The Israeli Foreign Ministry is instructing its embassies to pressdiplomats and politicians in their host countries to issue statements against South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice that accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, according to a copy of an urgent cable obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The cable, sent by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursday, illustrates Israel's diplomatic action plan ahead of next week's ICJ hearing: to create international pressure on the court to not issue an injunction that orders Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza.
Russia's military has begun using multiple North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles to conduct a wave of strikes on Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday.
The big picture: National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the U.S. would raise this "significant and concerning escalation" with the UN Security Council and warned American intelligence indicates the Kremlin plans to buy missiles from Iran.
As the fighting in Gaza continues to intensify, the U.S. is increasingly becoming more involved — militarily and diplomatically — in three other hotspots in the Middle East, with fears growing that rising tensions could spiral into a much bigger war.
Why it matters: One of the Biden administration's main goals since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack has been to prevent the fighting in Gaza from spilling over to other parts of the region. But as time passes, this is becoming harder to achieve.
A second set of court filings related to Jeffrey Epstein was unsealed in New York on Thursday, one day after the first tranche was released.
The big picture: The newly unsealed filings also feature dozens of names related to a civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced last year to 20years in prison on sex trafficking and other charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. Being named in the filings does not equate to being accused of wrongdoing.
