News Digest — 3/16/26
IDF Spokesperson: ‘The Regime Is Unstable, We Will Weaken It Further’
IDF Spokesperson BG. Effie Defrin Sunday evening (15th) delivered a statement detailing the objectives of the war against Iran and the ongoing military operations in the region.
“Our goal is to strike all components of the regime – together with the US military – in order to remove an existential threat to the State of Israel,” Defrin said.
According to the spokesman, Iran and Hezbollah have recently attempted to intensify rocket fire toward Israel in response to growing military pressure.
“In recent days, we have seen attempts by Iran and Hezbollah to increase the firing toward Israel. This is a direct response to our military pressure,” he said. “Our objective is to damage all of the regime’s systems and capabilities, and we are doing this ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with the US. “
Defrin stated that Israeli forces have already struck more than 700 targets connected to Iran’s missile array.
“More than 70 percent of the ballistic missile launchers have been taken out of service, and more than 80 percent of the air defense systems have been struck.” he said.
He added that the military campaign is progressing faster than initially planned.
“We are ahead of the original plan in the achievements of the war,” Defrin said. “We have an orderly and ongoing plan and we are deepening the damage, striking sites where Iran attempts to conceal its nuclear program. We still have thousands of targets in Iran. The regime is unstable and is hiding this from its own residents.”
Defrin emphasized that Israel’s military operations are not aimed directly at overthrowing the Iranian regime.
“Our objective is not to topple the regime, but rather create the conditions that will allow the Iranian people to take their country into their own hands,” he said. “We will continue to strike the Basij and the security forces and deepen our attacks on them. What the Iranian people choose to do is in their own hands.”
Reza Pahlevi Calls For Mass Gatherings Against Iranian Regime During Ancient Persian Holiday
“My compatriots,” Pahlevi began, “On the eve of Charshanben Suri, the anti-Iranian regime of the Islamic Republic, is once again attempting to prevent this ancient national ritual. But this year we will mark the holiday with solemn national pride in memory of the brave sons who have sacrificed their lives to reclaim our land and our national identity.”
Pahlevi called for mass gatherings worldwide in front of Iranian embassies, telling the followers to “shout with one voice that the Iranian nation will not rest until Iran is liberated and the Islamic Republic is consigned to history.”
He also urged US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “closely monitor” events occurring on Charshanben Suri, so as to prevent the Iranian regime from reacting with violence against protesters.
“Our message is clear,” Pahlevi said, “Our fire, the symbol of Iran’s light and purity, will triumph over the darkness of the Iranian-regime,” he said, and “cleanse the soil of our homeland from the criminal occupiers.”
Last year during the fire festival of Charshanben Suri, young Iranians turned a traditional celebration into a political statement. Fires burned across the country as young men and women jumped over the flames chanting, “Reza Shah, rohat shad!” in praise of the founder of the Pahlevi dynasty, who had previously sidelined the clerical class that now dominates Iran.
Many of the participants were unveiled women openly defying the regime’s strict hijab laws.
For Iran’s ruling mullahs, festivals such as Charshanben Suri have always been complicated as their ancient Persian roots stand in conflict with the Islamic Republic’s stance to define the country’s religion primarily through revolutionary Shiite ideology.
Hamas’ Secret Letter To Moijtaba Khamenei
Over the weekend, Hamas sent two letters to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Moijtaba Khamenei, one official and public, and the other secret,which Hamas tried to conceal at all costs, as revealed by Kan News.
According to the report, while the official letter was written in a diplomatic and vague tone, the secret letter presents an extreme militant, and operational line.
In this letter, Hamas makes it unequivocally clear that it does not intend to reach any agreement that would involve relinquishing its military capabilities. “We are aware of attempts to bind the hands of the resistance under the guise of agreements – the organization will not compromise its weapons under any circumstances.”
The secret letter emphasizes the need for a “”unification of the arenas” as a tool to defeat Israel. Hamas calls on Iran to deploy all “branches of the axis of evil” simultaneously. “All fronts must be activated to exact a price from the Zionists. We, together with our brothers in Lebanon, Tehran, and Iraq, will create the next victories under your leadership.”
The central message of the letter is a declaration of absolute loyalty to the Iranian leadership, expressing a willingness to sacrifice regional peace for Tehran’s interests.
Hamas does not spare its criticism in the letter for the moderate Arab states moving toward normalization with Israel. “The normalization camp is losing camp” the secret document stated. “They did not even dare to protect those who sought refuge in their bases.”
IDF Says Slain Brother Of Nichigan Synagogue Shooter Was A Hezbollah Commander
The brother of an armed man who rammed his truck into a reform synagogue and preschool in Michigan last week was a Hezbollah commander, the Israeli Defense Forces said on Sunday (15th), confirming earlier reports on the matter.
