BLINKEN TO MIDDLE EAST: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN plans to travel to the Middle East later this week for several days, our own NAHAL TOOSI writes in, confirming an Axios report. The exact timing and details of the trip are still being worked out and could change, according to a U.S. official familiar with the planning, but for now, Blinken is supposed to meet with the top leaders in Israel, Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. STRIKE IN LEBANON: A suspected Israeli drone struck a Hamas office building in Beirut’s suburbs today, killing four people, officials with Hamas and the Hezbollah militant group said. Top Hamas official SALEH AROURI, a long-time Israeli target and one of the founders of the group’s militant wing, was killed, The Associated Press reports. Arouri was also among the Hamas leaders closest to Iran, and spent time in Beirut serving as an ambassador of sorts between Hamas and Hezbollah, The New York Times’ BEN HUBBARD reports. “Israel, which issued a deck of playing cards to soldiers featuring the faces of Hamas officials to help them identify the group’s leaders, made Mr. al-Arouri the joker,” the NYT writes. The strike in Lebanon comes amid U.S. efforts to contain the Israel-Hamas war, but today’s strike suggests Israel is actively pursuing targets outside of the Gaza Strip. The Pentagon has deployed forces to help protect Israel, announcing yesterday that the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group will head home after months of extra duty. It’ll be replaced by the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship and its accompanying warships, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall, which are already in the region. The Israel-Hamas war has also raised concerns among European officials about the region’s long-term security. “Even if there would be a cease-fire, lasting or not, you notice that there’s a flammability,” Belgium’s Interior Minister ANNELIES VERLINDEN told our own PIETER HAECK. "Those traumas, those feelings are so deep, that this of course can go on for a long time.” BIBI’S U.N. PLAN: Israel’s leaders are also gearing up for a fight on the world stage, pledging to defend against genocide accusations before the United Nations’ top court next week. On Friday, South Africa laid out the case at the International Court of Justice, saying the high death toll, widespread destruction and dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip that has resulted from Israel’s military campaign constitutes genocide under international law, The Associated Press’ WAFAA SHURAFA, BASSEM MROUE and TIA GOLDENBERG report. It’s rare for Israel to engage with the United Nations, which it often denounces as being biased against the country. The shift, however, shows that Israel is concerned about the potential damage to its reputation. Netanyahu wants Harvard law professor ALAN DERSHOWITZ, DONALD TRUMP’s former lawyer, to represent Israel, Israeli officials told Axios’ BARAK RAVID. ‘SEETHING’ PUTIN: Russia battered Kyiv and Kharkiv with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least four people and injuring 92 more, our own CLAUDIA CHIAPPA reports. Moscow hit the Ukrainian capital with a combination of Iranian-made Shahed drones and “waves” of missiles for almost six hours, according to Ukraine’s military. The majority of strikes in recent days have targeted civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY said in a statement. As a result, Ukraine may strike inside Russia soon. “With each new attack, Russia increasingly legalizes Ukraine's retaliatory strikes against Russian air bases and naval bases, ammunition depots, defense enterprises and enemy oil bases,” according to a document, sent to Ukrainian government officials by Kyiv’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security today, obtained by NatSec Daily. Moscow’s overnight attacks came a day after Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN said he was “seething” over strikes on the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday, which the Kremlin blamed on Kyiv. Russian officials said at least 25 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the airstrikes on Belgorod. NOT REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: North Korea no longer seeks reunification with South Korea, KIM JONG UN announced via state-run media Monday. The stark message from the North Korean dictator shifts his country’s policy, which has long sought to reunify and reconcile with its southern neighbor following the Korean War that ended in an armistice. “It’s time for us to acknowledge the reality and clarify our relationship with the South,” he said during a year-end announcement. “I believe that it is a mistake that we must no longer make to deal with the people who declare us as ‘the main enemy’ and seek only opportunities for ‘[our] regime collapse’ and ‘unification by absorption’ by collaborating for reconciliation and unification.” Kim’s stance could embolden right-wing figures in South Korea who disagree with reconciliation and reunification, and who instead push for a strengthening of Seoul’s military capabilities to deter a restart of the war with North Korea. YOON SUK YEOL, South Korea’s conservative president, has flirted with the idea of developing a nuclear weapon. “This will mark a critical milestone on the Korean Peninsula where extending the olive branch by future South Korean administrations will be vehemently rejected by North Korea,” nuclear expert HOO CHIEW-PING told CNN yesterday. IT’S TUESDAY: 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 award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com, and follow us on X at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, and @JGedeon1.
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