Happy Tuesday! The Entertainer is back! To all the Billy Joel fans out there Keeping the Faith, the Piano Man announced the upcoming release of his first pop single in The Longest Time— almost 17 years—titled, “Turn the Lights Back On.” The song will be available in Italian Restaurants everywhere on February 1.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• The U.S. and Britain launched another round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, the eighth such campaign in two weeks, in response to the Iranian-backed terrorist group’s continued attacks against international ships in the Red Sea. “The Houthis’ now more than thirty attacks on international and commercial vessels since mid-November constitute an international challenge,” the U.S. and U.K. said in a joint statement released on Monday. “Recognizing the broad consensus of the international community, we again acted as part of a coalition of like-minded countries committed to upholding the rules-based order, protecting freedom of navigation and international commerce, and holding the Houthis accountable for their illegal and unjustifiable attacks on mariners and commercial shipping.” The eight targets included an underground storage site as well as weapons and surveillance capabilities, the Pentagon reported. 
• The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced this morning that a total of 24 of its soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, marking the single deadliest day for Israeli troops since the ground operation began in October and bringing the IDF’s total death toll to more than 200. Israeli officials reported that 21 reservists were killed in a high-casualty incident in central Gaza yesterday afternoon, when Hamas fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades at an Israeli tank and two nearby buildings collapsed following a large explosion. In addition, three officers were killed as Israeli forces advanced into Khan Younis—a city in the southern half of the enclave and the site of intensifying urban battles.
• In a 5-4 decision on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Biden administration’s request to vacate an injunction in the ongoing fight over Texas’ use of razor wire fencing at the southern border, allowing federal agents to remove the barriers. The state of Texas sued the federal government last October after border patrol agents attempted to remove some of the fencing, arguing the Department of Homeland Security was interfering with the state’s ability to enforce its own borders. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elana Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the majority ruling, vacating a previous injunction set by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina endorsed former President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race on Monday, just one day before the New Hampshire primary election. “I don’t see eye to eye perfectly with any candidate. And until now I’ve stayed out of it,” Mace said in a statement yesterday. “But the time has come to unite behind our nominee.” Trump endorsed Mace’s primary challenger in 2022, calling the congresswoman “an absolutely terrible candidate” after her calls for accountability following January 6. Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, campaigned for Mace in 2022 and helped defeat her Trump-backed challenger. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, a Virginia Republican who was backing Gov. Ron DeSantis, also formally endorsed Trump on Sunday. 

Ecuador Erupts

On January 9, a live news broadcast from the port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, was suddenly interrupted when more than a dozen masked men stormed the TV studio, brandishing guns and explosives. The attackers swung their weapons wildly as they made presenters and crew lie on the floor. Reporter Jose Luis Calderon pleaded with the attackers as the cameras continued to roll, beaming the frightening scene across thousands of television screens in the South American country. 

Authorities ultimately arrested the 13 men, set to be charged with terrorism. Last week, though, the prosecutor investigating the attack was shot and killed in Guayaquil. “Everything has collapsed,” Alina Manrique, the station’s head of news, said afterwards. “All I know is that it’s time to leave this country and go very far away.”

The shocking incident is just one episode in the recent escalation of violence in Ecuador. Once a tourist-friendly pocket of peace in the world’s deadliest region, the country has slowly devolved into one of the most dangerous places in South America. The deteriorating security situation has prompted the promise of a harsh crackdown from newly elected President Daniel Noboa, who declared war on the drug cartels that exercise enormous control over the country’s prison system and battle each other for access to drug trafficking routes. Noboa’s plan—backed by the U.S.—is dramatic, but analysts and observers have warned it may not …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,651-word story on growing violence in Ecuador is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time 

• Writing for the Atlantic, Yair Rosenberg analyzes the allegations of genocide against Israel—particularly claims that out-of-context statements made by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signal intent to “eliminate” Palestinians. “On October 10, as the charred remains of murdered Israelis were still being identified in their homes, Gallant spoke to a group of soldiers who had repelled the Hamas assault,” Rosenberg wrote. “‘Gaza will not return to what it was before. There will be no Hamas. We will eliminate it all.’ This isn’t a matter of interpretation or translation. Gallant’s vow to ‘eliminate it all’ was directed explicitly at Hamas, not Gaza. One doesn’t even need to speak Hebrew, as I do, to confirm this: The word Hamas is clearly audible in the video.’” Yet multiple media outlets, the South African legal team at the International Court of Justice, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan have widely cited and circulated this incorrect quote—and other poor translations—as fact. “These omissions and misinterpretations are not merely cosmetic: They misled readers, judges, and politicians,” Rosenberg continued. “The good news is that they can be avoided in the future by making sure to check translations at their source; pressing writers to link to primary sources when possible; and placing scriptural citations from any faith into their proper theological and historical context. Certainly, no outlet or activist should be cavalierly accusing people or countries of committing genocide based on thirdhand mistranslations or truncated quotations.” 

Presented Without Comment 

Mediaite: Trump Says He’d ‘Win’ a Mental Aptitude Test Against Nikki Haley

“Well, I think I’m a lot sharper than her. I would do this. I would sit down right now and take an aptitude test and it would be my result against her result and she’s not gonna win. She’s not [going to] even come close to winning.”

Also Presented Without Comment

NBC News: Fake Joe Biden Robocall Tells New Hampshire Democrats Not to Vote on Tuesday

Toeing the Company Line 

• It’s Tuesday, which means Dispatch Live returns tonight at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT! A bigger than usual team—including those on-the-ground in the Granite State—will break down all aspects of tonight’s New Hampshire primary as the results come in. And as always, they’ll take plenty of viewer questions! Keep an eye out for an email later today with information on how to tune in.
• In the newsletters: Kevin reflected on (🔒) on just how insane the conversation about presidential immunity from criminal acts is getting, the Dispatch Politics crew looked at Nikki Haley’s final pitch to New Hampshire and reported from the annual March for Life in D.C., and Nick bid farewell (🔒) to Gov. Ron DeSantis as only he can. 
• On the podcasts: Sarah and David brave the tundras to record the latest Advisory Opinions from Vanderbilt University’s campus, where they discuss left-leaning bias in pro-bono cases before diving into the details of Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ possibly salacious hires.
• On the site today: Dani Pletka argues that it’s time to defund the United Nations, Chris Stirewalt pregames New Hampshire, and Emma Rogers explains South Africa’s allegations against Israel at the International Court of Justice.