Daily News Brief

August 22, 2024

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Top of the Agenda

Israel bombed ten areas of Lebanon overnight in response to rocket strikes yesterday from Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli military said today that its strikes targeted military infrastructure. A separate Israeli drone strike killed an official in a militant group affiliated with the Palestinian faction Fatah who had been living in Lebanon. Fatah controls the West Bank, where tensions and violence have soared since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. 

This week’s cross-border attacks come as international diplomats try to move forward with an agreement on a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the potential for a cease-fire; sticking points include disagreements over the control of certain transit corridors within Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported. (FT, Al-Monitor, WSJ)

Analysis

“It is going to be hard for the Israelis to accept an agreement in which they don’t have control over the Gaza-Egypt border. That has been Hamas’ major supply line,” CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook posts. 

“As previous wars attest, Lebanon is a treacherous battlefield. Israel’s last war with Hezbollah, in the summer of 2006, was inconclusive, and despite killing several hundred of the group’s fighters, it left the group’s military power largely intact,” Haaretz’s Amos Harel writes for Foreign Affairs. 

Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.

Pacific Rim

The island’s budget calls for spending some $20 billion, or the equivalent of 2.45 percent of its estimated gross domestic product (GDP), on defense next year. Taiwan has been purchasing new equipment including fighter jets as part of a multiyear military modernization plan. (Bloomberg, CNA) 

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR expert David Sacks argues that Taiwan’s defense spending increase is still not enough.

Indonesia: Lawmakers said they would reconsider changes to electoral laws that sparked protests in multiple cities. The changes were seen as favoring the political alliance of outgoing President Joko Widodo and President-Elect Prabowo Subianto. (Bloomberg)

South and Central Asia

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his country’s help in brokering peace in Ukraine and the Middle East on a visit to Poland today. Modi also said the two countries were upgrading ties to that of a “strategic partnership”; Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “Poland is ready” to play a larger role in India’s defense modernization efforts. (Times of India)

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka will launch a six-month pilot tourism program that gives citizens of thirty-five countries permission to travel to the country visa-free for thirty days. The initiative begins October 1. (Reuters)

Middle East and North Africa

Reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian’s cabinet is the first to receive across-the-board approval in more than two decades. He chose a career diplomat who helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal as foreign minister and a former deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces as defense minister. (AP, Al-Monitor)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Fifteen aid trucks have entered Sudan from Chad after the Sudanese army temporarily reopened a border crossing last week that it had closed in February, a UN official said. At least 116 aid trucks still remain at the border, according to the United Nations. More than six million people face food insecurity across the Darfur region. (Reuters)

On this episode of The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR expert Michelle Gavin gives an update on the civil war in Sudan.

Niger: The World Health Organization said it is reviewing new research from Niger that suggests sub-Saharan Africa’s high child mortality rate could be cut by expanding the use of the antibiotic azithromycin beyond the lowest age group. Researchers had previously cautioned against overusing the drug due to concerns about antimicrobial resistance. (FT) 

Europe

China’s trade ministry said yesterday that its probe will look into products including creams and cheeses. It comes one day after Brussels announced new tariff rates on Chinese electric vehicle exports; China had previously begun anti-dumping investigations into French cognac and European Union (EU) pork imports. (FT)

Ukraine: The legislature ratified the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute yesterday, a step its foreign minister celebrated as bringing the country closer to EU membership. The move would allow authorities to “more effectively punish” suspected Russian war criminals. (Reuters)

This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo looks at the role of the International Criminal Court.

Americas

Citizens of certain countries that require a visa to visit Brazil and fly through its airports without such visas will no longer be allowed to enter the country, Brazil’s justice ministry said yesterday. Many such nationals book layovers in Brazil before claiming asylum there and then migrating northward to the United States and Canada. The measure is due to take effect Monday. (AP, Bloomberg) 

U.S./Argentina: Argentina will sign a deal on minerals mining with the United States this week that facilitates its business with the U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership, which includes fourteen countries and the EU, a U.S. State Department official said. (Bloomberg)

U.S. Campaign 2024

The robocalls used a recording generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to imitate the voice of President Biden. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Lingo Telecom reached a settlement over the calls, which used voice-cloning technology to “spread disinformation,” the FCC said. (Reuters)

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