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  • U.S. sanctions 4 settlers, amid broader push to end Gaza war

    The United States today sanctioned four Israeli nationals under a new executive order signed by President Biden targeting perpetrators of extremist violence and intimidation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, amid a broader push by Washington to try to help negotiate an extended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, get over 100 Israeli hostages freed, and get regional buy-in for a longer-term path for enduring peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.

  • PGA Tour lands $3B investment from U.S. group as Saudi talks continue

    The PGA Tour signed a $3 billion investment agreement with a consortium led by Fenway Sports Group, as talks with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund remain ongoing. Why it matters: This will allow the pro golf group to beef up its commercial business and provide a financial stake to players. Details: The deal will see Strategic Sports Group become a minority investor in the newly-created PGA Tour Enterprises, a for-profit entity that will manage the PGA's commercial business.

  • After drone attack on U.S. forces in Jordan, Pentagon sees ‘escalation’ but not ‘widening’ of war

    “I wouldn't say that the conflict is spreading … But this attack was certainly escalatory,” Singh told reporters, adding that Iran “bears responsibility” for Sunday’s attack because of the decision to arm the groups that carried out the attack. But she stopped short of saying Iran played a direct role in planning, directing, or approving the strike.

  • U.S. struggles to contain Gaza conflict, as Qatar PM sees progress in hostage release talks

    “I think it’s very important to note that this is an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East,” Blinken said at a press event with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this afternoon. “I would argue that we have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that.” “We’ve made very, very clear from day one that we’re going to defend our people,” Blinken said. “We’re going to defend our personnel.”

  • U.S. Failed to Stop Drone Attack Because of Identification Mixup

    The U.S. failed to stop a deadly attack on an American military outpost in Jordan because the enemy drone approached its target at the same time a U.S. drone was also returning to base, U.S. officials said Monday.

    The return of the U.S. drone led to some confusion over whether the incoming drone was friend or foe, officials have concluded so far.

    The enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran, U.S. officials said. The outpost, Tower 22, sits in Jordan, near the borders of Iraq and Syria.

  • U.S. Secretly Alerted Iran Ahead of Islamic State Terrorist Attack

    The U.S. secretly warned Iran that Islamic State was preparing to carry out the terrorist attack early this month that killed more than 80 Iranians in a pair of coordinated suicide bombings, U.S. officials said.

    The confidential alert came after the U.S. acquired intelligence that Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, was plotting to attack Iran, they said.

    American officials said the information passed to Iran was specific enough about the location and sufficiently timely that it might have proved useful to Tehran in thwarting the attack on Jan. 3 or at least mitigating the casualty toll.

  • U.S. hits Iraq militia sites and anti-ship missiles in Yemen

    The U.S. military struck three facilities in Iraq and two anti-ship missiles in Yemen operated by Iranian-backed militias that have continued to instigate attacks on U.S. personnel and ships in the region as the U.S. continues to try to keep the Israel-Hamas war from spilling over into a wider conflict. Both the strikes in Iraq and Yemen targeted sites that the U.S. has said are involved in the attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria and were threatening U.S. military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea

  • Iran’s ‘brazen’ strikes around the Middle East send a message to Israel and the U.S., analysts say

    “While incitement against Israel is nothing new, its recent launch against ISIS in Syria of a solid-propellant medium-range ballistic missile capable of striking Israel from Iranian territory was a historic first and a message to the Jewish state,” Behnam Ben Taleblu,  senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank in Washington D.C.

    “Highlighting military power in the hopes of deterring adversaries has grown in importance for the regime as wars widen across the region.”

  • U.S., Arab Allies Push Hostage-Release Plan Aimed at Ending Israel-Hamas War

    The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to join a phased diplomatic process that would start with a release of hostages and, eventually, lead to a withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war in Gaza, diplomats involved in mediating the talks said.

    Taher Al-Nono, a media adviser to Hamas, said there was no real progress. After The Wall Street Journal’s report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he rejected Hamas’s demands because they included an end to the war.

  • Inside the effort to create a far-reaching U.S.-Saudi-Israeli pact to end the war

    Eleven days ago, Sen. Lindsey Graham arrived for a private meeting in a lavish tent with ruby red rugs and low burgundy cushions in the western Saudi Arabian oasis town of Al Ula, home to ancient Nabatean ruins. The tent is guarded by layers of Saudi security that protect the nearby winter camp of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, was a participant in a series of high-stakes meetings with the crown prince in recent weeks involving American lawmakers and diplomats hoping to rekindle a potential treaty between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States. Their ambitious goal is to hammer out a framework for concluding the Israel-Hamas war, stabilizing the Middle East and paving the way for some form of Palestinian self-governance in the Gaza Strip.