Tracking debt: Which generation owes the most?

 

• Gen Xers have the highest median non-mortgage debt of $33,859
• Millennials are the most likely to have student loan debt
• Texas cities topped the list for most debt across every generation
• Mortgages make up the bulk of household debt but a new analysis shows most Americans owe thousands of dollars beyond their home loans, with members of Gen X carrying the highest balances.

Across the 100 largest metros in the U.S., the median non-mortgage debt is $24,668, according to online lending marketplace LendingTree. Gen Xers, between 44 and 59 years old, owed $33,859, the most across the four generations studied.

Millennials weren’t far behind, owing $30,558 across non-mortgage loans, including credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and personal loans.

Credit card debt is soaring, especially in these cities 

Debt levels also vary widely by region. Consumers in McAllen, Texas, have the highest auto debt across all generations, LendingTree found.

Gen Zers in Northeast cities like Boston and New Haven, Connecticut, had the highest student loan debt, while millennials carried higher student loan balances in southeast cities like Durham, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.

The analysis is based on more than 428,000 anonymized credit reports from LendingTree users in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas. The credit reports are from Oct. 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024.

Median non-mortgage debt balance by generation, according to LendingTree:

1. Gen Xers (ages 44-59): $33,859
2. Millennials (ages 28-43): $30,558
3. Baby Boomers (ages 60-78): $18,779
4. Gen Zers (ages 18-27): $16,562

The Gen X debt situation

Across all generations in the 100 largest metros, Gen Xers have the highest median non-mortgage debt at $33,859. The cohort also has the largest share of people with debt, nearly 99% carry some type of balance, LendingTree found.

Gen Xers led the way in three of the four categories analyzed. The group — between 44 and 59 years old — has the highest median credit card, auto loan and student loan balances.

Where they owe the most: Four of the five metros where Gen Xers owe the most are in Texas. McAllen tops the list, where Gen Xers owe a median balance of $46,166. Hefty auto loans appear to be the main driver in the Lone Star State, with Gen Xers’ typical car debt hovering around $29,000 in multiple cities.

Gen Xers credit card balances were highest in the northeast and Florida. Bridgeport, Connecticut ($8,669) and New York City ($7,922) topped the list, followed by Miami ($7,797), Lakeland ($7,777) and Cape Coral ($7,714), Florida.

Only 25% of Gen Xers still carry student loans; however, their median balance is $31,066, the highest of any generation.

The millennial debt situation

Millennials have had less time than Gen Xers to rack up debt but they’re already well ahead of the much older Baby Boomers, carrying a median non-mortgage debt balance of $30,558.

Student and auto loans are the main challenge for those ages 28 to 43. Millennials have the second-highest auto loan debt across generations, with nearly 60% owing a median balance of $20,826.

Gen Z has more credit card debt than millennials did at same age 

While their average student loan balance is lower than Gen X, millennials are the most likely to have that form of debt. Over 38% of millennials have student debt and their median balance is $24,112.

Where they owe the most: Three of the top five cities were in Texas with El Paso topping the list. Millennials in the West Texas city owe a median non-mortgage debt balance of $42,982.

Once again, auto loans tell much of the story. According to the analysis, five of the six U.S. cities where millennials carry the most car debt are in Texas.

When it comes to student loans, millennials in Washington D.C. owe the most, $31,895. The nation’s capital is followed by Durham ($30,606) and Raleigh ($30,119), North Carolina; Atlanta ($29,724); and Columbia, South Carolina ($29,353).

The baby boomer debt situation

Despite being the oldest generation in the analysis, baby boomers carry considerably less non-mortgage debt than Gen Xers and millennials, owing a median balance of $18,779 across the country’s largest metros.

The cohort between ages 60 and 78 are the most likely to carry credit card debt, with 93% having a balance. They owe a median of $4,862, the second highest of the generations studied.

Baby boomers are faring much better regarding student loans, only 11% still carry them. They’re also less likely to have car debt, just 48% owe on auto loans, the second-lowest by generation.

