The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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 conflict has turned up its volume on the northern border since the targeted killing of Hamas deputy Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon. Yesterday, Wissam al-Tawil, a senior commander of a secretive Hezbollah force, was killed in an alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. Who was he and what is happening on the border today?

This morning, the IDF said it is further expanding ground operations in Khan Younis, fighting Hamas deep within the southern Gaza city. However, at the same time, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated last night that there is a shift in the military campaign against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, from intense battles to more targeted operations. How do these two statements add up?

Yesterday, Gabian was in the Bureij camp of central Gaza where the Hamas terror group manufactured its long-range rockets that have been used to attack Israeli cities in recent years. He describes the underground rocket engine production lab, a warehouse where the body tubes of the projectiles were built and a massive storage facility.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 9, 2024

Senior Hezbollah commander killed in alleged Israeli strike as border tensions mount

IDF admits Mount Meron air traffic control base damaged in Hezbollah attack

IDF spokesperson says war with Hamas has ‘shifted a stage’ to less intense combat

On Gaza civilian evacuation road, IDF uncovers largest Hamas rocket factory to date

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: A Hamas long-range rocket depot in central Gaza's Bureij, January 8, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

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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.

Political reporter Sam Sokol and reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Dozens of people protested outside the Knesset in Jerusalem today, calling on the government to quit and call new elections. There’s been some disorder inside the Knesset recently as well, starting with a much-leaked cabinet meeting on Thursday evening following the IDF’s announcement that the IDF would begin investigating itself and what led to the Oct. 7 disaster. In light of huge amount of leaks from the meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a proposal during yesterday’s cabinet meeting. Sokol explains.

Despite the recent surge in attacks and harassment against Diaspora Jews, Israel’s diplomatic service has no money to combat antisemitism abroad, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Combating Antisemitism claimed on Wednesday. Why is this a problem?

For the past seven weeks, a team of experts in artifact documentation and preservation have been sifting through the detritus of October 7 to find objects that can testify to that terrible day. Among the items the team has collected is a donkey skull. Surkes tells us about this project, that object in particular and what the experts are seeking.

While Surkes was in the Gaza envelope, she noted several groups who were making a pilgrimage to the devastation. What were some of their motivations?

A group of soldiers long since released from the army and a collection of tanks no longer in use have been brought together to create Phoenix, a new armored tank battalion that is already seeing action in Gaza. We hear more.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 8, 2024

Police disperse protesters blocking Knesset entrance in demand for ‘elections now’

Railing against cabinet leaks, Netanyahu calls to subject ministers to polygraph tests

As cracks widen in coalition, National Unity members skip cabinet meeting

Foreign Ministry says it has ‘zero budget’ for combating antisemitism abroad

Under expert eyes, objects retrieved from rubble help document October 7’s horrors

Kibbutz Kfar Aza, devastated on October 7, becomes a grim place of pilgrimage

Fixing up old tanks and recruiting old reservists, a tech VP creates a new battalion

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Pro-Palestinian supporters hold up signs during a demonstration, October 20, 2023, in Atlanta, that intimate that the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, was legitimate resistance to 'occupation.' (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman and reporter Canaan Lidor join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Berman followed up on a Zman Yisrael report that Israel is “in talks with the Congo” to discuss the possibility of relocating thousands of Gazans to the African country and other nations. How are such statements affecting Israel's standing?

On Tuesday, Turkey arrested dozens of individuals suspected of spying for Israel, according to the country’s interior minister, with the development coming in the wake of Israeli threats to target Hamas members abroad. How does US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit play into this?

The government is trying to incentivize several communities from the Gaza envelope to return back home. Lidor explains why this is so complicated and talks about the resettlement of Kibbutz Nir Oz to the Negev city of Kiryat Gat.

Finally, we hear about the first large-scale rave or nature party since the October 7 massacre at the Supernova which saw 360 murdered.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 7, 2024

Israel denies it is talking to other countries about absorbing Gazan immigrants

Turkey arrests 33 alleged Mossad agents, as Israel threatens Hamas abroad

Blinken visits aid warehouse, meets Jordan’s king in push to keep Gaza war contained

Government aims for nearly all southern evacuees to return by September, source says

Survivors of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a desert oasis, move into Kiryat Gat apartment towers

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Israeli soldiers in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, January 4, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for an in-depth one-on-one episode.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now in Turkey as part of his fourth visit to the region in three months. It comes amid worrying developments, including attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel by the Hezbollah terror group, and assaults in the Red Sea and Iraq by Iran-backed groups. Magid explains what Blinken is trying to accomplish this time.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration tore into South Africa for filing an application at the International Court of Justice to begin proceedings to declare that Jerusalem was violating its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its war against Hamas following the Gaza-ruling terrorist group’s murderous October 7 onslaught. What are we hearing from US officials about this?

