News Digest — 6/10/26
U.S. Army Launches Strikes On Iran Following Apache Helicopter Downing
The U.S. Army launched three waves of strikes on targets in Iran overnight Tuesday (9th-10th) in response to Monday’s (8th) downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter pilots.
“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” the statement added.
“US forces remain vigilant and postured to defend against unjustified Iranian aggression,” it stressed.
Earlier, CENTCOM confirmed that its forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at the direction of US President Donald Trump.
“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified aggression,” it stated.
The announcement came shortly after Iranian media outlets reported at least four explosions near Sirik Port in the Bandar Abbas district of the country. Explosions were also reported on Qeshm Island.
The Aerospace Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) responded to the US strikes and threatened it would deliver a “heavy response to what it described as “the enemy’s hostile actions.”
Later, the IRGC claimed it carried out a drone attack on the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain in response to the US strikes on Iran.
In a statement carried by Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said its naval force targeted the Fifth Fleet at 2:30 a.m., local time.
There was no immediate confirmation from US or Bahrain authorities.
A senior US official stated that the strikes targeted several Iranian air defense and radar systems around the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the operation is ongoing.
A US official told CNN that the strikes were intended to serve as a warning to Iran, noting that Washington assesses they will not jeopardize negotiations to end the war.
Trump struck a defiant tone earlier on Tuesday (9th), saying Iran had shot down the American helicopter and that the US would respond to that attack.
“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. There were two pilots involved – both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” he wrote on Truth Social.
In a phone call to The Wall Street Journal, Trump said the incident “wasn’t a big deal” and stressed that “the pilot is fine.”
As CENTCOM announced the retaliatory strikes against Iran, Trump told ABC News, “I think it’s very important to respond. They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding as we speak.”
He added,”This is a response to what they did with our helicopter last night, and I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that is what this one is,”
Terrorist Neutralized After Attempting To Infiltrate Northern Israel
A serious security incident unfolded Tuesday (9th) along Israel’s northern border near Misgav Am (a community in the upper Galilee), when a terrorist was killed after attempting to cross from Lebanese territory and opened fire on IDF troops. No casualties were reported among security forces, and the incident remained under investigation.
Following the incident, the IDF declared a “Night Knight B” (an IDF shelter-in-place lockdown protocol) procedure in the communities of Misgav Am, Menara, and Margaliot, as large forces conducted sweeps in the area amid concerns that additional suspects may be involved.
The Upper Galilee Regional Council announced that residents of Misgav Am, Menara, and Margaliot had been asked to remain in their homes, while defense units and IDF forces operated on the ground.
According to initial reports, the incident began when a suspect fired a gun at an IDF position in the sector of the 769th Brigade. At that stage, two terrorists were reported killed, though it remained unclear whether they had entered from Lebanese territory or from within Israel.
Security forces continued sweeping the area. The IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit said that a short time earlier, an initial report had been received of gunfire toward IDF forces operating in the Ramim Ridge area. The forces returned fire and eliminated a terrorist in the area. There were no casualties among IDF troops. The incident was still ongoing, as IDF forces continued their searches, with Israeli Air Force aircraft also scrambled to the area.
David Azoulay, head of the Metula Regional Council and a member of the Yisrael Biteinu party, responded to the elimination, saying, “I commend IDF forces for their swift action, which thwarted an immediate threat to the residents of the north. As long as Hezbollah terrorists allow themselves to approach the fence, an October 7-style attack in the north is only a matter of time. The government continues to normalize an unbearable reality. The residents of the north need real security, the restoration of deterrence and a clear, decisive blow against Hezbollah.”
Hamas Forces Executed, Maimed Dozens Of Palestinians In Gaza, UN Report Says
Hamas operatives and police units in Gaza beat, maimed and publicly executed dozens of Palestinians during the terror group’s war with Israel amounting to war crimes according to a United Nations report released Tuesday (9th).
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’report documents hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment in the war-ravaged territory. Which it said were often publicized during and afterward to instill fear in the populace.
“These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals,” it says.
The commission found that Hamas-affiliated operatives and police forces were involved in nearly one-fourth of the 249 documented cases – including 108 deaths – from August 2024 to January 2026. The commission specifically investigated cases involving Hamas-affiliated forces but also counted ones attributed to other armed groups.
Representatives for Hamas did not respond to questions about the report’s allegations.
According to the report, rather than being imposed through courts or judges, the punishments were carried out by Hamas’ military wing and police units.
