| DAILY ALERT |
Thursday, September 17, 2026 |
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Tuesday that Houthi missile and drone attacks wounded 13 civilians across three cities in the kingdom. The Houthi attacks caused minor to moderate injuries and damaged seven homes and two vehicles. On Monday, the Houthis said Saudi Arabia launched 54 air raids across the governorates of Lahj, Taiz, al-Jawf, Marib and Hajjah in the past 24 hours, and that Saudi planes had carried out 300 air raids across Yemen over the previous five days. Yemen's more than decade-long war reignited in July, as the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and began attacking its ships in the Red Sea, undermining the 2022 UN-brokered ceasefire. (Al-Jazeera) The U.S. has denied visas for a high-level Palestinian delegation to attend the UN General Assembly in New York for the second year in a row. The State Department said Wednesday that Palestinian officials, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, had failed to live up to their commitments under previous agreements to seek peace with Israel. The department said the Palestinian Authority had continued to pursue legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and kept paying stipends to the families of prisoners convicted of attacks against Israelis. "As a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace, the United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials" in accordance with standing U.S. law. (AP-NBC News) See also Sanctioning Officials of the Palestinian Authority and Members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (U.S. State Department) The U.S. has agreed to sell Israel 20,000 Mk-84 and 20,000 BLU-117 one-ton bombs, as well as 20,000 I-2000 Penetrator warheads, which explode on delay after busting through a surface like soil, rock or concrete. Experts describe one-ton bombs as a workhorse of the Israeli Air Force, which has operated in seven theaters of conflict over the past few years: Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Those campaigns have severely depleted the air force's munitions. One former air force commander said that Israel had learned it was necessary to amass a multiyear supply, in case of delays in replenishing stocks, and that 40,000 one-ton bombs were considered a full supply. "The traditional concept of Israel's defense doctrine was short wars," said Maj.-Gen (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence. "If you're in a strategy of long wars, you need more ammunition." Yadlin said the arms deal sends an important signal to Israel's enemies that the U.S. still has its back. "This is a way to show that, even if there are some differences, on the basic security of Israel, the U.S. is still a very strong ally." Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday he had placed a hold on the proposed sale, citing concerns about the bombs' potential use in Gaza and Lebanon. Such holds are part of an informal congressional review process and are not necessarily binding. (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The IDF said Wednesday that Jihad Samih Mahmoud Ismail, a Hamas Nukhba squad leader who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and helped abduct three soldiers from an Israeli tank crew, was killed in an Israeli strike on Sep. 10 in the Khan Yunis area of Gaza. On Tuesday, the IDF killed Nayal Abu Obeid, commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade, in a drone strike. On Monday, Ahmad Batash, commander of Hamas's Jabalia Battalion, was killed. Over the weekend, the IDF said they killed Mohsen Abu Hadaf, an Islamic Jihad rocket squad leader, in Khan Yunis. Abu Hadaf took part in the Oct. 7 attack in the Kissufim area and had recently been advancing attacks against Israeli troops and civilians. (Ynet News) The Jerusalem District Court convicted four Arab residents of Jerusalem's Beit Safafa neighborhood on Wednesday in a case involving an Iranian-directed plan to kill an Israeli nuclear scientist and his family. The four pleaded guilty under a plea agreement. Proceedings against three other defendants are continuing. (Jerusalem Post) During a security briefing this month, Brig.-Gen. Ofir Mizrahi, head of the Research Division in IDF Intelligence, warned, "We identify a desire by Hamas to renew governance...recruit people, build up its strength and restore its capabilities. We need to pay attention to the fact that Hamas is still a threatening organization." IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir responded, "Those are their intentions. But alongside that, I am telling you...Hamas is a defeated organization. It does not fire. We are eliminating its weapons depots, we are eliminating its senior figures and those who carried out Oct. 7. It does not respond, and therefore it can be said that Hamas has been defeated." However, he was not saying that Hamas had been destroyed or disarmed. The military intends to continue operating against the group until