Morning Briefing: Oct. 21, 2024

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) – Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Monday with, including the Israeli army announcing plans to attack economic assets of Hezbollah in Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia killing at least 87 people, and North Korea saying that countries imposing "unlawful" sanctions will pay "dearly.”

TOP STORIES

• Israeli army announces plans to attack economic assets of Hezbollah in Lebanon

The Israeli army threatened to attack "important economic assets" of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"The air force will launch extensive strikes on targets in a southern suburb of Beirut targeting Hezbollah-linked economic assets," Daniel Hagari, the army spokesperson, said at a news conference.

"In a few minutes, we will issue warnings to residents in the southern suburbs and the Beqaa Valley to evacuate several buildings located near Hezbollah facilities,” Avichay Adaree, the army's spokesperson in Arabic, said on X.

• At least 87 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Beit Lahia

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia has mounted to 87, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement added that more than 40 other people were also injured, including some in critical condition.

Israeli warplanes carried out deadly airstrikes on the city, destroying an entire residential block.

• North Korea says countries imposing 'unlawful' sanctions will pay 'dearly'

North Korea said a new multilateral sanctions monitoring team led by the US was “utterly unlawful and illegitimate” and the countries joining it would pay “dearly,” state news agency KCNA reported.

The US, South Korea and Japan this week announced the launch of a new 11-member team to monitor the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea. Other countries are Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Russia in March rejected the annual renewal of a UN panel of experts monitoring North Korea’s compliance with international sanctions. China had abstained from the vote.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Jordan condemned a deadly Israeli airstrike that killed at least 87 people in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia.
• The president of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said they have "very good" relations with Türkiye.
• At least 11 people were killed when Israeli airstrikes targeted several areas in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
• The US Embassy in Yemen voiced concerns over the safety of its employees held by the Houthi group.
• The Israeli army launched a series of airstrikes on Beirut targeting a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital following Israeli threats to bomb buildings housing branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan financial institution affiliated with the Hezbollah group.
• UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon announced that an Israeli army bulldozer deliberately demolished one of their observation towers and a perimeter fence in Tyre district of southern Lebanon.
• At least four people were injured as Russia claimed that it downed 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
• At least seven people died and many others were injured after part of a ferry dock collapsed in the US state of Georgia's Sapelo Island as crowds gathered for a celebration, authorities said.
• Two aid workers with the British aid group Oxfam were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, the group said.
• Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, according to the military.
• Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in about two and a half years.
• Sirens signaling a level 3 danger, indicating severe risk, were sounded inside the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) centers in the town of Maarakeh in Tyre district of southern Lebanon.
• Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia came under direct attack by Israeli forces as a heavy bombardment continues across northern Gaza, an official said.
• Prabowo Subianto took the oath as Indonesia’s eighth president, succeeding Joko Widodo's decade of rule.
• Cocaine production in Colombia surged 53% in 2023, reaching a historic peak, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

• Millions of Cubans remain without electricity because of a prolonged outage at the main power plants on the island.