Monday Briefing: Israel and Hezbollah trade threats

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September 23, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering rising tensions in the Middle East and controversies in the Republican Party.

Plus, a Russian military officer’s story of desertion and escape.

Buildings were damaged in the early morning strike on a neighborhood in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, yesterday. Shir Torem/Reuters

Israel and Hezbollah trade strikes and threats

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel would take “whatever action is necessary” to diminish the threat posed by Hezbollah, while its deputy leader warned that the conflict was entering “a new stage.”

The threats added to mounting fears that intensifying tit-for-tat violence between Israel and Hezbollah has put the region on the brink of a wider catastrophe. Over the weekend, the Israeli military carried out an airstrike in Beirut, killing several senior Hezbollah officials, including a top commander. Lebanese authorities said that the airstrike had killed at least 45 people, including women and children.

Later, in response, Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets, missiles and drones deep into Israel but avoided the center of the country. A video shows a direct hit on Kiryat Bialik, near the city of Haifa.

In Lebanon: After a week defined by explosions and funerals, residents living in a Hezbollah-dominated area of Beirut are grappling with uncertainty over what will come next — including the prospect of an all-out war with Israel. Some were quietly debating whether they should leave.

In the West Bank: Israel’s military closed Al Jazeera’s office for 45 days.

Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Chaos and controversy surges in the Republican Party

Donald Trump’s campaign over the past two weeks has been tumultuous.

This period began when Trump pushed baseless claims that immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating household pets. It ended with him facing attacks over his support of the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, who referred to himself as a “black Nazi” on the message board of a pornographic website. And in between, he urged a government shutdown, elevated a Sept. 11 conspiracy theorist, declared “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on social media after she endorsed his rival and warned that “the Jewish people” would be responsible if he lost the election.

In the past, such a drumbeat of controversy in the final weeks of the campaign might have given voters pause, even prompting shifts in the race. But this year, the nation has met the crush of chaos with little more than a shrug and, some strategists say, a desire to tune out the campaign altogether.

More on the U.S. election Americans head to the polls in less than 50 days. A close examination of Harris’s 12 years as an elected prosecutor shows a coherent record of her cracking down on violent offenders while seeking alternatives to incarceration for less serious criminals. Trump has floated ideas that, taken together, would fundamentally change the way Americans are taxed. They include eroding the income tax while embracing expansive tariffs as a way to raise federal revenue. Trump said in an interview published yesterday that he did not envision himself running for president in 2028 if he loses this year. Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, center, leaving a polling station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Saturday. Chamila Karunarathne/EPA, via Shutterstock

Sri Lanka elected a new president

The Marxist candidate, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was elected president of Sri Lanka yesterday. His win comes amid a wave of anger with the leadership that led to a national economic crisis and crushing hardship for many Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka’s political landscape was shattered by widespread protests two years ago, culminating in the resignation of its strongman president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the capital city, Colombo. In recent years, Dissanayake led a rebranding effort of his leftist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, by softening its radical positions and pitching the party as the alternative to the established political order.

Dissanayake’s immediate challenge will be forming his cabinet. In Sri Lanka’s system, cabinet ministers must come from the Parliament, where his party has only three seats.

Residents trying to remove mud after floods caused by torrential rain in Wajima, Japan, on Sunday. Kyodo, via Reuters

Sports

Lando Norris leading Max Verstappen during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday. Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Elinor Carucci for The New York Times

For Ivan, joining Russia’s military seemed like an honorable path. But after serving as a captain in the Russian Army and fighting in Ukraine, he fled the war and his country with his wife, Anna. His story, and those of 18 other deserters, paint a vivid picture of the Russian war operation and its corruption, chaos and brutality. Listen to Liev Schreiber narrate Sarah A. Topol’s article, or read it in The Times Magazine.

Lives lived: Michael Siffre, a pioneer in chronobiology, the study of how our bodies understand the passage of time, died at 85.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

Many people have wondered what Jony Ive has been up to since he left Apple five years ago. Carolyn Fong for The New York Times

How a former Apple designer is reimagining San Francisco

If you haven’t heard of Jony Ive, you’ve most likely seen his work. During his 27 years at Apple, the British designer conceived the minimalist aesthetic that the iPhone and other products are known for.

But five years ago, at the pinnacle of his career, Ive left to start his own design firm, LoveFrom. Now, his latest projects lie in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco, where he has accumulated nearly $90 million worth of real estate on a single city block.

It is unclear what the real estate spending spree will amount to, but his goal is to draw creative types to the area. So far, he has turned one of his buildings into a home base for his agency’s work on automotive, fashion and travel products. Another is the headquarters of a new artificial intelligence device company that he is developing with OpenAI.

Julia Gartland for The New York Times

Cook: Lemon-pepper tofu and snap peas is a quick, healthy dinner.

Watch: Anand Ekarshi’s whip-smart Malayalam drama “Attam” is one of the best international movies to stream right now.

Read: The lavish coffee table tomes from Assouline are the Birkin bags of the book world.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

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