Where they owe the most: McAllen, Texas ($33,020) topped the list again, followed by Augusta, Georgia ($29,754), San Antonio ($28,524), Austin ($26,686) and Dallas ($25,965).

Although they have the lowest percentage of personal loans, baby boomers carry the highest balances, owing a median of $5,363. In Honolulu, Hawaii they owe a staggering $12,676 in personal loans.

The Gen Z debt situation

The youngest generation in the study has the lowest debt ($16,652) but the vast majority, 97%, still carry a balance.

As far as student loans, Gen Zers owe significantly less than other generations, with a median balance of $12,172 — roughly half of what millennials owe for school. Part of that is because many 18 to 27-year-olds are still making their way through college but they’re also less likely to attend in the first place.

Gen Zers are also fairly likely to have auto debt, with around 47% of the country’s youngest adults having a median car loan amount of $17,402, according to the analysis. 

Where they owe the most: McAllen ($27,781) and El Paso, Texas ($22,476) ranked at the top for Gen Z but the rest of the top ten had more geographic diversity than other generations. Cities like Cape Coral, Florida ($21,208), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ($21,178) and Syracuse, New York ($21,116) were also among the highest for Gen Z debt.

Young adults in the Northeast carry a particularly high level of student loan debt. Boston ($20,986) ranked first, followed by New Haven ($20,173), Bridgeport ($19,250) and Hartford ($18,481), Connecticut.

https://thehill.com/business/4746954-tracking-debt-which-generation-owes-the-most/

What IS wrong with Biden?

 Joe Biden's fitness to run for a second term is in question after 'senior moments' during last night 'car crash' TV debate sparked a wave of concern.

The President's jumbled words and a general frail appearance put him in stark contrast to Republican hopeful Donald Trump, commentators said. 

Last night is just the latest in a string of incidents that have led many to speculate on Biden's health. His time in office has been punctuated by falls, gaffes and unusual behaviour, particularly in recent months. 

To add to his woes, there are reports that some Democrats are now calling for him to step out of the presidential contest altogether — a suggestion firmly rebutted by the Biden camp.

So can any firm conclusions be drawn on what might be wrong with the 81-year-old based on his performance? We asked one of the UK top dementia specialists, who watched the debate, for his view..

Speech: Jumbled words, lost sentences and incoherence

In what has become a much commented on moment of the TV debate, Biden produced a rambling response to a Medicare question.

He said: 'We've been making sure we are able to make every single person eligible what I've been able to do with the Covid, excuse me, everything we have to do with...look... I finally beat Medicare...' before trailing off. 

Another serious fumble came when Biden spoke about the the situation on the US border.

'We had significant increase in number of asylum officers significantly. By the way the Border Patrol been endorsed me, endorsed my position. 

'In addition to that we find ourselves in a situation where when he was president he was taking separating babies from their mothers put him in cages,' he said 

This led to Trump to respond: 'I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.'

Professor Robert Howard, an expert in old age psychiatry at University College London, said: 'Doctors can't diagnose someone without examining them, but based on the footage of the debate I've watched, the freezing and rambling make me concerned that Biden struggles to maintain attention.

'He's fine 98 per cent of the time, but there are occasions when he appears to have lost his train of thoughts and others where he can't stop himself from rambling.

'These fluctuations and dips in attention are a key symptom of Parkinson's.'

Parkinson's is a condition in which nerve cells in the part of the brain responsible for producing a vital chemical called dopamine stop working properly.

Dopamine governs a range of functions including movement and attention, and while medication can help alleviate the symptoms, the illness is incurable and gradually worsens. 

Dr Mike Smith, an NHS GP from Hertfordshire, said watching last night's debate had left with only one conclusion as a health professional. 

'It is beyond doubt he has cognitive impairment,' he said. 

He escribed Biden as having telltale signs of the problem, which can be caused multiple neurological conditions.

'He struggles to find the right word, he sometimes finishes a sentence with something that makes no sense for example his sentence on Medicare… he appears to have to concentrate very had to keep on topic.

'Also his shuffling indicates there's some locomotive issues there as well.'

