News Digest — 1/3/25
IDF Said It Downed Yemen Missile That Triggered Sirens In Central Israel, Jerusalem
Sirens were activated across central Israel and in Jerusalem around 4:30 a.m. Friday (3rd) after a ballistic missile was launched at the country from Yemen, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The military said it successfully shot down the projectile, but a fragment following the interception impacted near the central city of Modiin.
Footage posted to social media showed a projectile falling from the sky before an explosion was seen near the city.
The military was investigating the incident. In the past, partially intercepted missiles launched at Israel have at times crashed with their warhead intact, and caused extensive damage.
Another fragment reportedly fell in the settlement of Har Gilo near Jerusalem.
Later on Friday morning (3rd), a drone launched at Israel from Yemen was successfully intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, the military said. According to the IDF, the drone was shot down outside Israel’s borders, and therefore no sirens sounded.
The attacks came amid a wave of similar launches in recent weeks by the Houthis in Yemen, a rebel group that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews.
The Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and 120 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military or Israel’s allies in the region.
The Houthis have vowed to keep up the attacks until the end of the war in the Gaza Strip that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
Recently the Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles at central Israel in the middle of the night. The latest was the eighth such launch over the past two weeks.
Since December, the group has fired 12 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel.
Netanyahu: ‘I Salute Our Heroic Fighters’ Who Took Part In September Syria Raid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening (2nd) congratulated the IDF troops who took part in the September 8 operation targeting an underground Iranian missile production facility near the city of Maysaf in Syria.
“I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria,” Netanyahu stated.
“This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us.”
On Thursday (2nd), the IDF revealed multiple air force activities that facilitated the operation, which involved penetrating Syria’s air forces so the IAF could transport the Shaldag unit 200 kilometers (124.2 miles) inland.
All of this had to be done with the knowledge that Syria had five different large air defense installations that could hinder the operation at any moment.
“It attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves,” Netanyahu said.
After Lebanese Army Fails To Act, The IAF Strikes Hezbollah Rocket Launchers In Lebanon
The Israeli air force struck medium-range rocket launchers belonging to the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon, the IDF stated on Thursday evening (2nd). The air force also reportedly struck additional rocket launchers next to a military site in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon.
The IAF strike was conducted under the direction of the Military Intelligence-Directorate.
According to the military, before the strikes were conducted, Israel asked the Lebanese Armed Forces to address the issue, as per the current ceasefire agreement. The Lebanese army did not do so, the IDF noted.
“The IDF continues to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel in accordance with the ceasefire understandings,” the military stated.
The IDF statement confirmed an earlier report from the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al Akhbar, which stated that Israel had struck targets in Al-Bureij Forest in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon.
Further explosions were heard in the Beit Lif area of southern Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported. Later, the outlet claimed that Israel had struck the Ar-Rihan mountain, also in southern Lebanon.
Israel has struck a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the start of the ceasefire. The IDF notes that its activities are in accordance with the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement.
On Wednesday (1st), Israel struck and destroyed a Pantsir missile system in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. That same day, the Israeli air force struck a weapons storage facility in south Lebanon’s Bani Haiyyan, where IDF soldiers identified Hezbollah terrorists moving weapons into a nearby truck.
Minister Avi Dichter: “Turkey Is Becoming The New Iran In Syria”
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter sat down with Israel National News to discuss the state of the war against Hamas and other recent developments in the Middle East such as the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
“We had three goals at the beginning of the war on October 7. First, the total destruction of the military infrastructure of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. That is probably the most achievable goal. We have not 100% achieved it yet, but we are close to it,” Dichter stated.
“The second was to release all of the hostages in Gaza. At that time we had 255, today we have 100 remaining in Gaza. Which means 155 were released. We still have 100. And the only way to measure it is by results. That’s the only way we should measure ourselves,” he said.
He continued, “The third goal is to topple the regime of Hamas in Gaza. Under the circumstances that they are practically running the humanitarian aid in Gaza, it creates some problems for us to reach this goal. But I’m sure that we shall do it.”
“Above those three goals, I can tell you loud and clear: Gaza will never remain a military threat to the State of Israel,” Dichter declared.
When asked what his red lines are on the issue of the hostage negotiations, Dichter stated, “The Red Line is to bring them back home, all of them.”
Dichter reiterated his warning about the new regime led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani) in Syria, and Turkey’s growing influence in the country following the overthrow of the Assad regime. “The new regime in Syria – people are not aware of where they came from. Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the new leader, is part of al-Qaeda. His spiritual leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was neck-to-neck with Osama Bin Laden. It means that when a new regime like that is leading Syria … to believe that those people will become rabbis in the future and will lead them in the way that we expect them to do so, I doubt it. They will take a few years in order to get support from Arab countries like Qatar, the Emirates and other countries.”