it is demilitarized. The IDF now controls 64% of Gaza. According to the Israeli assessment, Hamas is not currently receiving the same support from regional states and organizations that previously backed it, in part because many of those are themselves under pressure from Israel. (Ynet News) U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee makes Israel's case as he notes the growth of Israel's Christian population from 34,000 in 1948 to nearly 200,000 today; Arab doctors heading departments at Hadassah Medical Center and supervising Jewish staff; and the fact that his own wife was treated by an Arab doctor and a Jewish doctor who have worked together for 20 years. "So if that's apartheid, they're not good at it," he said. Asked what the U.S. would be prepared to do to defend Israel, Huckabee responded, "America has never defended Israel. Not one time since 1948 has America ever put boots on the ground for Israel. When we are partnering against Iran, we're not defending Israel, we're defending the United States. Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we're the entree." For nearly 50 years, Tehran has been saying "death to America," and Washington should take that threat seriously. Partnering with Israel serves American interests. Huckabee said President Trump had made the calculation of what was in America's best interest twice during his tenure, first by sending B-2 bombers against Iran and then during the 2026 war with Iran. "He didn't do that because Israel was over here begging, saying, 'Please help us, we can't handle it.' Israel never begged anything. Israel never pushed President Trump into engaging. He did it from his own volition. He did it because he sees Iran as a threat to America and to Americans." (Ynet News) IDF Southern Command head Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor responded to claims in the film "NAZA" (collateral damage) on Tuesday: "Throughout this entire war, we insist on...distinguishing between the enemy and those who are not involved, striking the enemy, thwarting it, and at the same time doing everything in our power to minimize harm to those who are not involved. Hamas, by contrast, cynically uses civilians as human shields and as cover for itself, benefiting if they are harmed, and benefiting if we refrain from harming them and its operatives." "In this war, we carry a torch of light and goodness and are fighting a great battle against darkness and evil. We will counter false claims with facts, answer tough questions honestly, and when a failure is revealed, we will investigate, learn and correct. Our belief in the righteousness of our path obligates us to do this as well." "Our strength is mighty and our spirit is strong, and therefore those who slander us seek to harm our reputation in the world, sow doubt in our hearts and undermine our solidarity." (Times of Israel-Ynet News) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran The recent escalation in the Yemeni arena along Saudi Arabia's southern border, compounded by the Houthi seizure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait chokepoint, represents a sophisticated Iranian maneuver to pressure the U.S. Saudi leadership currently faces the blockade of Bab el-Mandeb and subsequent strikes on energy infrastructure, including pipelines. In addition, there is persistent missile fire directed at population centers and airports. Finally, there is a genuine fear of a potential Houthi ground invasion into Saudi territory. According to regional sources, the Saudi military has deployed substantial reinforcements to the border and is concentrating intense airstrikes on Houthi troop concentrations nearby. A senior Saudi official told Israel Hayom, "We are at war with Iran....Toppling the regime in Tehran is a regional and global interest. It is clear to us that Israel can help." Kuwait suffered severe damage during the Iranian war, both due to the presence of American military bases on its soil and its exclusive reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for oil exports. During the war, several Gulf nations benefited from Israeli early warning information regarding missile launches. The war in Iran and this subsequent Israeli support catalyzed a profound shift in how Gulf states view Israel, with Kuwait emerging as the most striking example. Kuwait has initiated proceedings to amend its harsh anti-Israel legal code, which strictly forbids any contact with the Jewish state or its citizens. (Israel Hayom) Gulf states are increasingly concluding that a joint regional effort is needed to confront Iran and its proxies. For the first time, Arab states are showing willingness to take part in a U.S.