Israeli Shin Bet security agency director Ronen Bar visited Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, on Monday amid tensions between Israel and Egypt over the war in Gaza and the possibility of the Israeli military expanding its operation to the Palestinian city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, two Israeli sources said.
Why it matters: Egypt is extremely concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis along its border with Gaza. More than 1 million Palestinians — the majority of whom were displaced during the war — are concentrated in Rafah.
President Biden and other top U.S. officials discussed Sunday a "significant military response" against pro-Iranian militias over the drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border that killed three American soldiers and wounded dozens ofothers, a U.S. official and another source briefed on the matter told Axios.
Why it matters: The White House and Pentagon are hoping to calibrate their retaliation to contain the growing risk of regional war. But pressure for more significant action is brewing on Capitol Hill, with hawks pushing for strikesinside Iran.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged an Iranian narcotics trafficker and two Canadian nationals on Monday in a murder-for-hire plot against two people in Maryland.
Why it matters: The Justice Department said the intended victims of the plot had previously fled to the U.S. after one of them defected from Iran.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Monday that U.S., Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials made "progress" this weekend in the talks aimed at securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The big picture: Qatari and Egyptian mediators plan to present Hamas with a framework this week for negotiations over a three-phase deal. The first phase would include a six-week pause in fighting and the release of roughly 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Israel freeing a significant number of Palestinian prisoners, according to Israeli and Qatari officials.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told U.S. officials last week that he and the Israeli military will not allow the rebuilding of illegal outposts or settlements by Israeli settlers inside the Gaza Strip, four U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is concerned that a one-kilometer buffer zone Israel is planning to establish inside Gaza will be used for the rebuilding of the settlements that were dismantled during the 2005 Israeli pullout from the enclave.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed and dozens wounded in a drone strike by a pro-Iranian militia on a U.S. outpost in northeast Jordan overnight, President Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
Why it matters: This is the most serious attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East since Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack and it is the first such attack in Jordan.
Senior national security officials from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority secretly met in Riyadh 10 days ago to coordinate plans for the day after the war in Gaza and discuss ways to involve a revitalized Palestinian Authority in governing there, three sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.
Why it matters: The meeting is another sign of the increased coordination between Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority in recent months, especially since the war in Gaza started.
China's embattled property firm Evergrande was ordered by a Hong Kong court to liquidate on Monday morning local time.
Why it matters: The slow-moving problems of Evergrande, once China's largest developer, underscore the country's deepening economic woes, which have sent the stock market swooning.
