The President's Daily Brief - June 25th, 2024: Gaza Operations Slowdown, UN Lawsuit, & Crimea Missile Strike

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signals a slowdown in combat operations in Gaza, while IDF troops prepare for potential conflict on Israel's northern frontier with Hezbollah. Victims of the October 7th attacks file a lawsuit against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, alleging the UN agency aided Hamas in building "terror infrastructure." The Kremlin criticizes the US after a US-supplied ATACM missile kills civilians on a beach in Sevastopol, Crimea. In today’s Back of the Brief, we provide an update on Haiti as foreign peacekeepers prepare to deploy to restore order in Port-au-Prince. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll start today with comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu, who indicated that combat operations in Gaza will be slowing down in the coming days. Meanwhile, IDF troops are preparing to move north to Israel's northern frontier in anticipation of a potential attack from Lebanese Hezbollah. Later, victims of the October 7th Hamas attacks have launched a lawsuit against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNR, alleging that the UN agency spent more than a decade helping Hamas build what their calling, quote, terror infrastructure. Plus, the Kremlin is lashing out at the U.S. over a recent missile attack on Crimea, where a U.S. supplied attack of missile missile reportedly killed several civilians

as they sunbades on a beach in the city of Sevastopol. And in today's back of the brief, we'll have an update on the situation in Haiti as foreign peacekeepers prepare to deploy to the island in an effort to restore order in the capital city of Porta Prince. But first, today's PDB spotlight. We'll kick things off today in the Middle East, where Israel is indicating a change in their wartime strategy from prioritizing Hamas fighters in Gaza to Hezbollah militants to the north, essentially changing the focus from one Iranian terror proxy to another. In a speech on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the intense phase of the war against Hamas was beginning to wrap up and that the military was preparing to shift their

primary focus to the escalating fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, according to a report from CNN. Critically, Netanyahu stressed that even as the military moves its priorities to Lebanon, operations in Gaza would continue until Hamas was eradicated. Netanyahu said, quote, it doesn't mean that the war is going to end, but the war at its current stage is going to end in Rafah. This is true. We will continue mowing the grass later, end quote.

As we've been regularly discussing on the PDB, fighting along Israel's northern border with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has intensified in recent weeks, and there's no sign, the escalation will end anytime soon. Hasbullah has been attacking from the north in solidarity with Hamas ever since the 7 October attacks. However, their strikes are increasingly going deeper into Israeli territory. Officials from the U.S. and Western allies have been voicing concern in recent weeks

that the fighting risks devolving into a full-scale war. Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reiterated those concerns following Netanyahu's speech, saying the U.S. would have a much harder time defending Israel in a full-blown conflict with Hezbollah due to the short range between Lebanon and Israel. He fears that Hezbollah could overwhelm Israel's iron dome air defense system. CQ Brown also warned that an all-out war with Hezbollah would likely draw in the group's primary funder, Iran. Brown said, quote, Hezbollah is more capable than Hamas as far as overall capability, number of rockets and the like,

and I would just say I would see Iran being more inclined to provide greater support to Hezbollah. Again, all this could help to broaden the conflict in the region, end quote. Now, despite his remarks, CNN reported Friday that senior U.S. officials have told Israeli leaders that the U.S. is ready to back Israel and offer security assistance in the event. event of a full-scale war with Hezbollah. We should note that the skepticism around larger operations against Hezbollah is not limited just to the halls of Washington. Within Israel, families of the hostages reacted to the speech with dismay, fearing what a shift away from Gaza could mean for the remaining hostages. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the families,

said, quote, the end of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, without the release of the hostages, is an unprecedented national failure and a failure to meet the goals of the war." Now, apparently, not everyone was paying attention when Netanyahu said that military operations in Gaza would continue. Meanwhile, amid the talk of escalation, reports emerged Sunday that Iran has greatly accelerated the smuggling of rockets and other weapons to Hezbollah using the main airport in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut. That's the Rafiq Hariri Airport.

