In brief: ‘Staggering’ harvest in Lebanon; Deal avoids government shutdown; Zelensky visits Scranton; Ban on Chinese car software; And more.

Israeli warplanes attack suspected Hezbollah positions in Lebanon for fourth straight day in a series of attacks that have killed at least 274 people so far, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. “By comparison, that’s ~20% of the total death toll from the entire 2006 (Israeli-Hezbollah) war, which lasted 34 days,” says Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.

Reuters Agency These attacks were considered the most intense since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990. (For a longer history of violence between Israel and Lebanon, stretching back more than 75 years, Reuters provides this condensed timeline.) Israeli airstrikes wounded more than 1,000 people, in what the Associated Press describes as “a stunning single-day toll for a country still reeling from last week’s deadly communications attack.”

Over 400 rocket launchers were put under scrutiny in the weekend attacks, Thousands of rockets were used in successive waves of airstrikes that continued into Monday morning, according to the Israeli military, which is suspected of targeting Hezbollah facilities.

However, Hezbollah fighters continue to fire rockets into northern Israel, including another shelling Monday around the northern city of Haifa. Iranian-backed terrorists carried out at least three separate rocket attacks Saturday, including targeting Israel’s northernmost air base, Ramat David. Nearly 90 more Hezbollah short- and medium-range rockets targeted Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems near Haifa on Sunday. (Rafael makes the Iron Dome air defense system.)

If it means anything, “these latest Hezbollah attacks are a bit smaller in scale” than previous retaliatory attacks by the group,” analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Sunday evening. In one of the most recent such attacks, “Hezbollah fired between 200 and 300 missiles, including about 20 one-way drones, on Aug. 24 in retaliation for Israel’s killing of (one of) a top Hezbollah commander.”

Israel’s stated goal in these attacks is: Degrade Hezbollah enough to allow the 60,000 people who have been displaced from northern Israel to return to their homes. It is not at all clear how quickly that goal could be achieved, as the BBC’s Daniel De Simone notes from Jerusalem.

Israelis say Hezbollah has turned many homes in southern Lebanon into weapons depots, including one home that allegedly hid a Russian cruise missile before it was blown up in an Israeli attack a few weeks ago. Here’s a video illustrating the accusation.

Bibi: “No country can tolerate mindless bombing of its cities” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video Sunday evening. “We will take all necessary measures to restore security and ensure that our people return home safely,” he promised.

Defense Secretary Austin’s decisions regarding Gallant: Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin called his Israeli counterpart twice during Israel’s hectic weekend, calling on Saturday and Sunday. In both calls, Austin conveyed U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself and “underscored the importance of finding a path to a diplomatic solution” as well as a final ceasefire.

On Friday, Austin also called Saudi military chief Khalid bin Salman. to talk about “reducing tensions in the region.” More in the Pentagon statement, here.

Development: World leaders head to UN headquarters in New York for the annual General Assembly, whose six days will be filled with important speeches and will begin on Tuesday.

Reminder: Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza continues, and has created enormous challenges for aid workers in the region, the heads of UN agencies said in a joint statement on Monday.

“These atrocities must end” “Allowing the abhorrent downward spiral caused by this war in the occupied Palestinian territory to continue will have unimaginable global consequences,” they warned.

Additional reading materials:

Welcome to Monday’s edition of The D Briefbrought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. Share your newsletter tips, reading recommendations, or opinions here. And if you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here. On this day in 1926, John William Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. He enlisted in the Navy the same day the U.S. bombed Hiroshima and later used his GI Bill to enroll in the Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia, becoming the legendary saxophonist we know today.

Ukrainian President Zelensky visited an artillery factory in Pennsylvania on Sunday. His message: “I am grateful to the people of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and all the states where Americans are building this incredible arsenal of global freedom,” he said on social media, posting a video of his trip.

“I emphasized the commitment of the employees, which is really inspiring—help Ukraine stand strong in our fight for freedom,” Zelensky wrote. Zelensky is visiting the United States this week in New York for the UN General Assembly.

Zelensky reportedly carries a “victory plan” for his visit to President Biden and Vice President Harris on Thursday, Reuters reported from Kiev on Monday. During that meeting, “the leaders will discuss the state of war between Russia and Ukraine, including strategic planning for Ukraine and U.S. support for Ukraine in defending itself against Russian aggression,” the White House said last week.

Related materials:

“Another weapons depot in northwestern Russia burns after Ukrainian drone strike,” AP reported Saturday; the BBC has footage of the explosion from the attack here;
“Iran gave Russia missiles but not launchers, sources say,” Reuters reported on Saturday;
“Europe’s New Defence Chief: ‘A King Without a Kingdom’?” New York Times It was reported on Friday in a short analysis;
“With a $39 billion loan to Ukraine, Europe is moving forward without the US,” he said Times It was reported separately on Friday from Kiev;
“Indian ammunition reaches Ukraine, angering Russia,” Reuters reported last week;
“A Ukrainian ground robot armed with a firearm just cleared a Russian trench in Kursk,” Forbes reported last week;
In terms of arms sales to the U.S., Bulgaria wants more than 200 Javelins for about $114 million, and Sweden wants radio systems for about $31.5 million;
Read the article “Why Putin’s Attempt to Reshape Global Trade Is Failing” via Wall Street Journalreporting last week;
In a remarkable case of cooperation, “a capsule carrying two Russians and one American returned to Earth from the space station,” AP reported today.

Lawmakers announced a deal to fund the federal government through December, averting a government shutdown. Like most continuing resolutions — legislation Congress uses to fund government operations after it fails to approve a budget on time — this resolution bars the start of new programs and caps funding at 2024 levels — with a few exceptions.

The largest amount is an additional $240 million for the Secret Service. following two apparent assassination attempts on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “Additional money was added to help with the transition of presidential power, among other things,” the AP reported.

The deal pushes back the deadline for spending negotiations for 2025 until after the November election.—but not in the new calendar year, as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, wanted. That longer timeline would complicate national security, CSIS’s Seamus P. Daniels and AEI’s Todd Harris argued last week.

This is also Trump’s failure, who loudly promoted myths about voter fraud, pressuring Johnson and House Republicans to allow a government shutdown if controversial election legislation was not passed.

Update: The U.S. Army has lifted a stop-work order on a $990 million loitering munitions contract with AeroVironment, according to a document filed by the company on Monday. The army briefly stopped work because of the Mistral protest, an industry executive said earlier Defense Oneby Sam Skove.

From Lauren C. Williams of Defense One:

And finally: The White House announced new measures on Monday plans ban software and parts made in Russia and China for smart cars in the US “A lot of these technologies collect a lot of information about drivers,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Sunday. “Because of that, connected vehicles and the technology they use create new vulnerabilities and threats, especially for vehicles or components developed in China and other countries of concern,” he said.

“It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information “could pose a serious threat to both our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

About the ban, according to New York Times:

“It would apply to all wheeled vehicles on the road, including cars, trucks and buses. It would exclude vehicles not used on public roads, such as those used in agriculture or mining.”
“The ban on software from China or Russia in connected and autonomous vehicles will take effect from the 2027 model year” and “will also ban hardware integrated with vehicle connectivity systems from the 2030 model year.”

For more information, see the White House fact sheet, Here.