Last week, the US State Department on Tuesday called out far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. What else are we hearing out of the US about this so-called “transfer” idea.

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz signed on for and on Friday, because of this and other issues, Gantz warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to choose between unity or playing politics. What was Gantz referring to?

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 6, 2024

Blinken starts Mideast tour in Turkey in bid to prevent escalation into regional war

Blinken heads to Mideast for talks with Israel, Arab allies on war’s ‘next phase’

US lambasts ‘meritless’ South African request for ICJ to charge Israel with genocide

Gantz warns Netanyahu to choose unity or politics after cabinet attacks on IDF chief

US slams ‘irresponsible’ calls by Smotrich and Ben Gvir for emigration of Gazans

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives on the island of Crete, Greece, January 6, 2024 during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

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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 an in-depth one-on-one episode.

The IDF announced last night that it had initiated a committee to look into the IDF’s failures leading up to October 7. What do we know about its purview and who is on it?

Three Israelis declared missing since October 7 were confirmed by the IDF to be held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hanan Yablonka, 42, Idan Shtivi, 28, and Ilan Weiss, 56. What else do we know about them? Relatedly, the IDF notified the family of hostage Sahar Baruch on Wednesday that he was killed during a failed attempt to rescue him from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip last month.

Since the ground operation began in late October, of the 175 fallen soldiers, 29 were killed by so-called friendly fire and other accidents, according to data released by the IDF on Monday. Fabian puts these numbers into perspective.

The IDF has detonated the tunnel complex under Shifa Hospital. What other tunnels has the IDF found recently?

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein that there is “a short window of time for diplomatic understandings” to be reached with Hezbollah, as the Lebanese terror group continued to carry out daily attacks on northern Israel. Fabian brings analysis of the fragile tit-for-tat balance.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 5, 2024

IDF announces probe of failures in lead-up to Oct. 7, drawing rage from ministers

Meeting on post-war Gaza ends in fracas as ministers snipe at IDF chief over probe

IDF says 3 Israelis missing since October 7 are among Gaza hostages; 1 of them is dead

IDF admits hostage Sahar Baruch was killed during failed rescue attempt last month

IDF: Deaths of 29 of 170 soldiers in Gaza op were so-called friendly fire, accidents

IDF destroys Shifa Hospital tunnels, accuses Hamas of using child soldiers

Gallant tells US envoy Hochstein there’s a ‘short window’ for a deal with Hezbollah

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi gives a statement to the media at an army base in southern Israel, December 26, 2023. (Flash90)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a "live" in-person recording of today's third-anniversary episode.

In the second major legal defeat this week for the government, the High Court of Justice ruled six to five on Wednesday to postpone the implementation of a controversial law shielding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being ordered to recuse himself from office by the attorney general or the High Court itself, determining that it had been passed to personally benefit the premier.

We put this ruling into context with the earlier ruling on the Reasonableness Law and ask -- what does all this mean for Israel?

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel against waging war on Lebanon in a televised address last night, a day after a strike blamed on Israel killed Hamas’s political number two, terror chief Salah al-Arouri, in a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburbs.

At the same time, President Joe Biden has sent US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US diplomatic envoy Amos Hochstein to de-escalate the situation. What are their chances of success?

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 4, 2024

High Court delays implementation of PM recusal law, in 2nd gov’t defeat this week

Ministers slam High Court for delaying recusal law; one calls decision ‘null and void’

Nasrallah vows response to Arouri, warns of fight ‘without limits’ if Israel goes to war

Israel ready for fight in north, IDF chief says after killing of Hamas terror chief

US dispatches senior envoy to cool seething tensions on Israel-Lebanon border

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Supporters shout slogans during the commemorations of the anniversary of the killing of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, marked by a televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah in a Beirut's southern suburb on January 3, 2024.(ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

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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.

Today is day 89 of the war. Arab affairs reporter Gianluca Pacchiani and culture editor Jessica Steinberg join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's podcast.

Saleh al-Arouri was killed Tuesday evening in an alleged Israeli drone strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, according to Hamas and Hezbollah officials. Hamas confirmed that seven people in total were killed in the explosion, a precision strike on a third-floor apartment said to serve as an office for the terror group. The deputy leader of Hamas abroad, Arouri was also seen as the group’s prime orchestrator of West Bank terrorism. Pacchiani shares more.

