News Digest — 1/20/26
IDF Targets Hezbollah Tunnels, Rocket Launch Sites In Lebanon
Israeli strikes in several areas of southern Lebanon on Monday (19th) targeted Hezbollah’s infrastructure, including rocket launching sites, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Among the targets were training camps used by Hezbollah to plan and carry out attacks against Israel, according to the military.
The IDF said it also struck tunnel shafts used by the terror group to store weapons. The shafts were located at Hezbollah sites where “unusual military activity” by the terror group was identified in recent months, the military said.
In addition, the IDF said it struck rocket launching sites and buildings used by Hezbollah to advance attacks on Israel.
No injuries were reported from the strikes, which came amidst ongoing IDF efforts to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its infrastructure and arsenal in the wake of a November 2024 ceasefire.
The IDF action on Monday (19th) followed an incident on Sunday night (18th) in which IDF troops were dispatched to the Lebanon border in the Western Galilee after the military said a suspect was identified on the Lebanese side of the fence.
“From the moment of identification, IDF troops had been maintaining continuous surveillance of the suspect,” the military said at the time, adding that a tank and a helicopter also opened fire in the area to remove the threat.”
The IDF then said the incident ended after the suspect who approached the fence in Lebanese territory withdrew from the area.
The US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah came after two months of open conflict in Lebanon, including an IDF ground operation in the country’s south in a bid to enable the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the terror group’s near-daily attacks, which began on October 8, 2023 – a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.
The ceasefire required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon to be replaced by the Lebanese armed forces. Israel has withdrawn from all but five strategic parts along the border.
Since the ceasefire, the IDF said it has killed over 400 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.
Weakened by the war, and still facing regular Israeli strikes, Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its weapons. The Lebanese Army recently said it had completed its mission to disarm the terror group south of the Litani River, in the area closest to the Israeli border. Israel responded.that the news was “encouraging but insufficient,”
Netanyahu Says Turkey, Qatar Will Have No Presence In Gaza, Raises Objections With Secretary Of State Rubio
Israel has protested the inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in a US-backed postwar Gaza framework with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raising the issue directly in a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and vowing publicly that neither country will deploy troops in the Strip.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu spoke with Rubio only hours after instructing Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to formally convey Israel’s objections to Washington over the makeup of the Gaza Executive Board.
During the call, Netanyahu stressed Israel’s opposition to Qatar and Turkey’s inclusion and saidJerusalem was taken by surprise by the US announcement detailing the board’s composition.
Israeli sources told the network that Netanyahu understands the decision is unlikely to be reversed now that it has been announced by President Donald Trump.
The White House said over the weekend that Turkey and Qatar would be members of the Gaza Executive Board, a body expected to play a critical role in overseeing postwar arrangements in the enclave.
Netanyahu described an ongoing disagreement with Washington over “the makeup of the council of advisers that will accompany the processes in Gaza.” indicating that Israel views the roles of Ankara and Doja as limited.
He said that Israel is prepared to confront the United States when disputes touch on core national interests, while insisting that such disagreements not damage ties with Trump, whom he again described as Israel’s strongest ally in the White House.
Turning to the battlefield, Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces control 53% of Gaza ‘from a position of strength’. He defined the next stage of the plan as the disarmament of Hamas and the full demilitarization of the territory, pledging that these objectives would be met.”either the easy or the hard way.” He also briefly addressed the issue of the last hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, saying the recovery of the body remains a top priority, adding that discretion serves that effort best.
Syria’s Kurds Look To Israel As Last Line Of Support
Although a ceasefire was declared a few days ago between Kurdish militias and Syria’s Islamist government, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters he is desperately hoping that the US and Israel will step in on the Kurds behalf in the current confrontation with the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The ceasefire announcement has so far failed to stop the ongoing violence. Overnight, attacks were reported in the area of the city of Raqqa. According to the al-Sharaa government, Kurdish forces are expected to withdraw from the provinces of Deir az- Zor and Raqqa.
The Kurdish official, Sipan Ham, said that a weekend meeting between US envoy Tom Barrack and senior Kurdish figures did not produce a roadmap toward a lasting ceasefire. He denied claims that the Kurds seek to establish an independent state, stressing that their future lies within Syria.
“We believe that the responsibility for everything currently happening inside Syria lies with the Western countries, and especially the United States of America,” Hamo added.
He also emphasized Kurdish hopes regarding Israel. “Of course we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda,” he said. “We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria, will be extended to the Kurds as well.”
Asked to clarify his remarks, Hamo confirmed that he was referring to Israeli strikes in the Damascus area over the summer, which were carried out as part of assistance to the Druze community in Sweida. At the time, al-Sharaa’s forces launched an assault on the southern city, during which massacres were carried out against members of the community.
NATO Taps Israeli Defense Tech To Rearm Europe
Four NATO-member states – Lithuania, the Netherlands, Chechia, and Croatia – have finalized agreements to integrate the Trophy active protection system (Iron Wind) into Leopard 2 A8 tanks that will enter service in the coming years. The deal, estimated at approximately $347 million, aims to upgrade the protection level of European armored fleets.
