Gaza

• Israel carried a "targeted raid" in Gaza overnight in "preparation for the next stages of combat," and PM Netanyahu confirmed that a ground invasion is coming - but didn't offer details on timing or size.
• Some recent reports suggest Israel is delaying its ground invasion at the request of the Biden Administration to give the U.S. more time to boost air defenses at its bases in the region ahead of anticipated retaliatory attacks from other Iranian proxies allied with Hamas.
• Some regional leaders are speaking out against Israel and siding with Hamas. Turkey's Pres. Erdogan defended Hamas as a threatened group of "liberators" who "fight to protect their land and citizens" - "not a terrorist organization" - and Libya's eastern parliament called for a ban on oil exports to countries that support Israel (U.S., UK, France, Italy).

• A Kenyan soldier died fighting with the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) in eastern DRC. The EACRF insists his injuries were collateral and M23 rebels weren't specifically targeting regional forces: Rwanda backs the M23 but not overtly, and all in the region are keen to avoid sparking another regional war.

• Pres. Maduro's Attorney General, Tarek Saab - who is under sanctions in the U.S., EU, Canada, Colombia, etc. for his role crushing dissent in Venezuela - opened a criminal investigation into the presidential primary the opposition held Sunday, citing fraud.
• That suggests Maduro may renege on his commitment to allow free and fair elections in late 2024...and thus the U.S. may then revoke the minor sanctions relief it offered Maduro as an olive branch when his government agreed just last week to hold elections.
• The opposition said over 2.3 million people voted on Sunday - a little less than 10% of the population. That's impressive, given that the poll was organized with no help from the government.

• Azerbaijan abandoned a controversial plan to carve a corridor through Iran linking its exclave of Nakhchivan with the rest of the country.
• That was welcome news for Armenia, which had resisted the planned Zangazur Corridor over concerns that it would sever Armenia-Iran transit links.
• With the controvery over the corridor seemingly settled, Armenia said it would sign a final peace deal with Azerbaijan within the next month.