US News

• A bipartisan group of 16 members of Congress has called on President Biden to drop the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, warning of the grave threats to press freedom if he is convicted. AWC

Ukraine

• Slovakia’s new government under Prime Minister Robert Fico has rejected a plan to provide Ukraine with a military aid package that was approved by the previous government. AWC
• Ukrainian officials say their pilots have begun “in the air flight training” on F-16s. X
• The Washington Post published a report on Saturday that alleged a senior Ukrainian military officer directed the sabotage attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines that connect Russia and Germany, which blew up on September 26, 2022. AWC

Israel

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown has expressed concern that Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians will help Hamas recruit more militants and cautioned against a long war in Gaza. AWC
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed in an interview with BBC on Sunday that Israeli forces found a copy of Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” in a child’s bedroom in northern Gaza in his latest attempt to justify the mass killing of Palestinian civilians. AWC
• A group of special operations soldiers died during training operations off the coast of Cyprus when their helicopter crashed on Saturday. The New York Times reports unnamed US officials say the White House has sent several teams of special operators to the region in the wake of increased tensions caused by the brutal Israeli military operations in Gaza. The Institute 
• National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday that Israel should follow the “rules of war” in Gaza but would not say if he believed the Israeli military is doing so. AWC
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said several times in recent days that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is the only force that can control Gaza after the war, signaling plans for a long-term military occupation. AWC
• CNN reports that American diplomats in the Middle East sent a diplomatic cable to the White House raising the alarm that the Israeli military operations in Gaza are causing severe damage to the US reputation in the region. Washington is Tel Aviv’s most dedicated backer, sending billions of dollars in weapons to Israel every year. AWC

Middle East

• US forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked by rockets or drones four times since the US launched another round of airstrikes in eastern Syria on Wednesday, the Pentagon said on Thursday. AWC
• US officials told Voice of America that bombing militia groups in Iraq and Syria has failed to prevent attacks on American soldiers. Over the past month, US troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked dozens of times, resulting in over 50 injuries to American forces. Washington has responded to the drone and rocket strikes by bombing the groups that the Department of Defense believes are responsible. The Institute 
• The Pentagon announced on Sunday night that it launched another round of airstrikes in eastern Syria, targeting facilities “used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran-affiliated groups,” referring to the Shia militias that operate in the region. AWC
• Some members of the Biden administration are concerned that Israel is looking to provoke Hezbollah as a pretext for a wider war in Lebanon that could draw in the US, Axios reported on Sunday. AWC