Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire, deadly separatist attacks in Pakistan, and Russia striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire, deadly separatist attacks in Pakistan, and Russia striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
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‘Not Sustainable’
This weekend saw the heaviest clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in more than 10 months of cross-border attacks, igniting fears that the conflict could evolve into a full-scale regional war at a time when Israel is also facing threats of retaliation from Iran.
The Israeli military on Sunday said it had received intelligence over the past few days signaling that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, was planning an attack targeting Israeli military and intelligence sites. In what it called a preemptive operation, Israel deployed around 100 warplanes early Sunday to strike more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon. At least three people were killed.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the country does not seek a full-scale war with Hezbollah. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “this is not the end of the story.”
“We are determined to do everything to protect our country, to return the residents of the north safely to their homes, and continue to uphold a simple rule: Whoever harms us, we will harm them,” Netanyahu said. More than 160,000 people have been forced to evacuate from both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023.
Less than an hour after the Israeli operation on Sunday, Hezbollah fired more than 300 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli military targets, including some at a military site in central Israel, as part of what Hezbollah called the first phase of its attack. “What happened was aggression, not preemptive action,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said of Israel’s attack. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a temporary state of emergency in response to the Hezbollah operation, which killed one Israeli soldier and injured two others.
The group’s planned assault was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month and was allegedly delayed to allow Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage release negotiations in Cairo to continue. However, talks among Israeli and Hamas leaders and U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari mediators concluded on Sunday without a breakthrough, though officials said talks on technical issues will continue in the coming days.
Like Israel, though, Hezbollah said after its attack on Sunday that it does not seek to further exacerbate border tensions. However, Nasrallah said, “If the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time.”
Light fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah resumed on Monday, with Israel targeting the Lebanese border village of Tair Harfa as well as a car near the coastal city of Sidon. “The current situation is not sustainable,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities continue to vow revenge for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. And Israel issued new evacuation orders late Sunday for central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, a municipality that has recorded around 250,000 people displaced thus far.
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The World This Week
Tuesday, Aug. 27: U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan begins a three-day trip to China.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a keynote speech ahead of Parliament returning to session.
China begins live-fire military drills near its border with Myanmar.
Thursday, Aug. 29: French President Emmanuel Macron begins a two-day trip to Serbia.
Friday, Aug. 30: African health ministers conclude their weeklong regional session of the World Health Organization in Republic of Congo.
European Union defense ministers gather for an informal meeting in Brussels.
The United States and New Zealand hold strategic dialogue talks in Auckland, New Zealand.
Saturday, Aug. 31: Israel’s Bring Them Home movement holds a rally in Tel Aviv.
Sunday, Sept. 1: Azerbaijan holds early legislative elections.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres begins a two-day trip to Singapore.
What We’re Following
Deadly separatist attacks. Separatist militants killed dozens of people in Pakistan’s Balochistan province late Sunday and early Monday. Armed fighters stormed several police stations, attacked a military camp, and targeted key transportation infrastructure. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were some of the most widespread to occur in the resource-rich region in years. The province is home to a decadeslong insurgency waged by armed groups seeking independence from Islamabad.
Among the BLA’s latest targets, the militants attacked workers near Balochistan’s border with the Indian state of Punjab, which some experts have said signals that the group wants foreign nationals to feel unwelcome. The BLA has accused the Pakistani government of exploiting gas and mineral resources in Balochistan through its ties with China; Beijing controls several key resource projects, including a gold and copper mine as well as Pakistan’s only deep-sea port, Gwadar, which is part of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed retaliation and promised to bring those responsible to justice. In the past, Islamabad has accused the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan of supporting the BLA and other militant groups. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi added that Pakistani security forces have killed at least 12 militants since the attacks occurred.
Targeting Ukraine’s energy. Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones across at least 15 Ukrainian regions on Monday in one of the largest attacks of the war thus far. The operation killed at least seven people and damaged several power substations, striking a major blow to Kyiv’s electricity infrastructure. Poland also recorded at least one “object”—likely a Russian drone—as having entered its airspace.
Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began more than two years ago. On Monday, Kyiv’s national energy company, Ukrenergo, implemented emergency power cuts to help stabilize the system. “The energy sector is in the crosshairs,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said, adding that officials were still investigating the extent of the damage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike on Monday and again urged Western allies to lift restrictions preventing Kyiv from using Western-made, long-range weapons against targets inside Russia. “There cannot be long-range restrictions in Ukraine when terrorists do not have such restrictions,” he said.
Telegram CEO arrested. French authorities announced on Monday that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested on Saturday for not cooperating with an investigation into whether his social media app failed to moderate illicit activity. Allegations include evidence of child abuse, drug trafficking, and money laundering on the platform. Durov first launched Telegram in Russia in 2013 with his brother and has since refused to shut down the app over the claims.
Durov, who left Russia in 2014 and now lives in Dubai, had been traveling on his private jet from Azerbaijan when he was apprehended as part of Paris’s preliminary investigation into Telegram. Durov was born in Russia and holds dual French and Emirati citizenship; it is unclear whether he has renounced his Russian citizenship. The Russian Embassy in France has demanded consular access to Durov, who is known as the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg” for creating the Facebook-alternative VK platform.
Since its creation, Telegram has garnered almost 1 billion users. Both Russian and Ukrainian officials regularly use the app to discuss the war. Durov said Telegram follows the EU’s Digital Services Act and has “nothing to hide.”
Odds and Ends
It’s Catch Me if You Can meets The Departed. Romanian court authorities issued a preventive arrest warrant last Wednesday for a 25-year-old who allegedly pretended to be a police officer. For almost a year and a half, authorities say, the man carried an airsoft gun, fake police ID, and transceiver to pose as an officer with the country’s Directorate of Special Operations despite having never been employed there. The accused fraudster is said to have participated in real police investigations and even interviewed witnesses—all while hiding his own court conviction for traffic offenses.