Archive for month: July, 2026

News Update

President Trump announced that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement requiring the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. He wrote, “This agreement is a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the Board of Peace to help the Palestinian people. At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks.This is a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan. The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.” Israeli officials seemed optimistic that Hamas would actually disarm, but how that will happen is still unclear. One possibility is that the arms will be warehoused and kept under the supervision of the governing Palestinian body or Board of Peace. Hamas will also have to provide maps of all its tunnels and arms factories and depots.

In Lebanon, the IDF used 700 tons of explosives to demolish the Hezbollah tunnel network beneath and around Beaufort Castle. Residents of northern Israel were told to open their windows for fear the glass would shatter. Israel said that the operation was in response to a Hezbollah drone attack against an IDF bulldozer earlier this week.

NOTE: We will be on break next week and not be publishing IsraelAM.

News Update

Prime Minister Netanyahu will be heading to Washington to attend the funeral of the late Senator Lyndsey Graham on Tuesday, after which he will meet with President Trump in the White House. With the Iran war on hold for the time being, can you guess what they’ll be discussing?

One of the reasons given for the pause in strikes by the U.S. against Iran is a shortage of interceptor missiles. To read more about this, click here. 

The cabinet has decided to allow the Board of Peace to enter Gaza, starting in Rafah, and to launch a pilot program to restore basic services in Gaza, provide humanitarian aid and establish shelters in areas not controlled by Hamas. The plan includes the construction of temporary structures that will serve as housing for Gaza residents. According to reports, anyone seeking to live in these areas will undergo strict screening procedures to ensure they are not identified with or connected to Hamas. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was the only Cabinet member to vote against the move saying, “Hamas did not meet its obligation to demilitarize the Strip and disarm, and therefore we are not obligated to do so either. I was also against the ‘20-point plan’ from the beginning. The solution in Gaza is to encourage migration.” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said, “This is an international plan. We may not succeed, but we should not be the ones to destroy it.”

The IDF intercepted two drones near the Jordanian border today, before they crossed into Israeli territory. The source of the drones is being investigated.

Discount Bank and Bank Hapoalim have surprised the Ministry of Finance and are expected to halt bank transfers to the Palestinian Authority within two to three months, amid growing estimates that such transfers are financing terrorism. The banks are demanding that the state should take responsibility for the risk of financing terrorism and money laundering by operating a government bank.

News Update

Lebanese army forces entered the southern town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya toay after the IDF vacated the area, marking the first stage of a U.S.-brokered pilot arrangement intended to transfer control of parts of southern Lebanon to the Lebanese military. Under the framework, the Lebanese army is also expected to enter the villages of Froun and Srifa. Those villages lie outside the Yellow Line but remain under Israeli observation and fire control, without a permanent IDF ground presence. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is preparing for a historic White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, where he is expected to present a plan for disarming Hezbollah and press for a broader Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

The IDF and Shin Bet announced the elimination of Adham Ibrahim Sha’aban Nasman, a senior Hamas commander who directed the Hamas infiltration from Gaza City during the October 7 massacre and later took part in holding multiple Israeli hostages captive, including Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Ziv and Gali Berman, Eitan Mor, Matan Angrest and Omri Miran. He was killed in an airstrike in Gaza over the weekend.

According the Wall Street Journal, Israeli intelligence informed the U.S. that Iran transferred thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside the Pickaxe Mountain site last fall after the 12-day war in June. President Trump has said recently that Pickaxe Mountain was a potential target for U.S. forces.

Responding to comments by NYC Mayor Mamdani about potentially having Prime Minister Netanyahu arrested in NYC for war crimes, President Trump wrote, “Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America. He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers, and others. The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction.”

News Update

The U.S. continues to strike Iran, but Israel is still not involved, at least in the actual strikes, although I’m sure its very involved in providing intelligence and other support.

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance made a lot of disturbingly anti-Israel sounding comments during a 3 hour interview on the Joe Rogan podcast. He claimed that elements in the Israeli government were running a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign” aimed at swaying public opinion in America and undermining negotiations with Iran, in order to keep the war going. He also claimed that Jeffrey Epstein “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.” He also said, “Right now, Israel is losing the battle for public opinion in the United States. That is a simple and obvious fact. Trump said it publicly.” He added, however, that to think that Trump was pressured into the war by Israel was “insane”.

The Knesset approved a law that sharply weakens the authority of the attorney general, allowing the government to disregard the office’s legal opinions and determine for itself how the law should be interpreted. Under the new law, those opinions will become recommendations that the government may reject.

The government approved a plan to expand the Shin Bet’s role in combating organized crime in Arab communities. The plan authorizes the Shin Bet to establish a dedicated unit to combat weapons smuggling and illegal arms trafficking while strengthening its intelligence and operational capabilities. It also provides funding for a new national police unit focused on organized crime in Arab communities. For more, click here.

Morocco has signed an agreement to participate in the International Stabilization Force planned for the Gaza Strip. Morocco’s participation is viewed as significant, since it has diplomatic relations with Israel.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Colombia’s incoming foreign minister, Omar Bula Escobar, agreed on Wednesday, in Washington, to fully restore diplomatic and economic relations between Israel and Colombia. The two ministers also agreed to exchange ambassadors, abolish visa requirements for Israeli and Colombian citizens, and expand Israeli development assistance to Colombia through MASHAV, Israel’s international development cooperation agency, the ministry said. Bula told Sa’ar that Colombia’s incoming government intends to open an embassy in Jerusalem.

News Update

Four Israeli citizens from the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom in southern Israel have been indicted on terrorism-related charges after allegedly plotting attacks against police and other security forces and attempting to establish a terrorist organization. One of the suspects was arrested by an undercover Border Police unit shortly before carrying out an alleged planned attack. For more, click here.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem reportedly survived an Israeli strike on his vehicle, while his aide was killed, according to Arab media. The reported strike came as Israel said it had killed two senior terrorists in separate operations in Gaza over the past two days.

According report by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), about 1.78 million tons of food entered Gaza between the start of the ceasefire and June 7, 2026, roughly three times the requirements defined by the World Food Program. COGAT said food prices in Gaza fell by about 72% between September 2025 and May 2026, alongside steep drops in prices for staples including flour, rice, lentils, vegetables and eggs. It said current prices are driven mainly by internal market conditions, including Hamas taxes and control over commercial distribution. The report said Gaza receives more than 70,000 cubic meters of water a day through pipelines, desalination facilities and other infrastructure, exceeding international humanitarian standards.

The Israeli government is expected to approve on Sunday a NIS 1.075 billion budget plan to build transportation and security infrastructure for dozens of new communities in Judea and Samaria. The funding is designated for the construction of access roads and security routes to communities approved by the Security Cabinet during the war. Among these communities are four northern Samaria towns evacuated under the 2005 Disengagement Plan – Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim, and Kadim – as well as a number of additional new communities slated to be established in the coming years. The plan includes designing and paving new access roads, upgrading existing roads, and completing connecting road segments between communities where needed.

The IDF has begun a broad reduction in the number of reserve soldiers on active duty, signaling what officials described as the start of a gradual return to routine following months of fighting on multiple fronts.