Memory: Trailing off, confused gaffes and freezes 

Biden's memory and ability to continue a points were also highlighted by the recent debate. 

At one moment, when singling US states restrictions on abortion, he confusingly pivoted to immigration and referred to a 'young woman who was just murdered' by an immigrant. 

Viewers claimed it was unclear what point he was trying to make. 

Other commentators have pointed to several occasions when he has seemingly frozen  such as one incident earlier this month where he was seemingly staring blankly ahead as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him.

But there have been plenty of times Biden has appeared disorientated and frozen in public. 

At the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France Biden was seen awkwardly squatting down as if he was preparing to sit before momentarily freezing

Viewers claimed it was unclear what point he was trying to make. 

Other commentators have pointed to several occasions when he has seemingly frozen  such as one incident earlier this month where he was seemingly staring blankly ahead as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him.

But there have been plenty of times Biden has appeared disorientated and frozen in public. 

At the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France Biden was seen awkwardly squatting down as if he was preparing to sit before momentarily freezing

He also appeared to freeze for about a minute are look vacant during the Juneteenth celebrations while others grooved along to a lively band.

There has been widespread speculation, as a result of these incidents, that the President has dementia. 

However Professor Howard said: 'People with dementia have these symptoms all the time, not intermittently.

'If you sit someone with dementia down in front of a neuropsychologist and test them, they will do badly.

'Someone with fluctuating attention will only do badly when their attention dips.'

He said this appears to be what's happening with the President.  

'It's just really bad luck that Biden seems to be affected when he's on show,' he said.

'It will also be difficult for those around him. If he had dementia, they could test him and say, look, you're not fit to carry on as President or a candidate.

'But if it's fluctuating it's only those moments that are a concern and the rest of time he'll be absolutely fine.'

While both dementia and Parkinson's can effect the brain Professor Howard said they manifest in different ways. 

'The difference is, with dementia it's like the lights in the house are blown: there's nothing you can do bring them back on,' he said. 

'But with something like Parkinson's, the power dips, and the bulbs flicker and go a bit dim from time to time. 

'Biden just has a problem keeping the lights on all the time.

'He looks expressionless and his face has a mask-like appearance. This is something we also often see with Parkinson's disease.'

He added that people shouldn't dismiss symptoms such as these as they are not simply a sign of ageing. 

'If [Biden] has Parkinson's — and I'm not saying he has — you can bet he'll have seen top doctors and will be on optimal treatment already,' he said. 

'These sorts of symptoms shouldn't be seen as a normal part of old age.'

Dr Smith added that if he was examining a patient with Biden's symptoms he would want to consider Parkinson's. 

If a relative brought Mr Biden into me at the practice and they explained all the things we witnessed in the presidential debate last night, and some of the more recent public appearances, Parkinson's would be one of the top things in the list to exclude,' he said. 

But he added that dementia or an infection, given Biden's age, would also be among the health issues that a medic would also want to consider.

Walking: General stability and multiple trips and falls   

Shaking hands is perhaps one of the most well-known symptoms of Parkinson's, but experts say not all patients develop it.    

Falls, which Biden has becoming increasingly vulnerable to, are another sign of the condition. 

The President has several unfortunate tumbles over the past few years. 

Perhaps the most iconic was when he repeatedly stumbled on the stairs while boarding Air Force One in March 2021 and then again in May 2022.

Another incident, this time in June 2022, saw Biden lie on the ground for 10 seconds after he fell from a stationary bike while talking to reporters. 

Other falls have been also filmed and recorded at various events over the past year. 

Professor Howard said falls among Parkinson's sufferers not uncommon.

'People with Parkinson's get these moments where they freeze up physically,' he said.

'They are more likely to suffer falls as the legs can be stiff and movements slow.'

The brain chemical dopamine, which Parkinson's patients have less of, acts as messenger between the brain and the parts of the nervous system that govern the control and co-ordination of body movements.

A lack of it can lead to movement becoming slow or abnormal with patients at increased risks of falls as a result, and can even cause them freeze completely as if stuck to the spot.

Parkinson's affects one in 20 people over the age of 85, with age considered the biggest risk factor for developing the disease. 

