Fresh strikes have been heard in southern Beirut, after Israel's army ordered an evacuation of three areas. It comes after Israel told the US it plans to launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon as soon as Monday, a US official says. Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem says the group is ready for an Israeli ground offensive and says the battle "may be long.” He made the comments in the first speech by a high-ranking Hezbollah official since Israel killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut. In Lebanon, officials say more than 1,000 have been killed in the past two weeks, while up to a million people may now be displaced
The Lebanese Armed Forces have withdrawn from bases on the southern border with Israel ahead of an imminent Israeli invasion, security sources told Al Arabiya English on Monday. The Israeli military declared a military zone in parts of its northern border with Lebanon on Monday ahead of possible ground operations in the neighboring country. “The areas of Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi in northern Israel have been declared a closed military zone. Entry to this area is prohibited,” the military said in a statement. The US has observed changes in Israel’s military posture along the border with Lebanon, officials told Al Arabiya English over the weekend, hours after Hezbollah announced its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut. On Monday, US officials said Israel appeared ready to launch an invasion but did not know the exact details of the plans. Washington has been publicly and privately discouraging the Israelis from any military campaign that involved an incursion or invasion. But as has been the case since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Biden administration appears to have been rebuffed once again.
Zelensky’s Diplomatic Victory in the Face of Political Headwinds
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The United States will donate nearly $336 million to support Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the US State Department announced at the UN General Assembly on Monday. The funds will be dedicated to providing humanitarian aid, including expanding support in emergency health care, food, nutrition, psychosocial services, and increased access to safe drinking water, hygiene products, and sanitation services for Palestinian in Gaza and the West Bank, the department claimed. The funds will also contribute toward providing emergency shelters for Gazans displaced due to the war against Hamas. - Jerusalem Post
The New York Times endorses Kamala Harris for President, and absolutely shreds Donald Trump: “It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks. Those disqualifying characteristics are compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president: his many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates. This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election. For this reason, regardless of any political disagreements voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president.”
Some battleground state Republicans say they’re worried they see little evidence of Donald Trump’s ground game — and fear it could cost him the election in an exceedingly close race. In interviews, more than a dozen Republican strategists and operatives in presidential battlegrounds voiced serious concerns about what they described as a paltry get-out-the-vote effort by the Trump campaign, an untested strategy of leaning on outside groups to help do field work and a top-of-the-ticket strategy that’s disjointed from the one Republicans down the ballot are running. A Michigan-based GOP strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly, described the party’s challenge bluntly: “They are out-matching us in money, in enthusiasm and in the ground game.” - Politico
Chinese President Xi Jinping used his annual National Day address on Monday to send a strong warning to “separatists” on Taiwan and to emphasise backing for Hong Kong and Macau. He also called for efforts to ensure and advance long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao. "Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory," said Xi, urging efforts to deepen economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait and resolutely oppose separatist activities aimed at "Taiwan independence."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told the U.N. Security Council last week that its priority should be stopping the stream of military aid — including ballistic missiles, drones and artillery shells — from North Korea and Iran to Russia. “If countries stopped supporting Russia, Putin’s invasion would soon come to an end,” Mr. Blinken said. Russia, in turn, is helping those nations meet their ambitions, including by sharing nuclear technology and “space information” with Iran, Mr. Blinken said. Another senior U.S. official said that while the nuclear aid to Iran seemed to be for use in its civilian nuclear program for now, the space information was more alarming — it could eventually allow Iran to develop capable intercontinental ballistic missiles. Russia is also considering arming the Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen with advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, U.S. officials say. - NYT.
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