Israel's military announced today the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Mohammed Nami Nasser, also known as Abu Nami, in Southern Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that Nasser led a unit responsible for launching rockets into Israel. This incident comes amid escalating cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, prompting a global diplomatic effort to avert a full-scale war. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Ghalat addressed soldiers, emphasizing the military's readiness to respond to any situation, stating, \"We are striking Hezbollah very hard every day,\" and expressing a preference for a negotiated arrangement from a position of strength.

In a related development, the Israeli group Peace Now reported that the government has approved the largest land seizure in the West Bank in three decades, amounting to nearly five square miles. The current Israeli administration views this expansion as legal, while much of the international community considers it a violation of international law.

On the international front, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazakhstan, marking their second meeting in two months. The leaders discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, with both agreeing that peace talks without Russia's involvement would be ineffective. They reaffirmed their commitment to mutual support, highlighting the strong state of Russian-Chinese relations.

In Ukraine, Russian missile strikes on the eastern city of Dnipro resulted in the deaths of at least five civilians and injuries to 47 others, as smoke filled the skies following the attacks.

Back in the United States, abortion rights advocates in Arizona have reportedly gathered more than double the necessary signatures to place a measure enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution on the ballot this November. In Nebraska, activists have submitted signatures for competing measures—one to protect abortion rights and another to maintain the state's current 12-week ban. Additionally, three other states are working to add abortion measures to the November ballots, while six states already have constitutional amendments related to abortion rights set for the fall election.

In a separate legal development, a U.S. judge has temporarily blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a rule against discrimination in healthcare based on gender identity. This rule, finalized in May, faced opposition from 15 Republican-led states, which argued it would compel Medicaid programs to cover treatments for transgender individuals. Tennessee's attorney general praised the ruling, claiming the law imposes extreme gender ideology on healthcare providers nationwide.