For today, links to five reports: from the Associated Press, Reuters, and Middle East Eye, and to an interview from Truthout via ScheerPost; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Israel says halting Hezbollah attacks is now a war goal as officials warn of a wider operation, by Josef Federman and Julia Frankel | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel said today that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal, as it considers a wider military operation in Lebanon that could ignite an all-out conflict. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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FROM SEPT. 16  Blinken is heading back to the Middle East, this time without fanfare or a visit to Israel, by Ellen Knickmeyer | AP  WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages. READ MORE . . .

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FROM SEPT. 16  UN experts censure Western support for Israel since Gaza war, by  Emma Farge | Reuters  GENEVA — U.N. human rights experts criticised mostly Western states on Monday for continuing to support Israel despite what they described as a genocide in Gaza which might turn Israel into a “pariah” nation. READ MORE . . .

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FROM SEPT. 16  Names of 710 Palestinian newborns killed by Israeli forces in Gaza published, by Huthifa Fayyad | Middle East Eye  The names of 710 Palestinian newborn babies killed by Israeli forces during the ongoing war on Gaza were released by the Palestinian health ministry on Monday. According to the Gaza-based government media office . . . READ MORE . . .

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How does Israel justify genocide? It starts in the schools. From Truthout / ScheerPost. Goerge Yancy of Emory University and Dartmouth College interviews Nurit Peled-Elhanan, a retired lecturer at Hebrew University and at the David Yellin Academic College in Jerusalem. “Schoolbooks always, not only in Israel,” Peled-Elhanan says, “are meant to . .  Click HERE to read interview.