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 and culture editor Jessica Steinberg join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Fabian was in the Gaza Strip last week at the Morag Corridor. He compares this trip to previous IDF embeds and describes what he saw. We learn about the very intense fighting in the Strip and hear about the incidents in which three servicemen recently lost their lives: Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, Cpt. Ido Voloch and Sgt. Neta Yitzhak Kahane, of the Border Police’s Yamas covert unit.

For only the third time since a ceasefire in Lebanon went into effect in November 2024, the IDF carried out an attack in the Beirut area. We learn what the IDF was targeting and what this means for the ceasefire.

Some 12,000 people led by Holocaust survivors and an Israeli delegation of released hostages, hostages’ family members, and bereaved families marched Thursday from Auschwitz to the Birkenau camp for the 2025 March of the Living, with the horrors of the murder of six million Jews mingling with the plight of the captives in Gaza. Steinberg was on the ground with them and reports back.

To end the program, we hear about a rally staged Sunday night by the families of the “Beautiful 6,” six hostages murdered by Hamas terrorists in Gaza at the end of August last year. The six hostages killed by their captors in Gaza were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Or Danino and Alex Lubanov. We hear about an evening of song, prayer and calls for unity.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog for more updates.

For further reading:

As troops advance in south Gaza, IDF says it’s seeing cracks emerge in Hamas’s rule

IDF reservist killed, three wounded during fighting in northern Gaza

Soldier and cop killed in Gaza City fighting, as IDF prepares to ramp up offensive

IDF strikes Hezbollah missile warehouse in Beirut, kills operative in south Lebanon

At Auschwitz, Oct. 7 survivors and freed hostages sing ‘Hatikvah’

Former hostages, survivors and the bereaved walk together in March of the Living

Hostage families join Holocaust survivors ahead of 2nd Auschwitz march since Oct. 7

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 and video edited by Thomas Girsch.

IMAGE: Asaf Cafri (left), an IDF reservist who was killed in Gaza on April 25, 2025 and his great-grandmother, Holocuast survivor Magda Baratz, pictured in a billboard set up in Rishon LeZion in honor of Holocaust Remembrace Day, the day before his death. (Oren Dai/Rishon LeZion Municipality)

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