Russia

• 45% of Americans Say the US Is Spending Too Much in Ukraine. Chicago Tribune 
• Turkey Says Sweden Will Not Be Admitted Into NATO Before Next Week’s Summit. Reuters
• Newsweek reports that the US may send Ukraine a modified HIMARS launcher capable of firing long-range munitions. Newsweek
• Two NATO States Make Weapons Pledges to Ukraine. Newsweek
• Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks targeting the Crimean Peninsula since Russia invaded the country last year. The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 16 Ukrainian drones near or above Crimea. The attack on the critical peninsula comes as Russian forces are close to taking a key city in the Donbas. AWC

China

• The US and the Philippines have launched joint air and sea patrols in the South China Sea in a provocative show of force amid rising tensions with China in the region. AWC

Korea

• North Korea announced it had successfully placed its first surveillance satellite into orbit. The US and its allies in the region condemned Pyongyang’s achievement. South Korea said it would resume surveillance operations along the North Korean border in response to the satellite launch. The Institute 
• North Korea Withdraws From 2018 Demilitarization Agreement After South Korea Resumes Banned Operations. BBC

Israel

• The White House Is Concerned that Pause in Gaza Will Allow Journalists to Document Israeli War Crimes. Politico AWC
• A Doctor at al-Shifa Hospital Says Israeli Forcing Unsafe Evacuation with No Plans for Patients. MEE
• Doctors Without Borders Reports Three Doctors Killed in Gaza at the Al Awda Hospital in Northern Gaza on Tuesday. US News
• The Israeli cabinet voted early Wednesday morning to approve a Qatar-brokered hostage deal with Hamas that will free at least 50 Israelis in exchange for a four-day ceasefire and other steps. AWC
• A former member of the Obama administration’s National Security Council was caught on camera harassing a food truck vendor in New York City, saying that killing 4,000 Palestinian children “wasn’t enough.” AWC
• Iraq’s government on Wednesday blasted US airstrikes launched in the country against Shia militias, calling them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. AWC
• The start of a short-term ceasefire to facilitate the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel will not start until Friday, an Israeli official said on Wednesday. AWC
• Over 50 Members of Palestinian Family Killed. AJ
• Axios Reports Biden Made Over a Dozen Calls to Netanyahu to Push the Israeli Leader to Agree to Hostage Swap and Pause in Fighting. Axios
• Biden administration officials told The Times of Israel that they don’t believe Israel can live up to its commitment to allow 200 aid trucks to enter Gaza per day during the pause that’s part of the hostage deal with Hamas. AWC
• Doctors and Nurses Working at Shifa Hospital Arrested By Israel. AJ
• Amid Israel’s brutal bombing campaign and invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip, which has killed many thousands, illegal settlers in the West Bank have vastly ramped up their attacks, murders, and land theft against indigenous villagers. Roughly 226 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, have been killed in the West Bank since the bombardment of Gaza began. AWC
• Former US Official Says American Rifles Used By Israeli Settlers  Against Palestinians in West Bank. MEE
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused the UN of not doing enough to respond to the humanitarian crisis he created in Gaza. AWC

Middle East

• US warplanes hit targets in Iraq early Wednesday morning, marking the second round of US airstrikes in the country in just over 24 hours as the situation in the region continues to escalate. AWC
• CENTCOM says the US shot down more Houthis drones. X
• The White House has said it’s considering redesignating Yemen’s Houthis as “terrorists” after the Houthis seized an Israeli-linked vessel in the Red Sea in response to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. AWC