Gaza

• Hamas gave Qatari interlocutors its initial response to the ceasefire plan proposed by U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian negotiators.
• The details of Hamas's counterproposal haven't been publicized yet, but the fact that mediators are optimistic about it suggests Hamas sent a constructive response.
• Now Israel will have to evaluate Hamas's counteroffer and decide whether it can agree to the terms on the table. Hardliners will certainly struggle to accept Hamas's rumored demand to leave its leadership in charge of Gaza after the war.

• Tucker Carlson snagged an interview with Pres. Putin that took place yesterday and will air "soon." It was Putin's first interview with an American journalist since 2021.
• Separately, Russia apparently unfroze millions of dollars in North Korean assets in exchange for ballistic missiles and other military kit Pyongyang has sent to Moscow.

• A Haitian prosecutor issued a criminal complaint recommending charges against 70 alleged conspirators in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
• The list included a surprising name: the late president's own wife, former First Lady Martine Moïse, who was also shot in the attack that killed her husband. The the prosecutor claims Mrs. Moïse wanted her husband dead so she could take over the presidency.

• A pair of explosions in two different parts of Balochistan killed 26 people today. Both blasts targeted offices of candidates running in tomorrow's election, and were likely carried out by Baloch separatists seeking to sow chaos ahead of the vote.