Monday Briefing

A Hezbollah strike kills 4 Israeli soldiers

A drone strike by Hezbollah on a base in northern Israel killed four soldiers and wounded dozens of other people, the Israeli military said yesterday, in what some saw as evidence of a worrisome gap in Israel’s air defense systems. Cross-border attacks by the militants have continued despite heavy Israeli bombardments aimed at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Israel is also at war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and was struck by Iranian missiles on Oct. 1. Concern about further attacks prompted the U.S. to announce yesterday that it was sending an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with around 100 troops to operate it, bringing American forces closer to the war in the Middle East.

As Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon in recent days, they have found themselves at loggerheads with U.N. peacekeepers. Israeli tanks entered a U.N. base yesterday, drawing a protest from the U.N. mission, which said the incursion had endangered the peacekeepers there.

In the West Bank: Reporters for The Times rode along on two bus trips — one for Israelis, the other for Palestinians — that tell a story of separate and unequal roadways.

In Lebanon: Israel’s military showed journalists parts of what it said was Hezbollah’s entrenched military infrastructure.

Investigation: Secret documents seized by the Israeli military show that Hamas tried to persuade Iran to join its devastating Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.