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 Daily Briefing.

Tomorrow marks day 50 of the ceasefire agreement. Fabian explains where the IDF is currently operating in the Gaza Strip and how quickly it could reassemble into war footing.

A Syria war monitor reported on Saturday that over 745 civilians from the Alawite minority had been killed in recent days by security forces and their allies, as authorities clash with militants loyal to the former government of Bashar al-Assad. Coincidentally or not, the IDF said troops captured and destroyed numerous weapons during missions in southern Syria. Is this publication of the IDF's Syria mission a message to the new government there?

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews were escorted by the military on Friday to the traditionally considered burial place of a Babylonian scholar on the Lebanon border, after weeks of illegal attempts to reach the site. Later on Friday, the IDF carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, saying it targeted Hezbollah military sites. We learn about the IDF's current operations in Lebanon during the ceasefire.

The Israel Defense Force’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, is to end his role in the coming weeks and retire from the military, the IDF announced on Friday. Many have seen this step as a de facto dismissal, as Hagari was not given a promotion for his work as IDF spokesman during the war. Fabian weighs in.

Marking International Women's Day, Fabian and Borschel-Dan have a brief conversation about the role of women in IDF leadership. As women are slowly rising in the ranks in combat roles, could we see a female chief of staff in the next 20 years?

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

745 civilians killed in clashes between Syrian regime and pro-Assad forces, says watchdog

IDF says it seized, destroyed weapons in ‘targeted raids’ in southern Syria

IDF says it struck terror targets in Lebanon and Gaza amid ceasefires

IDF escorts hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews to pray at tomb straddling Lebanon border

IDF spokesman Hagari to retire from military, in move widely seen as dismissal

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: Israeli soldiers operating inside the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on February 9, 2025. (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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now podcast series.

At a Cairo summit of Arab leaders on Tuesday, a consensus of states adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave -- in contrast to US President Donald Trump’s “Middle East Riviera” vision.

The over 100-page “Early Recovery, Reconstruction, Development of Gaza” plan envisions a Gaza Administration Committee, made up of independent technocrats, to manage an initial six-month transitional phase. It also urges elections in all Palestinian areas within a year, if conditions support such a move.

The rub? The plan doesn’t explicitly tackle the issue of Hamas and how the terror group will be disarmed -- if at all. It also pushes for a Palestinian state before addressing any of the armed Palestinian factions.

Rettig Gur dissects elements of the plan and weighs in on its seriousness.

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: In this photo provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Arab leaders pose during the emergency Arab summit at Egypt's New Administrative Capital, just outside Cairo, March 4, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office 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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is followed by a full episode of The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus with Lazar Berman.

Magid focuses on some of the major developments in the hostage release-ceasefire negotiations, including Wednesday's revelation that the US has been conducting direct talks with Hamas to get hostages out. The US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997. Does speaking directly with Hamas contravene some kind of protocol for dealing with terrorist entities?

US envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff is pressing Hamas for an act of "goodwill" to release the final living US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. How has Israel reacted to this?

We learn how Magid believes the new direct negotiations with Hamas will reshape the contours of the mediated ceasefire deal and whether they will help them transition into phase two.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump defends direct US-Hamas talks as Israel seethes, attempts to sabotage them

US talks with Hamas said to hit snag after media leak; PM unhappy they’re taking place

Analysts: Direct US-Hamas talks reflect ‘dysfunction’ in ceasefire negotiations

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: President Donald Trump poses for photos with family members of Edan Alexander, a hostage held by Hamas, after visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, October 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

 

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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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s Daily Briefing.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin initiated proceedings to remove Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from office. He has accused her of having politicized her office to thwart the will of the government and has long threatened to take action against her. We learn what steps were taken.

A law dramatically changing how the state ombudsman for judges is chosen passed its third and final reading in the Knesset plenum early on Tuesday morning, following a full night of debate. We hear why this is such a potential game-changer.

A new report by the Palestinian human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel has alleged that Gazan medical personnel detained by Israeli forces and held in Israeli detention facilities during the war with Hamas were subjected to widespread and severe abuse, including beatings, various forms of torture, psychological abuse, medical neglect and the provision of insufficient rations. Sharon weighs in on how credible the report is.

The UK Lawyers for Israel organization recently reviewed the allegations against Israel regarding widespread famine in the Gaza Strip during the war. In a report published last week, the group found that there was no famine in Gaza during the war, as defined by IPC standards — a UN-developed scale — and that even levels of acute malnutrition were only marginally higher than prewar figures. 

