Attention to the Unseen

CNN reports: US intelligence discovered earlier this year that the Russian government planned to assassinate the chief executive of a powerful German arms manufacturer that has been producing artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, according to five US and western officials familiar with the episode. The plot was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine’s war effort, these sources said. The plan to kill Armin Papperger, a white-haired…

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David Ignatius writes: The breakthrough came recently, when Hamas relented on its demand for a written guarantee on a permanent end to the fighting. Instead, it accepted the reassuring language of a U.N. Security Council resolution, passed last month, affirming the U.S.-negotiated deal. Here’s the key passage: “If the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue,” the U.N. resolution says. American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators would “work to…

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The New York Times reports: Russia is unlikely to make significant territorial gains in Ukraine in the coming months as its poorly trained forces struggle to break through Ukrainian defenses that are now reinforced with Western munitions, U.S. officials say. Through the spring and early summer, Russian troops tried to take territory outside the city of Kharkiv and renew a push in eastern Ukraine, to capitalize on their seizure of Avdiivka. Russia has suffered thousands of casualties in the drive…

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The Guardian reports: The Israeli government has been accused of attempting to sabotage a US-backed ceasefire proposal, according to Israeli media, by introducing new demands despite previously accepting the plan. Hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza had risen in recent days following reports that Hamas had given initial approval for a new proposal for a phased deal, after ninth months of war since the attack on 7 October. Egyptian officials and representatives of Hamas said the Islamist militant organisation had…

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The New Arab reports: The Israeli military ordered the “Hannibal Directive” on 7 October, according to a report in the Israeli media on Sunday. The “Hannibal Directive” is a military protocol where Israeli soldiers would kill captives and their captors to stop enemies from being able to use Israeli citizens as bargaining chips. The directive dates back to the 1980s but was revised after Hamas members abducted a soldier in 2006. While it officially does not allow soldiers to kill…

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The Guardian reports: Hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza have risen further after reports that Hamas has given its initial approval of a new US-backed proposal for a phased deal. Egyptian officials and representatives of the militant Islamist organisation confirmed Hamas had dropped a key demand that Israel commits to a definitive end to the war before any pause in hostilities, Reuters and the Associated Press reported. Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over…

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The New York Times reports: Israel’s top generals want to begin a cease-fire in Gaza even if it keeps Hamas in power for the time being, widening a rift between the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has opposed a truce that would allow Hamas to survive the war. The generals think that a truce would be the best way of freeing the roughly 120 Israelis still held, both dead and alive, in Gaza, according to interviews with six…

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Reuters reports: The plan for post-war Gaza that Israel pitched to U.S. allies is to run the strip in cooperation with powerful local families. But there’s a problem: in a place where Hamas still wields ruthless influence, none want to be seen talking to the enemy. Israel is under pressure from Washington to end the loss of human life and wind down its military offensive after nearly nine months, but does not want Hamas in charge after the war. Israeli…

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Sandy Tolan writes: The continued failure of the Biden administration to secure a full and lasting ceasefire in Gaza may go down as the most terrible and deadly diplomatic catastrophe of our time. The principles have been in place for weeks; Hamas has agreed to the general terms, and endorsed the June 10 ceasefire resolution by the UN Security Council. Yet US deference to Israeli intransigence – no matter that it stubbornly blames Hamas – is costing thousands of Palestinian…

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The Times of Israel reports: The Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) said Sunday it had opened probes into a police officer who was filmed telling a demonstrator that he would rape his mother, and other officers who clashed with a lawmaker. In a statement, the DIPI said it would contact the protester and Labor MK Naama Lazimi, and that the incidents would be investigated in depth. At the weekly protest at Jerusalem’s Paris Square, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s…

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Denounce Hamas and you get to live under military guard in a smaller prison camp within a larger prison camp? What an inducement. https://t.co/c8QC1LcASt — Megan K. Stack (@Megankstack) June 29, 2024 The Wall Street Journal reports: A plan that is gaining currency in the government and military envisions creating geographical “islands” or “bubbles” where Palestinians who are unconnected to Hamas can live in temporary shelter while the Israeli military mops up remaining insurgents. Other members of Prime Minister Benjamin…

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Reuters reports: The Biden administration has sent to Israel large numbers of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, said two U.S. officials briefed on an updated list of weapons shipments. Between the war’s start last October and recent days, the United States has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600…

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