Browsing: Middle East

Earlier Thursday morning, the IDF, guided by intelligence, struck a weapons storage facility and an underground terror infrastructure site used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. These terror infrastructure sites were located near the civilian population, serving as yet another example of Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields for its operations conducted from within civilian areas. Later, the IDF also struck an additional Hezbollah terror infrastructure site. Continue reading this article on israelnationalnews.com

Cabinet member and former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief, Minister Avi Dichter, stated that the ceasefire reached by Israel is intended solely as preparation for the next phase: the dismantling of Hamas. “The war is not over. We’re in a ceasefire to prepare for the next stage. If necessary, the pause will disappear within minutes,” Dichter said at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) conference in Tel Aviv. He asserted that Hamas will never voluntarily disarm. “The likelihood of Hamas laying down its weapons is about the same as Israel winning the World Cup. Without weapons,…

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to take decisive measures to end the increasing phenomenon of weapons smuggling along the Egyptian border, his office said on Thursday. Over the past months, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had announced dozens of cases where its troops had thwarted attempts to transport weapons and ammunition from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula into the southern Negev, often using drones. “Today we are declaring war on those involved in the smuggling – and anyone who enters the prohibited area will be struck,” Katz declared. Continue reading this article allisraelnews.com

The IDF announced on Thursday that it has begun a series of strikes on Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon. A short time earlier, IDF Arabic-Language Spokesman Avichay Adraee issued an urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon, stating that the IDF will soon strike military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah “to deal with the prohibited attempts carried out to rebuild its activities in the region.” The spokesman singled out buildings in Al-Tayyiba and Tayr Debba, calling them to evacuate and adding: “You are located near buildings used by Hezbollah, and for your safety, you are required to evacuate them immediately…

Israel’s defense leadership has warned that a majority of Hamas’s subterranean network in Gaza is still intact, underscoring the scale of the unfinished work beneath densely populated areas. On October 25, 2025, Defense Minister Israel Katz told U.S. Senator JD Vance that more than 60% of tunnels have yet to be destroyed and stressed that dismantling the underground grid is central to demobilizing Hamas and securing Israel’s south. He framed the mission as a high priority in any future framework meant to stabilize the Strip. Katz linked the ongoing effort to broader strategic aims, saying that neutralizing the tunnels—used for…

Days into the ceasefire, Hamas presented a hardened stance that complicates any durable settlement. The group publicly defended recent executions of Palestinians in Gaza as “exceptional measures,” even as rights advocates and regional leaders decried the killings. At the same time, a senior Hamas official said the organization cannot commit to disarmament—an explicit requirement embedded in the truce architecture—though he floated the possibility of a multi-year pause in fighting if broader political demands are addressed. The posture underscores a bid to reassert internal control in the Strip while testing the limits of the agreement. Israeli officials said Hamas’s refusal to…

Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced Thursday that their chief of staff, Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, has died “in the line of duty,” weeks after Israeli airstrikes targeted him in the capital, Sanaa. Shortly after, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel had killed al-Ghamari. Al-Ghamari had been attacked by Israel on at least two occasions. The Houthis did not specify the circumstances of his death but confirmed he is no longer alive. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported that he was killed in an August 28 airstrike that also killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmad al-Rahawi and several ministers. It remains unclear whether…

According to Katz, the planning is contingent on Hamas failing to implement President Trump’s peace plan, which calls for the immediate return of all hostages Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has instructed the IDF to prepare a comprehensive plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza should renewed fighting become necessary. The directive came during a high-level discussion on IDF preparations in Gaza with the Chief of Staff and senior military leadership. According to Katz, the planning is contingent on Hamas failing to implement President Trump’s peace plan, which calls for the immediate return of all hostages and the disarmament of the…

One was whipped. Another was put in a cage. Still another was thrown into a pit. More than one was handcuffed. In the days since they were released from two years in brutal captivity, freed hostages have shared, through their families, harrowing details of their time in Gaza. The accounts paint a picture of starvation, suffering and physical and psychological abuse. Mixed in are moments of defiance and hope, and desperate attempts to secure food or a connection to the outside world. Now that the captives are back home after more than 700 days, their loved ones report that they…

An investigation into yesterday’s shooting on Route 443, in which two people were killed, indicates the suspects posed as police officers, pursued their targets who exited the jeep they were in, and killed reservist Sergei Metatov, an innocent passerby who happened upon the scene. The investigation shows the pair of assassins rode a motorcycle resembling those used by motorcycle police officers, including police jackets, police lights, and following what appeared to be a military Rubicon jeep. They followed closely for some time before firing at the jeep. Sergei stopped his car, thinking he was witnessing a terrorist attack, and got…