Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at how Lebanon jeopardizes the Iran war’s cease-fire, Russia’s threat to China-North Korea relations, and a deadly earthquake in the Philippines.
‘Fire Is on Hold’
Iran declared an end to its military operations against Israel on Monday, after an exchange of attacks risked escalating the Middle East conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that his country’s “fire is on hold,” after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly urged the Israeli leader to back off from further strikes.
Still, as FP’s John Haltiwanger reports, the latest flare-up demonstrates the folly of trying to divorce Israel’s conflict in Lebanon from the Iran war, as the Trump administration has tried to do.
On Sunday, Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for continued Israeli strikes on southern Lebanese villages. Israel responded by targeting “terrorist infrastructure” in Beirut’s southern suburbs. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israel’s attack hit two apartment buildings, killing two people and wounding at least 20 others, including women and children.