Professor Howard said while he couldn't comment on Biden's long term health, if he did have Parkinson's, he would only get worse over time as the condition was progressive. 

'It's a terrible dilemma as the majority of the time he's on point. 

'But you can't predict when these moments will happen and he won't be able to function at the level he needs to be at,' he said.

'These things do not get better as time goes on. They are progressive. Medications only treat the symptoms, they don't stop the disease from progressing. 

'Thinking ahead to the next three or four years, it will only get worse.'

Dr Smith also said the conditions that cause cognitive impairment inevitably get worse over time.

'The analogy I would use is that you have a very large bookcase where the small books are on the top and the big book are on the bottom,' he said. 

'The earlier signs of cognitive impairment and dementia are where the bookcase is being gently rocked and the small books start to fall, 'Where did I put my bank card?', 'What did I have for lunch yesterday…those types of things.' 

He add that while Biden is doubtlessly being looked after by a team of medical experts it did raise questions about his future.

'Is this gentleman who wants to do another four year term as the President of the US, is that really in his best interest? That's the question I was asking myself when I saw the debate,' he said. 

Dr Smith also said it was critical that people don't dismiss any potential signs of cognitive impairment as simply part of getting old as there are many treatments available that can slow or mitigate symptoms and give people a better quality of life.

'People must get it checked out,' he said. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13579501/What-wrong-Biden-doctors-view-Presidents-senior-moments-TV-debate.html

US assault ship sent to eastern Mediterranean amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions

 The Pentagon has sent the Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp with Marines aboard to the eastern Mediterranean amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel along Lebanon’s border, U.S. European Command confirmed Friday.

The Wasp and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit — which includes about 2,200 personnel — entered the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday “on a scheduled deployment to the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa area of operations,” the command said in a Thursday statement.

The ship is intended to serve as a deterrent in the region and keep the Israel- Hamas war from becoming a broader regional conflict, EUCOM added.

Asked Friday about the ship’s movement, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh stressed that the deployment was scheduled and that the US was not preparing any noncombat evacuation of American citizens out of Lebanon.

“The purpose is not to conduct a type of … military assisted departure,” she told reporters. “It is there to ensure regional stability and deter aggression. It has many other capabilities — one being, if there was a need for any type of departure, it can be there to assist in that.”

The Wasp will be joined in the eastern Mediterranean by the USS Oak Hill, which is already in the waterway, and the USS New York, which is currently operating in the Atlantic Ocean. The three ships make up the Wasp’s Amphibious Ready Group, Singh said.

Amphibious Ready Groups and Marines are trained for a wide variety of missions that include the evacuation of U.S. citizens from war zones.

After trading fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border for nearly nine months, fears are growing of a full-blown conflict. The animosity stems from Hamas’s attack in Israel on Oct. 7, which set off a brutal Israeli air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip to defeat Hamas.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have recently ratcheted up the rhetoric, with an escalation in the clashes and the Israeli government earlier this month announcing it had approved a plan for a military offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The group, meanwhile, has published propaganda videos showing drone footage over Israeli military sites and communities. 

The U.S. has attempted to secure a diplomatic resolution to the skirmishes but has so far been unsuccessful.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with senior Biden administration officials on Wednesday in Washington, where he discussed the threats from Hezbollah. But he also said increasing tensions between the U.S. and Israel was emboldening Israel’s allies. 

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4746579-us-wasp-deployment-mediterranean/

Tillis calls on Cabinet to invoke 25th Amendment after ‘painful’ Biden debate

 Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called on President Biden’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to potentially remove him from office after Thursday’s debate performance that included a number of halting answers and raised concerns on both sides of the aisle just months ahead of Election Day.

Tillis, a member of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership team, wrote in a letter to the Senate GOP conference that Thursday’s meeting between Biden and former President Trump makes the “discussion” about the president’s ability to serve “a necessity.” He added that if Biden does not step aside on his own, the cabinet should take matters into their own hands. 

