Feed aggregator

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed a targeted missile strike was made Friday on Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon.

Security officials claim the airstrike was targeting Ibrahim Aqil, a member of terrorist group Hezbollah's Jihad Council. 

"Today, Israel eliminated [Aqil] with a surgical airstrike in Beirut," the Israeli government posted on social media. "Justice is served."

ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON AFTER TWO ROUNDS OF DEVICE EXPLOSIONS

Aqil is wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the bombing of a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut in 1983. He is also believed to be linked to the taking of American hostages in Lebanon during the 1980s.

Israeli officials released an announcement hours later stating that the "IAF aircraft conducted a targeted, intelligence-based strike in the area of Beirut, and eliminated Ibrahim Aqil, the Head of Hezbollah's Operations Unit and the Commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces, who was also in charge of Hezbollah’s 'Conquer the Galilee' attack plan."

Hezbollah officials have confirmed the missile struck a Dahiya district building that Aqil is believed to have been in.

ISRAEL DEGRADES IRAN-BACKED HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS IN SPECTACULAR PAGER EXPLOSION OPERATION: EXPERTS

The strike killed at least nine individuals and wounded approximately 60 others, according to Lebanese health officials. Two apartment buildings were flattened by the blast. 

"During the strike, senior operatives in Hezbollah's Operations Staff and commanders from the Radwan Unit were eliminated alongside Aqil," the announcement continued. "Ibrahim Aqil and the Radwan commanders who were eliminated today were planning Hezbollah’s 'Conquer the Galilee' attack plan, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians."

It's only the latest in Israel's increasingly aggressive campaign against Hezbollah — the IDF fired on several infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon yesterday, including areas of Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela.

Earlier in the week, Israeli security forces remotely detonated hundreds of electronic devices used by Hezbollah members to communicate, killing 12 and wounding over 2,800 others.

A 10-year-old Japanese student who was stabbed near his school in southern China has died, officials in Tokyo said Thursday, asking Beijing to provide details of the stabbing and take preventive measures. A suspect is in custody.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa expressed condolences and noted that the attack occurred despite Tokyo's requests for caution and enhanced safety as China marks a key anniversary of its war with Japan.

The student was stabbed on Wednesday about 220 yards from the gate of the Shenzhen Japanese School, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said in a daily briefing. Lin said the attacker was arrested on the spot and the case was still under investigation.

CHINA FREES US PASTOR AFTER NEARLY 20 YEARS OF WRONGFUL DETAINMENT

In a statement released Wednesday, Shenzhen police said a 44-year-old man with the surname Zhong had been taken into custody in connection with the knifing of a minor.

No motive for the attack was immediately clear.

Kamikawa noted that Japan had asked China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for increased security around Japanese schools ahead of the Sept. 18 anniversary of the Mukden Incident in 1931, which China marks as the beginning of Japanese invasion of Manchuria, now northeast China.

An explosion on a Japanese railway in the northern city of Shenyang caused by Japanese soldiers but blamed on the Chinese was used as a pretext for the invasion.

"I find it extremely regrettable that the attack occurred despite that," Kamikawa said, adding that such an attack "should never occur in any country." Japan takes the attack "extremely seriously" and will renew its request to Beijing to do more to ensure safety of the Japanese citizens, she added.

Kamikawa said she had also advised Japanese schools in China to review their safety measures, and requested Beijing to provide details of the killing and do its utmost to prevent similar attacks on Japanese citizens.

Lin on Thursday expressed condolences and sadness over the boy's death. "Our hearts go out to his family," he said, adding that China will provide necessary assistance. He identified the boy as a Japanese citizen with parents from Japan and China.

Following an earlier knife attack at a bus stop for a Japanese school, the ministry has urged Japanese school operators in China to review their safety measures, said Masashi Mizobuchi, the ministry’s assistant press secretary, and officials will discuss how they can better secure the safety of Japanese students.

On June 24th, a knife attack at a school bus stop for a Japanese school in the southeastern city of Suzhou killed a Chinese national who was trying to stop the attacker and injured a Japanese mother and her child.