The report suggests that Iran is gearing up for a wider conflict in the region through their terrorist proxy, which of course is why Iran has built these various terrorist proxies. Just last week, Israeli leaders warned the Lebanon-based terror outfit that if they continued their attacks, they faced the imminent prospect of, quote, all-out war. The warning came after Hezbollah released nine minutes of drone footage, showing Israeli military and civilian locations inside of its war. Israel. Shortly after the warning, senior commanders in the IDF announced that the military had approved operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon, increased the readiness level of

their troops, and begun relocating resources and troops to the north. Still, Israeli defense minister Yov-Galant told officials in the Biden administration last week that they would prefer a diplomatic solution. He added, however, that Hezbollah's aggression was making that increasingly difficult. The terror group has promised to reject any truce offers until there's a ceasefire in Gaza. All right, coming up after the break. The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency is being sued by dozens of Israelis who accused it of aiding the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. And Moscow is threatening the United States after fragments of a U.S. supplied missile reportedly killed several civilians in Russian occupied Crimea.

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attacks are looking to hold the UN accountable for their role in aiding and abetting the Iranian-backed terrorists. On Monday, more than 100 family members of the hostages officially sued the United nations relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East. That's a mouthful, also known as UNRWA, for both participating in the attack and for helping Hamas establish a, quote, terror infrastructure in the region for more than a decade, according to a report from Reuters. The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and seeks $1 billion, that's a billion with a B, in damages for the U.N. agency's role in, quote, aiding and abetting Hamas genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture. They specifically noted the UNRSAF staff violated

international law and the U.S. Torture Victim Protection Act. It also names seven of its past and current leaders, including the current head of the agency, Philippe Lazareni. The lawsuit alleges that the UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has long allowed Hamas to use its schools and buildings for weapon storage and to build tunnels and command centers underneath, all while funneling cash directly to the terror group. The lawsuit states, quote, Hamas did not carry out these atrocities without assistance. Unra knowingly providing Hamas with the U.S. dollars in cash that it needed to pay smugglers for weapons, explosives, and other terror material. The resulting atrocities were foreseeable and the defendants are liable, end quote.

more. The lawsuit alleges that the UN agency only allowed Hamas-approved textbooks in its schools in order to, quote, indoctrinate children from a young age into a death-cult ideology of hatred and genocide, end quote. Representatives for the UN have not yet commented on the lawsuit, but in the past have claimed to take accusations of staff misconduct seriously. Frankly, the UN's track record in Gaza would suggest that the UN's operations in the region are fundamentally compromised, and they have admitted that some of their staff were directly involved in participating in the 7 October attacks. As you'll likely recall, the UN's role in Gaza has been the subject of intense scrutiny ever since the savage 7 October attacks by Hamas. In January, Israel released

intelligence, alleging that members of the UNRWA actively participated in the 7 October attacks, as well as facilitating logistical support and assisting in the kidnapping of Israelis. So far, at least 14 individuals have been accused of directly participating in the attacks. However, that's likely just the tip of the iceberg. The IDF said in March that intelligence shows that some 450 terror operatives in Gaza, mostly Hamas members, are also employed by UNRWA. Now, intelligence shared with the U.S. suggested that approximately 1,200 of the UNRAS 12,000 employees in Gaza have ties to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad. Around 50% of the organization's employees have close

relatives within these Islamist militant groups. Okay, shifting our focus to Russian-occupied Crimea. I wanted to follow up on a story that we covered on yesterday's PDB, and that was the deadly Ukrainian missile attack on the city of Sevastopol, and of course the latest response from the Kremlin. As we reported, panic erupted on a Crimean beach on Sunday as Russian air defenses scrambled to intercept a barrage of Ukrainian missiles. Now footage broadcast on Russian state television captured the chaos, with beachgoers running for cover as fragments rained down from the intercepted missiles. Russia's defense ministry has now confirmed that the weapons used in the attack were U.S. supplied attackam's missiles,

claiming that they were programmed, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, by U.S. specialists. Officials attributed the casualties to shrapnel from the missiles, claiming that it killed five people, including at least two children, and injured around 150 others.

