10.28.2024

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Israel Strikes Iran

Israel's airstrikes on Iran Saturday morning targeted military sites, including two secretive bases, satellite imagery shows. The attacks, which killed at least four soldiers, came in response to Iran firing around 200 missiles into Israel this month, most of which were intercepted. See a timeline of escalations here.

The attacks are the first Israel has acknowledged on Iranian soil. They came in waves, with jet fighters destroying portions of Iran's missile defense system, including those protecting Iranian oil facilities. Israel also struck three missile manufacturing bases and two military bases, including a former nuclear testing site.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel achieved all its objectives. The attacks steered clear of direct strikes on oil and nuclear facilities, which Iran warned could provoke a full-scale war. 

Separately, Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza killed at least 33 people, per the Hamas-run Health Ministry. A truck-ramming attack in Tel Aviv killed one person and injured at least 30 more. See war updates here. 

Japanese Elections

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is projected to have lost control of the nation’s lower house of parliament yesterday. It marks the first time in more than a decade the conservative ruling party has lost its absolute majority in the chamber.

The LDP has dominated the Japanese government for all but four years since 1955. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in office for less than a month, called a snap election in a bid to shore up support. Instead, analysts say the final tally due today will likely show the LDP falling short of a majority even when partnering with Komeito, its smaller longtime ally. 

Among issues cited by voters was a string of scandals involving LDP officials taking kickbacks from political donors. 

The Constitutional Democratic Party, the leading opposition group, had secured 148 seats to the LDP's 191 as of this writing (see updates). At least 233 seats are needed for a majority.

US Navy Apology

The US Navy apologized Saturday to an Alaskan native community for an October 1882 attack on Angoon, a village in the southeastern Alaska panhandle. See footage from the ceremony here.

At the time, conflict erupted when a harpoon gun exploded on a whaling ship, killing a member of the local Tlingit people. Amid tensions with Natives, the company that owned the ship called in support from the Navy, which ultimately destroyed 12 clan houses as well as canoes and local food stores. Six children died in the attack, with others later dying from starvation and lack of resources. In 1973, the village received a $90K settlement from the US Department of the Interior over the affair. 

The attack took place 15 years after the US purchase of Alaska from Russia and is one of multiple conflicts between the US Navy and Alaskan Natives in this period. Last month, the Navy apologized for attacking the nearby village of Kake; the Army also plans to apologize for an attack on a village called Wrangell.

In partnership with RYSE

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In partnership with RYSE

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