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Levin initiates process of firing AG; opposition says he’s destroying democracy, unity

Coalition passes judicial overhaul law taking over appointment of judges’ ombudsman

Gazan medical worker detainees ‘subjected to torture, beatings, medical neglect’ – report

New study: There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data

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: Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)

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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 Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Following US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, in the presence of several recently released Hamas hostages, Magid discusses that Trump did not mention any of the former Israeli hostages by name, although some were in the audience.

Magid speaks about his interview with a senior Qatari official who emphasized the need to stick to the current hostage deal and that any new ideas won't work, noting that Hamas won't accept releasing hostages en masse as suggested by the US, unless there's an end to the war.

He reviews the much-anticipated summit of Arab states, which gathered to discuss alternatives to reconstructing Gaza, not aligning with Trump's plan of relocating Gazans. The current plan, led by Egypt, will have technocrats ruling Gaza for an interim period and dividing the area into zones before handing it over to the Palestinian Authority.

Magid also discusses the positioning of the Palestinian Authority on the Gaza plans and the frustration of Arab countries with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, as they try to get him to be more flexible, or at least not be an obstacle to the planning in Gaza.

Finally, Magid briefly looks at prisoner payment reform after an interview with a senior Palestinian Authority official, who spoke of a threat to cut ties with the Trump administration if the US president advances with his plan to take over Gaza.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

‘We are bringing back our hostages from Gaza,’ Trump says in address to Congress

As Israel, US align on new hostage proposal, Qatar urges sticking to existing framework

Aiming to stymie Trump’s ‘Riviera’ vision, Arab leaders endorse $53 billion Gaza plan

Seeking funds abroad, Abbas ally touts prisoner payment reform that’s ‘unpopular’ at home

Feeling heat from Trump to ‘solve’ Gaza, Arab states losing patience with PA’s Abbas

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: A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the west of Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, on Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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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 today's Daily Briefing.

Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on Monday evening, targeting a military facility near the city of Tartous, in the country’s northwestern coastal region. And today, the Defense Ministry says it is carrying out activities to clear explosives from an area of the Golan Heights near the Syrian border. Fabian updates on IDF activities inside Syria.

We spend the rest of the episode on the series of IDF probes into the failures on October 7, 2023. We learn about the immediate failures, including that the attack was a surprise with no intelligence warning. Hamas had numerous forces and was attacking several areas simultaneously. And the IDF had far fewer forces and minimal capabilities available: When the attack began, involving over 5,000 terrorists, just 767 IDF troops were stationed on the border.

And then we turn to specific investigations into the air force, the navy and the intelligence wing, and we learn about the series of disasters that led to the tragedies at the Nahal Oz IDF base and Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

And finally, we zoom into one of the many tales of heroism that were highlighted in the reports, the story of Kfar Aza resident Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, who fought off terrorists with a kitchen knife before securing a weapon and eventually killing 20.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Israel attacks military site in northwestern Syria; no casualties reported

Entire Gaza Division was overrun for hours, and IDF didn’t know it; 767 troops faced 5,000 terrorists

IDF identified but ignored 5 warning signs of Hamas attack on eve of Oct. 7, its probe shows

The intel on Hamas attack plan was there, but IDF simply refused to believe it, probe finds

Before Oct. 7, IDF probe shows, Hamas duped Israel into thinking it did not pose a major threat

IDF’s Oct. 7 probes show it misread Hamas for years, left southern Israel utterly vulnerable

Terrorists took Kfar Aza in an hour. Recapturing it took the IDF days, probe finds

‘Systemic failure’: How Nahal Oz base, 850 meters from Gaza yet utterly vulnerable, fell to Hamas

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: Members of Zaka walk through the destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as they collect the dead bodies, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Edi Israel/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.

Zman Yisrael founding editor Biranit Goren joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Early this morning, a terror attack was carried out in Haifa's bus station, killing one man and injuring four others before the terrorist was neutralized by security forces. Goren discusses some of the known details of the attack, noting that it bore some resemblance to the terror attacks of the second intifada, targeting public transportation and carried out by lone attackers.

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, as he heads to the US to push on the hostage negotiations with US President Donald Trump. Goren notes that Sharabi, despite recently returning from captivity in skeletal condition to hear that his entire family was killed on October 7, appears to be a person of great emotional strength, focused on getting the remaining hostages home and telling the prime minister that in their conversation.