Again, these numbers have not been independently verified. Kremlin spokesperson Dimitriess Kov called the strike barbaric and accused the U.S. of killing Russian children. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, reiterated the claim that all attack of missiles are programmed and guided by American specialists, asserting that the system, quote, cannot be used without the direct participation of the American military, including satellite capabilities, end quote. In response to the attack, Russia summoned U.S. ambassador Lynn Tracy

to the foreign ministry, where she faced accusations that the United States was, quote, waging a hybrid war against Russia, and has actually become a party to the conflict. The Russian officials told Ambassador Tracy that the strike would not go unpunished, saying that retaliatory measures will definitely be taken. The attack on Sevastopol follows a recent U.S. policy shift, allowing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russian territory using American-made weapons. However, it's important to note that this strike wouldn't be a result of that policy shift, Crimea is considered occupied Ukrainian territory and has been considered fair game by the U.S.

since the earliest days of Putin's invasion. Ukrainian officials defended the strike, calling Crimea, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, a legitimate target. A top aide to President Zelensky described the peninsula as, quote, a large military camp with hundreds of direct military targets. Now, just what form Russia's retaliation could be. take, well, that remains unknown. However, when Kremlin Spokov was asked what the Russian response could be, he recalled a statement from Putin earlier this month. Peskov said, quote,

of course, the involvement of the United States in the fighting, as a result of which peaceful Russians are dying, cannot but have consequences. He added, ominously, which ones exactly, time will tell. Now, the spokesperson Pescal finished by saying, of course, we did start this mess by invading Ukraine, so it's really Putin's fault. Okay, I might have made up that last quote there. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, the latest from Haiti, where Kenyan law enforcement has arrived to help local authorities in an attempt to restore order in the city of Porta Prince. I'll be right back. knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%.

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Up front payment of $45 for three-month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Seeful terms at mintmobile.com. In today's back of the brief, an update on the trouble in the Caribbean as hundreds of Kenyan police officers make their way to the island nation of Haiti. The deployment comes as gang violence continues to strangle the country. capital, Porta Prince.

Kenya's President William Ruto held a send-off ceremony for the police force, during which he encouraged the 400 officers, part of a larger planned contingent of 1,000, to maintain integrity and to honor the trust placed in them by Kenya and the global community. President Ruto told officers that stabilizing the Caribbean island is, quote, a mission for humanity, a mission for solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Now, before it's even begun, the mission already faced several challenges. The UN-backed mission to crack down on Haiti's gang violence first gained traction back in October of 2003, with Kenya spearheading the plan.

However, the deployment hit a roadblock in January when a Kenyan court demanded a formal agreement with Haiti, which was finally secured in March. Aside from the legal hurdles, there are also concerns about just how suitable Kenyan law enforcement is for the task. Human Rights Watch has documented numerous instances of excessive force by Kenyan police, including recent allegations of a brutal crackdown on protests in the nation's capital of Nairobi. Although one could argue, I suppose, that a brutal crackdown on the criminal gangs in Porta Prince is not altogether a bad idea. Still, this recurring issue of excessive force does raise concerns about training and accountability and oversight within Kenyan law enforcement,

especially troubling given the volatile situation they're about to face in Haiti. In addition to Kenyan forces, the U.S., along with Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Chad, are also pitching in as part of a broader international effort. The U.S. has pledged 300 million in financial support, but has insisted that it will not be deploying any troops to the troubled island. The situation remains desperate in Haiti. A horrifying surge in violence erupted in late February, leaving an estimated 2,500 dead or injured in the first three months of 2024. This violence has also displaced half a million people

and plunged border prints into chaos, with various criminal gangs taking control of much of the city. The gangs continue to control at least. least 80% of the city, the key roads and also vital infrastructure, including the city's international airport. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday, 25 June. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, well, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. It's really that simple.

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