News Digest — 3/3/26
Report: Israel Carried Out Ground Operation In Iran
Israel carried out a ground operation in Iran on Monday night (2nd) using Mossad and Special Forces, Al Arabiya reported.
The report, which quoted “sources” did not offer additional details. Israel has not commented or responded to the report.
Later on Tuesday (3rd) the IDF reported that an Israeli Air Force aircraft struck and thwarted a cell of operatives from the Iranian terrorist regimes’s air defense array as they attempted to operate systems against the IDF.
“The Israeli Air Force continues to strike Iranian ballistic missile launchers and fire on array sites that target Israeli aircraft,” the IDF stressed. “The IDF will not allow the Iranian terrorist regime to target Israeli Air Force aircraft and will continue to strike against attempts to arm missile launchers.”
Following the incident, the Israeli Air Force is continuing to strike live fire array sites, missile launchers and ballistic missiles.
Hezbollah Fires Rockets, Drones At Northern Israel, IDF Strikes Beirut‘s Dahieh
Hezbollah fired about 15 rockets from Lebanon toward the Golan Heights early Tuesday (3rd) and launched drones at northern Israel, as the Lebanese terror group escalated its involvement in the widening conflict.
Air raid sirens sounded in the Golan community of Ortal following the rocket fire. The IDF said the incident had ended and residents could leave protected areas. Similar instructions were issued in communities where alerts were triggered over suspected drone infiltrations.
Sirens sounded again minutes later near the Lebanese border in the Galilee Panhandle communities of Ghajar, HaGoshrim, Kfar Yuval and Maayan Baruch, warning of incoming rockets.
Overnight, the Israeli Air Force intercepted two drones launched toward the western Galilee, the military said. Sirens were activated in Zar’it, Shtula, Even Menachem, Netua and Shomera.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for what it called a “swarm of drones” toward Israel, saying the attack was in response to “Israeli aggression targeting dozens of Lebanese cities and towns including Dahieh,” a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The terror group said its response focused on military sites and described the attack as a legitimate act of deterrence.
Alerts warning of rocket fire and suspected drone infiltrations were also activated in Ramat Trump, Sha’al, Mitzok Orevim, and Kela Alon in the Golan, as well as Margaliot, Malkia, Yiftah, Dovey and Ramot Naftali in the Upper Galilee. A separate drone alert was sounded in the border village of Ghajar.
In response, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes overnight in Beirut’s Dahieh district.
Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen network, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported a strike in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Dahieh. The network said one of the targets was radio al-Mour, which is operated by Hezbollah. Earlier Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel said its building in Dahieh had also been struck by Israel.
The exchanges mark a further escalation along Israel’s northern border, a day after Hezbollah announced it had joined the war and carried out its first launches against Israel.
The Day Is Approaching For Iran’s Regime To Fall
A day after the deadly strike in Beit Shemesh that killed nine people, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene and said the day is approaching when the Iranian people will be able to overthrow the ayatollahs’ regime.
Netanyahu, who arrived in Beit Shemesh with Knesset Speaker Amit Ohana, said at the site, “Citizens of Israel. I ask you to follow the Hone Frond Command’s instructions – they save lives. They saved lives here many times. But unfortunately, not all of them, because there were people, regrettably, who were not inside protected spaces. I send my condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wish a full and speedy recovery to the wounded.. We will rebuild and build even more.”
Referring to the war with Iran, Netanyahu said: “We are on the third day of Operation Roaring Lion. We launched this campaign to remove the attempt to renew existential threats against us, and we also set out to create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny. The day when they can do so is approaching. We are bringing it closer. And when I say we, I mean us and our steadfast ally, the United States, and my very steadfast friend, President Trump. That day is approaching, and when it comes, Israel and the United States will stand with the Iranian people. It is important that the Iranian people stand with us – that depends on them. We will be there.”
He added, “Each day reveals anew the true face of the terror regime in Tehran. The terror regime fires at civilians, and we strike the terror regime to defend civilians. That is a vast difference. It exposes their barbarity. I have warned for many years that they threaten not only Israel, shouting not only “death to Israel” and “Death to America” – they threaten all the people of the region. Yesterday, they fired at large parts of the region. I said they would also fire at Europe, and indeed they did fire at Europe. If this regime of terror obtains nuclear weapons, it will threaten all of humanity.”
The strike in Beit Shemesh was the deadliest incident in the current round of fighting with Iran. Nine persons were killed – Sarah and Ronit Elimelech, Yaakov, Avigail and Sarah Biton, Yosef and Bloria Cohen; Oren Jatz and Gabriel Ravah – and dozens were wounded.