Those targeted included anti-Hamas activists and members of Israel- backed clans and armed groups that emerged in areas where Hamas’ grip weakened during the war.
The UN report cited executions recorded on video, including one of three blindfolded men who were shot by masked men outside Shifa Hospital in September 2025 before a crowd. It described another public execution a month later, when eight men were dragged into a public square in Gaza City and shot. Both groups were accused of being spies, traitors and collaborators, according to the report.
The instances, the commission said, “amounted to the war crime of murder and and a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security, and the right to a fair trial.
Others targeted with beatings and forms of public shaming – including children – were accused of theft, drug-trafficking or illegally selling tobacco.
The UN report also criticised a growing wave of violence by Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions about the allegations.
COGAT: ‘Hamas Is Taking Away Your Chance For A Better Future’
Against the backdrop of Hamas’ continued rejection of President Trump’s framework and its refusal to disarm, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Tuesday (9th), published a video on the Arabic-language Facebook page “Al Munasiq” addressed to residents of the Gaza Strip under the title: “Hamas is Causing You to Miss an Opportunity for a Different Future at the Last Moment.”
COGAT stated: “At a time when millions of people around the world are preparing to watch the World Cup tournament, Hamas is once again causing you to miss an opportunity for a different future at the last moment. While you are trying to move toward a better future, you are being led by a failed, disconnected, and irrelevant group of inexperienced thugs who continue to deny you any chance of escaping the greatest disaster in the history of the Gaza Strip.”
The message concluded: “The solution is already on the field, but Hamas continues to play only one game – a game in which you always lose.”
Israelis Tell Netanyahu To Keep Fighting In Lebanon To Eliminate Hezbollah – Gerry Shih
Rani Ben Dov. 77, a farmer in Moshav Betzet in northern Israel, was tired of seeking shelter from incoming Hezbollah fire, but even now the last thing he wanted was for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull the plug on the military offensive in Lebanon, just a mile away. “We need to let the generals do what they need to do and eliminate Hezbollah,” he said. “We can’t just leave.”
The sentiment is pervasive in war-weary border villages, on prime time talk shows, within the political opposition and among Netanyahu’s supporters. Israelis are pushing their prime minister to fight – and stay – in Lebanon. A poll by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv in late May found that 60% of Israelis and an overwhelming majority of the government’s supporters say that Israel should intensify its fight against Hezbollah.
60,000 residents of northern Israel were targeted and displaced for 14 months by missiles launched by Hezbollah beginning in Oct. 2023, and have held protests demanding that Netanyahu eliminate the Hezbollah threat. Today the mood in Israel is a far cry from 2000, the last time Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon. At the time, mothers of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon regularly led protests demanding that Israel pull out.
At Moshav Shtula, Avi Ben Chitrit said he, too, worried about the threat of Hezbollah munitions raining down. Hezbollah rockets over the last 30 months have destroyed homes and a community sports center in the village. Drones target nearby Israeli troop positions on a near-daily basis. He said, “What are we supposed to do, stop all the activity in the north and let them kill us? We need to continue to defend ourselves until everything is quiet.” (Washington Post)
In A War Against Ideology, Calculations Of Military Balance Become Less Relevant – Ben -Dror Yemini
Israel faces a special kind of enemy – an ideology built on destruction and victimhood. When Hezbollah fired its first rockets in the current round on March 3, against the will of most Lebanese, it knew that whatever damage it caused Israel, the damage to Lebanon itself would be 100 times greater. Because of Hezbollah, most villages in southern Lebanon are destroyed and close to a million people have been displaced.
Iran and Hezbollah are one enemy with one ideology. In a war against an ideology, calculations about the balance of power become less relevant. Iran’s ideology of destruction extends as far as its reach allows. With the power it still has left, Tehran is managing to damage the global economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the ceasefire, last week it seriously damaged Kuwait’s airport and a nuclear power plant in the UAE.
Iran feels it is on top. Public pressure is lining up in full force alongside Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Had World War II been fought the way wars against jihad, Iran and terrorism are fought today, the Allies would have been accused of war crimes and the Nazis would be ruling the world.
Iran and its proxies must be defeated. Israel’s war is just. But it is a difficult war. It is not over. Not even close. More is coming. But giving up is not an option. This is a Sisyphean war. Hezbollah can and must be isolated through a diplomatic chokehold, together with Lebanon’s leadership and the Lebanese people, who are ready for a peace agreement. (Ynet News)
