Blinken in Israel

As Israel and Hamas edged closer to the expiration of a fragile truce, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Israeli leaders on Thursday and urged them to take concrete steps to reduce civilian deaths before Israel resumes an offensive against Hamas in Gaza, as the NYT reports.

Expelling Hamas

As Israeli forces prepare for a renewed offensive targeting Hamas’s top leaders in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military and political leaders are confronting the challenge of what to do about the thousands of fighters that represent the group’s power base. To address that challenge, some Israeli and U.S. officials are discussing the idea of expelling thousands of lower-level militants from the Palestinian enclave as a way to shorten the war, as the WSJ reports.

Climate Damage Fund Pledges

Global delegates at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai formally adopted a damage fund that was decades in the making, and several countries pledged millions of dollars to it to help nations hit hardest by the climate crisis—an early success on the first day of talks that allows more time to discuss the thorny issues around slashing fossil fuels, as CNN reports.

Executive Education

The Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy (AILA) at CSIS is seeking aspiring global leaders to apply for its flagship leadership program, the AILA International Fellowship. The program brings together a diverse cohort of mid-career leaders to leverage their diversity to address the intellectual, ethical, cultural, and policy questions that are central to effective leadership in today’s world. Applications close December 1, 2023.

Audio Briefs

CSIS experts give short, spoken-word summaries on the biggest takeaways from their latest reports, white papers, and commentaries—in their own words.

Listen here: "Eight Commonsense Actions on Biosafety and Biosecurity" with CSIS's Michaela Simoneau.

In That Number

$245 million

The European Union and its members pledged $245 million to the historic “loss and damage” fund approved at COP28 on Thursday, designed to aid countries feeling unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Source: The Washington Post

Critical Quote

“We have sworn, I have sworn, to eliminate Hamas. Nothing will stop us.”

—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

iDeas Lab

New CSIS satellite imagery analysis shows ROMEO Class patrol submarines and a SANGO Class coastal submarine flying maritime signal flags at the Mayang-do Submarine Base, indicating a visit by a senior official or an important ceremony has recently taken place or is imminent.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

(Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.) Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President of the COP28 Climate Conference, speaks at the opening session of the conference shortly after he was confirmed COP28 president on November 30, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

This Town Tomorrow

At 9:00 a.m., the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security hosts the second episode of "Gaza: The Human Toll" on health and humanitarian impacts of the war.

Later, at 10:30 a.m., the CSIS Project on Prosperity and Development and Americas Program unpacks democratic backsliding in Nicaragua and the role of the Catholic Church and faith-based society.

And, at 1:00 p.m., the CSIS Africa Program is joined by Stuart Reid to discuss his new book, "The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and Cold War Assassination."

Video

On the second episode of "COP Stocktake: Inside Perspectives on the Global Climate Conference," CSIS's Joseph Majkut is joined by Ilaria Mazzocco, senior fellow for CSIS's Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, to discuss relations between the United States and China, the world’s largest economies and largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of COP28. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

CSIS expert Maria Snegovaya fills in Max Bergmann and Michael Kimmage after her recent trip to Kyiv. The three of them discuss the current state of the war with Russia and examine key questions facing Ukraine and its partners heading into 2024.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Yesterday we played a video of Goose, the biggest new jam band, covering one of Prince’s standards. Let’s now take a look at what happened when the late Prince, one of the greatest guitarists ever, covered someone else’s music.

I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

The Evening is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed by Lauren Adler, Ava Rose, and the External Relations team.