Threat Status tracked the early morning Senate vote to advance a $95.3 billion aid package that includes money for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, Israel’s war on Hamas, and Taiwan’s preparations for a possible future clash with China. The bill advanced thanks to 22 Republicans joining with all Senate Democrats to pass it — though its prospects in the House look grim. Some conservative senators objected to the bill because they say it doesn’t do nearly enough to address the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

There are also deepening concerns across Washington over how Israel might spend the aid it gets from the U.S. White House reporter Jeff Mordock covered a joint appearance by President Biden and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in which both leaders urged Israel to show restraint during its looming offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. 

Their public comments come on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to pursue “complete victory” in Gaza, no matter the outside criticism. 

The debate over U.S. aid comes at a crucial moment for Ukraine. There have long been signs that Russia has the momentum in the two-year war, but this week brought more troubling signs. National Security Correspondent Ben Wolfgang is on top of reports that Russia used its Zircon hypersonic missile during last week’s assault on Kyiv. Russia says the weapon has a range of well over 600 miles, can travel at nine times the speed of sound, and cannot be defeated by traditional missile defense systems.

Threat Status is watching other worrying signs out of the Kremlin. Moscow on Tuesday put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on a wanted list, ostensibly because of her decision to remove World War II-era Soviet monuments. But Estonian officials see a much more sinister motivation behind Russia’s provocations. They insist that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a major military confrontation with the West over the next several years.

Russia may even strike the U.S. directly if given the opportunity. That’s the assessment of Former Polish President Lech Walesa, 80, who addressed a standing-room-only crowd at the Victims of Communism Museum in Washington this week. Foreign editor David R. Sands was at the event and reported on Mr. Walesa’s insistence that the U.S. “cannot waste this chance” to support Ukraine and push back on Russian aggression. 

Officials from Poland and other NATO nations are expected to attend a meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers later this week in Brussels. But U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will miss the event. Military correspondent Mike Glenn is tracking all the fallout from Mr. Austin’s latest hospitalization for a “bladder issue.” Mr. Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer late last year. 

Are U.S. venture capital firms aiding communist China? Washington Times national security correspondent Bill Gertz reports on troubling findings by a key House committee that says five American firms have invested an estimated $3 billion in Chinese advanced technology. That money, they say, is bankrolling the Chinese military and fueling human rights abuses.

We’re watching other threats across the Pacific as well, including in Taiwan, where hackers targeted the island democracy ahead of its recent election. The Times’ Ryan Lovelace reports on recent data from the U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Trellix that showed a spike in cyberthreats in the final days before Taiwan’s presidential election last month. 

Other U.S. allies face their own threats, including those from within. Mr. Glenn has a fascinating look at British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps’ contention that left-wing “wokeness” has infiltrated the British military, echoing accusations made by American conservatives about their own armed forces. 

Conservatives remain furious about the crisis at the southern border — and they’re determined to hold someone accountable. The Times’ Stephen Dinan is tracking promises from some high-profile House Republicans that they will be able to muster the votes to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week.

The looming vote follows last week’s embarrassment for House Republicans after they failed to muster the votes to impeach Mr. Mayorkas. 

Israel faces allegations that it is perpetrating a genocide in the Gaza Strip, indiscriminately targeting Palestinian civilians with a brutal military campaign. But it is Hamas, not Israel, that is to blame for the civilian suffering, according to Washington attorney Gerard Leval. Mr. Leval, author of the book “Lobbying for Equality: Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Civil Rights During the French Revolution,” argues in a piece for The Times that Hamas is insisting on a fight with Israel no matter the civilian cost.

He argues that amounts to “nothing less than a kind of self-inflicted genocide by and of these Palestinians.”