The “Week” in Review: April 13-26, 2024

The IDF mobilizes to enter Rafah, the US military confirms its pending departure from Niger, and more

These past two weeks, the Israeli military intensified bombardments of Rafah in preparation for entering the city. Iran and Israel exchanged retaliatory but calculated blows in the wake of the IDF’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus earlier this month. The US military and State Department confirmed that US troops would soon be withdrawing from Niger. Joe Biden inflamed tensions with Papua New Guinea after making an off-color quip about his uncle. And, following an agreement earlier this month to transfer four border villages from Armenia to Azerbaijan, the two countries installed a border marker, moving them closer to normalizing ties.