Early Edition: June 6, 2024

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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school in central Gaza has risen to 45, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The school, run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), was housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the time of the strike. The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike, which it claimed targeted a Hamas compound operating inside the facility. Abeer Salman reports for CNN; Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy report for the Washington Post.

Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday the group would continue to demand a permanent end to the Gaza war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops as part of a ceasefire plan. The comments are an apparent blow to the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal advanced by President Biden last week. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams report for Reuters.

More than one million people in Gaza are expected to “face death and starvation” by mid-July, according to a new U.N. report released yesterday. Separately, the U.N. children’s agency warned yesterday that 90% of children in Gaza lack the food they need for healthy growth and development. Kareem Fahim, Heba Farouk Mahfouz, Hazem Balousha, and Karen DeYoung report for the Washington Post.

The Israeli military said yesterday it has opened investigations into the deaths of Palestinians who died in its custody. At least 36 detainees have died in Israeli detention facilities since October, according to an IDF statement. Andrew Carey and Mitchell McCluskey report for CNN.

Thousands of ultranationalist Israelis marched through a sensitive Palestinian area of Jerusalem yesterday in an annual procession commemorating “Jerusalem Day.” Marchers chanted “Death to Arabs” and other anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans. Julia Frankel and Moshe Edri report for AP News; CBS News reports. 

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE 

The Israeli government organized and funded a “covert” social media campaign to persuade key U.S. lawmakers and the American public to support Israel’s war against Hamas. The initiative, started last October, included the use of the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT to produce content. It remains active on X, but Meta and OpenAI said it didn’t reach a large audience and that they had disrupted the effort. Sheera Frenkel reports for the New York Times.

More than a dozen people were arrested yesterday at Stanford University after pro-Palestinian protesters locked themselves in the president’s office. Stanford said 13 people were arrested, and that it also removed an encampment in the interest of public safety. Alyssa Lukpat reports for the Wall Street Journal. 

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — REGIONAL RESPONSE 

Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s director of intelligence met in Doha yesterday with top Hamas officials to discuss the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE 

Spain will join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the country’s foreign minister said today. Spain will be the first European nation to join the case, which has also been joined by Chile and Mexico. The Guardian reports. 

IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS

Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah launched at least two explosive UAVs in an attack on a village in northern Israel yesterday evening, the Israeli military said. Nine people were treated for injuries. The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon overnight, as well as two Hezbollah sites. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller yesterday said Washington is “incredibly concerned” over the risk of escalation. Jonny Hallam reports for CNN. 

MILITARY CONFLICT WITH THE HOUTHIS 

Yemen’s Houthis targeted three vessels in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the group’s military spokesperson said yesterday. Reuters reports. 

RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow could arm countries with a view to attacking Western targets. Putin made the statement while condemning the West’s delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine. George Wright reports for BBC News; James Jordan and Harriet Morris report for AP News.

A Russian court yesterday sentenced a U.S.-Russian citizen to three and a half years in a penal colony after he criticized the country’s leadership and its war in Ukraine on social media. Ivan Nechepurenko and Alina Lobzina report for the New York Times.

 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

 The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency yesterday censured Iran over its refusal to grant inspectors access to its uranium enrichment program. The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a carefully worded resolution calling on Iran to cooperate, after the United States toned it down in an effort to avoid provoking a crisis. Farnaz Fassihi and David E. Sanger report for the New York Times; Bethany Bell and André Rhoden-Paul report for BBC News.

The gunman who targeted the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday was wearing “what appeared to be ISIS insignia,” Matthew Miller said yesterday, adding that a full investigation is underway with Lebanese authorities. 

U.S. and allied intelligence officials warned yesterday that Beijing was stepping up its campaign to recruit Western-trained fighter pilots to train Chinese pilots. The intelligence-sharing partnership known as the Five Eyes – comprised of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — said the China’s People’s Liberation Army was trying to tap the “skills and expertise of these individuals” to improve its own air combat capability. Julien E. Barnes and Helene Cooper report for the New York Times.

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked a village in Gezira State yesterday, killing at least 100 people, according to local activists. Reuters reports. 

The U.S. State Department approved the sale of F-16 parts to Taiwan for an estimated $80 million, the Pentagon said yesterday. Reuters reports. 

Voting is underway in the Netherlands today, kicking off four-day days of voting in E.U. parliamentary elections across the 27 member states. Mike Corder reports for AP News.

Police in France have arrested a Russian-Ukrainian man on suspicion of attempting to make explosives and planning a violent act. Investigators found evidence of bomb-making materials in his hotel room yesterday, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said. BBC News reports. 

DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. agents yesterday began turning back migrants along the U.S.-Mexico under President Biden’s new asylum restrictions, while administration officials sought to temper expectations for a sudden drop in illegal crossings. Two administration officials told reporters that migrants who entered illegally from Mexico had been turned back, but declined to say how many. Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti report for the Washington Post.

Top House Republicans yesterday sent criminal referrals to the Justice Department recommending Hunter Biden and his brother James Biden be charged with making false statements to Congress. Rebecca Kaplan, Kyle Stewart, and Dareh Gregorian report for NBC News.

TRUMP-LEGAL MATTERS

An appeals court in Georgia postponed former President Trump’s 2020 election subversion case until it rules on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the case. The Georgia Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments on Oct. 4, making it unlikely the case will be settled ahead of November’s presidential election. Max Matza reports for BBC News; Erin Doherty reports for Axios.