the regional bloc ASEAN must play a key role in ending the protracted civil war in Myanmar, ahead of a summit of the leaders of the 10-member group in Laos this week. – Reuters
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed into law a bill on Tuesday that aims to develop the country’s defence industry to reduce its reliance on imported sources and create equipment tailored to its security challenges. – Reuters
The armed forces of the Philippines, the United States and four other countries began joint naval exercises off the coast of the Philippines’ northern Luzon island facing Taiwan in a display of naval strength amid rising tensions with China. – Reuters
Armenia hopes to sign provisions of a peace deal with Azerbaijan in the next four weeks, the country’s president told Reuters, a step that could ease tensions in the conflict-ridden South Caucasus, even as Baku has signalled that the process is stalled. – Reuters
Europe
Albanian police fired tear gas to disperse opposition protesters who hurled petrol bombs at government buildings and smashed city property in what they said was part of a civil disobedience against the government. – Reuters
Police in six European countries and Interpol are reopening investigations into 46 women who were murdered or died under suspicious circumstances in an effort to identify their remains, the international police agency said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The speaker of Georgia’s parliament said on Monday ruling party lawmakers would move to impeach the pro-Western president ahead of a parliamentary election on Oct. 26, a year after a previous impeachment effort failed. – Reuters
Pro-Palestinian activists targeted UK offices of German financial services firm Allianz on Tuesday, daubing exteriors with red paint in protest against the company’s alleged links to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems. – Reuters
Islanders who were forced to leave their remote Indian Ocean home to make way for a U.S. military base half a century ago protested outside the U.K. Parliament on Monday against a deal they say has decided their homeland’s fate without them. – Associated Press
A Belarusian-American has had his prison term extended to a total of 13 1/2 years in the latest move in a relentless crackdown on dissent by Belarus’ repressive government, rights activists said Monday. – Associated Press
A 52-year-old woman associated with the Islamic State group went on trial on Monday in Sweden on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Yazidi women and children in Syria. – Associated Press
Romania’s ruling coalition came close to a collapse less than two months before a series of elections as a junior party moved to protest a controversial top court decision to remove a far-right candidate from the presidential race. – Bloomberg
Bepi Pezzulli writes: For now, the U.S. sanctions on Mohammad Hannoun are a significant blow to Hamas, but they are also an indictment of Italy’s insufficient response to a growing problem on European soil. Italy, once again playing all parts in the comedy of appeasement, has cemented its reputation as the weakest link in any international alliance—talking tough while turning a blind eye to those who fund terror right under its nose. – Times of Israel
Africa
Desperate for revenue, the government has imposed a $300 levy on every international aid truck as it enters the landlocked country, and again as it leaves. Aid agencies say the truck tax adds $339,000 a month to the cost of keeping impoverished South Sudanese alive. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue its second-highest level of travel notice for Rwanda, recommending people to avoid nonessential travel due to the Marburg disease outbreak in the east African country, the U.S. government said on Monday. – Reuters
Whoever wins Mozambique’s presidential election on Wednesday will face an economy battered by worsening cyclones, insecurity, delays to planned gas projects and high levels of debt. – Reuters
Local volunteers who have helped to feed Sudan’s most destitute during 17 months of war say attacks against them by the opposing sides are making it difficult to provide life-saving aid amid the world’s biggest hunger crisis. – Reuters
A U.S. congressional watchdog has found no evidence that a 2012 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conflict minerals disclosure rule has reduced violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, it said in a report on Monday. – Reuters
Fighting between the Sudanese military and its rival paramilitary in Sudan ’s North Darfur killed at least 13 children and injured four others, UNICEF said. – Associated Press
Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said he’d appear at the National Assembly on Tuesday to defend himself in an impeachment process over allegations he violated the constitution, and refused to quit. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Bertide Horace, a community leader in central Haiti, was awoken in the wee hours last Thursday by a phone call from a woman who sounded desperate. “Pont-Sondé is being invaded by the gang, please send for help,” the caller said, according to Ms. Horace. – New York Times
A judge in Ecuador on Monday ordered 30 people to stand trial in a wide-ranging organized crime and drug trafficking case involving the Andean country’s judicial system. – Reuters
President Claudia Sheinbaum will present her strategy for confronting Mexico’s dire security situation on Tuesday amid a backdrop of high-profile violence including the brutal murder of a local mayor on Sunday that shocked the country. – Reuters
Haiti’s foreign minister on Monday blasted a policy announced last week by the neighboring Dominican Republic to deport tens of thousands of migrants back to Haiti, where gang violence is fueling a devastating humanitarian crisis. – Reuters
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she had sent two proposals to Congress to implement a constitutional reform of the judiciary by tweaking electoral laws. – Reuters
Haiti’s transitional presidential council transferred the rotating presidency on Monday to architect Leslie Voltaire despite opposition from outgoing president Edgard Leblanc Fils, who refused to sign a decree ratifying the move. – Reuters
Approximately a thousand people marched in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, to mark the October 7 massacre on Tuesday. – Maariv
United States
One year after Hamas militants orchestrated a violent attack in Israel, activists took to college campuses and city streets across the country to mark the anniversary, with some launching pro-Palestinian “week of rage” protests and others hosting remembrances of Israelis who were killed or taken hostage. – Washington Post
Columbia University has been a focal point of anger and tensions over the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year and the war in Gaza that has followed. On Monday, the anniversary of the attack, it took on that role once again, as students and faculty held rallies, class walkouts and vigils to mourn the lives lost in both Israel and Gaza. – New York Times
Elon Musk plans more campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, a source familiar with the effort said on Monday, after the billionaire made a high-profile appearance with the former president there. – Reuters
