Israel Launches Military Campaign in Central Gaza

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new Israeli operations in central Gaza, an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, and an economic debate ahead of Britain’s snap election.

Dozens Killed in Central Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced a new military campaign in central Gaza on Wednesday, saying air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops had targeted Hamas militants in Deir al-Balah and al-Bureij in a “precise” operation with “guidance from intelligence.”

“The activity started with a series of aerial strikes on terror targets, including military compounds, weapons storage facilities, and underground infrastructure,” the IDF said. Members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said they fought Israeli forces in gun battles as well as with anti-tank rockets and shelling. According to the Israeli military, the assault successfully “eliminated” several Hamas militants.

Local officials reported that at least 65 people, including women and children, were killed during Israeli strikes in Deir al-Balah overnight into Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees renewed calls on Wednesday for an immediate cease-fire, citing “catastrophic damage” in Gaza.

That same day, truce talks continued in Doha, Qatar, as officials from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt discussed a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan that President Joe Biden first announced last Friday. Hamas has since expressed interest in the deal, but the group’s spokesperson reiterated on Tuesday that Hamas cannot agree to any truce unless Israel makes a “clear” commitment to a permanent cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of its troops from the enclave. Israel has said it will not agree to either of those things until Hamas is completely eradicated.

CIA Director William Burns led the U.S. delegation in Doha on Wednesday. Despite Washington historically being Israel’s staunchest ally, tensions between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have worsened. When Time magazine, in an interview published on Tuesday, asked Biden whether he thought Netanyahu was prolonging the conflict in a bid to hold onto power, the U.S. president said he believed that “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

This comes as the New York Times revealed on Wednesday that the Israeli government organized and paid for an influence campaign, beginning last October, that targeted U.S. politicians and the American public with pro-Israel messaging. Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs reportedly commissioned a private campaigning firm to run the covert operation, allocating around $2 million for the project. The agency has since denied any involvement with the firm and its activities.

Meta and OpenAI said last week that the monthslong campaign—which was first uncovered in March by the Israeli online watchdog FakeReporter—has not had a widespread impact, though the operation remains active on X. At its peak, the Israeli campaigning company used hundreds of fake accounts on X, Facebook, and Instagram to urge lawmakers—particularly Black Democrats—to continue funding the IDF, using ChatGPT to generate posts posing as U.S. citizens and creating three fake English-language news sites that published pro-Israel articles.

This is the first documented case of the Israeli government using a covert influence campaign against the United States, according to social media experts. China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and the United States are believed to have also backed similar operations around the world for various causes.

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What We’re Following

Embassy attack. An armed assailant targeted the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday, injuring a security guard before being shot and captured. It is unclear what the attacker’s motives were, and no organization has claimed responsibility thus far, though the United States said the shooter appeared to be wearing an Islamic State insignia. Local officials arrested five suspects in connection with the shooting later that day, including a Lebanese national, a Syrian national, and three members of the attacker’s family. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bouhabib condemned the assault.

The attack comes amid increasing tit-for-tat strikes between Israeli and Hezbollah forces along Lebanon’s southern border. Netanyahu threatened an “extremely powerful” response to Hezbollah while making a visit on Wednesday to an Israeli town struck by a wave of Hezbollah attacks earlier this week. Those strikes ignited more than a dozen wildfires, which have since hospitalized at least 11 Israelis and burned around 3,500 acres of land. On Tuesday, IDF chief Herzi Halevi said Israeli leaders were “approaching the point at which we’ll have to make a decision” regarding the situation on the Lebanon border and added that “the IDF is ready for an offensive.”

The Iranian-backed Islamist group has indicated that it does not seek an all-out war with Israel but that it aims to support Palestinians and won’t stop its attacks until Israel ceases its war in Gaza. On Wednesday, a Hezbollah-launched drone assault injured at least 10 people in northern Israel.

Conservative vs. Labour. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak clashed with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer over economics on Tuesday during their first televised debate ahead of a snap election in July. Sunak accused Labour of wanting to raise taxes by roughly $2,500, an allegation that Starmer called “absolute garbage.” “Keir Starmer is asking you to hand him a blank check when he hasn’t said what he’ll buy with it or how much it’s going to cost you,” Sunak said.

The two party leaders also disagreed on Britain’s controversial Rwanda deportation policy. Sunak said he would consider pulling the United Kingdom out of the European Convention on Human Rights if the asylum policy fails, whereas Starmer vowed not to leave any international agreements, saying he wants London to be a “respected player on the world stage, not a pariah.” Sunak also advocated for private health care options, while Starmer touted the strength of the National Health Service.

Sunak and Starmer—as well as Nigel Farage, a pro-Brexit campaigner with the Reform U.K. party—will face off on July 4 for control of Downing Street.

HIMARS in Russia. Ukrainian forces used a U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (or HIMARS) to strike a military facility in the Russian region of Belgorod on Tuesday. It was the first time that Kyiv has publicly acknowledged using U.S. weaponry to fire into Russia—just days after Washington granted Kyiv limited permission to do so. Under the revised guidelines, Ukraine can fire U.S. armaments into Russian territory so long as the strike is near Ukraine’s northeastern border and only made in self-defense.

Last week, Germany also gave Kyiv permission to use Berlin-supplied weapons against military targets in Russia. And French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow French military instructors access to Ukrainian training centers. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said any French instructors sent to Kyiv would become a “legitimate target.”

Odds and Ends

Japan is swiping right on dating culture. Facing plunging birthrates, Tokyo announced on Tuesday that the city will launch a new dating app as early as this summer to promote matchmaking and conception. Users will have to submit documentation that proves they are single, states that they are willing to get married, and includes their annual salaries. The local government has allocated $1.92 million for the app and other marriage promotion projects, such as dating events, for this fiscal year.