Israel News for 6-17-2026
News Update
The agreement electronically signed by the U.S. and Iran has still not been made public and its details remain unclear, other than there will be a complete ceasefire, including in Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened and the U.S. blockade lifted. Talks regarding nuclear matters will begin within 60 days.
Yesterday, the IDF struck Hezbollah targets in several areas of southern Lebanon in response to rockets fired against troops operating in Lebanon. The rockets were intercepted. The Iranian military command threatened to attack Israel if it continued attacking in Lebanon. President Trump addressed the issue at the G7 summit in France saying, “I am not happy with the way Israel has acted toward Lebanon and toward Hezbollah. They should have finished that job faster. It just goes on and on and on. And when that happens, it casts a negative shadow over the big deal, and the big deal is the agreement with Iran.” He added, “When you ask me about Bibi — we have an exceptional relationship.” Trump also said that Syria should handle Hezbollah, and they would do a better job at it. [It’s unclear what that means. Doesn’t seem to make much sense.]
For the first time, the Jewish community in Hebron will not be required to receive planning approval from the Hebron municipality for planning permits or construction approvals. The community will deal directly with the government, after Finance Minister Smotrich canceled the existing agreement.
After threats by yeshiva heads and religious zionist leaders to not allow their students to serve in the armored corps, the IDF has decided to scrap their plans to integrate women into the corp and instead create a pilot program outside the Armored Corps, within the Border Defense Corps. The framework will be gender-separated: there will be no men in the tank and no men in the company. For more, click here.
While Israel is training Somaliland’s military and police, the country’s defense minister said that there is no Israeli military presence there, nor is there any talk of creating bases there. Defense Minister Israel Katz met Wednesday with Somaliland President Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdilahi and other senior officials to discuss ways to deepen security, economic, and political cooperation between the two countries. The Israeli delegation included the Deputy Head of the Political-Military Department at the Defense Ministry, the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry, the Head of Planning Division of the IDF, Israel’s designated Ambassador to Somaliland, and other senior officials.
Israel’s Tamar offshore gas field has boosted production 45% to 16 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas annually, which slightly exceeds the 15.8 BCM annual production from the Leviathan field. This is the first time that annual production at the Tamar gas field will have surpassed the far larger Leviathan offshore gas field. The Tamar reservoir is Israel’s second largest in terms of gas reserves but is now the largest in terms of the rate of production for Israeli consumers, according to the Gas Authority’s 2025 report. Most exports come from the Leviathan field.
