SCOOP: A classified US report has found that Israeli military units committed “many hundreds” of potential violations human rights violations in Gaza that will take “multiple years” to review

-The findings mark the first time a US government report has acknowledged the scale of Israeli actions in Gaza that fall under the purview of Leahy Laws, which bar funding to units credibly accused of such abuses

-U.S. officials said the watchdog findings raised doubts about the prospects for accountability for Israel’s actions given the large backlog of incidents and the nature of the review process, which is deferential to the Israel Defense Forces The State Department's office of the inspector general declined to comment for this article but has acknowledged the report’s existence on its website. “This report contains information that is Classified and is not available for public viewing,” the webpage says.

NEW: State Department fires top press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs after internal disputes over Israel policy, including whether to express condolences about journalists killed by Israel in Gaza and publicly oppose forced displacement of Palestinians, per documents 🧵 Last week, there was an internal debate about releasing lines to the news media saying, “We do not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.” It was prompted by questions about Israel-S. Sudan talks on transferring Palestinians. Leadership sided against doing so

State Department employees who have not yet received layoff notices today created posters for their less fortunate colleagues Some departing State Department officials urged those who are staying to "RESIST" the current leadership

SCOOP: The United States obtained intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials discussing this month’s military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they had expected, per four soures The communication, intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as to why the strikes directed by Trump were not as destructive and extensive as they anticipated, per sources

NEW: The National Intelligence Council determined in a secret assessment early this month that Venezuela is not directing an invasion of the United States by the prison gang Tren de Aragua, a judgment that contradicts Trump’s public statements The determination is the U.S. government’s most comprehensive assessment to date undercutting Trump’s rationale for deporting suspected gang members without due process under the Alien Enemies Act

Scoop: The Trump administration reversed its decision to terminate a U.S. initiative that documents alleged Russian war crimes, including the mass abuction of Ukrainian children to Russia. It's a rare about-face following pressure from U.S. lawmakers and Christian evangelicals The decision, per congressional aides, gives the Conflict Observatory authorization and funding for six additional weeks to complete the transfer of its repository to the European Union’s law enforcement agency EUROPOL

🚨The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in response to Zelensky’s remarks in the Oval Office on Friday and his perceived intransigence in the peace process, per senior administration official The decision, if taken, would apply to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority, said the official.

New: The United States will vote no on the Ukrainian resolution at the UN General Assembly, says a State Department official. U.S. still in discussions with the UK and French on how they will vote as Macron and Starmer visit DC State Dept official: "We intend to veto any amendments added to the resolution and we have expressed that to partners … the intent is to keep the resolution noise-free, thin and to the basics of what the president wants us to do"

NEW: Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Dept effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from Trump’s aides.
The forced departures, the prerogative of an incoming admin, indicate a desire to quickly break with the Biden era Those told to tender resignations include decorated veterans of the Foreign Service, including Under secretary John Bass and Assistant Secretary Geoff Pyatt.

Scoop: The Biden administration has decided to maintain the terrorist designation on Syria’s new Islamist rulers for the remainder of Biden’s tenure, leaving a critical decision about HTS and its leader to the incoming Trump administration, per officials The terrorist designation for HTS is a key obstacle to Syria’s long-term economic viability, but U.S. officials said the Islamist militants must demonstrate they’ve made a clean break with jihadist groups, in particular al-Qaeda, before the label can be lifted.

SCOOP: Trump had a phone call with Vladimir Putin and talked about the war in Ukraine, including a brief discussion on territory, marking the first conversation between the two men since Trump won the election. Our report w/ @nakashimae @jdawsey1 @siobhan_ogrady @ikhurshudyan Trump talked to Putin, told Russian leader not to escalate in Ukraine washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

Iran's President met with reporters in New York for an off record Q&A today that evolved into a rare on-record discussion after negotiations with the journalists ended in the journalists' favor 🧵 When asked about the hostilities in Lebanon, President Pezeshkian said Iran will continue to back Hezbollah so long as Israel is being armed by the United States.

There's a striking contrast between the Israeli and U.S. response to the killing of the hostages. Israeli press contains significant condemnations of Netanyahu for not taking the hostage deal when it could've saved their lives 🧵: Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage in Gaza, directly criticized Netanyahu, saying: Netanyahu has "decided to bury them in the rubble of his politics ...His hands are covered in the blood of the hostages who are being murdered in captivity.”

NEW: The Israeli unit dogged by accusations of abuses toward Palestinians and found by the State Department to have committed gross violations of human rights will not face restrictions of U.S. funding. Blinken decided the violations have been "effectively remediated" In 2022, a commander of the unit, Netzah Yehuda, was reprimanded and the platoon commander and company commander removed from their positions following the death of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American man who had been detained at a West Bank checkpoint

SCOOP: Leaked document shows J.D. Vance’s effort to rid ‘wokeness’ from U.S. foreign policy

The Ohio senator froze dozens of ambassador nominations over issues like gender transition care and diversity hiring in a “anti-woke” questionnaire obtained by The Post. The questionnaire asked would-be ambassadors if they would increase the number of “gender-neutral bathrooms” in U.S. embassies, boost resources for “gender dysphoria and gender transition care” and raise the “Progress flag” during “regional Pride celebrations"

Breaking: Jake Sullivan traveled in secret to Kyiv in a trip aimed at reaffirming U.S. support for the beleaguered ally despite an impasse in Congress over U.S. funding. “We are confident we will get this done, we will get this aid to Ukraine," Sullivan said Sullivan arrived in Kyiv as the country’s forces are on their back foot having retreated from the eastern city of Avdiivka and facing Russian advances across the front lines. “You should believe in the United States,” Sullivan said

Scoop: A secret assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency casts doubts about Israel’s prospects for success if it mounts a significant escalation against Hezbollah, saying IDF resources will be spread too thin given the war in Gaza, per sources. 🧵 The assessment has bolstered concerns among some in the Biden administration who are wary of comments from senior Israeli officials that Israel will need to expand military operations against Hezbollah

scoop: Russia has begun firing ballistic missiles into Ukraine that were provided by North Korea, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive U.S. intelligence. The North Korean projectiles were short-range ballistic missiles that Moscow fired in late December and early January. The deployment indicates North Korea's growing support for Moscow’s war effort washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

US State Department calls out Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for "inflammatory and irresponsible" rhetoric "advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza." In a reference to Netanyahu, the statement says "We have been told repeatedly and consistently by the Government of Israel, including by the Prime Minister, that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government. They should stop immediately."

NEW: U.S. officials concede that the United States is not conducting real-time assessments of Israel’s adherence to the laws of war 🧵 Despite that, the United States has flooded Israel with weapons since Oct. 7, transferring at least 15k bombs, including 2k pound bunker buster bombs.

New deep dive from @yabutaleb7 and I on how the Biden administration has handled intense internal disagreements during the course of the Hamas-Israel War 🧵 A day after Biden publicly cast doubt about Palestinian casualty numbers provided by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, a move many saw as effectively downplaying the level of suffering in Gaza, he expressed regret to a private meeting of Muslim Americans: