News Digest — 12/19/25
‘Increase The Light’: Chanukiya From Palestine Square Lit At Mount Herzl
The fifth candle lighting ceremony of Hanukkah was held at the National Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl Thursday evening (18th), in a moving and special occasion, when the menorah used for lighting it, arrived from Gaza.
The menorah, which was lit in Palestine Square in Gaza by soldiers of the 401st Brigade a year ago, made its way to the Memorial Hall carrying with it a message of light, memory and connection.
The candles were lit using a memorial torch that has been passed in recent days on a route of emissaries among bereaved families from various sectors across the country and arrived at the Hall as a symbol of the shared path of Israeli society in dealing with bereavement and hope.
Deputy Director General and head of the Families, Commemoration and Heritage Division at the Ministry of Defense, Aryel Maulem, said that the ceremony is an expression of the encounter between personal mourning and national memory, and the shared commitment to continue to shine, even from the darkness.
“On this evening, the fifth candle of Hanukkah, we choose to increase the light, not to deny the darkness but to stand against it together: Family to family, Person to person, People to people,” he said.
IDF Strikes Hezbollah Targets Across Southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes on Thursday morning (18th) against Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, intensifying operations aimed at dismantling the terrorist group’s military capabilities and preventing renewed attacks on Israel.
According to the IDF, Israeli forces struck a Hezbollah military camp and additional military structures in multiple locations throughout Lebanon.
The camp was used for training and preparing terrorists, conducting live fire exercises, operating artillery, and storing weapons.
The military said Hezbollah terrorists at the site underwent weapons training intended to plan and carry out attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians.
In additional strikes deeper inside Lebanon, the IDF targeted Hezbollah military buildings used in recent months for operational activity and weapons storage.
The presence of terror infrastructure and ongoing Hezbollah activity at these locations constitutes a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to Israeli security, the military said.
A short time after, Israeli forces carried out another targeted strike against a Hezbollah terrorist in the al-Tabeh area of southern Lebanon. Lebanese media reported casualties in the attack, while also noting low-flying Israeli jets and drone activity over Beirut and southern Lebanon.
A high-level meeting was expected Thursday (18th) in Paris involving the Lebanese army commander, US, French and Saudi envoys, focusing on the situation in southern Lebanon, support for the Lebanese armed forces, and the monitoring mechanism overseeing the ceasefire.
Lebanese outlets affiliated with Hezbollah reported that the discussions are part of a French-led initiative tied to future international support for Lebanon’s security forces.
Despite the diplomatic activity, the IDF stressed it will continue to act decisively to remove any threat and to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its terror infrastructure.
“The IDF will continue to operate to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel and to prevent Hezbollah’s rearmament,” the military said.
Hamas Struggles To Pay Terrorists’ Salaries As IDF Cracks Down On Finance Centers In Gaza – Report
Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank harmed Hamas’ ability to pay its full salaries of its civilian and terrorist operations, a report by Arabic speaking newspapers Awsat explained.
According to the report, Israel’s war on Hamas and the operations that took place in the West Bank, have compromised Hamas’ financial stability.
The report points out that raids on West Bank “exchange companies” used by Hamas and other terrorist groups to get funds, were among the most effective ways the IDF has managed “to dry up Hamas’ finances.”
The report also stated that, even if salaries are not paid in full, the terrorist organization still has the capacity to pay most of its operatives partially.
According to a Hamas official cited by Awsat, the terror group still has “commercial sources inside Gaza” that allow it to keep paying part of the salaries in a regular way.
The second main income is provided through Iranian support, with the official saying that it has sometimes decreased and sometimes increased or has delayed payment from its scheduled times.”
“We are facing increasing difficulties from day to day in the process of transferring and delivering these funds to Gaza, which is pushing those in charge of the salaries’ file to resort to what remains in cash in their treasury and can be accessed, or to resort to collecting from salary-generated commercial sources,” said the terror official.
Israel, Greece and Cyprus Plan Joint Rapid-Response Force For Eastern Mediterranean
Israel, Greece and Cyprus are planning to establish a joint rapid-response military force of about 2,500 troops to operate across the eastern Mediterranean, according to a report by the Greek daily Ta Nea.
The proposed force would integrate land, air and naval units and be positioned to respond quickly to security threats and acts of sabotage in the region.
The framework envisions Israel and Greece each contributing roughly 1,000 soldiers, with Cyprus providing 500.
Operations would be conducted from existing military bases and infrastructure in Israel and Cyprus, as well as from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Karpathos, creating a continuous operational arc across key maritime zones.
Officials involved in the planning say the initiative is driven by growing concern over the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, including offshore energy platforms, undersea pipelines, and electricity cables. Recent incidents in the Baltic Sea, where Chinese and Russian vessels damaged subsea cables and pipelines in what appeared to be deliberate actions, have heightened awareness of similar risks in the Mediterranean.
Beyond regional defense, proponents say the force would serve wider European interests by helping secure routes for transporting natural gas and oil from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.
