| | | | |  | | By Matt Berg | |  Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk through a makeshift tent camp in Rafah, Gaza, on May 10, 2024. | Abdel Kareem Hana/AP | With help from Erin Banco, Paul McLeary, Lara Seligman, Daniella Cheslow and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Matt | Email Eric For much of Israel’s war in Gaza, people with enough money were able to pay a private company to rescue their family members from the enclave. Now, even that is becoming more difficult. NASSER NAJJAR, a former Red Cross spokesperson and Human Rights Watch researcher who lives in Vancouver, paid upwards of $60,000 last month to get several family members out of Gaza. His parents and one of his sisters managed to leave in late April, while his other sister, her mother-in-law, her husband and their daughter are still in Gaza. Najjar told NatSec Daily the call about who to try to get out first was a “nightmare,” adding: “You’re making life and death decisions.” The four others were supposed to cross the border in early May — but Israel’s military operation into the southern city of Rafah last week prevented that, he said. An Egyptian company that facilitates transport for those trying to leave hasn’t been able to enter the enclave, since Israel seized the main crossing there, he added. “Every day is worse than the other,” Najjar said of his family’s situation in Gaza. “If you're in the middle and the southern areas, you still depend on Rafah for food and other aid — and there's not much coming in.” There are signs that more humanitarian assistance could begin to flow into the territory soon. The U.S. military finished installing its floating pier off the coast of Gaza today, and troops are expected to begin ferrying aid to the shore in the coming days — if everything goes according to plan. The project has faced logistical, weather and security challenges, and aid groups say the pier and airdrops are no substitute for bringing aid in with trucks. In recent days, United Nations agencies have tried to ramp up delivery of flour to Gaza, but the U.N. has had to cancel several missions through the Kerem Shalom crossing after lengthy Israeli inspections dragged into the night, a senior representative at the U.N. told our own ERIN BANCO, granted anonymity to discuss internal matters. U.S. officials also say that Israel is taking steps, such as opening new routes for trucks, to allow humanitarian aid into the enclave, despite having repeatedly blocked the entry of trucks throughout the war. Israel has accused Egypt of holding up aid deliveries. If fighting in Rafah continues, however, any progress made with humanitarian aid efforts could be lost, Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN said Wednesday. More trucks are coming through in northern Gaza, he said, “but what we don’t want to see is a situation where we basically reverse what’s happened in recent months.” Palestinians, including Najjar’s family members, have had to take desperate measures to survive: Consuming only canned food that’s available, wired from Najjar to buy sacks of flour that cost hundreds of dollars, and eating grass as a last resort. The Biden administration has been accused of being complicit in enabling famine in Gaza. “Conditions on the ground have not improved, and in the past two weeks, we have seen a vital border crossing close and aid supply decline at a time when it is critical we see more,” SONALI KORDE, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, told reporters in a call this morning. “More needs to be done now, especially in light of recent setbacks,” she added.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Turn the Entire Battlefield into your Field of Vision
Today's military landscape features systems and platforms engineered for standalone operations. Embracing our 21st Century Security® vision, Lockheed Martin is at the forefront of defense innovation, weaving connections between defense and digital domains. Learn more. | | | | | NATO TO UKRAINE? NATO nations are considering sending troops into Ukraine to train soldiers, further blurring the lines on how directly involved the U.S. and other countries are in the war, The New York Times reports. Due to Kyiv’s troop shortage, Ukrainian officials asked their U.S. and NATO counterparts to help train some 150,000 new recruits so they can deploy quicker. The U.S. has said no, but Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. BROWN said today sending trainers may be inevitable: “We’ll get there eventually, over time,” he said. Trainers would be put at risk if they were sent to Ukraine now, Brown told reporters on a plane to a NATO meeting in Brussels. It would likely require deciding whether to use “precious air defenses to protect the trainers instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield,” the Times writes. A senior defense official from a NATO ally told our own PAUL McLEARY that while they have no plans to send troops to Ukraine, they believe it will happen “eventually,” at least in a training and support role. