Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israeli special forces launch raids into Lebanon ahead of possible ground incursion WSJ Editorial: Israel’s deterrence lesson for Biden Jerusalem Post’s Neville Teller: UN’s anti-Israel majority: Misinformation and hypocrisy reign at the General Assembly Russian PM Mishustin to meet Iranian President Pezeshkian on Monday Iran vows response to Guards deputy commander killing in Lebanon Zelensky visited U.S. to seek war boost. His most-important ally shrugged. Nasrallah’s killing leaves Hezbollah diminished—with a void at the top Hezbollah misjudged Israel’s weakness and Iran’s might IDF kills another senior Hezbollah official in Beirut; fresh barrages target north Commentary’s Eli Lake: The killing of Nasrallah—and the virtue of escalation South Korea's foreign minister says Russia engaging in illegal arms trade with North Korea Japan’s Ishiba pledges early general election in OctoberIn The News
Israel
Israel struck power plants and a sea port in Yemen Sunday after the Houthi rebel group launched two ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv in recent days, as the Israeli military continued an air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. – Wall Street Journal
Israeli special forces have been carrying out small, targeted raids into southern Lebanon, gathering intelligence and probing ahead of a possible broader ground incursion that could come as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said. – Wall Street Journal
Around dusk, explosions shook the city above. Israel’s air force struck the bunker with about 80 tons of bombs, according to several people familiar with the situation. The attack used a series of timed, chained explosions to penetrate the subterranean bunker, a senior Israeli military official said. – Wall Street Journal
Israelis have reacted with joy and relief to the assassination of Hasan Nasrallah, the Lebanese cleric who turned Hezbollah into the region’s most formidable paramilitary force and, over the past year, transformed northern Israel into a smoldering conflict zone. – Washington Post
Gideon Saar, a member of Israel’s opposition, announced on Sunday that he would be joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, giving the Israeli leader’s fragile coalition an added layer of support. – New York Times
Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Monday that its leader in Lebanon Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed along with some of his family members in an Israeli strike in the south of the country. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Sunday the strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week in Beirut also “eliminated” more than 20 other members of the Lebanese armed group. – Agence France-Presse
Former Hezbollah leader was the “central engine of Iran’s axis of evil,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a televised address in Hebrew after he returned to Israel from the US on Saturday evening. – Jerusalem Post
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon blasted the Palestinian Authority’s leadership in his remarks before the Security Council on Friday afternoon for failing to distinguish itself from Hamas and expecting a role in the governing of a post-war Gaza. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran not to directly attack the Jewish state, as he addressed the high-level portion of the opening session of the 79th United Nations General Assembly. – Jerusalem Post
Israel had the opportunity to eliminate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar but decided not to proceed in doing so due to fear of harming the hostages held in the terror group’s captivity, N12 news revealed in an exclusive report released Sunday night. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Israel’s experience in the last year is a reminder to the West about the cost of failed deterrence and what is required to restore it. Israel let down its guard against Hamas a year ago and paid a terrible price. It seems determined not to repeat that mistake with Hezbollah. Mr. Biden has undermined the U.S. ability to deter adversaries because he fears any escalation, ceding the advantage to Iran, Russia and China. Israel can’t afford such indulgence. Its survival is at stake. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: For all of this, the world should be grateful to Israel. It is Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, not Israel, destabilizing the Middle East. Israel is not the aggressor but an aggrieved and righteous defender of its people and territory. In justified retaliation, Israel keeps improving its already admirable record of minimizing civilian damage while eliminating terrorists. It should keep up its good work. The way for peace in the Middle East is for the rest of the world to pressure Islamists into leaving Israel alone. – Washington Examiner
Neville Teller writes: His words to the US reporters were already in the papers, and his speech attracted only short-lived applause from the assembled delegates. The UN General Assembly, it seems, was not prepared to countenance anyone suggesting peace with Israel, not even the representative of its supreme enemy. The UN’s in-built anti-Israel majority was as predictable as ever. – Jerusalem Post
David Schenker writes: With Israel and Hezbollah on the brink of full-scale war, it is difficult to predict what the coming weeks will bring. What is certain is that while both Israel and Hezbollah have agency, Hezbollah will ultimately decide the trajectory of events. Washington is keen on de-escalation, and the Biden administration is making efforts to “decouple” the conflict from Gaza to provide Israel and Hezbollah a diplomatic path to avoid a full-scale war. Yet the chances for success on the diplomatic front appear remote. Whether by force of arms or diplomacy—or via a combination of both—Israel is not going to return to the pre–7 October status quo on its northern border. The choice is Hezbollah’s. – Al Majalla
