Browsing: Middle East

A senior reserve IDF intelligence officer who has spent more than a decade supporting families of the fallen and missing described the painstaking work that led to the recovery of long-held remains and the renewed push to return the last captives from Gaza. Reflecting on the emotional moment when Hadar Goldin’s body came home on Saturday, November 8, 2025, he traced the years-long effort of assembling intelligence, creating opportunities, and preparing for precisely timed operations—while counseling families through uncertainty and grief. The officer detailed how lessons from past cases informed current efforts, emphasizing persistence, creativity, and orchestration across units. He…

Israel is preparing to fully deploy the Iron Beam system on December 30, a high-energy laser interceptor designed to neutralize rockets, drones, missiles, and mortars at speed. Defense officials describe the system as a game-changer that will complement existing multi-layered air defenses by delivering precise, low-cost shots against a wide range of aerial threats. After extensive development and wartime testing, the laser will enter operational service to help secure Israel’s skies. Beyond the immediate tactical benefits, Iron Beam is intended to ease the economic strain of missile defense by replacing some costly interceptor launches with laser engagements. Planners expect its…

Hamas leaders swiftly rejected the core demand of President Trump’s Gaza plan—disarmament—signaling they intend to keep their arsenal and continue the fight against Israel. Speaking in Istanbul and Doha, senior figures cast aside any notion of submitting to international oversight in Gaza, framing the ceasefire as merely a pause rather than a step toward lasting peace. Their statements underscored a determination to resist dismantling terror infrastructure or ceding control to any outside authority. Khaled Mashaal’s remarks captured the hard line: he praised the “resistance” and portrayed weapons as a matter of honor, setting the tone for Hamas’s refusal to comply…

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, an activist from Gaza based in the United States, accused Hamas of deliberately worsening the food crisis in Gaza by hiding significant quantities of infant formula and nutritional supplements intended for children. According to him, the organization allegedly stockpiled these products in a warehouse under the authority of the Ministry of Health in Gaza in order to reinforce its narrative of a famine orchestrated by Israel. In a video posted on social media, Alkhatib showed a large building filled with boxes of baby formula and nutritional drinks. He claimed that these supplies were hidden at the height…

One hostage’s body remains in Gaza, Ran Gvili, after the body of Thai worker Suthdisak Rinthalak was returned to Israel last night.  Rinthalak, who was abducted and killed on October 7, was formally identified by forensic teams, leaving Gvili as the final murdered hostage whose remains have yet to be recovered. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues in the southern Gaza Strip. During an operation in eastern Rafah, a Golani Patrol unit came under attack when armed militants emerged from an underground tunnel. One IDF soldier was seriously wounded, and four others sustained moderate injuries. In the north of Gaza, IDF reservists…

On Sunday, November 30, the IDF reported a focused series of strikes on terror infrastructure in the Rafah area, describing destroyed tunnels, bunkers, and weapons depots tied to remaining Hamas cells. Military briefings said intelligence cues drove the sorties and ground raids, part of a strategy to prevent militants from regrouping under the cover of the fragile ceasefire. Officials emphasized that targeted actions would continue against operatives attempting to reconstitute command-and-control nodes near the Yellow Line buffer while talks proceed over demilitarization and governance. The army said preliminary assessments indicated that several Hamas battalion-level figures were taken out in the…

On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, Hamas gunmen fired on Israeli forces near Khan Younis, prompting a wave of retaliatory strikes that focused on Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood and other militant strongholds. Israeli officials said the response was designed to neutralize the immediate threat and reinforce red lines meant to protect troops deployed along the buffer. The military assessed that fire came from positions reactivated after weeks of relative quiet, underlining how quickly armed cells can exploit lulls to reposition. In subsequent updates, the IDF said it eliminated the Zeitoun battalion commander and a senior naval operative associated with past infiltration…

Israeli forces carried out a targeted strike in Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik on Sunday, November 23, 2025, eliminating Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s de facto chief of staff. The military described him as a veteran and central operative who previously led the Radwan Force and oversaw the group’s operations in Syria, later heading Hezbollah’s operations division during the current war. Lebanese authorities reported that the strike damaged multiple floors of a residential building, with a preliminary tally of one person killed and 21 wounded. Officials in Jerusalem framed the operation as part of a broader effort to degrade Hezbollah’s…

Following an air strike, troops from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade conducted a search of a building in eastern Rafah, where they identified one terrorist who had been killed in the strike, along with three additional armed terrorists who the forces subsequently engaged and killed, the IDF announced on Wednesday. “Inside the structure, a terrorist who was eliminated in the strike was identified, along with three additional armed terrorists, who were subsequently eliminated by the troops in a close-quarters encounter,” the IDF said.Two other terrorists were arrested while inside the building. Continue reading this article on jpost.com

Israel’s Northern Command has intensified targeted strikes on Hezbollah assets embedded in southern Lebanon villages, with commanders saying the goal is to keep the organization weak and force a path toward disarmament. In remarks to regional leaders on Thursday, November 6, 2025, Maj.-Gen. Rafi Milo underscored a strategy of determined, focused action aimed at degrading operational infrastructure and preventing a renewed threat to communities across the border. Recent sorties and precision strikes have concentrated on areas where intelligence indicates Hezbollah has reconstituted positions or attempted to gather targeting information on Israeli forces. The campaign has unfolded alongside diplomatic efforts to…