Associated Press: Antisemitic Acts Have Risen Sharply In Belgium And France Since The Israel-Hamas War Began

“The number of antisemitic acts registered in France and Belgium rose sharply since Hamas’ attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza, according to figures released Thursday in both countries. In France, data from the Interior ministry and the Jewish Community Protection Service watchdog showed that 1,676 antisemitic acts were reported in 2023, compared to 436 the previous year. According to the Council of Jewish Institutions in France — the country’s main Jewish interest group — the number of antisemitic acts in the three months that followed the Oct. 7 attack equaled those of the previous three years combined. In neighboring Belgium, an independent public body fighting discrimination said it received 91 reports related to the Israel-Hamas conflict between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7 last year, compared to 57 reports for the whole of 2022.”

Associated Press: US Warned Iran That ISIS-K Was Preparing Attack Ahead Of Deadly Kerman Blasts, A US Official Says

“The U.S. government privately warned Iran that the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan was preparing to carry out a terrorist attack before bombings in Kerman earlier this month that killed 95 people, a U.S. official said Thursday. The official, who was not authorized to comment and insisted on anonymity to discuss the intelligence, said the U.S. was following its longstanding policy of a “duty to warn” other governments against potential lethal threats. The official did not detail how the U.S., which does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, conveyed the warning about its intelligence on ISIS-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, but noted that government officials “provide these warnings in part because we do not want to see innocent lives lost in terror attacks.” Iranian state media did not acknowledge the U.S. giving Tehran the information, and Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

United States

Reuters: US Asks China To Urge Iran To Curb Red Sea Attacks By Houthis - FT

“The United States has asked China to urge Tehran to rein in the Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea but has seen little sign of help from Beijing, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials. The U.S. has repeatedly raised the matter with top Chinese officials in the past three months, the report said. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Jon Finer, discussed the issue in meetings this month in Washington with Liu Jianchao, head of the International Liaison Department of China's Communist Party, the newspaper said. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart, the report said, adding U.S. officials believe there was little evidence that China had put any pressure on Iran to restrain the Houthis beyond a mild statement Beijing issued last week.”

The Washington Post: Biden To Deploy CIA Director To Help Broker Major Gaza Deal

“President Biden plans to dispatch CIA Director William J. Burns in the coming days to help broker an ambitious deal between Hamas and Israel that would involve the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza and the longest cessation of hostilities since the war began last year, according to officials familiar with the matter. Burns is expected to travel to Europe for the talks and meet with the Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs, David Barnea and Abbas Kamel, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, these people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. The planned gathering has not been previously reported.”

Voice Of America: No Pullout, But US Military Eyes An End In Iraq

“The United States and Iraq will start talks to end the U.S.-led international military coalition in Iraq and transition to a bilateral partnership, continuing a process that has been stalled by the Israel-Hamas war. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a statement Thursday saying the talks would begin “in the coming days.” Last August, Iraq and the U.S. committed to the talks, which Austin said would allow a relationship between the two countries to build on the success of Iraq’s campaign known as Defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or D-ISIS. “U.S. military personnel are in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve’s mission to advise, assist, and enable the Iraqi security forces in their ongoing fight against ISIS. The United States remains committed to a secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” Austin said.”

Iran

Forbes: Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah: The Danger From Iran And How To Stop It

“As of now,” says Mideast expert Charles Lister, “Iran-directed militias have launched 172 attacks on US forces in Iraq & Syria – 172 in 99 days”. There was a moment in the Obama era when Iran looked like it might choose trade and prosperity, democracy and detente, over military power. But then the Russians stepped in quietly and persuaded the leadership otherwise, offering nuclear power stations, weapons, empire and the will to power. That dark entente has now solidified into full-scale regional and, indeed, global co-ordination plus total weapons integration – the two countries agreed to exchange manufacturing plants and technology, including ballistic missiles and Shahed drones. Result? Tehran is a strategic arm of Moscow in the mideast and beyond. The weapons expansion Iran thereby acquires will directly threaten Israel. It's time the Israelis realized that Russia is their enemy.”

Pakistan

Associated Press: Pakistan Accuses Indian Agents Of Orchestrating The Killing Of 2 Citizens On Its Soil

“Pakistan on Thursday accused neighboring India’s intelligence agency of involvement in the extrajudicial killings of its citizens, saying it had credible evidence linking two Indian agents to the deaths of two Pakistanis in Pakistan last year. “We have documentary, financial and forensic evidence of the involvement of the two Indian agents who masterminded these assassinations,” Foreign Secretary Sajjad Qazi said at a news conference in Islamabad. He said the assassination of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani soil was a violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the U.N. Charter. “This violation of Pakistan sovereignty by India is completely unacceptable,” he said. The two dead men, both anti-India militants, were killed in gun attacks inside mosques in separate cities in Pakistan. The allegations come months after both the United States and Canada accused Indian agents of links to assassination attempts on their soil.”