Iran
Israel should not be allowed to attack countries in the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” one after the other, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday. – Reuters
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit Iran on Monday and meet Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Russian government said on Sunday. – Reuters
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the killing by Israel of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander in Beirut was a “horrible crime” that would not go unanswered. – Reuters
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been taken to a secure location inside Iran amid heightened security, sources told Reuters, a day after Israel killed the head of Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in a strike on Beirut. – Reuters
Iran on Saturday called for the United Nations Security Council to meet over Israel’s actions in Lebanon and across the region, Iran’s U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter to the 15-member body after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. – Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday unsealed criminal charges accusing three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and trying to disrupt the Nov. 5 election. – Reuters
Israel is crossing Tehran’s red lines, and the situation is becoming serious, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader said on Friday, after Israel attacked Tehran-backed Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs. – Reuters
Iran’s embassy in Lebanon said on X that Friday’s Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs represents a dangerous game-changing escalation that will “bring its perpetrator an appropriate punishment.” – Reuters
David French writes: I’m sobered when people I respect lament the condition of Israeli society (especially its settler movement in the West Bank) and the dysfunction of its politics. I grieve the staggering loss of innocent life. But one year after perhaps Israel’s worst military failure, its military success is guaranteeing that Israel, not Iran, remains the captain of its fate. – New York Times
Alex Vatanka writes: Returning from New York to Tehran, Pezeshkian told the Iranian public that new nuclear negotiations will be under way with the Europeans. […] Maintaining its current regional approach is tantamount to ensuring Iran’s continued isolation on the international stage, further economic decline, and the ongoing specter of regional war. It is time for the Islamic Republic to explore new ideas about how it can help the cause of the Palestinian people without staking so much of Iran’s basic national interest on it. – Middle East Institute
Russia & Ukraine
The tepid reception of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the U.S. this week exposed the narrowing options that he faces after 2½ years of war. – Wall Street Journal
Russia strongly condemns Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital Beirut, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, calling it “yet another political assassination”. – Reuters
Russia launched several waves of drones targeting Kyiv early on Monday, with air defence units successfully defending the city, Ukraine’s military said. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Sunday that amendments to Russia’s nuclear doctrine had been prepared and were about to be formalised, meaning the relevant documents setting out the circumstances in which nuclear arms can be used by Moscow will be updated. – Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday told the United Nations that it was senseless to ignore alternatives to Ukraine’s peace proposals, warning the West of the danger of trying to “fight to victory with a nuclear power.” – Reuters
Ukraine shot down 69 of 73 drones during an overnight Russian attack that included two ballistic and two cruise missiles, the Ukrainian air force said on Saturday. – Reuters
More than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia Sunday, officials said, sparking a wildfire and setting an apartment block alight in one of the largest barrages seen over Russian skies since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. – Associated Press
Ukraine said it struck a stockpile of weapons in Russia overnight that may have included just-arrived missiles from Iran. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Throughout his bloody reign, Putin has always been willing to break truces, violate agreements and go back on his word whenever he perceives a strategic benefit to doing so. There’s every reason to think he’d do the same this time around. Without proper precautions, a cease-fire wouldn’t end the war, save lives or benefit everyday Ukrainians. It would do the opposite. – Bloomberg
Kseniya Kirillova writes: Russian interference in Syria has also led to hatred of Moscow among Islamist radicals and the country’s more moderate opposition. While Kremlin propaganda warns of agreements between Kyiv and “Syrian radicals,” Russia’s problems with people in Syria are the result of Russia’s actions, not Ukraine’s. Each of these challenges created by the Kremlin’s new diplomacy requires economic and military resources from the center, and the attention of its policymakers. They are a distraction and a drain on a state already engaged in a major war. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Hezbollah
An Israeli strike on an underground bunker that killed Hezbollah’s leader of more than three decades has left a gaping void at the top of the world’s most heavily armed nonstate militia and cast a cloud of uncertainty over its future. – Wall Street Journal
