Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone.
The Pentagon is deploying around 2,500 more Marines to the Middle East.
Speaking with reporters yesterday, President Trump said a big challenge remains to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic.
It's a simple military maneuver.
It's relatively safe, but you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships, you need volume.
And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so.
And others could help us.
But, you know, we don't use it.
You know, at a certain point, it'll open itself.
He posted on social media yesterday that his administration is thinking about winding down military operations soon.
Turkey says recent Israeli strikes on its neighbor, Syria, represent a, quote, dangerous escalation.
Israel's military said yesterday it had struck a Syrian command center and weapons depot.
NPR's Emily Feng has more.
Deadly fighting broke out once again this week in southern Syria between fighters from Syria's government
and the Druze, a minority religious group.
Israel says it is acting to protect the Druze minority from the Syrian government.
The Israeli military said in a statement it struck government sites in Syria's southern Sueda province where many Druze live.
The strikes add to an Israeli military campaign in Syria
that dates back to the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Turkey said the attacks this week were illegal.