Israel Orders More Evacuations in Lebanon as Strikes Continue on Iranian Proxies |
Israel warned residents of more than twenty towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately today amid its direct ground clashes with Hezbollah in the area, while an Israeli strike in Beirut overnight killed a reported nine people. Eight Israeli soldiers were reported killed in southern Lebanon clashes yesterday. Israeli officials continue to weigh their response to Iran’s Tuesday missile barrage against Israel, with U.S. President Joe Biden warning yesterday against an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged not only in the Gaza Strip but also in Tel Aviv, where Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting and stabbing attack that killed seven people Tuesday. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza yesterday in the Financial Times, writing that Riyadh will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without a clear roadmap to “an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.” (Reuters, NYT, FT)
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“It will be a function of how the Israelis respond and how the Iranians perceive that response that will tell us much about what’s to come in the coming months. But this is not something that is going to end. Hezbollah is not over, even if the Israeli estimate that it has taken out 50 percent of its ordnance,” CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook said in a media briefing.
“Taking out Iran’s nuclear program could lay the groundwork for a sustained direct war with Iran that Israel will struggle to maintain while it tries to contain Hamas and Hezbollah. And if it undertakes a significant counterattack against Iran but doesn’t bomb the nuclear facilities, it will leave intact the one weapon that a wounded theocracy will need to deter future Israeli actions,” CFR Senior Fellow Ray Takeyh and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Reuel Marc Gerecht write in the New York Times.
“There are...logical reasons why Israel may limit its response to another calibrated and targeted strike on Iran, as it did in April, allowing both sides to declare victory and walk back from the brink,” the University of California, Los Angeles’ Dalia Dassa Kaye writes for Foreign Affairs. “Still, the current escalatory climate and the often unpredictable outcomes of war mean that nothing can be ruled out.”
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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WaPo: South China Sea Tensions Disrupt Operations on Undersea Cables |
Firms that operate cables beneath the South China Sea told the Washington Post that it has become increasingly difficult to get Chinese permission to install and maintain cables there over increasing geopolitical tensions. The U.S. government, meanwhile, has urged firms and governments to avoid working with Chinese companies, leading to delays and rerouting of cable projects. (WaPo)
This timeline traces China’s maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Singapore: Former Transportation Minister Subramaniam Iswaran was sentenced today to twelve months in jail for accepting gifts worth more than $300,000 while in office. He’s the first former government minister to receive a jail sentence. (CNA, Straits Times)
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Bangladesh Recalls Five Diplomats in Reshuffle Under New Government |
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus called for the immediate return of diplomats including Bangladesh’s envoy in India, where former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled after being ousted from power after mass demonstrations against her policy. (Indian Express, Prothom Alo)
India/Pakistan: An Indian court order prompted movie theaters to cancel plans to premiere what would have been the first Pakistani film in the country in more than a decade. Indian officials did not immediately give a reason for calling off the screening. (GeoNews, PTI)
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Middle East and North Africa |
Lebanese Politicians Hold Talks on Filling Leadership Vacuum Amid Conflict |
The country has lacked a president and empowered cabinet since 2022 in a power struggle that includes Shiite militia Hezbollah. A Hezbollah ally, Druze, and Sunni leaders met yesterday and issued a joint statement calling for a “consensus president,” without naming candidates. (Reuters)
In this YouTube Short, CFR expert Steven A. Cook gives the rundown on this week’s Israeli attack on Lebanon.
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Gilead Pharma Says Companies in Asia, Africa Can Make Generic Versions of HIV Drug |
A new plan announced yesterday will allow six firms to make generic versions of HIV drug lenacapavir and sell them in 120 countries, including many in sub-Saharan Africa with the highest rates of HIV. Public health advocates celebrated the deal, while some criticized the exclusion of middle-income countries with significant HIV cases. (NYT)
For Think Global Health, Emily Bass uncovers the PEPFAR Files, looking at why the longtime HIV program is under threat.
Tanzania: Regulators suspended the digital platforms of a local media company, saying it had posted content that damaged the country’s image. The government did not specify what the content was, but the company had covered citizen dissatisfaction with murders. Press freedom groups criticized the suspension. (Reuters)
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EU Proposes One Year Delay to Anti-Deforestation Import Measures |
Rules currently set to take effect on December 30 require imports to bear certification they were not linked to deforestation, but commodity exporters and some European Union (EU) stakeholders argued the rules were too complex and could lead to inflation in the EU. They backed the postponement, while some environmental groups criticized it as shirking forest protection. The proposal to push it back is still subject to approval by EU member countries. (Bloomberg)
UK/Brussels: The United Kingdom (UK) and EU agreed yesterday to hold annual summits beginning in 2025 as part of a “reset” in relations following Brexit. They are expected to cover issues such as migration and climate change. While Brussels had proposed new youth mobility permissions, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “free movement is a red line.” (FT)
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Canada Exploring Arctic Security Coalition With Nordic Countries and No Russia |
Canadian officials met with those from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and agreed to consider a new defense dialogue, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly told Bloomberg. It was prompted in part by desires to coordinate on security outside of the governing forum the Arctic Council, which includes Russia. Joly cited concerns about both Russian and Chinese interests in the Arctic. (Bloomberg)
Dominican Republic/Haiti: The Dominican Republic announced plans to increase its deportations of irregular Haitian migrants to up to ten thousand a week, saying there was an “excess” of migrants from the neighboring country. (AP)
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Death Toll From Hurricane Helene Nears Two Hundred |
President Biden authorized one thousand troops yesterday to assist in responding to the prolonged aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the southeast; some six thousand National Guard workers and 4,800 federal aid workers have been part of efforts. Hundreds of people are still missing after the storm, and nearly two hundred have been confirmed dead. Two studies released this week found that climate change made Helene stronger and more destructive. (NYT, NPR, NBC)
On this episode of The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR experts Alice Hill and Varun Sivaram confront the U.S. climate challenge.
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Homeland Security Department Flags Domestic and Foreign Threats Ahead of Election |
A new public assessment from the agency warned that domestic U.S. extremists inspired by “partisan policy grievances or conspiracy theories,” tensions in the Middle East, and digital interference by China, Iran, and Russia have contributed to threats to the U.S. homeland ahead of the U.S. election. (CNN) |
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