Weeks after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah made a thunderous speech to explain why his men are joining the fight against the “Zionist enemy.” – Wall Street Journal
Even as most of the Middle East is overtaken by outrage at weeks of destructive Israeli strikes against Hezbollah and its leaders, some communities are celebrating the disarray of the powerful militia that persecuted them. – New York Times
Senior Hezbollah official Nabil Qaouk was killed in an Israel Defense Forces airstrike on Saturday in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, the military announced on Sunday morning, as it continued its punishing campaign against the Lebanon-based terror group. – Times of Israel
Editorial: But U.S. officials also acknowledged in recent days that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s intransigence has been as much, or more, to blame. Here is the hope, at any rate: Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah represent enough of a win for Mr. Netanyahu, and enough of a defeat for Iran and its proxies, Hamas included, that all parties might conclude they have nothing more to gain from fighting, but plenty to lose. – Washington Post
David Ignatius writes: When Nasrallah emerged as the Hezbollah leader in 1992, posters displayed his round face under an iconic portrait of Sadr. Fouad Ajami, in a 1987 study al Sadr, “The Vanished Imam,” described a cult of defiance and death: “Young men behind sandbags, with their Imam’s posters, defend the ruins that are theirs and their sect’s.” Now Nasrallah has joined the long line of Shiite martyrs. He will be mourned by his followers, who will try to avenge him. But his death offers a chance for Lebanese to reclaim their country after nearly 40 years of ruinous Hezbollah leadership. – Washington Post
Eli Lake writes: A day after Hamas launched its pogrom of October 7, Hezbollah began raining rockets and missiles into northern Israel, displacing up to 70,000 Israelis. Nearly a year later, those people have not been able to return to their homes. […]But Western leaders have responded with reticence. In this they have revealed their profound confusion about the enemy. It is not a nation-state, a terror group, or even an ideology. From Washington to Paris, they seem to believe the real enemy is escalation. – The Free Press
Hanin Ghaddar writes: The United States already has strong leverage with Lebanon through its assistance program to the Lebanese Armed Forces, but the LAF itself must answer to an independent Lebanese government, not one in thrall to Hezbollah. A post-ceasefire Lebanon must above all be anchored in state sovereignty and independence. Moreover, the international community can now work toward supporting a credible, inclusive coalition of opposition figures and forces—which must include the Shia community in all its diversity—to counter Hezbollah, its allies, and Iranian influence in Lebanon. – Washington Institute
Syria
The U.S. military said on Sunday it killed 37 Islamist militants in two airstrikes this month in Syria, with the dead including many senior leaders of Islamic State and of an Al Qaeda affiliate called Hurras al-Din that is based in Syria. – Reuters
More than 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency said on Friday, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified. – Reuters
Blasts were heard in the vicinity of Syrian capital Damascus, state news agency SANA reported on Sunday, adding that an investigation was being conducted to establish the cause. – Reuters
Flags flew at half-mast in Damascus on Sunday and residents said they were still shocked after the killing of Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose fighters helped Syria’s army reclaim large parts of the country during its brutal civil war. – Reuters
Twelve pro-Iranian fighters have been killed in air strikes of unknown origin in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Sunday, adding that a large number of people were wounded. – Agence France-Presse
Lebanon
Reports of new casualties streamed in across Lebanon on Sunday, from the south to the far north. Families displaced by Israeli strikes found shelter where they could. The gloomy capital smelled of sulfur and drones buzzed overhead, one resident wrote. – Washington Post
Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were underway. – Reuters
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday that his country was facing the threat of danger, after an Israeli airstrike the previous day killed the head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. – Reuters
Lebanon’s transport ministry told an Iranian aircraft not to enter its airspace after Israel warned air traffic control at Beirut airport that it would use “force” if the plane landed, a source at the ministry told Reuters. – Reuters
The U.S. Department of State on Saturday ordered some employees at its embassy in Beirut and their eligible family members to the leave Lebanon amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following the killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah by Israel. – Reuters
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon on Sunday night, his ministry said, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli air strikes intensified one week ago. – Agence France-Presse
A second French national has been killed in Lebanon, France’s foreign ministry said Sunday, as Israel carried out fresh strikes against the country’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. – Agence France-Presse
The World Food Programme on Sunday said it had launched an emergency operation to provide meals for one million people affected by the escalating conflict in Lebanon. – Agence France-Presse