“If Biden cannot speak coherently, articulate his policies, and is unfit to perform after weeks of preparation, how will he perform when America is truly tested by a national security crisis, the kind of historic, high-stakes test his predecessors have been confronted with?” Tillis wrote in the letter, which was sent to members Friday. 

“I believe Biden is a decent man who cares about the country,” he continued. “However, time catches up with everyone, and it’s clear his decline is more dire than people realized and the White House has not been as truthful nor transparent as it should have been.”

The North Carolina Republican added, “Biden is unfit to continue serving as leader of the free world. While he is already well on track to lose the election in November, a lot can still go wrong between now and January 20, 2025.”

The senator argued that Biden should step aside “for the sake of the country.”

“If he is unaware of his own unfitness to continue serving, the Biden cabinet should consider invoking the 25th Amendment, in which the cabinet can vote to transfer powers and authorities from the President to the Vice President,” he wrote.

Along with being part of the GOP leadership team, Tillis is also widely considered one of the most bipartisan members in the Republican conference and has been involved in a number of key talks throughout Biden’s term in office. 

Tillis is also the first in the upper chamber to issue such a call post-debate. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday told reporters that the cabinet should consider the 25th Amendment option but did not go as far as Tillis.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) added that he would file a resolution calling on Vice President Harris and the Cabinet to declare Biden incapable of fulfilling his presidential duties. 

Unsurprisingly, Biden’s campaign showed no signs of slowing down Friday as he appeared at a rally in North Carolina and referenced that he has slowed in recent years. 

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said at a rally in Raleigh. “But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Tillis added to The Hill that the rally did nothing to assuage his fears and that the debate was more indicative of who he believes the president is right now, raising fears of how he could deal with an “existential threat in the Situation Room.”

“It was painful, and I truly feel bad for President Biden,” he wrote. “Cognitive and physical decline is a normal part of the aging process for many people.” 

“But displaying that decline in front of hundreds of millions of Americans is most certainly not normal,” the senator added. “Especially when your day job is serving as the nation’s commander-in-chief.”

According to the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members can vote to declare a commander in chief “unable to discharge the powers and the duties of his office” and hand the duties of the president to the vice president.

A dispute by the president about his capacity to fulfill the duties of the office would send the question to Congress. Lawmakers could decide to give the vice president the powers of the presidency via a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and House.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4747562-thom-tillis-joe-biden-presidential-debate-2024-election-25th-amendment/

'CDC Recommends New COVID-19 Vaccines For Nearly All Americans'

 by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 27 recommended forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines for virtually all Americans.

“CDC recommends everyone ages 6 months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 this fall and winter whether or not they have ever previously been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine,” the agency said in a statement.

The COVID-19 vaccines now available, which are also broadly recommended, target the XBB.1.5 strain. But observational data indicate they provide short-lived protection against COVID-19 infection and hospitalization.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials, acting on advice from their advisers, recently directed vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines with updated formulations.

Updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will target the KP.2 variant, while an updated shot from Novavax will target the JN.1 variant.

The updated formulations are expected to be available in September.

CDC advisers earlier Thursday unanimously advised the CDC to recommend the forthcoming vaccines to virtually all Americans, even though no clinical efficacy or safety data are available for them.

Data from animal testing suggest that the vaccines trigger higher levels of antibodies than the shots currently available, manufacturers said previously.

CDC advisers considered a risk-based recommendation that would only say certain groups receive one of the vaccines but ultimately opted for what is known as a universal recommendation.

Dr. Jamie Loehr, one of the members, said before the vote that the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating young people, who are generally at little risk from COVID-19, had him leaning towards a risk-based approach. He changed his mind, though, after listening to a presentation from a CDC researcher.

Dr. Denise Jamieson, another member, said that members should not “get too caught up in cost-effectiveness currently.” She said, “If we compare it to other vaccine-preventable diseases it seems like a really good investment.”

Each dose of a new shot could cost up to $130, according to estimates presented during the meeting.

Pooled effectiveness estimates from studies of the currently available vaccines, which target the XBB strain, and the last slate of shots, which were bivalent, found that effectiveness against hospitalization due to COVID-19 was below 50 percent, the original threshold laid out by regulators.