UP To 1,500 IRGC Members Eliminated In First Days Of War
Israel said it has inflicted heavy losses on Iranian security forces since launching strikes on Iran over the weekend, estimating that between 1,000 and 1,500 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian security bodies have been killed, according to an Israeli source quoted by The Jerusalem Post.
The source described the figure as a conservative assessment, noting that higher casualty estimates are circulating. The fatalities were reported in connection with Israeli operations carried out under Operation Roaring Lion, alongside the joint American campaign Operation Epic Fury which began Saturday (2/28).
Israeli military officials said the campaign has focused on regime-linked military, intelligence, and internal security infrastructure.
Since the start of the operations, facilities tied to the IRGC, the Basij militia and Iranian government institutions have been struck, the military said.
On Monday (2nd) Israel carried out a major round of strikes in Tehran, targeting what it described as internal security emergency bases, as well as installations used by the IRGC and the Basij.
The military confirmed that more than 10 headquarters associated with Iran’s intelligence Ministry were hit during the operation, along with positions belonging to the IRGC Quds Force.
In addition, the Israeli Air Force conducted strikes against surface-to-surface missile launchers, weapons production facilities, and other sites operated by the IRGC Air Force, according to the military.
The Israel Defense Forces released infographics on March 2, 2026 outlining the locations of Iranian Intelligence Ministry headquarters and additional IRGC facilities targeted in Tehran. The materials were issued by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
As operations continued, IDF Intelligence Directorate Chief MG Shlomi Binder held an intelligence assessment on Monday (2nd) with senior Intelligence Directorate officers, amid ongoing Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliatory missile launches.
“We could tactically surprise them, beginning at an unexpected hour and catching our enemies mid-gatherings. In 40 seconds , we eliminated more than 40 of the most important people in Iran…and we’re not finished,” Binder told the Post.
“Looking at the past two years of war, I believe we are sending a very clear message to the enemies that there is no place where we will not find them,” he added.
Israeli officials said that further operations against Iranian military and intelligence targets are continuing as part of the campaign.
The U.S. And Israel Are Busy Saving The World From Iran – Dan Illouz
For years gutless bureaucrats in Europe and at the UN have been begging Iran’s ayatollahs to play nice. On Saturday, (2/28) the U.S. and Israel finally ended that pathetic charade. We didn’t drop a few warning bombs on empty sand dunes. We went straight for the head of the snake.
And how did the “enlightened“ international community react to us taking out the world’s biggest bullies? They threw a tantrum. Within hours European leaders began demanding we stop the fighting and go back to the negotiating table. They are perfectly happy to let Iran build a nuclear bomb as long as it buys them a little temporary quiet.
The Jewish people learned the hardest lesson in human history. When a dictator promises to wipe you off the map, you don’t invite him to a summit. You stop him cold. Today Israel is not the helpless, stateless, Jewish people of the 1940s. We aren’t waiting around for the UN to rescue us.
We are incredibly grateful that President Donald Trump and the American military stood shoulder to shoulder with us to do the dirty work the rest of the world was afraid to do. By crippling Iran’s terror machine, Israel and America aren’t just protecting Jerusalem, we are protecting New York, London, and the rest of the free world.
The writer is a Member of the Israeli Knesset (Likud). (New York Post)
The Clasped Hands Of Israel And America – George F. Will
The Hamas paragliders, who were tentacles of Iran, began today’s war on Oct.7, 2023, igniting one of history’s most spectacular backfires. Iran’s regime and its terrorism multipliers, Hamas and Hezbollah have unintentionally magnified Israel’s security
And Iran’s regime, whose mantra since its inception in 1979 has been “Death to America,” is near death by the clasped hands of Israel and America.
The at least 30,000 protesters who perished in Iran’s streets in January did not die in vain. Iran’s protesters dramatically underscored the regime’s barbarism, so those who today regret the regime’s demise reveal their barbarism.
Some say that U.S. involvement in Iran constitutes a “war of choice.” That casually bandied phrase rarely fits untidy reality. Donald Trump’s administration has chosen not to wager U.S. safety on Iran’s abandoning its mullti-decads pursuit of nuclear weapons, or of Iran’s acquiring them but not really meaning “Death to America.”
For Israel, the death of Iran’s self-proclaimed genocidal regime was a choice only in the sense that Israel came to believe the regime when it called Israel a “one bomb country.”
In 1939 Adolf Hitler said a world war would mean “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.” Israel exists because Hitler meant that. Israel’s survival depends on forever thinking that nothing is unthinkable.