-led coalition, and within that framework they are no longer ruling out cooperation with Israel. Israeli assistance to the UAE during the war was seen as proof that Israel knows how to stand by its partners in times of crisis. Israel deployed the Iron Dome system in that country, along with personnel who assisted in operating it, and also provided the UAE with real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assistance. U.S. Central Command convened a meeting in Germany last week with military officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt to discuss the war with Iran. (Ynet News) Iran vowed to respond to a U.S. blockade by pushing more trade overland. On the ground, it isn't going according to plan. Hundreds of Iranian truck drivers are currently stuck at Iran's border with Pakistan. They say they are facing worsening bureaucratic hurdles and costs, many caused by their own government. The same thing is happening at Iran's land borders with Turkey, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The U.S. blockade has also hurt Iran's imports of basic goods, 70% of which normally go through the blockaded ports. Though humanitarian goods and food are ostensibly exempt, the reality is that shippers are reluctant to service Iran. (Wall Street Journal) Lebanon In May 2000, when Israeli forces were about to withdraw from Lebanon after nearly two decades, I was serving as the intelligence officer of IDF Central Command, focusing on the threats relating to the Palestinians. At the time, I warned a reporter that the Lebanon pullout would lead to a violent Palestinian uprising. A few months later, the Second Intifada began, leading to the death and injury of thousands of people over the next five years among both Palestinians and Israelis. The pullout was interpreted by some leaders of the Palestinian Authority, in addition to terror groups and ordinary Palestinians alike, as evidence that Israel's perceived weakness could be used to force concessions to their demands. Similar repercussions could follow today if Israel withdraws from Lebanon. A June deal between Israel and Lebanon allows for the IDF to remain in the new security zone until Hizbullah is disarmed. This buffer zone, meant to protect Israel's north from direct fire or an invasion similar to Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, is critical for Israel's security. A full withdrawal, which Iran and Hizbullah are seeking, would grant the Iranian regime a diplomatic pathway to continue threatening Israel and undermining the sovereignty of the Lebanese government. The writer, former head of the research division in IDF Military Intelligence, is director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. (Middle East Forum) In June, Lebanon committed in negotiations with Israel, mediated by Washington, to disarming (and dismantling) the Hizbullah. Yet, regrettably, early indications suggest that - like so many previous pledges - Lebanon is failing to meet its obligations. Before President Trump obligates funds to help the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) disarm Hizbullah, he would be well advised to wait and see if the LAF shows any sign that it intends to carry out the mission. The main reason for LAF underperformance is not insufficient resources. Rather, the problem appears to be a matter of will. Either Beirut hasn't issued clear guidance to the LAF, or the military isn't following orders. Both scenarios bode poorly for the disarmament project. This lack of will has been on clear display in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, the first pilot zone. Under the terms of the agreement, the LAF deployed to secure the area and prevent the return of Hizbullah personnel and assets. While the LAF reportedly has uncovered some arms caches, the Lebanese press is reporting that the army is not checking vehicles, and that Hizbullah-affiliated personnel had been allowed to re-enter the town, including the militia's local military representative. Regrettably, additional funding, equipment, and training will not make the LAF carry out its duties in Zawtar. The LAF is sidestepping its obligations to avoid conflict with Hizbullah. But the consequences of the LAF shirking its duties are considerable. If the Zawtar pilot zone doesn't succeed, Israel is unlikely to withdraw from additional zones. The Trump administration shouldn't be offering additional support to an institution actively undermining its efforts to change the status quo in Lebanon. Since 2006, Washington has provided nearly $3 billion to the LAF to strengthen the force's capabilities in preparation for this very moment. The writer, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (National Interest) The Lebanese government is apparently relying on the Council for South Lebanon (CSL) - an institution closely associated with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, the head of the Amal Party and Hizbullah's chief political ally - to manage postwar reconstruction in the region. The reconstruction model taking shape in the south could help Hizbullah regain popular support. Since August 2025, Beirut's allotments to CSL have reached $132 million. Yet recipients are typically given the impression that their new prefab homes are gifts from Berri, Amal, and, by extension, Hizbullah rather than assistance from the central government. If done properly, reconstruction can rebuild trust between a government and its citizens. If done wrong, it strengthens malign actors and sets the stage for the next round of conflict. The writer is a Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute's Program on Arab Politics. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Israeli commandos and combat engineers conducted three months of exhausting ambushes, close-range fighting and underground warfare on southern Lebanon's Ali Taher Ridge to clear it before blowing up the major Hizbullah strategic underground complex. Lt.-Col. D., commander of a combat engineering company, described working in thick vegetation, boulders, and at a distance from other Israeli forces, while dozens of Hizbullah forces operated in the area and repeatedly targeted Israeli troops with drones and indirect fire. As Israeli forces advanced, they began discovering the scale of Hizbullah's preparations on the ridge. Lt.-Col. R., commander of the Maglan commando unit, said, "We put together the intelligence picture on the ground and realized there was a fortified site that had been prepared for a very long time....Every soldier would prepare for an ambush lasting several days, move covertly, reach the position, remain there hidden with special equipment and wait patiently." During the operation, dozens of Hizbullah forces were killed either by drones or in close-range fighting. IDF troops used a series of classified measures aimed at forcing Hizbullah out of the tunnels, D. said. Israeli forces cut off supplies being delivered by drones and conducted searches on foot for shafts, using clues such as metal beneath rocks, openings in the ground, and weapons positioned near suspected exits. One underground route was penetrated after a month and a second after six weeks. D. added, "The morale in the unit is among the most exceptional I have ever encountered. The soldiers of the company did not go home for three months. They didn't wash their faces and didn't eat like normal people. They slept outside in the brush, in the cold and the heat, for hours during long ambushes. They did what was needed to complete the mission because they understood its importance. They did not complain." (Ynet News) The Ali Al Taher ridge, which overlooks the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, housed an extensive tunnel network and an operational Hizbullah command center. The Lebanese government had asked Hizbullah to hand it over to the Lebanese army instead of allowing Israel to occupy it. Hizbullah refused to comply, seeing this as an unwelcome precedent for similar handovers in other parts of Lebanon at a time when the Lebanese authorities seek to impose a monopoly over weapons. Even if many in the Shiite community continue to sympathize with Hizbullah, all of the Shiite-majority villages in the Lebanon-Israel border area have been razed by the Israelis. It is unknown whether the Shiite community can continue to support the group when the Israeli response has already swallowed an area seen as the heart and soul of the community's presence in Lebanon. While there have been reports of Iran trying to rearm the group through smuggling networks in Syria, and sending funds through regional countries, this seems hardly enough to turn it into the fighting force it once was. Hizbullah can engage in small operations against Israeli forces, but for now these are highly unlikely to change much, given Israel's technological superiority. However, Hizbullah's major problem remains one of national legitimacy. The group worked hard over the decades to anchor its anti-Israel stance in a national consensus, which was formally approved in government statements endorsing the role of the resistance. This is no longer present, as many Lebanese now consider the group to be an Iranian proxy force that has led their country to disaster. (The National-UAE) Israel and the West Britain's latest sanctions are intended to bring a two-state solution closer, yet the British government possesses neither the leverage to impose one nor the means to guarantee Israel's security afterwards. Israelis are being asked to commit national suicide. Israel's narrow coastal plain contains much of its population and critical infrastructure. The West Bank's high ground overlooks that concentration of people, including the approaches to Ben-Gurion Airport. The Golan Heights and Mount Hermon offer similar advantages in the north. Israeli security presence in the West Bank buys warning time and space to halt an attack. It is an abject fantasy to expect Israel to relinquish the West Bank's strategic depth while Palestinians retain their ambition to destroy Israel from the river to the sea. The two-state solution will not happen under these conditions, however often British ministers repeat the phrase. Palestinian attacks prompt tighter Israeli security measures. Breaking that cycle first requires pressure on the Palestinian