Middle East

BBC: Khan Younis: UN Says 12 Killed At Gaza Shelter As Fighting Rages

“UNRWA said two shells hit its Khan Younis Training Centre during fighting in the city's western outskirts. Its commissioner condemned the "blatant disregard of basic rules of war". Israel's military said it had ruled out that the incident was the result of an air or artillery strike by its forces. It added that it was reviewing Israeli operations nearby and examining the possibility that it was "Hamas fire". Israeli troops have been battling Hamas fighters as they advance into western Khan Younis, a day after the military said it had completely encircled the city. Clashes and bombardment around the city's two main hospitals have also left thousands of patients, staff and others unable to leave. The conflict was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,300 people were killed and about 250 others taken hostage.”

Associated Press: Israel Vows To Fight Hamas All The Way To Gaza’s Southern Border. That’s Fueling Tension With Egypt

“Israel faces a growing risk of damaging its peace with neighboring Egypt as its military pushes the offensive against Hamas further south in the Gaza Strip. Already, the two sides are in a dispute over a narrow strip of land between Egypt and Gaza. Israeli leaders say that to complete their destruction of Hamas, they must eventually widen their offensive to Gaza’s southernmost town, Rafah, and take control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a tiny buffer zone on the border with Egypt that is demilitarized under the two countries’ 1979 peace accord. In a news conference last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas continues to smuggle weapons under the border – a claim Egypt vehemently denies — and that the war cannot end “until we close this breach,” referring to the corridor.”

Reuters: Hamas Says It Will Abide By Any ICJ Ceasefire Order If Israel Reciprocates

“Hamas said on Thursday that if the International Court of Justice issues a ruling calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement will abide by it as long as Israel reciprocates. Hamas will release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel releases all Palestinians prisoners, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said at a news conference in Beirut.”

Somalia

Voice Of America: Officials: Airstrike In Somalia Kills At Least 20 Al-Shabab Militants

“A military strike killed at least 20 al-Shabab militants in central Somalia, regional and military officials said Thursday. “Somali military forces, supported by international partners, conducted the airstrike in the town of Galhareri, targeting sites the militants used to manufacture improvised firearms, bombs and other explosives,” Galmudug Regional Security Minister Mohamed Aden Gaboobe told VOA Somali. Galhareri is some 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Mogadishu. Gaboobe said the airstrike conducted late Wednesday also targeted Radio Andalus, al-Shabab's mouthpiece in Somalia. A separate statement from the Somali National Army said more than 25 militants were killed in the strike, which destroyed a house where leaders of the group were meeting and a garage that was used to prepare car bombs.”

France

Bloomberg: France’s Le Pen Questions Ties to German AfD Over Extremist Plan

“French far-right leader Marine Le Pen raised doubts over her party’s ties to Germany’s AfD after a “re-migration” plan with Nazi echoes was uncovered and triggered mass protests. France’s National Rally belongs to the same group as the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany in the European Parliament, which is due to hold elections in June. Le Pen told a news conference on Thursday that this relationship was now up for discussion. She said she would talk with her German counterparts about whether their apparently significantly different views will have “consequences on our ability to be allied in the same group.” Members of the AfD attended a meeting in November where discussions included a proposal for mass deportations of asylum seekers, foreigners with the right to reside in Germany and German citizens who haven’t “assimilated,” according to a report published this month by Correctiv, an Essen-based media organization which seeks to promote democracy.”

India

Associated Press: Thousands In India Flock To A Recruitment Center For Jobs In Israel Despite The Israel-Hamas War

“Thousands of Indians flocked to a recruitment center on Thursday for jobs that would take them to Israel despite the three-month Israeli-Hamas war that is devastating Gaza and threatening to ignite the wider Middle East. Many among the crowd of men, mostly skilled construction workers and laborers, said they would take their chances in a country embroiled in war as they are struggling to find jobs in India, where unemployment remains high despite a swelling economy. Anoop Singh, a college graduate and construction worker, was told he would make about $1,600 a month if he was selected to go to Israel — significantly more than the $360 to $420 he could get as a monthly wage for the same work in India. “That’s why I have applied to go to Israel,” he said as he waited at the center in Lucknow, the capital of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, for his job interview.”