Lin denied any link between the two incidents, saying "similar cases may happen in any country" and denied the attacks will harm China's relations with Japan.

"China and Japan are in communication on the case. We always welcome people from all countries, including Japan, to come to China for traveling, studying, business or living," Lin said, pledging to take effective measures to protect their safety while in China.

"We believe individual cases will not affect the exchanges and cooperation between China and Japan," he said.

While the news of the Japanese boy's death was not reported on by Chinese media Thursday, people posted condolences on the social media platform Weibo and condemned the attack.

In an email sent to Japanese citizens living in China, the Japanese Embassy warned residents to be vigilant and take precautions, citing knife attacks in recent months. The Japanese Consulate in Guangzhou, which is responsible for Shenzhen, called for measures to prevent such incidents.

Earlier in June, a Chinese man stabbed four U.S. university instructors at a public park in Jilin in the northeast and a Chinese person who tried to intervene. The four instructors from Cornell College were teaching at Beihua University. Their injuries were not critical.

The Israel Defense Forces tells Fox News Digital that it is reviewing an incident in which soldiers were filmed apparently heaving lifeless bodies off a rooftop during a military operation in the West Bank. 

The scenes allegedly unfolded on Thursday in the town of Qabatiya, where the IDF says its troops "eliminated four terrorists during an exchange of fire." 

"This is a serious incident that does not coincide with the IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers," the military agency told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The incident is under review." 

In a video captured of the incident, three soldiers can be seen picking up what appears to be a stiff body and then dragging it toward the edge of a roof as troops stand on the ground below, according to The Associated Press. The soldiers on the roof peer over the edge before heaving the body off. 

ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH TARGETS INSIDE LEBANON; IDF WARNS RESIDENTS TO STAY NEAR BOMB SHELTERS 

In another instance, a soldier kicks a body toward the edge before it falls from view, the AP reports. 

The identities of the bodies were not immediately clear. 

DEMOCRAT LAWMAKERS PUSH BILL TO RESTORE FUNDING TO UN AGENCY WITH ALLEGED TIES TO HAMAS 

Photos captured by AP during Thursday’s military operation show an Israeli army bulldozer moving near the buildings where the bodies were dropped. 

"There is no military need to do this. It’s just a savage way of treating Palestinian bodies," Shawan Jabarin, the director of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, said to the news agency after watching the footage. 

Israel said its troops had killed seven militants in total on Thursday -- four during operations in the gun battle and three in an airstrike on a car carrying militants who the military said had fired at troops. As of Friday, no militant group had claimed any of the dead as its fighters. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The U.S. is "sleepwalking" into a global war against its top adversaries united under an axis of "malign partnerships," and experts are sounding the alarm that neither the U.S. military nor the public are prepared for World War III.

In late July, a body of non-governmental national security experts, first tasked by Congress in 2022 under the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, released an evaluation of the U.S.’ overall security strategy put forward by the Biden administration two years ago.

The commission found that after decades of post-Cold War policies that cut defense spending and reduced investments in the security sector, Washington, D.C., is "not prepared" to counter Beijing in open conflict, let alone a multi-front war against China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

RUSSIA, CHINA HOLD BIGGEST WAR GAMES SINCE SOVIET ERA

The commission, which included four Republicans and four Democrats who served under the Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama administrations, looked to make clear the lack of preparedness was not the fault of a single administration, but rather the failure of a generation of leaders to identify and counter the growing danger posed by authoritarian nations, as well as to adequately explain the threat to the American public.

The experts explained the U.S. and its allies are facing a threat not seen from global powers since WWII, as Europe is witnessing the largest land war on the continent since 1945 – a war in which Russia is receiving aid from China, Iran and North Korea. 

The threat of a major war between nation states, not just rogue militants or terrorist groups, looms in the Middle East, and the potential for open conflict in the Indo-Pacific also remains a serious concern.