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY said the pace of Russia’s military offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region has been slowed by Ukrainian troops. Late Wednesday, Ukraine’s military said it had repelled four ground attacks in the Kharkiv region. But Russia now appears to be launching new assaults on Robotyne, a southern village Ukraine recaptured last summer. ISRAEL’S FRIENDLY FIRE: Israel’s military today said five of its troops were killed when one of its own tanks fired at a building in Gaza which the soldiers were using, The Wall Street Journal’s ANAT PELED reports. The incident, which happened in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the enclave Wednesday evening, also injured seven other soldiers. The tank mistook a group of Israeli paratroopers for militants, the military said. Before that incident, at least 44 of the 273 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza died as a result of “operational accidents,” or friendly fire, according to military data analyzed by WSJ. ABOUT THAT SPACE WEAPON: A satellite that would help Russia test a potential nuclear anti-satellite weapon — which has worried Washington for months — was actually launched in February 2022, U.S. officials told the WSJ. The satellite that was launched didn't carry a nuclear weapon, but the officials said it’s linked to Moscow’s planned anti-satellite weapon — the one that has caused concern in Congress since it was publicly revealed in February. If such a weapon is deployed, Russia would be able to destroy hundreds of low-Earth orbit satellites with a nuclear blast. U.S. officials told WSJ that the Kremlin’s claim that the Cosmos–2553 satellite is used for scientific purposes isn’t plausible. SLOVAK SURVIVES: Slovakia’s Prime Minister ROBERT FICO is in “stable, but very serious” condition, according to the director of the hospital at which he is being treated after being shot several times, our own ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH reports. Fico was fighting for his life after being shot multiple times following a government meeting in the town of Handlová in central Slovakia on Wednesday, but regained consciousness after an hours-long surgery. Doctors reportedly removed part of Fico’s small intestine due to heavy bleeding into his abdominal cavity. Slovakian police today charged JURAJ CINTULA, a 71-year-old former security guard, with attempted murder. PUTIN-XI HANGOUT: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN and Chinese leader XI JINPING met today in Beijing as part of a state visit to emphasize their strong relationship and China’s wartime support for Russia’s economy, our own ŠEJLA AHMATOVIĆ and EVA HARTOG report. Accompanying Putin on the trip are high-ranking officials including new Defense Minister ANDREI BELOUSOV and former Defense Minister SERGEI SHOIGU, now serving as secretary of the security council. Talks are expected to focus on the growing defense cooperation between the countries. Read today’s China Watcher newsletter for a sense of what to expect from the visit. WIN FOR CUBA: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN removed Cuba on Wednesday from a short list of countries that it deems aren’t cooperating with counterterrorism efforts, signaling a thawing of relations between the two countries. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at mberg@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow us on X at @mattberg33 and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @alexbward, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, and @JGedeon1.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF DEFENSE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like defense, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other. Our defense reporting team—including Lara Seligman, Joe Gould, Paul McCleary, Connor O’Brien and Lee Hudson—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of defense policy and the defense industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | | | | GET OUT OF CHINA: Microsoft asked hundreds of employees this week to consider transferring out of China due to increased tensions between the tech company and the Chinese government, WSJ’s RAFFAELE HUANG and YOKO KUBOTA report. The staff, consisting mostly of engineers with Chinese nationality, were offered to move to the U.S., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, people familiar with the matter told the outlet. Most of those workers specialized in machine learning and other cloud-computing tasks. It’s the latest example of Microsoft being caught in the crosshairs as the U.S. and China strive to gain an advantage in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, among other tech viewed as crucial to the future of national security. Workers have until the end of June to decide whether to leave, one of the people familiar said. In a statement to Reuters, a Microsoft spokesperson played down the U.S.-China tensions: “Providing internal opportunities is a regular part of managing our global business.”
| | HAITI DROPS: U.S. military aircraft have been flying into Haiti for the past week to drop off contractors to secure the airport at the capitol of Port-Au-Prince, Southern Command chief Gen. LAURA RICHARDSON said at Wilson Center event today, our own LARA SELIGMAN writes in. Equipment is also being dropped off to build a base of operations for the Kenyan-led international security force that is expected to soon arrive, she said, adding that it’s still expected to arrive by May 23. DUAL USE IN LATAM: At the same event, Richardson warned that China’s infrastructure investment spree in Latin America could be used in dual-use military applications, our own PHELIM KINE writes in. Beijing is funneling money for construction of energy grids, deep water ports and 5G telecom systems through partnerships with 22 of the region’s 31 countries in China’s Belt and Road Initiative global infrastructure investment program. Richardson said that Beijing’s spending on those projects may be for China’s benefit rather than Latin America’s: “I’m a little suspicious that maybe it's for extraction as opposed to just investment,” she said. China has long invested heavily in the region, with experts noting Latin America’s lucrative resources and markets as a reason for Beijing’s interest. But the investments also allow China to establish influence in the region and align with countries the U.S. hasn’t paid as much attention to.