“Hezbolla commander Ibrahim Mohammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations within a specialized branch of the Badr Unit. The unit is responsible for launching hundreds of rockets towards Israeli civilians throughout the war,” the IDF said in a post on X.
His brother, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, carried out the Thursday (12th) attack, in Michigan.
The IDF said that Ibrahim was “eliminated in an IAF strike on a Hezbollah military structure.”
An unnamed official had told NBC News that the airstrike killed two of Ghazali’s brothers who were known to be members of the terror group,
Sources told CNN that Ghazali had been flagged in US government databases for connections to members of Hezbollah, but was not thought himself to be a member of the terror group.
Security guards opened fire on Ghazali after he rammed a truck through the doors of the Temple Israel synagogue and preschool in West Bloomfield, near Detroit.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office said during a news conference on Friday (13th) that ultimatelyGhazali finally shot himself after he got stuck in his vehicle and the engine caught fire.
None of the 140 children, teachers and staff inside the synagogue were injured, authorities said.
Arab States Fear Resurgent Iran, Desperate For US And Israeli Protection
Sunni Arab countries in the Middle East are increasingly concerned about the possibility of a resurgent Iran after the current war and want continued protection from the United States and Israel, according to information obtained by The Jerusalem Post.
Israeli officials say large-scale Iranian missile and drone attacks during the conflict have altered how Sunni states view the regional threat environment.
According to the IDF, the scale of the direct attacks has heightened fears among those governments that they could face similar strikes in the future.
Officials say those concerns are compounded by the perception that the United States has reduced its willingness to act as the primary security guarantor for those countries.
In that scenario, Israel could remain one of the few actors capable of helping counter potential future attacks from Tehran.
Iran has already targeted multiple Sunni-led states in recent confrontations, including countries that normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia has also faced Iranian attacks despite not being part of the accords.
Israel has maintained various forms of cooperation with countries outside the Abraham Accords framework.
Some of those activities occur through the US Civilian-Military Coordination Center under CENTCOM, while other contacts have taken place through clandestine channels involving the Mossad.
In earlier years, Israel acknowledged that former Mossad chiefs held meetings with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In September 2023, Mohammed bin Sallman said Israel and Saudi Arabia were close to reaching normalization.
However, the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, and heavy casualties in Gaza, caused Riyadh to back away from establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
Saudi officials said they prefer to revisit the issue with a different Israeli leader once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer in power.
Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that the current confrontation with Iran could prompt Saudi Arabia to reconsider its position, though disagreements over Gaza’s future – including Saudi support for the Palestinian Authority replacing Hamas – remains a major obstacle.
Israeli Foreign Minister :President Trump Sees The Security Situation As We Do – Amichai Stein
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the Jerusalem Post that “President Donald Trump saw, and continues to see, the situation exactly as we do. That was reflected in their joining the military action in June 2025. All the more so now.”
Sa’ar stressed that the definition of victory held by the Israeli government and the American administration is the same. “We don’t want to enter a new war every year or every two years. Therefore our goal is to remove the existential threats that Iran poses to Israel for the long term, not just temporarily.”
“Regime change may be a consequence of the operation; it does not necessarily have to be part of the military campaign itself. Our mission was to weaken the regime, particularly its repression forces in a way that creates the conditions that will ultimately allow the Iranian people , themselves to bring about that change”
“The regime has been weakened. And its level of operational readiness is declining… The strikes caused enormous damage to Iran’s nuclear -weaponization program, ballistic missile program, as well as targeting senior figures and various enrichment components. As a result, Iran has been pushed significantly further away from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“The reality of life… [is] that this regime does not change its nature. It has not changed its intention or its plan to destroy the State of Israel. Therefore, the long-term goal can be fully realized only when this regime is replaced by another. Otherwise, the threat could always return.”
The World Will Be Safer After This War With Iran – Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp
The Iranian Regime’s growing aggression had to be faced head-on. Trump’s goals were spelled out clearly from the beginning: to terminate Iran’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile program, including the development of ICBMs that could hit Europe and the U.S.
These objectives are being met in what has so far been a spectacularly successful campaign by the world’s two leading military powers working in a partnership unprecedented since the Second World War. As Pete Hegseth, the U.S.’ Secretary of War, put it: “Looking up, the IRGC and Iranian regime see only two things on the side of aircraft: the Stars and Stripes and the Star of David.”
Last week’s UN Security Council Vote condemned Iranian aggression by 13-0. Even Russia and China felt unable to stand by their ally and abstained. Even if regime change does not immediately result, the region and the world will be safer after the conclusion of this war. Until now the terrorist regime had been permitted to gain in strength and danger while Western leaders didn’t do much more than wring their hands and look away.
America and Israel have also shown they can suppress Russian and Chinese-supplied air defenses with ease, which is good news for all of NATO. This campaign has already achieved a huge amount, at relatively limited cost.
The writer, a former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, COBRA. (Telegraph-UK)