leaders and institutions that sustain the violence. Palestinian responsibility should become the lynchpin of British policy if we are serious about peace in the Middle East. Diplomatic and financial support should be entirely contingent on ending incitement and dismantling the systems that reward attacks. Britain's sanctions on Israel offer ministers a cheap, crowd-pleasing way to display resolve while moving not an inch towards peace. Israelis will keep the ground they believe they need to survive, and Palestinians will remain behind their checkpoints for as long as they preach the destruction of Israel, indoctrinate their children to hatred, and reward violence. The writer, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, served for 16 years in the British Army. (Jewish Chronicle-UK) So that's it: you're not even allowed two hours off from Israel-hate. You can't even go to an Ed Sheeran concert without being lectured about what a barbarous state Israel is. It's not enough that our streets have fallen to zombie armies of Gazaholics and that our social-media feeds froth with anti-Israel invective. Now even Ed Sheeran must come with a side order of Jew State bashing. People are alarmed that American rapper Macklemore has been ditched as the opening act on Sheeran's U.S. tour, after he barked "Free Palestine" and wanged on about Israel's "genocide" to 90,000 Sheeran fans at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Is nowhere safe from the marauding moralism of our insufferable cultural elites? Then Sheeran's other support acts walked out in solidarity with Macklemore. His backing band walked, too. It will just be Sheeran and his guitar at this rate, which, to be fair, he's done before. If the whole tour falls apart, it would be a fitting if grim tribute to the joy-sucking dogmatism of Israelophobia. Music burnt at the altar of ideology. How very Hamas. Isn't there something creepy, even a little authoritarian, about turning a middle-of-the-road pop gig into a neo-Nuremberg rally against the Jewish State? Israelophobes have a Tourette's-like urge to blab their puffed-up virtue to every poor soul they meet. I'd be fuming if I got dressed up for a night of harmless pop, only to find myself being harangued by a nerd about the murderous lunacy of the Jewish nation. Palestinianism has become a neo-religion, seeking to conquer every nook and cranny of public life. If you don't go along, you'll be branded a genocide denier, even as "complicit" in the crime of the century. Like all cults, the Gaza cult splits us into the enlightened and the damned. Sheeran is being damned all over X as a genocide apologist. And all because he failed to meekly, compliantly bow down to the truthless commandments of the Gaza cult. (Spiked-UK) The rapper Macklemore has now been booted as Ed Sheeran's opening act. At New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Macklemore devoted most of his set to prattling about Gaza, ululating about Palestine, and praising the terrorist sympathizers on American college campuses. It's tempting to laugh off the whole kerfuffle as yet another case of a very minor artist suffering from very major delusions of self-importance. But l'affaire Macklemore teaches us important lessons. Macklemore has spent the last several years repeatedly and shrilly calling on artists to boycott Israel. He even wrote a song dedicated to championing the BDS movement, which promotes sanctions against the Jewish state. Now that he's received a taste of his own medicine, he's crying foul and claiming to be a victim. He's anything but. If the culture you help create calls for canceling those whose opinions you don't like, don't be surprised if you too are canceled one day. Once upon a time, the performers we hailed were the ones who could actually do something: sing, dance, act and move us with their art. Like other preening pro-Palestine provocateurs, Macklemore's true art is stirring up cheap controversy by trying to cower others into submission. It's a very good strategy for mediocre entertainers, who can get famous quick by pretending to be great moral crusaders and plugging into hot-button political issues they barely understand. But it's terrible for everyone else because it hijacks truth and beauty and turns every aspect of life into an ugly, muddy political battlefield. The writer is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. (New York Post) Gaza Hamas has suddenly stepped up its rhetorical attacks on President Trump's Board of Peace. They are accusing the body of promoting the Israeli narrative and failing to pressure Israel. Just days before it launched its campaign against the Board of Peace, a senior Hamas delegation traveled to Tehran and met with senior Iranian officials. Hamas, like Iran, has repeatedly demonstrated that it views negotiations as a means of delaying compliance, preserving its power and advancing its strategic objectives. For years, Hamas has managed to turn every discussion about its weapons into discussions