| | | | JOIN 5/22 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF TAXATION: With Trump-era tax breaks set to expire in 2025, whoever wins control of Congress, and the White House will have the ability to revamp the tax code and with it reshape the landscape for business and social policy. Join POLITICO on May 22 for an exploration of what is at stake in the November elections with our panel dissecting the ways presidential candidates and congressional leaders are proposing to reshape our tax rates and incentives. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | NAVY UNDER FIRE: Republicans blasted the Navy's top civilian leader today, arguing that the service isn't doing enough to fix shipbuilding programs plagued by delays — with one senator even suggesting he should be fired over it. As our own CONNOR O’BRIEN reports, drama at a Senate Armed Services Committee ramped up when Sen. DAN SULLIVAN (R-Alaska) criticized Navy plans that keep the fleet under 300 warships through the end of the decade, while China far outpaces the U.S. in shipbuilding. Sullivan argued Navy Secretary CARLOS DEL TORO is more focused on climate change and asked the Navy leader if he should resign or be fired over ship delays. Del Toro told Sullivan that he spends "75 percent of my time on shipbuilding," yet called fighting the effects of climate change a major issue for Navy readiness. ICYMI — Even Democrats don’t get what Biden’s Israel weapons policy is by our own ALEX WARD, JOE GOULD, ADAM CANCRYN and JONATHAN LEMIRE And: Confused about Biden’s Israel weapons policy? Here’s what you should know by our own LARA SELIGMAN
| | STOP RAFAH: South Africa launched its latest initiative against Israel, calling on the International Court of Justice to order Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah, The Washington Post’s EMILY RAUHALA reports. During a hearing today, South African lawyers said that Israel’s operation poses an “extreme risk” to humanitarian supplies, the medical system and to “the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group.” Israel is expected to respond on Friday. Last year, South Africa brought a case in front of the ICJ accusing Israel of committing “genocidal acts” in Gaza, a claim Israel denied. In January, the court ordered Israel to minimize civilian harm in the territory but didn’t call for a cease-fire. Due to the dire situation in Rafah, the latest case has the potential to push the ICJ to take a harder stance against Israel.
| | | | — Former Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wisc.) is joining the Hudson Institute as a distinguished fellow. — MIKE KUIKEN, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER’s national security adviser, is leaving the office after more than seven years to pursue opportunities in the private sector. He joined the Senate Armed Services Committee staff under Sen. CARL LEVIN (D-Mich.) shortly after 9/11 and stayed on the committee staff with Sen. JACK REED (D-R.I.). — MICAH SPANGLER has been promoted to be senior director of advocacy and external relations at the U.N. Foundation. — RACHEL BRONSON, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, announced that she will step down at the end of the year.
| | | |   | | | | | — NAHAL TOOSI, POLITICO: African countries are failing to make a dent in Washington’s diplomatic scene — RONEN BERGMAN and MARK MAZZETTI, The New York Times: The unpunished: how extremists took over Israel — DAVID GIOE, MICHAEL GOODMAN, and MICHAEL HAYDEN, Foreign Policy: U.S. intelligence is facing a crisis of legitimacy
| | — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: The future of cyber on the African continent — Atlantic Council, 10 a.m.: On the upcoming NATO Summit, allied strategies to counter renewed Russian retaliation amid Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine and efforts to modernize the alliance's capabilities — Center for a New American Security, 10 a.m.: Developing drone and counter-drone capabilities — Washington Space Business Roundtable, 12 p.m.: Integrating the growing U.S. commercial space sector into our national security space architecture — Economic Club of Washington, D.C., 12:30 p.m.: Discussion on homeland security issues with DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS — House Foreign Affairs Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee, 2 p.m.: Eliminating U.S. aid to terrorists: new policies for the U.S. government and its partners — Razom for Ukraine, 3:15 p.m.: Taking away Putin's safe space Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who is our worst nightmare. We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who is so dreamy.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Turn the Entire Battlefield into your Field of Vision
Today's military landscape features systems and platforms engineered for standalone operations. Embracing our 21st Century Security® vision, Lockheed Martin is at the forefront of defense innovation, weaving connections between defense and digital domains. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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