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Science & Technology

Pro-Palestinian hacktivist group BlackMeta claimed responsibility for a large-scale distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack on the Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine" that lasted five hours, and the group implied plans to carry out another attack on Oct. 10, according to Oct. 9 posts on its X account.

U.S.: Pro-Palestinian Hackers Claim DDoS Attack on Internet Archive Amid Data Breach, Website Defacement

Iran

Energy

Military & Security

Iran warned that it would respond if Gulf Arab countries allowed the United States to use their airspace or military bases against Iran, Reuters reported on Oct. 8, a day before Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Saudi Arabia to speak with Saudi officials.

Iran: Tehran Warns Against the U.S. Using Gulf Territory, Airspace To Attack Iran

Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, started ground operations in the southwestern sector of southern Lebanon while bolstering its armed forces with an additional division, Haaretz reported on Oct. 8.

Israel, Lebanon: Israel Expands Operations in Lebanon, Risking an Extended Conflict

Kuwait

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, BBC reported on Oct. 2. 

Israel, Iran: Opposition to Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Program Increases Regional Risk to Oil and Gas Infrastructure

The United States warned that Iran was preparing an "imminent" ballistic missile attack on Israel, adding just after 10 a.m. Eastern time that the attack would likely occur within the next 12 hours, likely after dark, The New York Times reported on Oct. 1. 

Israel, Iran: U.S. Warns Israel of 'Imminent' Iranian Attack

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they had begun conducting raids into border villages inside Lebanon since the night of Sept. 30 as part of their planned ground operations into southern Lebanon, Times of Israel reported Oct. 1.

Israel, Lebanon: Israel Begins Ground Invasion of Lebanon

Yemen

Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah and Ras Issa targeting power plants and a seaport killed at least four individuals and wounded an additional 33, Reuters reported on Sept. 29.

Israel, Yemen: Israel Strikes Hodeidah After Intercepted Houthi Attacks

Politics

Gideon Saar of the New Hope Party officially joined the Israeli government coalition on Sept. 29, boosting the government to 68 Knesset seats out of 120 and marking a significant victory for the government by winning back a former wartime unity member, The Times of Israel reported on Sept. 30. 

Israel: Saar's New Hope Party Joins Government in Boost to Netanyahu

Assessments

China

India

Pakistan

U.S.-Iran Relations

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A Shanghai Cooperation Organization Meeting, Chinese Financial Support Measures

A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike above a border town in southern Lebanon on Oct. 7, 2024. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

While the country may initially come together in the face of Israel's invasion, various Lebanese factions will probably become more critical of Hezbollah as the war wears on, raising the risk of violence between the group and its domestic rivals.

How Long Will Lebanon Rally Behind Hezbollah's Fight Against Israel?

Columns

On Geopolitics

Iraq

Syria

An Israeli tank Aug. 7, 2024, in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip. Washington may change the regional dynamics substantially before the next Oct. 7; if not, we will likely be marking a second anniversary of regional conflict next year. 

Washington may change the regional dynamics substantially before the next Oct. 7; if not, we will likely be marking a second anniversary of regional conflict next year.

Will War in the Middle East Last Another Year?

Mozambique

Brazil

Tunisia

Germany

Ukraine

A man in Maputo walks past a wall covered with electoral posters in support of Daniel Chapo, the ruling party candidate in Mozambique’s presidential election, on Oct. 4, 2024. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: Biden Visits Germany as Mozambique, Tunisia and Brazil Hold Elections

Ethiopia

Sudan

Middle East and North Africa

Algeria

Bahrain

Egypt

Jordan

Oman

Qatar

Turkey

The Geopolitics of Water

Population growth, security vacuums, bad governance and climate change will increasingly strain the desert region's already scarce water supplies, raising the risk of social unrest, interstate conflict and violence from non-state actors.

In the Middle East, Water Will Increasingly Become a Weapon and Driver of Conflict

A topographic map of Iran.

The exposure of its proxy strategy's shortcomings over the past year will force Iran to adapt its national security strategy to compensate.

Iran Grapples With a Weakened Axis of Resistance

Authorities in Israel's southern city of Gedera assess a damaged school building after a projectile exploded upon impact on Oct. 1, 2024, after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel. 

Israel will most likely strike a small number of targets inside Iran, but there is a chance it will pursue more escalatory options that would likely invite further Iranian attacks.

Gauging Israel's Options for Responding to Iran's Ballistic Missile Attack

Israeli tanks gather by the Lebanese border on Sept. 30, 2024. 

Israel is trying to seize on the chaos its recent attacks have inflicted on Hezbollah, but no ground operation will firmly and quickly secure southern Lebanon, and could pull Israel into a prolonged and costly campaign.

Assessing Israel's Options for a Ground Invasion in Lebanon

Smoke rises from rubble at the scene of Israeli air strikes in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2024.

Israel's expanding assassination campaign will compel Hezbollah to escalate its cross-border attacks and could eventually force Iran to intervene to protect its most reliable proxy.

Israel Goes After Hezbollah's Top Leader, Leaving Little Room for Deescalation

A man in Beirut, Lebanon, holds a walkie-talkie after removing its battery on Sept. 18, 2024, during a funeral for people killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded across the country the previous day. 

Few security services are willing and able to replicate Israel's unprecedented assault on Hezbollah's electronics, but many will find ways to tamper with devices for mass surveillance by exploiting complex global supply chains.

Israel's Pager Attack Renews Focus on Supply Chains' Physical Security

Snapshots

Smoke billows from a site targeted by an Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese village of Zaita on Sept. 23, 2024. 

With the erosion of the rules of engagement established after their 2006 war, both sides will likely fight an open-ended conflict without red lines until an eventual settlement, or an Israeli ground operation.

What To Watch For as Israel and Hezbollah Enter Into an Open-Ended Conflict

Japan

Sri Lanka

The site of an Israeli strike on Sept. 19 in the southern Lebanese border village of Mahmoudiyeh. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah will continue to intensify in the next week.

Social Issues

The Weekly Rundown: Escalating Israel-Hezbollah Conflict, the Sri Lankan Presidential Election

Israel lives under difficult geopolitical circumstances. A small country with limited resources and surrounded by potentially hostile neighbors, Israel survives by allying with powers that do have the resources to manage the balance of power in the Middle East — namely, the United States. Its geographic position also means that Israel must manage complex relations with its Muslim neighbors by quiet collaboration, by exploiting divisions, and by parlaying its technological and economic advantages into create strategic dependencies. To navigate all the challenges presented by the Middle East, Israel will remain agile in its diplomacy and, when the situation warrants, steadfast in its pre-emptive strikes, its covert activities and its economic relationships.

Israel's Survival Strategy

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Rebalancing Power in the Middle East

SITUATION REPORTS

U.S.: Pro-Palestinian Hackers Claim DDoS Attack on Internet Archive Amid Data Breach, Website Defacement

Iran: Tehran Warns Against the U.S. Using Gulf Territory, Airspace To Attack Iran

Israel, Lebanon: Israel Expands Operations in Lebanon, Risking an Extended Conflict

Israel, Iran: Opposition to Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Program Increases Regional Risk to Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Israel, Iran: U.S. Warns Israel of 'Imminent' Iranian Attack

Israel, Lebanon: Israel Begins Ground Invasion of Lebanon

Israel, Yemen: Israel Strikes Hodeidah After Intercepted Houthi Attacks

Israel: Saar's New Hope Party Joins Government in Boost to Netanyahu

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