Browsing: Middle East

US and France convene UN Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon ceasefire The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck dozens of targets across Lebanon after Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by launching two mortar grenades at northern Israel earlier on Monday, the IDF announced. “The IAF struck Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon. Additionally, the IAF struck the Hezbollah launcher in the area of Berghoz in southern Lebanon shortly after the launch of the two projectiles toward Mount Dov,” according to the Israeli military’s statement. According to Lebanese authorities, which don’t differentiate between civilians and Hezbollah terrorists, 10…

Rebels groups capture Hama after regime army pulls back Israeli airstrikes destroyed caches containing advanced weapons in northern Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Islamist rebel groups advancing there, according to Syrian reports which were cited by Army Radio. The overnight airstrikes hit areas that at the time were still controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh wrote. Mere hours after these reports, the Syrian regime announced that its forces were leaving the town of Hama, a crucial stronghold and the country’s fourth-largest city, amid the onslaught of…

Senior IDF officials plan for a multi-front war, focusing on more combat engineering battalions, stronger border defenses and drones to reduce Air Force reliance; tunnel threats, both new and re-excavated, remain key challenge The IDF Ground Forces Command on Thursday reviewed its operations in Gaza and northern Israel, preparing for continued combat against Hamas in the coming years, regardless of potential hostage deals. The briefing highlighted challenges and lessons learned from the fighting in Gaza, which marked the military’s first large-scale maneuver in 17 years. Military officials acknowledged that in the two weeks following Hamas’ October 7 attacks, there was…

The Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that it has begun detailed engineering planning for the construction of a security barrier in part of the Jordanian border. The planning works, amounting to tens of millions of shekels, will include initial marking of the planned obstacle segment, including data collection and computing, mapping of environmental disruptors, measurements, ground surveys, and hydrological surveys. The secretary general of the Defense Ministry, Major General (Res.) Eyal Zamir, has placed the planning task on the Security Fence and Border Administration, headed by Brigadier General Eran Ophir, and the Engineering and Construction Division, which will operate in coordination…

Israeli troops operating in south Lebanon have encountered larger amounts of Russian weaponry in the possession of Hezbollah than the military had expected, according to a report Tuesday, November 19. Many of the weapons were originally owned by the Syrian military, which has been supplied by Russia for years, American media reported, citing Syrian security officials and an Arab official. However, it is unclear exactly how the weapons reached the Lebanese terror group. Both Russia and Hezbollah fought on the side of Syria’s President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war. Hezbollah’s cache of modern, sophisticated weaponry far exceeded prior…

Gulf nation’s Ministry of Interior releases picture of three arrested suspects Turkish security services apprehended three suspects in the killing of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Istanbul, and extradited them to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to reports in Turkish media. The three men, all Uzbek nationals, were arrested by Turkish police in cooperation with the Turkish National Intelligence Agency as they left the airport in Istanbul. The security services tracked the suspects on their flight to Istanbul and later detained them in a taxi. Following their arrest, and based on an official extradition request by the UAE government, the persons of…

More than 100 Israeli citizens recently reported suspicious approaches from Iranian intelligence services via the internet More than a hundred Israeli citizens have recently reported alleged recruitment attempts by Iranian intelligence services, a survey published on Tuesday said. According to security officials quoted by Israel Hayom, the phenomenon requires thwarting dozens of espionage attempts daily and clandestine operations on Israeli territory. The majority of reports involve online profiles already known to Israeli security agencies. These accounts had previously been identified by Shin Bet security agency as fake profiles used by Iranian intelligence services to try to recruit Israeli citizens. The Iranians…

Streams of cars seen heading toward southern Lebanon even as IDF warns civilians not to return to villages yet; IDF strikes in Beirut continue until hour before start of truce A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon came into effect at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, bringing an end to almost 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting across the northern border, which began the day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel. The agreement, which Israel’s national security cabinet approved in a vote of 10 ministers to one on Tuesday night, will reportedly provide for…

Among the five were Gahad Mahmud Yahya Kahlot, a Nukhba company commander and Muhammed Riad Ali Okal, a Hamas company commander. An Israel Air Force aircraft killed terrorists who partook in the massacre near Israel’s Gaza border community of Mefalsim on October 7, the military and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Friday. Among the five terrorists killed were Jihad Mahmoud Yehia Kahlout, a Nukhba company commander and Muhammad Riyad Ali Okel, a Hamas company commander who led the murder and kidnapping in the area on October 7. The IDF noted that the two had been at the forefront of…

“No outrageous anti-Israeli decision will prevent us – and will not prevent me – from continuing to defend our country in every way possible.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recent arrest warrants, describing the action as a “black day in the history of nations.” Netanyahu criticized the ICC for what he termed a “moral failure” that undermines the natural rights of democracies to defend themselves against “murderous terrorism.” “This is a moral bankruptcy that violates the natural right of democracies to defend themselves,” Netanyahu stated, expressing strong disapproval of the ICC’s decision. He labeled the court…