“We have to be prepared,” he warned, “because once they build there and form a new military infrastructure and battalions and other troops, they will start to think about … the Golan Heights.“ He noted that the name al-Julani is a reference to the Golan Heights, which Israel conquered from Syria in 1967. “His roots are in the Golan Heights. So I can assure you that a few years from now, maybe less, he will start thinking about the Golan.”
“We have to be well-prepared and to make sure that Syria is not building itself under a Sunni regime – unlike the Alawite Regime – but as Israel remains its enemy, they may allow in other countries like Turkey, which is now an outside influence in Syria. Turkey is becoming the new Iran in Syria. Iran supported Bashar al-Assad. Turkey supports Abu Mohammad al-Julani, and as we all know: Turkey is not our best ally as it once was. The only difference is that Iran was not part of NATO and Turkey is,” he said.
Addressing the 60-day ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, he said that “the ceasefire speaks about the cessation of rebuilding Hezbollah troops. So whenever they are trying to trick us and move stuff from one place to another, military stuff, we are activating. It’s about 60 days and nobody knows what it’s going to look like after the 60- days.”
He said that there is “no doubt about the fact that Hezbollah suffered a huge attack by Israel and lots of losses.”
Dichter praised US President-Elect Donald Trump’s unprecedented support for Israel during his first term in office, including actions such as moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
As for his expectations for Trump’s second term, he said, “I don’t know what the next steps are, but I hope that Trump will help Israel, mainly in combatting the most important threat, the nuclear bomb being built in Iran. That’s an existential threat that we have to foil in one way or another with other countries, or by ourselves.”
Palestinian Authority Forced To Cut ‘Pay For Slay’ Funding By 30-40% In 2024
According to research, payments made by the Palestinian Authority as part of its “pay-for-slay” program have decreased by 30 to 40% in 2024, despite an expected increase.
“Pay-for-slay” is a term used to describe the PA’s program of grants and funding for those who commit terror attacks against Israelis.
Col. (res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, carried out the study and was surprised at the results.
He told the Jerusalem Post, “Surprisingly, we’re seeing a trend opposite to what we expected.”
Hirsch added, “Despite expectations of a sharp increase in payments due to the PA’s policy and the high number of arrests and casualties among terrorists, we are actually seeing a significant decline.”
Hirsch identified several factors that have led to the decrease in payments.
First, bureaucratic difficulties have arisen since the Red Cross representatives have been prevented from visiting prisons.
Second, Hirsch said, “The economic pressure on the Palestinian Authority has reached an unprecedented level. According to new data from the Finance Ministry, Israel has deducted approximately NIS 3 billion from PA funds through November 2024.”
A third factor is the ongoing war in Gaza, which has prevented the transfer of funds and the presentation of documents to receive them.
Hirsch said, “Terrorists’ families are struggling to submit necessary forms to even receive the funds themselves.”
Hirsch, who formerly served as chief military prosecutor in Judea and Samaria, says the lowered payments do not signal an ideological shift but are the result of logistical and economic obstacles.
He notes that this is the first time in history that the PA has made cuts to its “pay-for-slay” program, and this development has been the direct result of both Israel’s actions and economic pressure.
The report points to a direction Israel can take to interfere with the “pay-for-slay” program in the future.
Hirsch said, “2024 offers clear evidence that terrorist payments can be reduced through the right mix of economic, legal, and operational measures. If we maintain this approach, we could see even further reductions in terror compensation next year.”
The Current And Future Houthi Threat To The Middle East – Michael Knights
The Houthis have (with strong Iranian backing and encouragement) exploited the enfeeblement of the Yemeni government since the Arab Spring of 2011, expanding through military conquests and seizing the capital, Sanaa, from the internationally recognized government in a September 2014 coup.
Since then, the Houthis have overrun Yemen’s Red Sea ports, and tried to seize the port city of Aden and the energy hub of Marib. With sustained military support from Iran, they remain postured to lunge forward at any time to snuff out the last strongholds of the internationally recognized government of Yemen.
The Houthis are a clan-based military junta whose leaders have modeled their movement on Lebanese Hezbollah. Their ideology is supremacist, in favor of their own genealogical caste over all other Yemenis. In their motto, they curse all Jewish people and openly pledge to seek the destruction of Israel and the U.S.
The Houthis draw military, intelligence, and financial support from Iran, Hezbollah, Iran-backed militias in Iraq, the Al-Qaeda and al-Shabab terrorist organizations, and reportedly also the Russian federation. Inside Yemen they have committed gross human rights abuses: indoctrinating children soldiers, unlawfully detaining and torturing opponents, and diverting vital humanitarian assistance.
Between 2015 and 2021, the Houthis fired more than 430 missiles and more than 860 drones against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There have been 106 confirmed Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean since November 2023. These unprovoked attacks robbed Egypt of more than $7 billion in Suez Canal fees.
The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute. He testified before the UN Security Council on Dec. 30, 2024. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