She also discusses the Best Documentary win at the Oscars on Sunday night, when the Palestinian-Israeli film "No Other Land" took home the Academy Award. Goren notes that the film's win wasn't a surprise, and takes Culture Minister Miki Zohar to task for calling the film's win "a sad moment" for the film industry, saying that public funding should be for Israeli films about any subject, regardless of politics.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

For further reading:

Man stabbed to death in suspected terror attack at Haifa bus terminal

Netanyahu apologizes to recently released hostage Eli Sharabi: ‘Sorry that it took us so long’

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi to meet Trump this week, brother says

‘No Other Land,’ about Israel razing Palestinian village, wins best documentary Oscar

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: Eli Sharabi is interviewed on Channel 12's 'Uvda' program, in a segment aired on February 27, 2025. (Screenshot: Channel 12, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

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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 joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Late last night, following a four-hour security consultation with top officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Passover, which ends on April 19. What is this plan and how is it being received?

Israel is not allowing any more goods to enter Gaza, says the Prime Minister’s Office, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept what it says is an American proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire through Passover and Ramadan alongside more hostage releases. Berman explains what else Israel is currently withholding, which is counter to the mediated phase one deal.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces on Saturday to “prepare to defend” the Druze-majority city of Jaramana on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria. We hear why Israel sees itself as a defender of Druze and other minorities -- and what type of defense this may be.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that he had signed a declaration to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel after the Trump administration approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to the Jewish state. But after seeing the “good television” of a brush-up between Trump and Zelensky this weekend, should Israel be wary of such promises?

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

For further reading:

As truce enters limbo, Israel agrees to extend talks with Hamas before resuming war

Netanyahu and Katz direct IDF to ‘prepare to defend’ Syrian Druze suburb of Damascus

US moves to expedite delivery of $4 billion in military aid to Israel

After shouting match, Zelensky says Trump’s support for Ukraine still ‘crucial’

Trump berates Zelensky in shocking Oval Office scene: ‘Either make a deal or we’re out’

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.

Illustrative: Palestinian Hamas fighters and people gather in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, as preparations take place for the release of three Israeli hostages as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner swap on February 22, 2025. (Bashar Taleb / 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.

Film critic Jordan Hoffman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now podcast series. 

Ahead of the 2025 Academy Awards on Sunday night, The Times of Israel’s film critic gives his predictions on which of the five films related to Israel or the Jews will have any chance of taking home a statue.

We hear about how the ongoing war in Gaza is creating off-screen drama for a film, “September 5,” that has nothing to do with the current conflict but dares to show Israel as a victim after the country’s athletes were massacred in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Hoffman weighs in on the merits of “A Real Pain” and pronounces it an excellent addition to the pantheon of Jewish film. About “The Brutalist,” he has some reservations, although he applauds the film overall.

We learn how the Bob Dylan biopic may not have anything really overtly Jewish about it, but that it’s not a slam to Members of the Tribe.

And finally, Hoffman discusses the Palestinian/Jewish Israeli co-production that is hardly a coexistence project, but rather a “From the River to the Sea” production.

And so this week, we ask Jordan Hoffman what matters now.

Please see today's ongoing live blog 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.

IMAGE: Adrien Brody, left, and Guy Pearce in a scene from 'The Brutalist.' (Lol Crawley/A24 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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing updates, followed by the weekly Friday Focus, The Times of Israel's newest podcast series. Each Friday, catch Berman and Borschel-Dan for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

A Palestinian man steered his car into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop in northern Israel in what is considered a terror spree that left 13 people injured, including a 17-year-old girl who is fighting for her life. We learn what we know about the perpetrator so far.

Last night, the Israel Defense Forces presented its top-level investigations into the military’s failures during the lead-up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and on the day itself. Berman shares quick takeaways and whether the IDF has begun a course correction already.

Yesterday, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for “intensive” talks on the next stages of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, joining mediators from the US and Qatar. Berman weighs in on the disparate goals of all bodies involved.

In today’s in-depth Friday Focus conversation, we are reminded that the most effective way to get out as many hostages as possible has been through a pair of negotiated hostage release-ceasefire deals. Among the questions asked and answered are: Who are the major players behind these negotiations? What have been the obstacles? Is paying ransom a Jewish value? Finally, we hear which of Israel’s allies does not traditionally negotiate with terrorists.

Please see today's ongoing live blog 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:

Teen in critical condition after terror suspect plows car into bus stop, injuring 13

IDF’s Oct. 7 probes show it misread Hamas for years, left southern Israel utterly vulnerable

Israel sends delegation to Cairo for Gaza talks as ceasefire’s future put in doubt

IMAGE: Demonstrators raise placards and chant slogans during a protest calling for the release of hostages held captive in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorists, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on February 22, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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