Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel targeting Hezbollah weapons sites, climate talks at the United Nations General Assembly, and Sri Lanka’s new president.
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Thousands Flee Israeli Attacks
Israeli strikes against Hezbollah killed at least 356 people, including women and children, and injured more than 1,200 others across Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese Public Health Minister Firass Abiad. The operation was Israel’s deadliest barrage on Lebanon since the two fought a full-scale war in 2006. Israel is “not waiting for the threat to come,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. “We’re pre-empting it.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire Lebanese communities into militant bases to attack Israel and support Hamas’s efforts in Gaza; both Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran. On Monday, the IDF hit more than 1,300 sites in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley, which borders Syria, to target the group’s weapons sites.
“We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move out of harm’s way,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. Israel also sent around 80,000 messages on international numbers to warn residents to evacuate.
Thousands of Lebanese have since fled the south. Cars headed toward Beirut jammed the main highway out of the major port city of Sidon in the country’s largest exodus in almost 20 years. The Lebanese government ordered schools to close on Monday and Tuesday, the country’s Red Cross mobilized “all ambulance stations” to respond to the rising death toll, and United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israel’s attacks are a “grave concern” for civilians’ safety.
The Israeli onslaught came just one day after the United States publicly warned Israel, which is still fighting in Gaza, against “opening up a second front” in Lebanon. “We’re saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday. “We don’t believe that escalating this military conflict is in [Israel’s] best interest.” The U.S. Defense Department announced on Monday that it is deploying “a small number” of additional U.S. forces to the Middle East, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will continue to back Hezbollah until the United States stops arming Israel.
Monday’s strikes were the latest cross-border attacks to hit the region since a suspected Israeli operation detonated thousands of communications devices used by Hezbollah militants last week, killing at least 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000 others. “We have entered a new phase, the title of which is the open-ended battle of reckoning,” Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said. Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Monday that the IDF is “preparing for the next phases” of the conflict.
On Sunday, Hezbollah launched around 150 strikes into northern Israel to retaliate for an Israeli assault on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including a top Hezbollah commander.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has ordered its 190,000 members to stop using all communication devices, fearing that Israel could use them to launch similar attacks to the ones carried out in Lebanon. According to a senior Iranian security official on Monday, the IRGC is conducting a large-scale operation to inspect all devices—most of which are either homemade or imported from China and Russia—and has begun an investigation into mid- and high-ranking IRGC personnel to ensure none are secretly Israeli agents. “This includes scrutiny of their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history and that of their families,” the official told Reuters.
Today’s Most Read
The World This Week
Tuesday, Sept. 24: The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) kicks off its weeklong general debate.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee holds a hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Wednesday, Sept. 25: G-20 foreign ministers meet on the sidelines of UNGA.
Jammu and Kashmir hold a second phase of legislative elections.
French President Emmanuel Macron begins a two-day visit to Canada.
Thursday, Sept. 26: Foreign ministers from the BRICS nations meet on the sidelines of UNGA.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
G-7 agriculture ministers convene in Italy for a three-day meeting.
Friday, Sept. 27: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party holds a leadership election.
G-77 foreign ministers convene at UNGA.
Sunday, Sept. 29: Austria holds parliamentary elections.
Monday, Sept. 30: The International Court of Justice holds public hearings on a land and maritime dispute between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
What We’re Following
Pact for the Future. General debate at the U.N. General Assembly kicks off in New York City on Tuesday. Heads of state and government will address the body’s 193 members, with this year’s theme focusing on peace, sustainable development, and human dignity. Wars in Europe and the Middle East, rising sea levels, and technological advancements are likely to take center stage in talks. For more coverage, FP’s Situation Report will be reporting from U.N. headquarters all week.
Ahead of the weeklong event, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a pact on Sunday that aims to strengthen multilateral cooperation across issues including climate change, tech and artificial intelligence, and human rights, among others. Titled a “Pact for the Future,” the agreement lays out 56 broad actions that countries vowed to achieve, such as phasing out fossil fuels. The provision echoes a similar pact made at last year’s U.N. climate change conference in Dubai that some critics argued did not lay out a clear path toward eliminating carbon emissions.
Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Vershinin criticized the pact’s nine-month negotiations after Moscow failed to include an amendment—backed by Belarus, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Syria—that says the U.N. and its systems shall not intervene in matters that are within a state’s domestic jurisdiction.
Oath of office. Sri Lanka swore in its new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition, on Monday. After a historic second round of counting, Dissanayake defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday. This was the first time that a Sri Lankan presidential election did not result in one candidate having more than 50 percent of the vote after the first round.
Just before the swearing in, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned to clear the way for Dissanayake to appoint a new prime minister and cabinet.
Dissanayake’s win over Wickremesinghe highlighted the public’s frustration with the old political guard. Wickremesinghe had replaced ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country defaulted on its loans, sparking mass protests as the country spiraled into economic crisis. Dissanayake has vowed to ease Sri Lanka’s austerity measures, address political corruption, and investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed at least 290 people.
Ban on Chinese cars. The U.S. Commerce Department proposed a ban on Monday targeting many Chinese- and some Russian-made car parts. If enacted, the proposal would bar Chinese and Russian software for vehicles with built-in internet connections, starting with the 2027 model year for software and the 2030 model year for hardware. Exemptions would be made for companies that show they are taking mitigating measures, such as auditing or site checking.
In February, Biden ordered an investigation into whether Chinese cars threatened U.S. national security. The review found several examples of such risks, including the possibility of remote sabotage and evidence that Chinese companies were collecting data on U.S. drivers and infrastructure. “In an extreme situation, foreign adversaries could shut down or take control of all their vehicles operating in the United States all at the same time,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday.
The announcement signals larger supply chain competition between the world’s two largest economies. Beijing has denied allegations that its hackers have embedded themselves into U.S. infrastructure, instead accusing Washington of protectionism. Raimondo said the Commerce Department’s latest proposal is strictly for national security, not trade advantages.
Odds and Ends
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared Mickey Mouse and his clubhouse to be the city’s “public enemy No. 1.” Last Wednesday, Adams kicked off the Big Apple’s inaugural two-day National Urban Rat Summit to address the city’s growing rat problem. Public works officials renewed their focus on parks, sewers, construction sites, and public housing; announced citywide sanitation rules; and promoted the “Rat Pack,” a volunteer group to help with rat mitigation efforts. These steps follow Adams appointing the city’s first-ever rat czar in April 2023. “I don’t think there’s been a mayor in history that says how much he hates rats,” Adams said. “I dislike rats. And I am so happy I have a four-star general who is working on finally winning the war on rats.”
The post Israeli Barrage on Hezbollah in Lebanon Kills Hundreds appeared first on Foreign Policy.