The agreement was signed by EuroTrophy and German Tank manufacturer KNDS Deutschland, and includes the delivery of active protection systems, spare parts, training, and logistical support. The system will be integrated into the tank’s baseline configuration, not as a dedicated addition, a step designed to create uniformity among participating countries’ armored fleets,
Zvi Marmor, senior vice president and head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Systems Division said, “The only active protection system in the world that has proven itself hundreds of times on the battlefield, Trophy provides comprehensive survivability against advanced anti-tank threats while simultaneously approving additional awareness, joint operational capability and freedom of maneuver – both in main battle tank fleets and in light armored platforms.” Meir Ben Tzook, chairman of EuroTrophy and vice president and head of the Survivability and Maneuver Administration at Rafael, stated, “The decision to integrate the Trophy into Leopard 2 A8 tanks reflects a profound shift in the defense concept of NATO countries in Europe. Against the backdrop of the evolving security environment, countries seek not only advanced technological capability, but also a solution that can be fully integrated into operational concepts, logistics, and multinational cooperation”
The Trophy system (Iron Wind), developed and manufactured by Rafael, is the world’s only active protection system proven operationally on the battlefield and provides real-time detection, tracking, and neutralization capabilities against various threats to armored vehicles.
The system provides armor crews with critical situational awareness, contributing to mission continuity and operational effectiveness in dense, threat-saturated combat environments. The Trophy is installed on leading Western armored platforms, including Merkava tanks, Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, as well as lighter armored vehicles, such as the Namer APC and Boxer. Approximately three months ago, Rafael signed a strategic agreement with the Korean company Hyundai Rotem to integrate the Trophy (Iron Wind) system on the advanced Korean K2 tank
As Long As Hamas Refuses To Disarm, Israel Cannot Withdraw – Editorial
While the White House said President Trump’s Gaza peace plan has entered its second phase on the ground in Gaza, the situation remains fraught. The biggest obstacle is Hamas’ refusal to lay down its arms, which means Israel refuses to commit to withdrawing from Gaza. And why should they? What happened on Oct. 7, 2023, can never be allowed to happen again.
In the three months since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas has emerged from its tunnels, weakened, but still able to assert dominance in Gaza due to the absence of any alternative security force. The terrorists refusal to disarm has prevented the creation of an international force to provide security. No country is willing to commit ground troops if it means battling Hamas. Privately, they’d all rather Israel do the dirty work.
One proposal floated by Hamas is to decommission or “freeze” weapons in depots overseen by Arab countries. Another is offering a “buy back” program to pay militants to voluntarily surrender their light weapons. Neither would amount to real disarmament. The reconstruction of Gaza cannot start until Hamas no longer poses a threat. (Washington Post)
The Case For Regime Change In Iran – Editorial
President Trump seems to have called off any military action for now on behalf of Iran’s protesting citizens, but this threat won’t go away. In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei’s revolutionaries stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. In Beirut in 1983, Iran’s proxy Hezbollah killed 17 Americans at the US Embassy and then killed 241 Americans deployed for peacekeeping at a Marine barracks.
In a plot hatched by Iranian intelligence, Iran’s proxy groups bombed US Air Force personnel at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, killing 19 Americans. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Iran funded, trained and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq, providing them the IEDs that helped kill 603 US troops.
Add to this, Iran’s global terrorism against dissidents and Jews, including the 1994 Jewish community center bombing in Argentina that killed 83. Iran has also plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and President Trump. All of this is despite efforts by every US President since Jimmy Carter to pursue better relations with Iran’s regime.
Iran’s bloody record since 1979 underscores that it is a revolutionary regime rooted in Shiite extremism that wants to dominate the Middle East, destroy Israel, and kill Americans. Helping the Iranian people end this regime is the right goal that would make America and the world safer. (Wall Street Journal)
(wsj.com)
Defense Minister Calls Emergency Meeting To Address Earthquake Preparedness
A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck the Tiberias area in northern Israel, the Geological Survey of Israel reported on Monday afternoon (19th).
No damage or injuries resulted from the earthquake. Monday’s (19th) tremor was the second seismic event in the past week, following a 4.2 magnitude earthquake felt in southern Israel and the Dead Sea area on Thursday morning (15th).
The Ministerial Committee for Civilian Preparedness convened an emergency meeting to discuss earthquake preparedness in the wake of this week’s tremors, according to Walla.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and senior officials from the defense establishment and the police attended the emergency meeting, led by Defense Minister Israel Karz.
Katz declared 2026 and 2027 as “critical preparedness years” for the country, instructing the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Management Authority to develop a milti-year plan that addresses preparedness gaps.
Katz requested that the plan be presented within the next 60 days and developed in accordance with preparedness assessments.
According to Walla, the plan will focus on upgrading earthquake warning systems, improving communication between emergency response bodies, and fortifying sensitive strategic locations.
Additionally, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of National Security were instructed to clarify each group’s responsibilities in civilian emergencies to prevent overlapping authority or confusion.
It was also determined that the plan should include advancing regulations for the training of local authorities and establishing a government framework to address homelessness in the event of a serious earthquake.
The committee is expected to reconvene after 60 days to review the plan and discuss implementation.
