Thursday Briefing: Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah

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October 3, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering clashes between Israel and Hezbollah and the key takeaways from the vice-presidential debate.

Plus, what we learned from fashion month.

Maroun El Ras in southern Lebanon yesterday. Atef Safadi/EPA, via Shutterstock

Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah

Israel and Hezbollah said their troops were fighting at close range in southern Lebanon, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed a military response to Iran for firing ballistic missiles at Israel.

Hezbollah said that its fighters had clashed with Israeli soldiers in at least one Lebanese town, and that it had targeted an evacuated Israeli town with rockets. Israel said eight of its soldiers had been killed in the first day and a half of combat in Lebanon, a relatively high toll compared with the daily losses the military has taken in the war in Gaza. Here’s the latest, as well as a map of the invasion.

Several officials said Israel had yet to make a decision about how to respond to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday. The exact nature of its response may not become clear until after Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, which runs until sundown tomorrow. President Biden said yesterday that he would not support an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear sites and that he believed Israel’s response had to be proportional.

Beirut dispatch: Hezbollah gave media outlets, including The Times, a tour of southern Beirut suburbs where it is the dominant power. Airstrikes targeting members of Hezbollah have brought the Dahiya neighborhoods to a standstill, its residents fleeing and businesses shuttering.

JD Vance and Tim Walz in New York on Tuesday. Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Takeaways from the vice-presidential debate

In the only vice-presidential debate before Election Day, Tim Walz and JD Vance engaged in a policy-heavy and surprisingly civil battle of ideas. The debate started with questions about Iran’s latest attack on Israel, and ended with a heated exchange on the state of American democracy, when Vance refused to concede that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

Vance was crisp and endeavored to show a more likable side, but he strained to smooth the edges off Trump’s record and views. Walz at times appeared anxious and stumbled on a few questions, but he seemed to gain his footing when the conversation moved to abortion and health policy. Here’s how undecided voters reacted.

More on the U.S. election Americans head to the polls in less than 40 days. A judge unsealed new evidence in the election case against Trump that lays out the argument prosecutors have made for why he’s not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Dozens of Vance’s former classmates at Yale Law School spent debate night donating money to a fund for Haitian immigrants who have been targeted by Republicans. Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Vuhledar in January. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Ukraine withdrew from an eastern mining town

The Ukrainian military ordered the last of its forces to retreat from Vuhledar, a mining town in the country’s east, after it was stormed by Russian troops. Losing the town will complicate Ukraine’s defense of the southwestern part of the Donetsk region, allowing Russia to step up attacks in the direction of Pokrovsk, a key rail and road hub.

It took more than three years for Russia to capture Vuhledar. After years of fighting, there are signs both armies are exhausted, raising questions about Russia’s capacity to exploit its gains as well as Ukraine’s ability to continue fending off relentless attacks.

Russia’s priorities: President Vladimir Putin has increased resources toward recruiting more soldiers and encouraging bigger families. Though the two campaigns are separate, they display the Kremlin’s increasingly aggressive attempt to enlist regular Russians in reshaping their country to prevail over the West.

Waves crashing onto the coastline in Kaohsiung yesterday. Chiang Ying-Ying/Associated Press

Sports

Corbin Burnes bumps fists with catcher Adley Rutschman during a pitching change in game one of the Wild Card round. Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters

Keighley Cougars, the pride of their northern English town. Mary Turner for The New York Times

Kaue Garcia and Ryan O’Neill, a gay couple, bought an English rugby team in an old textile town. After a few months, they decided the time was right to shake things up by employing a drag queen for pregame entertainment and designing Pride jerseys for the team. To their surprise, their changes proved to be a hit.

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

Louis Vuitton, spring 2025 Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times

Fashion month just ended. Here’s what we learned.

Fashion Month was big, glamorous and stuffed to the brim with celebrities. But there were few satisfying answers about what’s next in style, our fashion critic Vanessa Friedman wrote.

Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton closed out Paris Fashion Week with a revelation. They didn’t worry about the confusion, they embraced it, combining fancy fabrics with athleisure or pouffy 16th-century jackets with biker shorts. And that idea, Vanessa said, was the best of the month — a takeaway you can actually replicate at home, whether you wear the designers’ clothing or not.

Another striking look: A performance artist used prosthetics to create a lifelike Jack Nicholson costume to attend Balenciaga’s show in Paris.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cook: This caramel-scented noodle kugel is the perfect addition to a Rosh Hashana menu.

Travel: Dublin is “perhaps the most literature-soaked city in the world,” says Dwight Garner, a Times book critic, who explored the city’s soulful bookstores, libraries and pubs.

Upgrade: We sat for more than 175 hours to find quality office chairs that will support your body.

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

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

Adam Pasick is joining International as a deputy editor to strengthen our approach to explanatory journalism.

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

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