David Ramadan writes: The time has come for a new narrative — one that prioritizes the well-being of the Lebanese people over the ambitions of a group that has failed to live up to its promises. Hezbollah’s myth of invincibility is dead. Now, it is up to the Lebanese people in general, and the Shia community in particular, to chart a new course for the country that embraces peace, sovereignty and authentic moral leadership. – The Hill
Middle East & North Africa
U.S. officials on Friday said they have agreed to a two-stage shift in the American military presence in Iraq that will allow for continued operations against Islamic State militants in Syria, but pointedly disputed Baghdad’s earlier assertions that a near-total withdrawal is underway. – Washington Post
Jordan’s foreign minister said on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to be stopped because he was driving the region to a full-fledged war. – Reuters
Tunisia’s parliament approved a law stripping the Administrative Court of its authority to adjudicate electoral disputes on Friday, nine days before the presidential election and fuelling opposition fears of a rigged result aimed at keeping President Kais Saied in power. – Reuters
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani condemned on Saturday the Israeli killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as a “crime.” – Agence France-Presse
Editorial: For now, at least, this is the administration’s position: to decry the human cost of Sudan’s war in general terms, while pursuing closer ties to the UAE, without demanding a clear public commitment that the UAE stop supporting a faction responsible for some of the conflict’s worst atrocities. If that sounds difficult to reconcile with the United States’ highest principles, it’s because it is. – Washington Post
Korean Peninsula
North Korea, which has been accused of illegally supplying weapons to Russia, said on Sunday that U.S. military aid worth $8 billion to Ukraine is “an incredible mistake” and playing with fire against nuclear superpower Russia. – Reuters
South Korea’s Foreign Minister said Russia is engaging in illegal arms trade with North Korea, reiterating statements by the United States, Ukraine and independent analysts that Pyongyang is supplying rockets and missiles in return for economic and other military assistance from Moscow. – Reuters
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Friday he will discuss plans to build a new nuclear power unit during a visit to South Korea as the government sounds out potential bidders. – Reuters
China
China opposes any violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, China’s foreign ministry said on its website on Sunday after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. – Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored strong U.S. concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base in talks on Friday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying Beijing’s talk of peace in Ukraine “doesn’t add up.” – Reuters
China said it will focus on solving outstanding economic problems and strive to complete annual economic and social development goals, state media reported on Sunday, citing a meeting of China’s cabinet, or government. – Reuters
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi sought to burnish his country’s credentials as a global peacemaker at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, calling for a cessation of fighting in the Middle East and touting Beijing’s diplomatic efforts on Russia’s war in Ukraine. – Reuters
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S. deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines “undermines regional peace and stability”, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. – Reuters
Chinese air and naval forces are conducting manoeuvres in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the military said on Saturday, hours after the country’s top diplomat discussed ways of reducing regional tension with his U.S. counterpart. – Reuters
The sole candidate in the election for Macao’s next leader has pledged to diversify the economy of the Chinese casino city, a goal previously laid out by Beijing. – Associated Press
China and India have reached more consensus on withdrawing troops from some parts of the disputed border between the two countries, Beijing said, in a further sign that tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors are easing. – Bloomberg
South Asia
At least 170 people have died in Nepal after days of unceasing rain caused heavy flooding and triggered major landslides around the country, including in the densely populated region around Kathmandu, the capital. – New York Times
Stone-throwing protesters in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi clashed on Sunday with police who stopped them from reaching the U.S. consulate during demonstrations over Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. – Reuters
India will not buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which is sanctioned by Western countries, Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain said on Friday. – Reuters
Gunmen killed seven workers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan late on Saturday, police said. – Reuters
Ahead of the final phase of a local election in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a key resistance leader says the regional polls to choose a local government will not resolve the decades-old conflict that is at the heart of a dispute between New Delhi and Pakistan. – Associated Press
The main group coordinating opposition to military rule in Myanmar rejected on Friday a surprise offer from the ruling generals to hold talks on a political solution to the country’s nationwide armed conflict. – Associated Press
Asia
Stocks in Japan fell sharply after the country’s governing party chose a leader some view as hawkish on interest rates, underlining how central bank decisions continue to set the course of the world’s fourth-largest economy after decades of easy money policy. – New York Times
