* Iraqi reports: Israel carries out 'rare' strike against vehicle in eastern Syria Reports said no casualties or injuries known in attack near Syrian-Iraqi border.
* Israel warns it will ‘not hesitate’ to uproot Iran’s ‘entrenchment’ near Israeli border Trump made no secret of his support, commitment and loyalty to Israel, which sent a message to Israel’s enemies in the region. That support is now in question.
* An Unintended Syria Air Clash Could Pull Biden Into Conflict Involving Russia, Israel The conflict in Syria has seen the convergence of multiple, sometimes opposing forces in the skies over a near-decade-long civil war that today threatens to draw the United States' foreign policy resources back into the quagmire, one in which its closest ally, Israel, and a leading rival, Russia, are among those operating in dangerous proximity.
* Biden hasn't called Israel's Netanyahu yet, raising fears of a frosty four years to come President Joe Biden has made a flurry of phone calls to American allies around the world. There has been one notable omission.
* Joe Biden Calls Chinese Communist Party Leader Xi Jinping President Joe Biden called the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping Wednesday, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, according to the White House.
* Iran's Revolutionary Guard Is Radicalizing Young Men Across the Middle East. The U.S. Needs a Counterinsurgency Strategy Like his six predecessors as president, Joe Biden enters office with the challenge posed by Iran’s regime high on his to-do list.
* Teaching hate: Iran textbooks push anti-Semitism, say COVID hyped to harm regime ADL, in 1st report on Tehran curriculum in half a decade, finds it replete with hate and conspiracies; kids taught to chant ‘Death to Israel,’ seek Jewish state’s elimination.
* Blinken ‘non-committal’ on East Jerusalem as Palestinian capital In an interview to CNN, US secretary of state refused to commit to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
* The International Criminal Court Threatens Middle East Peace The International Criminal Court (ICC) has long had its sights on what it no doubt considers an unholy trinity: Israel, the US and Britain.
* German foreign minister warns scrapping Nord Stream 2 pipeline would cut Russia loose from obligations to Western Europe One of the world’s largest gas pipelines, currently under construction, is good for more than just cheap fuel, the German Foreign Minister has said. It’s also one of the last remaining political ties between Russia and the West.