Monday Briefing

A building in northern Israel damaged during a Hezbollah attack.Credit…Ammar Awad/Reuters

Israel and Hezbollah moved to talks of containment

After Israel’s military and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah fired back and forth over the weekend in one of the largest cross-border barrages since the war in Gaza began, both sides quickly claimed victories of sorts. By yesterday morning, the two sides were employing the language of containment.

Hezbollah announced that it had completed the “first stage” of its attack to avenge the assassination of a senior commander, Fuad Shukr, and appeared to be calling it a day. Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said that he had spoken with the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and that they had “discussed the importance of avoiding regional escalation,” according to a statement.

But tensions are still high in the Middle East, and escalation remains a possibility, experts say. The Israeli military said it was continuing to strike Hezbollah launchers in southern Lebanon. And Iran, Hezbollah’s patron, has made unresolved threats toward Israel, which it blames for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of its ally Hamas, while he was in Tehran.

For more: For now, the exchange of attacks fell short of the major escalation that many had feared after Shukr was killed. This timeline shows how the attack unfolded.

Elsewhere in the war:

• In a show of support for Israel and an attempt to deter Iran, the U.S. has steadily moved Navy forces to the Middle East, including two aircraft carrier groups and a guided-missile submarine.

• Israel’s hunt for Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, has been like chasing a ghost. His ability to manage a military campaign while evading capture or death has denied Israel a major victory.

• Palestinians fled Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza after the Israeli military again ordered people to “immediately” leave parts of Deir al-Balah.