The armed forces of five countries conducted joint maritime exercises in a portion of the South China Sea on Saturday as China carried out its own military drills in the disputed waterway. – Reuters
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday it was on alert after detecting “multiple waves” of missile firing deep in inland China, days after Beijing said it had carried out a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. – Reuters
Vietnam has offered amnesty to 20 imprisoned foreigners, including nine Chinese and two U.S. citizens, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet said on Monday. – Reuters
Japan’s defence ministry said on Friday that it has spotted Chinese Navy aircraft carrier “Liaoning” in the Pacific Ocean for the past seven days. – Reuters
Japan’s new leader, Shigeru Ishiba, said he would call a national election on Oct. 27, assuming he is confirmed as Japan’s new prime minister on Tuesday, taking advantage of a positive public reaction to his victory in last week’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership election. – Bloomberg
Malaysia’s ruling coalition scored a landslide victory in a by-election on Saturday, with party leaders hailing it as a sign of long-term political stability and public acceptance of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government. – Bloomberg
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has again called for a cease-fire in Lebanon, as Israel’s attacks on the capital Beirut have escalated. – Bloomberg
Europe
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party came in first in the general election Sunday, preliminary results showed, with a highest-ever showing amid growing anxiety about migration. – Wall Street Journal
Europe needs to rearm fast, but obstacles from red tape to nimbyism are impeding defense contractors’ expansion. Faced with Russia’s growing war machine and its aggression in Ukraine, European countries have raised defense budgets to their highest levels since the end of the Cold War. – Wall Street Journal
Given Britain’s dismal economic performance, no one should have been surprised that the ruling Conservatives lost to Labour in a landslide last July. Yet the public’s willingness to entrust the economy to Labour might have only been possible thanks to a policy pivot engineered by Keir Starmer when he became leader in 2020. – Wall Street Journal
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had spoken with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut which killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. – Reuters
Moldova’s state-owned broadcaster said on Saturday that vandals had poured paint across an entrance to its building in the capital, Chisinau, a day after police blamed similar incidents on a group trained in Moscow to destabilise upcoming elections. – Reuters
The stakes are high for Marine Le Pen as she and other officials from the French far-right party National Rally go on trial Monday over accusations of embezzling European Union funds. The case has the potential to derail her political ambitions. – Associated Press
Norway may put a fence along part or all of the 198-kilometer (123-mile) border it shares with Russia, a minister said, a move inspired by a similar project in its Nordic neighbor Finland. – Associated Press
The main Czech opposition group led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis won an election Saturday for a third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, the Senate. – Associated Press
NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will seek European Union funding to build a network of bunkers, barriers, distribution lines and military warehouses along their borders with Russia and Belarus, Estonia’s officials said Saturday. – Associated Press
The European Union is planning to vote Oct. 4 on whether to impose tariffs as high as 45% on imported electric vehicles made in China, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg
Finland and Estonia agreed to boost cooperation in protecting underwater energy infrastructure roughly a year after a ship anchor ripped up a gas pipeline connecting the countries. – Bloomberg
Africa
At least 17 people from a single family were killed when gunmen attacked two homesteads in South Africa early Saturday, the police said, adding to a rising number of mass shootings in the country. – New York Times
At six people were killed and 10 injured on Saturday by bomb explosions in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and a town in the country’s Middle Shabelle region, police and witnesses said. – Reuters
The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. state development fund, has extended a $480-million five-year grant to Sierra Leone to provide reliable and affordable electricity to 4.6 million people, the fund said. – Reuters
The World Bank said it is rolling out measures to ensure the recipients of lending to Uganda are not discriminated against by a tough anti-gay law. – Reuters
International Monetary Fund staff and Ethiopia have reached an agreement on economic policies to conclude the first review of a four-year $3.4 billion loan arrangement, the IMF said on Friday. – Reuters
The United Arab Emirates said early on Monday the residence of its ambassador in Khartoum was attacked by a Sudanese military aircraft, condemning it as a “heinous attack”. – Reuters
The Americas
The United States has dropped a push for the U.N. Security Council to ask for a plan to transform a security mission helping fight armed gangs in Haiti into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation, a move some diplomats said was made to appease Russia and China. – Reuters
Argentine President Javier Milei said on Saturday he intends to shake up the country’s midterm legislative elections next year, during a rally for the national launch of his political party, as the country battles its worst economic crisis in decades. – Reuters
