World Briefing: October 2, 2024
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran will "pay", after Iran fired around 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday. Most of the missiles were intercepted - one Palestinian was killed in the West Bank, and a school in central Israel and restaurant in Tel Aviv were hit. Iran said the barrage was in response to Israel’s "aggressive acts", including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel says it's sending "additional forces" to its ground operation inside Lebanon, which began earlier this week, and has told more villages to evacuate. Hezbollah says it repelled an Israeli ground attack in Lebanon on Wednesday, and it has continued firing rockets at Israel. -BBC
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett tweeted last night "this is the greatest opportunity in 50 years to change the face of the Middle East". He said Israel should go after Iran’s nuclear facilities, in order to "fatally cripple this terrorist regime".
The Biden administration says there is a significant difference between Israeli actions that have expanded its war against the Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran’s retaliatory missile attack against Israel, which it condemned as escalatory. In carefully calibrated remarks, officials across the administration are defending the surge in attacks by Israel against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, while still pressing for peace and vowing retribution after Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday. President Joe Biden praised the U.S. and Israel militaries for defeating the barrage and warned, “Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully supportive of Israel.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Iranian missile attack “totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it.” - AP
Dozen of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel on Wednesday morning, resulting in four houses being struck in Metula, Army Radio reported shortly after the incident. There have been no subsequent reports of wounded. Meanwhile, Israel conducted an airstrike in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut on Wednesday, according to Israeli media reports citing Lebanese media - Jerusalem Post
Israel's foreign minister says UN Secretary-General António Guterres is "persona non grata" in Israel, and is barred from entering the country. Israel Katz says his decision is a response to Guterres' failure to "unequivocally condemn" Iran's missile attack on Israel on Tuesday. He accuses the UN chief of being "anti-Israel" and giving "support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers. Guterres will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN for generations to come." Yesterday, the UN chief condemned "the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation" and called for a ceasefire. - BBC
The vice presidential debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was something that’s become increasingly rare in modern American politics: normal. In an event that is unlikely to change the trajectory of the presidential race, the two running mates were cordial with each other, training their attacks instead on the tops of the opposing tickets and focusing largely on policy differences. Vance repeatedly hit Vice President Kamala Harris on border security, while Walz lambasted former President Donald Trump on abortion rights. Vance was the Republican ticket’s younger face and more polite voice. Unlike Trump, he pronounced Harris’ first name correctly. He referred to his opponent by his title. He didn’t often whine about the moderators – though Trump did so during the debate on his Truth Social platform. The Ohio senator also largely passed on opportunities to litigate the details of Walz’s own biography. Walz – who was noticeably less comfortable onstage than Vance – settled in after a nervous start. He cast Trump as a liar who ignores experts and rejects truths he finds unfavorable. - CNN
Nine Georgian NGOs have been added to the country's register of "foreign agents," marking the first time since a controversial law on foreign influence came into effect two months ago that additions have been made to the list. The names of the organizations, along with their financial disclosures, have been published on the official website of Georgia's public registry of foreign agents. - RFE/RL