U.S. adversaries are preparing to stoke uncertainty about the validity of the Nov. 5 presidential election results after polls close, anticipating a contested vote, a senior U.S. intelligence official said on Monday. – Reuters
Election officials in the battleground state of North Carolina approved changes on Monday that aim to make it easier for voters in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene to cast ballots in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election. – Reuters
An estimated 3.5 million American Jews experienced antisemitism since October 7, 2023, the day of the massive Hamas attack on Israel, a figure representing nearly two-thirds of the entire US Jewish community, according to a poll released Monday. – Times of Israel
US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris refused to affirm that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu is an “ally” of the United States, dodging a direct question on the subject and fueling doubts about her commitment to the Jewish state. – Algemeiner
Former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke on Monday at an event in Florida, with local Jewish community leaders, marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. – Arutz Sheva
Karen Tumulty writes: The raids that Paxton conducted as part of what he calls an “ongoing election integrity investigation” have yet to produce any evidence of misdeeds. As my colleague Arelis R. Hernández has written, critics of Paxton, a darling of Donald Trump and the right, note that: “In pursuing election fraud cases — often targeting Hispanic and Black Texans — over the last decade, he has left a trail of dismissed charges, unrealized threats, lost court cases and ruined lives in his wake.” – Washington Post
William McGurn writes: Outcomes matter. Mr. Biden’s popularity began to fall during the debacle in Afghanistan, and he is leaving behind a far more dangerous world than the one he inherited four years ago. But the president appears to believe the only problem with his foreign policy is that people somehow aren’t bright enough to appreciate all his achievements. In other words, if he has a legacy of failure, it’s your fault. – Wall Street Journal
Michael D. Shear writes: As the conflict with Hezbollah intensified, Mr. Biden succeeded in rallying almost a dozen nations to call for a cease-fire. But their proposal foundered almost immediately when Mr. Netanyahu approved the killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, just hours later. Mr. Biden has only 105 days left in his term, and like many of his predecessors, he faces the prospect of leaving office frustrated by the cycles of conflict in the region. But on Monday he vowed to keep working toward the goals he articulated that day in Tel Aviv. – New York Times
Robert Silverman writes: American Jews in particular remain in a condition of shock from the surge of antisemitism coming at them from this Islamist alliance. But this war is not only about Jews and antisemitism. It is about all Americans, including American Muslims who don’t want the Brotherhood to define their faith to the outside world. The foreign terrorist organization designation is an effective and legitimate tool. It should be deployed and implemented in a bipartisan whole-of-government approach to this war. – Jerusalem Strategic Tribune
Michael Rubin writes “ Something is wrong and morally perverse when the U.S. awards the Lebanese temporarily fleeing their homes five times what it offers Armenians ethnically cleansed solely based on their ethnicity and religion. Armenia’s government works with the U.S. to counter money laundering and become more transparent. Lebanon is a morass of corruption, and Hezbollah thoroughly infiltrates the government. Perhaps, rather than treat U.S. aid as an entitlement or use it to signal virtue ahead of elections, both Democrats and Republicans should reward allies and not countries with a decadeslong track record of embezzlement and tolerating terrorism.” – American Enterprise Institute
Ilan I. Berman writes “The scope of the challenge is daunting. Whoever ends up winning the White House next month will need to reframe the way America thinks about Great Power Competition in order to adequately respond to the collective threat now posed by Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran. Doing so will begin by answering a fateful question—Is the United States still prepared to serve as the “arsenal of democracy”?Looking at our current political divisions, the autocrats in Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran are clearly betting that the answer is “no.” It’s up to us to prove them wrong.” – American Foreign Policy Council
Cybersecurity
Russian state media company VGTRK, which owns and operates the country’s main national TV stations, was targeted in a massive cyberattack on Monday that a Ukrainian government source said Kyiv’s hackers had caused. – Reuters
Powerful criminal networks in Southeast Asia extensively use the messaging app Telegram which has enabled a fundamental change in the way organised crime can conduct large-scale illicit activity, the United Nations said in a report on Monday. – Reuters
A U.S. House committee said on Monday it is investigating the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to deny SpaceX satellite internet unit Starlink $885.5 million in rural broadband subsidies. – Reuters
Home security firm ADT Inc, said on Monday an unauthorized actor had illegally accessed its network using credentials obtained through a third-party business partner. – Reuters
A New Jersey-based company responsible for providing water to more than 14 million people was hit by a cyberattack which appears to only resulted in the loss of billing systems, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. – Cyberscoop
Defense
The U.S. State Department approved possible military sales to Italy, India and Romania for a combined total of $965 million, the Pentagon said on Monday. – Reuters
The Pentagon has agreed with Lockheed Martin Corp. on milestones the company can reach by year-end to earn some of a potential $500 million payment withheld for F-35 jets lacking necessary hardware and software upgrades, according to the US program manager. – Bloomberg
Mike Gallagher writes: The 2022 National Defense Strategy puts a priority on a lethal future force. Especially in the Indo-Pacific, this force needs “strike capabilities that can penetrate adversary defenses at range.” Those capabilities rely on advanced energetic materials, which can increase the penetration depth of existing warheads by 40%. Achieving such progress requires the hard work of addressing the systemic barriers and aligning acquisition processes with technological readiness. But that effort underlies a more lethal future force. More agile acquisitions can put advanced energetics into more effective munitions, giving U.S. fighters a decisive edge on the battlefield. – Wall Street Journal
Erik Lin-Greenberg writes: As crises become more common and intense, the role leaders play in pulling states away from the precipice of war becomes increasingly important. When tensions push states to the brink, decision-makers must play a high-stakes bargaining game and identify ways to pursue their aims and deter future harm while avoiding war. But they need not panic about inadvertent war. The tools of restraint lie in their hands. – Foreign Affairs