Haiti has seen nearly 13 people killed on average each day this year, according to data from a United Nations report on Friday, which urged tighter controls on arms trafficking among other measures as a gang war drives a worsening humanitarian crisis. – Reuters
U.S. Peace Corps volunteers returned to El Salvador Friday for the first time since the American force left in 2016 because of violence in the Central American country. – Associated Press
Art Estopinan writes: This isn’t just about profits or political interests — it’s about giving Haitians a chance to live with dignity and break free from the chains of poverty and corruption. As a good neighbor, the U.S. must do more than watch from afar. Now is the time to act. We must offer our support not out of charity, but out of a shared belief that Haitians, like all people, deserve the chance to rebuild, thrive and hold their heads high. – The Hill
United States
Senior officials in the Biden administration were scrambling Saturday to salvage their push for a cease-fire at Israel’s northern border after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. – Wall Street Journal
The bomb that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week was an American-made guided weapon, a U.S. senator said on Sunday. – Reuters
The U.S. military said on Sunday it was increasing its air support capabilities in the Middle East and putting troops on a heightened readiness to deploy to the region as it warned Iran against expanding the ongoing conflict. – Reuters
The United States was not told in advance about Israel’s strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut that killed the leader of the Iran-backed militant group, U.S. President Joe Biden and other officials said, raising further questions about the administration’s ability to influence its close ally. – Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday approved $567 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, the latest move by the United States to boost the island’s military in the face of rising tensions with China. – Reuters
President Joe Biden said Sunday he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided. – Associated Press
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Iran and the militant groups it backs against attacking Americans in the Middle East, while the White House renewed calls on Israel to avoid triggering a wider regional war. – Bloomberg
Former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Friday to discuss plans to resolve the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in New York. – Bloomberg
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Sunday that “nobody is mourning” the death of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed Friday night in Beirut, Lebanon by the Israeli military. – Politico
Editorial: Don’t count on the Administration following this order before Nov. 5, if it ever does. A public release might mean that Vice President Kamala Harris would have to explain her own thinking on the war before the election. As long as she doesn’t, and the Administration covers it up, Ms. Harris co-owns Mr. Biden’s record of muddled half measures. – Wall Street Journal
Michael Goodwin writes: There is no historic or factual basis for that claim. Gaza was a Palestinian state that became a terror state the moment Hamas seized power. As its leaders made clear, it would repeat the horrors of Oct. 7 again and again if given the chance. Hezbollah was similarly determined to keep attacking Israel — until Friday. The crucial question is what Iran does next. If the White House is smart, it won’t wait for an answer. Instead, Biden should make it clear that any attack on Israel will not be tolerated. But only if he is prepared to show he’s serious is there any hope the guns will go silent. – New York Post
Douglas Murray writes: Unfortunately, the American president lacks the fortitude or moral vision to say as much. In his remarks in New York, Joe Biden offered up a potpourri of platitudes that will move no one: “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” “a diplomatic solution is still possible,” and so forth. […] One that articulated the values of democracy and pluralism and tolerance, which so many Western leaders now seem congenitally incapable of articulating. I refer, of course, to the late, great Daniel Patrick Moynihan—who was the U.S. ambassador to the UN during one of its most egregious betrayals of Israel. – The Free Press
Cybersecurity
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a landmark bill aimed at establishing first-in-the-nation safety measures for large artificial intelligence models Sunday. – Associated Press
The Irish Data Protection Commission fined Meta €91 million — roughly $102 million — Friday stemming from an investigation launched in 2019 after the company notified regulators that it had inadvertently stored some passwords internally in plaintext. – CyberScoop
A U.K. national is facing charges for allegedly hacking into five public companies and stealing information about corporate earnings that helped him net about $3.75 million from stock trades. – The Record
Defense
Lawmakers demanded answers from the U.S. Navy on Friday over news reports that faulty welds may have been knowingly made to American submarines and aircraft carriers under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. – Defense News
Military bases throughout the southeastern U.S. were still assessing damage to their installations on Friday after Helene made landfall in Florida the prior evening as a Category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding and deaths. – Military.com
Raytheon has received another large contract from the Army for its Coyote interceptors, one of the latest moves in the service’s effort to expand its arsenal of counter-drone systems. – DefenseScoop