President Trump Extends Ceasefire; US Blocklade of Strait of Hormuz Continues + Second Round of Israel & Lebanon Talks on Thursday in Washington D.C. + US Department of War Releases FY27 Defense Budget Request of $1.5 Trillion

For review: 1. The Board of Peace’s lead envoy for Gaza admitted Monday that talks with Hamas on disarmament were going to take more time, even though the deadline he gave for the terror group to accept his proposal on handing over its weapons expired nine days earlier. “We’ve had some very serious discussions with Hamas over the last few weeks. They’re not easy,” Nickolay Mladenov told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Brussels. “ 2. Hours before a two-week ceasefire with Iran was set to expire, US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was extending the truce for the time being and that the US will hold off on attacking Iran. Israel and the US have been preparing for a resumption of the war since the ceasefire began, sources familiar with the matter told the network, including conducting exercises involving fighter jets and refueling tankers across the Middle East. 3. The Hezbollah terror group violated a ceasefire in Lebanon on Tuesday by firing several rockets at Israeli troops stationed in the south of the country, as well as launching a drone at Israel, the military said. Hezbollah took responsibility for the attacks, which it claimed were in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire. The IDF said that it struck the launcher used in the attack within a few minutes. 4. A second round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will take place on Thursday, an Israeli and a US official tell The Times of Israel. 5. The head of the U.S. command for the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday stressed the importance of Taiwan passing its stalled defense budget, saying the United States “can’t want Taiwan’s defense more than they want it itself.” Taiwan’s President last year proposed $40 billion in extra defense spending to counter China. 6. US Department of War Releases FY27 Defense Budget Request of $1.5 Trillion. 7. The U.S. medium-sized USV fleet could jump from roughly four to 30 vessels by 2030 in the Indo-Pacific, according to officials. 8. US SOUTHCOM is standing up a new unit aimed at connecting tactical missions to long-term outcomes with unmanned systems. The development of the Autonomous Warfare Command was mandated by the SOUTHCOM CDR, GEN Francis Donovan (USMC). 9. The Air force’s Experimental Operations Unit conducted hands-on testing with the Anduril YFQ-44A aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California.