Steinberg visited the decimated Kibbutz Be'eri last week with member Yuval Haran, whose family was murdered and taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. She gives impressions.

This week in Tel Aviv's Hostages' Square, Israeli musician Ehud Banai stepped up on one of the cement platforms, guitar in hand, and read and strummed along to the poems of Amiram Cooper, 84, one of the two oldest of the hostages still being held by terrorists in Gaza. Steinberg was there.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 2, 2024

Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri killed in alleged Israeli strike in Beirut

Saleh al-Arouri: Mastermind of Hamas terrorism in West Bank, hostage deal negotiator

Hezbollah vows revenge for a Hamas chief killed in Beirut; IDF ‘at very high readiness’

In rubble of parents’ home, scion of Be’eri founders not sure he can bear to move back

Musicians read, sing and strum to poems of hostage Amiram Cooper, 84, as worries mount

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Investigators stand on an apartment building where an alleged Israeli strike killed top Hamas political leader Saleh Arouri, in the southern suburb of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanon, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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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.

Today is day 88 of the war. Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and legal reporter Jeremy join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's podcast.

We have dedicated the entire edition to the ground-breaking High Court ruling which yesterday negated the only piece of judicial overhaul legislation that was made into law, an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary that is commonly known as the “reasonableness law.”

We’ll hear what the full bench of 15 justices decided, how the decision is received in Israel and where the war-torn country goes from here.

Finally, we are introduced to Zman Yisrael's "Uprooted" series, which we at The Times of Israel are translating into English.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 2, 2024

In historic ruling, High Court strikes down key judicial overhaul legislation

High Court ruling rebuffs gov’t claim that the will of the majority is all-powerful

Levin declares High Court ‘won’t stay our hand’ after justices annul overhaul law

Protesters in Tel Aviv take aim at Netanyahu government after 12 weeks of war

Uprooted series

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Anti-overhaul activists protest outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Joe Biden, in New York, September 20, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/ FLASH90)

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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.

Today is day 87 of the war. Political correspondent Tal Schneider and Blogs editor Miriam Herschlag join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Schneider looks at a dispute in the Knesset cabinet on Sunday, as right-wing politician, Minister of Settlements Orit Strock accused IDF pilots of not carrying out their missions properly, causing an uproar in the room.

Herschlag discusses the last year in the ToI blogs platform, speaking about the heavy-hitting blogs of the last three months since October 7, and what topics resonated prior to the war, including the proposed judicial reform, the "That Song" project and the most popular post of the year.

Schneider finishes up the podcast with a discussion of the northern tunnel system built by Hezbollah and Israel's desire to find a diplomatic conclusion rather than war with its enemies in the north.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 1, 2024

Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops

I hear massive shooting. I have never been this scared in my life

‘Friendly fire,’ that horrific oxymoron

That Song

It’s hard to be a Jew

Hezbollah's land of tunnels (Hebrew)

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Israelis celebrating New Year's Eve in Tel Aviv, December 31, 2023. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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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.

Today is day 86 of the war. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's podcast.

Last week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel is being attacked in seven separate theaters amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, and the military has so far responded in six of them.

“We are in a multi-front war. We are being attacked from seven different arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, [the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen, and Iran,” said Gallant at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Fabian takes us through each of the areas of concern, starting with the West Bank, which has seen a rise of gun battles between the IDF and terrorists as raids have increased since October 7.

We then move to the north, including air strikes on warehouses in Aleppo and drones sent by Iraq.

We discuss in more detail the escalation in the tit-for-tat fighting with Lebanon and the goals the IDF has set versus its achievements so far.

Iran, another frontier, was struck in a different manner, which Fabian explains, whereas so far, it appears Yemen and the Houthi rebels have not.

And finally, we turn to the Gaza Strip and receive a brief update on what is happening on the ground there.

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog December 31, 2023

Gallant warns war could take years; says Israel targeted on 7 fronts, has hit back on 6

IDF soldier wounded in car-ramming at army post near Hebron; attacker ‘neutralized’

5 soldiers wounded, one seriously, in West Bank car-ramming attack

IDF strikes Lebanon after Hezbollah rocket fire, reportedly targets Syria’s Aleppo

IDF repeatedly strikes south Lebanon after several rounds of Hezbollah rockets

Suspected explosive-laden drone crashes in Golan; Iraqi militia claims responsibility

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 iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Hamas supporters take part in a demonstration in Hebron, West Bank, December 15, 2023. (Wisam Haslmaoun/Flash90)

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