IDF

For the first time since the IDF withdrew from the pilot areas in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army has reportedly uncovered a Hezbollah weapons cache there. Diplomatic sources are calling it an early test of the coordination mechanism—and of Lebanon’s ability to assert sovereignty.

The two aircraft were intercepted near the border before entering Israeli territory. The IDF is still investigating where they were launched from. As of now, no group has claimed responsibility.

After a sustained intelligence and operational effort by the IDF, Shin Bet, and police, all those involved in the attack on a soldier in Susiya and the theft of his weapon have been apprehended. The weapon was found early in the manhunt, and the final suspect turned himself in to Civil Administration forces.

The IDF said it killed the commander of a Hamas drone unit in the central camps of the Gaza Strip. According to the military, the operative was responsible for producing drones and had been trying to rebuild the group’s aerial capabilities.

Major Yuval Ezra, who was killed in a terror attack near Shechem, was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Beit Dagan. Through tears, his family said goodbye and spoke about the man and officer he was.

Israel’s security cabinet approved the entry of an international force, a “Peace Council,” and a technocratic government into Gaza. A reconstruction pilot is set to begin in Rafah, subject to continued IDF control of the Yellow Line and strict restrictions.

Palestinian reports said Wael al-Dadawi, commander of Hamas’s Internal Security apparatus in the central camps district, was killed in an IDF drone strike. His deputy was also killed in the attack. The IDF also confirmed that it killed the head of a section in Hamas’s production headquarters earlier this week.

The family of Alon Shamriz, who was mistakenly shot and killed in Gaza by IDF soldiers while escaping Hamas captivity, asked that he be recognized as a fallen IDF soldier. The justices rejected the request, saying Shamriz “does not meet the formal criterion for classification.”

With security tensions mounting on multiple fronts, the government is expected to extend the nationwide "special situation on the home front" through August 11. It is also set to renew an order allowing, if needed, the mobilization of up to 240,000 reservists. The order will remain in effect until after the Tishrei holidays.

The IDF said it carried out a strike in central Gaza and killed Mohand Asaad Mahmoud Abu Gazal, a Hamas Nukhba cell commander. In additional strikes, the military said it destroyed terror infrastructure and weapons storage sites used by the organization.

Maj. Yuval Ezra, 27, a battery commander in the Artillery Corps, will be laid to rest tomorrow at the military cemetery in Beit Dagan. He was killed yesterday in a terror attack near the village of Tel in Samaria. His parents said he was set to be married next year.

IDF forces raided the villages of Beit Furik and Tubas, where the terrorists behind two attacks in the Shomron earlier today had come from. In one of the attacks, an IDF soldier was lightly wounded after being stabbed by a Palestinian police officer. All three terrorists involved were killed.

Defense Minister ישראל כ"ץ held a security assessment today with the IDF’s top brass. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene the inner cabinet tomorrow. Israel’s assessment: Iran may try to pull the region into a full-scale war if the U.S. expands its strikes.

The IDF and Shin Bet said three Hamas terrorists were killed in a strike in northern Gaza, including one who took part in the October 7 massacre and was involved in advancing terror plans in the naval arena.

In recent weeks, claims have circulated that the IDF deliberately targeted Palestinian soccer players during the war. The IDF now says that several Palestinian players, referees, and coaches were in fact terror operatives in Hamas’s military wing and in Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Dozens of activists from a civilian right-wing movement have crossed the border into Syria in recent months and were brought back by the IDF. Security officials warn of a serious operational danger, but so far no indictments have been filed in the case.

According to a report by the AP news agency, the IDF has been building a large earthen barrier in recent months along the area known as the Yellow Line. The IDF confirmed its construction, according to the report.

The IDF confirmed that over the weekend, acting on Shin Bet intelligence, it killed Taher Ahmad Salem Abd al-Wahid in Gaza. He was a member of Islamic Jihad, took part in the Nova music festival massacre on October 7, and led the cell that murdered and abducted Inbar Haiman, of blessed memory.

Israel’s defense establishment is closely watching the risk of a new escalation in the Persian Gulf. With the possibility that the U.S. could intensify its strikes on Iran, there is growing concern that Iran may target Israel.

Israeli defense officials believe dozens of Hezbollah operatives are trapped in a strategic underground complex in southern Lebanon. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the group to be disarmed, saying Lebanon has no future as long as it remains armed.