Trump Administration Deals With Fallout from Leaked Chat

A leaked Signal chat involving senior Trump administration officials, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, has sparked controversy over its discussion of airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. The chat, which inadvertently included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed sensitive details about US military planning and intelligence-sharing with Israel. Israeli officials reportedly expressed anger over the exposure of intelligence provided by their sources in Yemen, while critics argue the leak may have compromised U.S. intelligence operations and endangered lives.

The Trump administration has denied that classified information was shared, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe testifying that no sources or methods were disclosed.

President Trump so far has defended Waltz, who is believed to have added Goldberg to the chat, as a "good man.” Trump has continued to refuse calls to remove Waltz from his administration.

 

Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Killed in Israeli Airstrike

Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike this past week, a culmination of Israeli efforts to destroy Hezbollah’s leadership. Nasrallah had led the group since 1992.

Hezbollah, considered Israel’s most potent non-state opponent, has been firing rockets into Northern Israel for years and has ramped up the attacks since Israel launched its offensive into Gaza following the October 7th attack. Israel’s airstrikes came after it successfully detonated pagers and handheld radios used by Hezbollah operatives.

 

Universities Grapple with Unrest at Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations

Universities across the US continue to struggle to control pro-Palestinian demonstrations on their campuses.

Columbia University has emerged as one of the most prominent flashpoints in the ongoing unrest, with protesters occupying public spaces and blocking entrance to buildings. Reports of Jewish students being harassed drew condemnation, including from the White House.

Demonstrators have refused to abandon encampments as the university’s administration has threatened suspension. An order to abandon the camp by 2 PM EDT Monday went largely unheeded.

Similar demonstrations have occurred at Yale University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, and the University of California, Berkeley.

At Northwestern University, protesters reached an agreement with the administration to largely dismantle their camp, with the university in turn funding two new Palestinian faculty members and funding scholarships for five Palestinian undergraduate students.

 

US Says It Will Respond to Recent Deadly Drone Attack

The Biden administration has promised a response to the drone strike that killed three American servicemembers in Jordan. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, the US holds the Islamic Resistance in Iraq responsible for the attack, which itself is an umbrella organization that contains Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia militant group.

Kirby also said that the response from the US  would not ‘be a one-off,’ but would come in phases.

The three soldiers killed in the drone strike were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23. All three were from Georgia.

Kata'ib Hezbollah did announce that it would suspend military operations against US force in the region, though whether it will truly back off from targeting US assets in the region is questionable.

The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), Hossein Salami, warned that Iran was willing to respond to US retaliatory strikes, also saying, "We (Iran) are not looking for war, but we are not afraid of it either.” This echoes a similar sentiment from President Biden, who has also sought to avoid escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

The Middle East erupted into conflict after the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, killing 1,139. Israel responded with large scale airstrikes and a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in over 25,000 dead (both civilians and Hamas militants). In response, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control Yemen’s capital Sana’a and much of its western region, have launched attacks on cargo ships and US military vessels, leading to US strikes on Houthi targets.

 

Israel Expands Ground Operation in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have expanded their ground operations in the Gaza Strip after weeks of building up forces along the narrow strip of land. Israeli forces have moved into the north area of the strip just north of Gaza city as well just south of the city.

The beginning of the ground invasion comes after weeks of aerial bombardments throughout the strip, a response to the October 7 terrorist attack by Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip. The attacks by Hamas left over one thousand Israelis dead, with around 200 others taken hostage and brought back to the Gaza Strip. Hamas has only released a handful of hostages since, all foreign citizens.

The air strikes on Gaza by Israeli forces have drawn criticism for the collateral damage. Over 8,000 Palestinians are believed to have been killed in the strikes, with Israel responding that they try to avoid civilian causalities and blaming Hamas for keeping military targets near civilians.

Israel has claimed responsibility for a strike on a refugee camp on the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31. Israel says the strike killed Ibrahim Biari, a suspected key planner in the October 7 attacks.

 

Israeli Knesset Approves Judicial Changes Amid Protests

The Israeli legislature (Knesset) has approved changes to the country’s judiciary, most notably the selection system for its highest court. The changes would remove the ability for current Supreme Court judges to block candidates to the court. In addition, it removes the ability of the court to strike down laws they deem as ‘unreasonable.’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its supporters argue the reforms are necessary to prevent activist judicial decisions. Opponents of the changes, many of whom have joined protests against them, argue that it removes critical checks and balances against the among branches of government.

 

Israeli Political Crisis Comes to an End For Now

After three elections within the past year, Israel is set to have a permanent government for the first time since 2019.

In all three elections, neither the left wing nor the right-wing coalitions were able to gather a majority of legislators, with neither bloc willing to form an alliance with the Joint List, a group of Arab-interest parties. In addition, Avigdor Lieberman, who leads a secularist right-wing party refused to join incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc over a dispute on requiring Orthodox Jews to perform military service.

As part of an agreement, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister until October 2021, when his center-left rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz will take over.