One official said the region must act proactively rather than waiting for a crisis to force coordination, arguing that a standing joint mechanism would improve early warning deterrence, and rapid response capabilities.
The official added that the future of the region should be guided by cooperation, interoperability, and international law, not competing territorial claims.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of worsening relations between Israel and Turkey since Oct. 7, 2923. Ankara has imposed a full trade embargo on Israel and stepped up political and rhetorical attacks over Israel’s war with Hamas. Israel has also insisted that Turkey be excluded from the International Stabilization Force, which is expected to secure and administer Gaza under President Donald Trump’s 21-point plan.
At the same time, Turkey has significantly expanded its military capacity. According to The New Arab , by 2025 approximately 80% of the components required by Turkey’s defense industry were produced domestically, reflecting a sharp increase in self sufficiency.
While the rapid-response force remains at the planning stage, officials say it reflects a broader shift toward structured regional security cooperation, aimed at protecting shared assets and responding swiftly to emerging threats in the eastern Mediterranean.
Marco Rubio Announces Sanctions On ICC Judges Over Israel Investigations
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday (18th) that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.
“Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidre of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203,” Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC.
These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, prosecute, Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent,” he said.
The ICC responded that the sanctions were a “flagrant attack” on the court’s independence.
“Such measures targeting judges and prosecutors who were elected by the states’ parties undermine the rule of law. When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk, “ the court said.
The US sanctions in February, include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel condemned the sanctions, saying, “international courts, and tribunals must be able to carry out their mandates unhindered.”
Van Weel also said on X that the Netherlands, where the ICC is based, continues to support the court and its staff.
Additionally, the US imposed sanctions on Thursday (18th) on 29 vessels and their management firms, the Treasury Department said, as Washington continues targeting Tehran’s “shadow fleet,” it says exports Iranian petroleum and petroleum products.
The targeted vessels and companies have transported hundreds of millions of dollars of the products through deceptive shipping practices, Treasury said.
Thursday’s action also targets Egyptian businessman Hatem Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are associated with seven of the vessels cited, as well as multiple shipping companies.
Normalization? The Mecca Sermon No One In The West Wants To Hear – Dr. Edy Cohen
On December 12, the designated weekly preacher in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Imam Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid, asked God to punish the Jews, describing Israel as a “cruel Zionist enemy.” The sermon was broadcast on Saudi state television, spread on social media, and circulated via many Saudi-funded TV channels, reaching tens of millions of people.
The sermon is translated into dozens of languages and reaches Muslims who are not Arabs, including Turks, Indonesians, Pakistanis, and others. What are millions of Muslims supposed to think when they hear the Imam in Mecca vilifying and cursing Jews?
There are those who will argue that the crown prince did not authorize it. But the Saudi prince knows about every ant that moves across Saudi Arabia, and certainly knows about the most important weekly sermon. Mohammed bin Salman wants to cement his standing among Arabs, and his entry ticket is the Palestinian issue. He wants to be seen as an Arab hero, as someone who succeeded in bringing the Palestinians a state.
The Lebanon born writer, who served for 15 years in the Israeli intelligence community, is a researcher at the Israel Center for Grand Strategy (ICGS)
It’s Time To End The Cowardly Appeasement Of Radical Islamism – Allison Pearson
I’m sick of it, aren’t you? Sick of those hateful marches fouling up our cities since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Sick of the BBC and complicit politicians pretending there’s a moral equivalence between the death cult Hamas and soldiers of the IDF. Sick of police doing next to nothing as vile anti-Semitic chants fill the air. Sick of Jews feeling scared in this country they used to feel safe in. How about arresting, jailing or deporting the evil men causing the fear?
I’m sick of the appeasement of Islamism in general. Sick of kid gloves treatment for a touchy minority who makes people nervous. Sick of them relishing the power they hold over a political class which still clings to the myth of multiculturalism. Sick of Christmas markets being cancelled for reasons of “safety.” Sick of those ugly, hulking bollards put up in public spaces to prevent a car or truck being driven at a crowd. (We never needed them before, did we? We all know what changed.)
What is needed now is zero tolerance of anti-Semitism and the immediate arrest of anyone calling to “globalize the Intifada” – an incitement to murder, nothing less. The hate marches must be banned on the grounds of national security – we cannot allow British tolerance to go on being weaponized against us by the least tolerant men on Earth. Police and counterterrorism must focus their attention on the appalling jihadist threat that has been hidden from the public.
There must be a cast-iron understanding, inculcated in every single child at school, that anyone who moves to Britain must do as the Jews did. Adopt British values, become patriotic and show respect for the country. The UK must stop importing ideologies which are not only hostile to Jews and women, but which will eventually destroy us all. If it can happen at Hanukkah, don’t think Christmas is safe.
Reuven Morrison jumped up the minute the shooting started at Bondi Beach. A video shows the middle-aged man doing his best, armed only with a brick, to ward off the devil and protect his people. Defiant, ridiculously brave. “If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist,” his daughter Sheina said. Islamists do not see us as human. We must understand that, and we must be united against them. (Telegraph–UK)