about Israel. Instead of answering the question of disarmament, Hamas accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire. Instead of explaining when and how it will surrender its weapons, Hamas talks about the "rights" of the Palestinian people. Hamas wants reconstruction, international recognition, political influence, and a role in determining Gaza's future. Yet it does not appear prepared to accept the fundamental condition of a peaceful future: that Gaza cannot remain under the control of an armed terrorist organization. Hamas's attacks on the Board of Peace are a warning that Hamas has no intention of quietly disappearing from Gaza's political or military landscape. It is signaling that it will resist any attempt to disarm it. (Gatestone Institute) Neta Heiman Mina, daughter of former Hamas hostage Ditza Heiman, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday about the 53 days her 84-year-old mother was held captive in Gaza. Heiman Mina, an activist with the Women Wage Peace movement, criticized the continued funding and support of UNRWA after her mother was held by a teacher employed by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. She asked, "How could you place the education of Gaza's next generation with someone involved in holding an elderly woman hostage?" Ditza Heiman was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. She spent 48 days confined in the UNRWA teacher's attic under harsh conditions and with very little food. (Ynet News) Weekend Features There are more than 90,000 IDF disabled veterans. Since Oct. 7, the number of wounded warriors has grown faster than at any point since 1948, and they are younger than any generation before them. Most were called up as reservists and were wounded while serving in the reserves - they had a business to run, a thesis to finish, a baby at home. A 24-year-old who loses a leg is facing sixty years of prosthetics, revisions and physical therapy, alongside a marriage, a mortgage and a career he fully intends to have. We do not say a veteran suffers from PTSD. He is coping with it, living with it, and the gap between those verbs is the gap between a man defined by an injury and a man managing one. We never say returning to normal life, because that phrase quietly informs a 24-year-old that his real life ended. We say rebuilding their lives, because that is precisely what is happening. Careful language is about handing a person back their dignity. At Beit Halochem, the nationwide network of rehabilitation centers in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and Ashdod, the swimming pool is full by seven in the morning. The rehabilitation journey does not end there. Psychological support and treatment, delivered without a two-year wait. Vocational training and scholarships, because a man who cannot return to his trade needs a new one. Programs for spouses and their children, who carry this too. Sport at a serious level, which is why so many of Israel's Paralympic athletes come out of these gyms. And a room full of people who have been exactly where you are and who will not let you vanish into your apartment. The writer is CEO of Warriors of Israel, the American partner of the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization, supporting Israel's wounded warriors and their families. (Fox News) Former President George W. Bush back in 2002 described a vision of "two states, living side-by-side in peace and security." But he set a condition: "There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror." Palestinian Arabs required "new leadership," he stated. There is still no Palestinian Arab commitment to two states, one Arab, one Jewish, side-by-side and at peace. The writer is a former communications consultant for the Jewish Policy Center in Washington. (Washington Examiner) U.S.-based Ondas Technologies has agreed to buy Israel's Gate Technologies, a developer of sophisticated miniaturized electronic components for initiation, actuation and detonation devices used for missiles and UAVs. "A new generation of low-cost, autonomous munitions is becoming a growing part of the battlefield," said Ondas chairman and CEO Eric Brock. "At the same time, the market is shifting from traditional mechanical fuses to electronic safe-and-arm devices, which are essential for weapons that are smaller, smarter and software-defined." Gate's electronic fusing systems keep a munition safe during storage, transportation, handling and launch, and permit arming and initiation of remote-detonated systems only on command. To date, Ondas has bought 13 defense tech startups in Israel for about $1 billion. In August, Ondas recruited former Mossad chief David Barnea as its global president and chairman to help develop next-generation autonomous multi-domain defense systems. (Times of Israel) Observations: Why Are the Houthis So Hard to Beat? - Zineb Riboua (Free Press)
The writer is a research fellow at the Hudson Institute. |
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