"There's been a generalized failure across our political class in educating the American public of the severity of these threats and the danger that they represent," Amb. Eric Edelman, who served as vice-chair for the 2024 commission as well as co-chair or vice chair for prior commission reports, said during a briefing to reporters hosted by JINSA this week.

"Historically, I'm sad to say, that when we're faced with these kinds of challenges, we have typically responded after a catastrophe," he added, referencing events like Pearl Harbor and 9/11. "Perhaps we can draw from some different lessons in history."

The experts pointed to the decrease in defense spending – which has been in a downturn since 1952 when the U.S. allocated nearly 17% of its GDP for defense compared to the 3% allocated today – and warned this investment in security is not enough to adequately counter adversaries like China.

After reviewing unclassified war games, the commission found that even with Washington’s efforts to ramp up weapons stockpiles following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. would likely still exhaust its munitions inventories within three to four weeks if it were to engage in open conflict with Beijing.

TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL LANDS IN IRAN AMID US, UK CONCERNS OVER ALLEGED NUCLEAR DEAL

Some munitions like anti-ship missiles are estimated to last only a few days, and once expended, it will take years to replace the munitions.

Edelman pointed out that this is not a justification for ceasing military aid to Ukraine and highlighted that a direct war against an adversary like China or Russia would be substantially more expensive, let alone a global conflict not seen since the 20th century. 

"Preparing ourselves for defense is essentially an effort to deter conflict," Edelman said. "Whatever the cost of defense is going to be, it's going to be paltry in comparison to what the cost of a war would be."

Near the end of World War II, the U.S. allocated more than 40% of its GDP for its defense budget in 1943 and 1944, and the commission warned that modern wars, as seen in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Ukraine, are lengthy engagements.  

"The United States must therefore ready its forces and its industrial base for the potential of protracted conflict," the commission’s report said. 

However, the experts also warned that preparing the U.S. for a global power struggle cannot be remedied by just throwing money into the defense budget, there also needs to be a "shift in culture."

Mara Rudman, commissioner and former deputy assistant to the president for National Security Affairs during the Clinton and Obama administrations, pointed to steps China has been taking over the last several decades that have given it an edge over the U.S., including in its technology sectors and relationship building in Latin America, Africa and recently, the Middle East.

"They spent the last 20 years building the Belt and Road Initiative, making sure that they control processing and mining for most of the critical minerals that we need for a range of different weapon systems we have, but also for our phones and for the kinds of cars we need to build, and for the batteries that we need to have across the board," she told reporters this week. "That's something we need to overcome."

There has been an increasing push in Republican circles in the U.S. to move away from international involvement, contributing to a rise in isolationism that is similar to U.S. sentiments ahead of World War II, and experts are sounding the alarm that this needs to change if Americans do not want to find themselves embroiled in another global war. 

REPUBLICANS DIVIDED ON RUSSIA'S SECURITY THREAT AS VANCE JOINS TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL TICKET

"It's going to require leadership, and it's going to require educating the American public," Edelman, who served under the Bush administration, said. 

The experts on the bipartisan commission were in agreement that the American people not only need to be better educated by their leadership but trusted that they can decide what is best for their nation when properly informed.

Both the Biden-Harris administration and the Trump campaign were briefed by experts on the results of the commission. 

While the White House and Harris campaign have not publicly commented on the findings, the former president’s response to the report seemed to run counter to what the commission urged, as former President Donald Trump called it "stupid" during a rally in late August – prompting the experts to question whether Trump had been properly briefed by his campaign.

"I really think it's impossible to read the report that they've delivered and not believe that we are as a nation…sleepwalking into a great and potentially historic catastrophe," host of the event and JINSA’s Charles & Randi Wax senior fellow, John Hannah, said. "We are not on the brink of a national crisis – in many ways, we're already deep into a crisis.

"And we do not have our Churchill at the moment," Hannah, who also served during the Bush administration, added. "The commission on the National Defense Strategy has fulfilled its mission. Now we need everybody else to play their part around the country and in the halls of power in Washington."