Researchers with the CDC and other institutions have also found the protection wanes over time, one reason U.S. officials have turned the COVID-19 vaccine model into a once-a-year update similar to the influenza vaccination program.

Many Americans took the original COVID-19 vaccines but most have opted against receiving the newer shots. As of May 11, just 14.4 percent of children and 22.5 percent of adults have received one of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines, according to CDC surveys, which also found that many doctors have stopped recommending the shots because they’re focused on promoting other vaccines and worry recommending COVID-19 vaccination could increase hesitancy among patients to receiving the other vaccines.

Experts said in Thursday’s meeting that the message needs to be that people need another shot.

“We have to keep saying that over and over and over again—you need this year’s vaccine to be protected against this year’s strain of the virus,” Carol Hayes, who represents the American College of Nurse-Midwives as a liaison to the CDC panel, said during the session.

The CDC estimated that up to 116,000 hospitalizations from COVID-19 will be prevented over the next year with universal vaccine recommendations, assuming an initial 75 percent effectiveness against hospitalization.

The effectiveness was projected in certain scenarios to drop to 50 percent after three months, the CDC said.

The KP.2 strain is the dominant strain in the United States as of May 25, according to CDC data. The closely related KP.3 strain, and the JN.1 variant, are also causing a number of cases.

Modeling through June 22 projects the rise of a new strain called LB.1.

A spokesperson for the CDC told The Epoch Times recently that LB.1 “has the potential to infect some people more easily based on a single deletion in a spike protein“ but ”there is currently no evidence that LB.1 causes more severe disease.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/cdc-recommends-new-covid-19-vaccines-nearly-all-americans

Iran Threatens Israel With 'Obliterating War' If It Attacks Lebanon

 Iran's mission to the United Nations has put Israel and the world on notice, saying that if Israel launches an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon the whole region will burn.

A Friday statement from Iran's ambassador warned the UN that any "full-scale military aggression" in Lebanon against Hezbollah will mean that "an obliterating war will ensue."

The Iranian statement continued by emphasizing that "all options, including the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table" in a statement posted to X. 

By "resistance fronts" Tehran means the militias it supports in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen will also ramp up their military activities. On a few occasions, Iraqi Shia militias have launched missiles and drones against southern Israel, as have the Houthis, with limited effect.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged this week that a "seven front war" could open up, in reference to all of Iran's proxies across the region. 

For years already, Israeli jets have been regularly attacking 'Iranian assets' inside Damascus, also in a continued effort to weaken Assad, despite the presence of Russia's military primarily in the northwest coastal region.

Israel has meanwhile continued to pound Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon, amid continued fears of a bigger war at any moment. The US has even sent amphibious military ships closer to Israel and Lebanon in the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to evacuate Americans if a bigger conflict ensues.

The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper wrote Saturday, "In the past few hours, warplanes attacked several Hezbollah targets, including a military site for the organisation in the Zabqin area, two operational infrastructure sites in the Khiam area, and a Hezbollah building in the al-Adissa [Odaisseh] area."

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has told Israel and its allies that a war with no limits will ensue if Israel attempts to invade southern Lebanon. Some Israeli officials fear that the IDF could be stretched too thin if this happens, considering it's still in the thick of anti-Hamas Gaza operations in the south.

Most analysts agree that Hezbollah is far more capable a paramilitary and guerilla force than Hamas, or any other Iran-linked group in the region for that matter. In the 2006 Lebanon war, there were reports that IRGC operatives were on the ground in Lebanon assisting Hezbollah.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-threatens-israel-obliterating-war-if-it-attacks-lebanon

'No Progress in Gaza Ceasefire Talks With Israel, Says Hamas Official'

 A senior official of the militant Islamist group Hamas, Osama Hamdan, said on Saturday there has been no progress in ceasefire talks with Israel over the Gaza war.

The Palestinian group is still ready to "deal positively" with any ceasefire proposal that ends the war, Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-06-29/no-progress-in-gaza-ceasefire-talks-with-israel-says-hamas-official