Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

It is day 246 of the war with Hamas. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

After eight months in captivity, four Israeli hostages -- Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 -- were rescued alive in a minutely planned IDF operation from Hamas captivity Saturday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip. Fabian fills us in.

The IDF said Friday that they had carried out an airstrike on a Hamas command center that had been set up in a United Nations school in Gaza City’s Shati neighborhood, killing several members of the cell. The strike comes a day after the IDF hit another UN school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, which was housing what it said was a compound used by dozens of terror operatives, 17 of which have so far been identified. Fabian discusses what we know about both strikes.

A drone launched from Lebanon impacted in an open area in the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth, in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, in what is potentially the deepest drone strike during this conflict. Fabian describes why the use of drones is on the rise.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF rescues 4 hostages from 8 months’ captivity in daytime operation in central Gaza

IDF says strike hit Hamas command room housed in container at Gaza City UN school

In apparent deepest attack of war, drone launched from Lebanon strikes near Nazareth

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: An image depicting Noa Argamani, one of four Israeli hostages rescued by the Israeli army, is held up as Israeli activists rally during an anti-government demonstration, calling for the return of Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip following their kidnapping by Palestinian Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, on June 8, 2024. (Jack Guez / AFP)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.