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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The provincial government in southern Syria’s Daraa says nine civilians were killed and several were injured in Israeli bombardment following an “Israeli incursion.” Soldiers operated on the ground in what is possibly the deepest into Syria that Israeli forces have advanced thus far. Fabian weighs in.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that advancing IDF forces were carving out a new security corridor across southern Gaza as Israel seeks to pile pressure on Hamas to free the hostages. Fabian explains the strategy behind the new “Morag Corridor,” named after an Israeli settlement that stood in the area before it was evacuated during Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, and compares the number of forces on the ground in the Strip with that of troops at the height of the war.

On Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, chanting “Hamas out” and “Enough death,” in renewed protests against the terror group. Residents were angered by new Israeli military evacuation orders, which the military said followed rocket salvos by terror groups from the area. We hear how the IDF is responding to the increase in rockets -- and who is claiming blame for them.

Fifteen emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, the United Nations and the Hamas-linked Palestinian Civil Defense have been recovered from a grave in the sand in the south of the Gaza Strip, UN officials said on Monday. The IDF acknowledged Friday that it had fired on ambulances and fire engines, saying it had identified them as “suspicious vehicles.” Investigations are ongoing, but Fabian lays out what we currently understand from the IDF.

Yesterday, Fabian toured an IDF post in Lebanon, on the edge of Markaba, which overlooks the Israeli border community of Margaliot. It is one of five strategic positions where the IDF has remained after a February deadline to withdraw from Lebanon, as part of an ongoing ceasefire that began in November. We learn what Fabian saw -- and what Defense Minister Israel Katz had to say about how long troops will be stationed there.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

 

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

IDF says several gunmen ‘eliminated’ after firing on troops in southern Syria

IDF strikes hit ‘remaining military capacities’ at Syrian airbases

Netanyahu says IDF carving new corridor across Gaza to cut off Rafah, pressure Hamas

Hamas threatens protesters, as new mass rallies against terror group held in Gaza

UN says 15 Gaza medics killed by IDF found in mass grave; IDF: We targeted terrorists

In Lebanon, Katz says troops to stay ‘without time limit’ to defend border communities

Katz says offensive aimed at seizing ‘extensive territory,’ as IDF pounds south Gaza

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Israeli soldiers on the border between Syria and northern Israel, March 14, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

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