News Digest — 7/28/26
Second Day In A Row: Drone Intercepted In Jordan Border Area
The Israeli Air Force intercepted a UAV in the area of the Jordan border early Tuesday morning (28th), the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The statement stressed that the UAV did not cross into Israeli territory. The origin of the launch is under review. No sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol.
The incident follows a similar occurrence on Monday morning (27th), when the IDF intercepted two drones in the Jordanian border region after they were detected by security forces. Neither aircraft managed to penetrate Israeli airspace.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the launch source for Monday’s incident also remains under investigation, and no alarms were triggered upon detection.
Initial details indicate that the interception took place near the border in the Dead Sea area.
A week prior, the Air Force intercepted another drone near the Syrian border. Despite the passage of time, the defense establishment has yet to determine the origin of that launch or identify the organization responsible.
However, security officials assess that militia forces in the region were behind the launch.
Netanyahu In US For Talks With Trump On Iran, Expanding ‘Circle Of Peace’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in the US on Monday (27th) ahead of talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington, where they are expected to discuss the situation with Iran, among several other issues, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed.
Netanyahu and Trump both arrived at the same time at Joint Base Andrews, a US military facility located in Maryland, near Washington, DC. However, they did not meet.
“We will discuss all the issues on the agenda, first and foremost, Iran. Naturally, our goal is to safeguard our security and also to expand the circle of peace around us,” Netanyahu said as he prepared to board “Wing of Zion.”
Netanyahu flew out from Nevatim Air Base instead of Ben Gurion Airport, where he typically departs for state visits, Israel media reported.
“From my experience as prime minister, during these complex times we must act with both great determination and great wisdom,” he stated.
“I am embarking on this mission with one clear goal, to ensure the security, strength, and future of our dear State of Israel,” he said.
“This will be the eighth meeting between the two leaders since Trump’s election for a second term,” Netanyahu said, “more than any other international leader.”
Netanyahu added that in addition to Tuesday’s (28th) meeting with Trump, he will also attend the memorial service of Lindsey Graham, who passed away on July 12 after a brief and sudden illness.
The meeting with Trump is scheduled for 11: a.m. and the Memorial Service will be at 2: p.m.
Palestinians Allowed To Work In Israel Again As IDF Lifts Ban Imposed Following Gilad Farm Attack
Palestinian workers are now permitted to work in Israeli West Bank communities, the IDF told military reporters on Monday (27th), following a ban imposed by Central Command Chief MG Avi Bluth on Saturday (25th),
“The return of Palestinian workers to communities in Judea and Samaria will be allowed, in accordance with the procedure for securing workers in industrial zones and communities,” the IDF said.
The lifting of the ban follows a weekend of violence in the West Bank, including a terror attack at Gilad Farm on Friday (24th) in which two Israelis were killed.
Prior to the attack, a group of Israeli civilians had illegally crossed into Palestinian Authority-controlled territory during a hike, leading to a confrontation with local Palestinians, with one opening fire on the Israelis, the military said.
The IDF arrested over 70 suspects on Saturday (25th) following the Gilad Farm attack after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a sweeping crackdown, including increased troop deployments, new checkpoints, and expanded counterterrorism operations.
On Monday (27th), the Israel Police said the terrorist’s father had been arrested and taken in for questioning, noting that there was no evidence suggesting the father was involved in the attack.
The IDF recently decided to increase its presence in the West Bank, with senior military officials describing the situation as “highly volatile and extremely dangerous.”
A security official warned on Sunday (26th) that the situation was “a snowball rolling down hill,” cautioning that “it will be difficult to stop.”
A large-scale operation against terror infrastructure and incitement is expected to be postponed until after Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, according to a senior security official.
Colombia’s President-Elect Reverses Israeli Policy, Moves Embassy To Jerusalem
Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is reversing Israeli policy and made declarations to move Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem.
First came the declarations, now the decisions come: As part of a broader shift in his country’s approach to Israel, President-elect Espriella has made two significant decisions concerning the Middle East.
As part of what he described as “strengthening our presence in places that offer strategic opportunities,” the incoming Colombian president decided to suspend plans to open an embassy in “Palestine,” while moving ahead with the reopening of Colombia’s embassy in Jerusalem.
The two decisions made in Latin America in the early hours of the morning Israel time, represent a complete reversal of Colombia’s policy toward Israel in recent years. Against the backdrop of the 2024 war in Gaza, Israel’s ambassador to Colombia was expelled along with the military attache, and diplomatic relations were downgraded. At around the same time, then-President Gustavo Petro announced plans for the ceremonial opening of an embassy in “Palestine” and appointed an ambassador who was posted to Ramallah.
The embassy was never opened, and the plan has now been definitively taken off the table. The move is a direct result of the change in government and the renewal of relations with Israel led by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Sa’ar recently met his incoming Colombian counterpart, and the two agreed that Colombia would open its embassy in August.
Israeli diplomatic officials have stressed the importance of strengthening relations with Colombia, which is also an influential member of the UN Security Council and has previously advanced resolutions against Israel. Colombia is a country of 50 million people with longstanding security ties to Israel. Israeli assistance was so extensive that it played a role in building the Colombian Air Force, officials familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom.
In recent years, Colombia was part of Latin America’s radical left-wing axis. The region is now undergoing a significant transformation, with a “blue wave” of right-wing governments that take a positive approach toward the US and Israel. Colombia is joining Bolivia, Honduras, Chile, Peru, President Javier Milei’s Argentina and Costa Rica.
Hezbollah And Iran Built Parallel School Networks To Radicalize Lebanese Youth
Hezbollah and Iran took advantage of a gap in Lebanon’s education system to create schools that can indoctrinate the next generation of martyrs and elite in their cause, according to a new report by Col. (ret) Jacques Neriah published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
Although Shiite religious leaders and political figures launched several initiatives to address the educational disadvantages experienced by Lebanon’s Shiite community during the Ottoman and French Mandate periods, significant changes in Shiite education accelerated during the second half of the 20th century.
Earlier efforts included the establishment of modern religious and social institutions, as well as the spread of secular ideologies such as Marxism, among segments of the community.
However, many Shiite communities, particularly in rural areas, continued to rely on traditional religious scholarship, where basic literacy and Islamic studies remained central.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran ultimately shaped Shiite education networks in Lebanon into pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iran institutions of radicalization.
Before Hezbollah was founded, Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi, now its former secretary-general, established the Imam al-Muntazar Hawza for Islamic Studies in Baalbek in 1979, with direct support from the grand ayatollah, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in Iraq and the Islamic Republic.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Iranian ambassador in Damascus, and it was announced that the Islamic Republic had contributed $35,000 and 10,000 Syrian liras toward the construction of the Hawza (Shiite Islamic Seminary).
Schools for the Shiite community operating outside of the state system began operating more rapidly in Lebanon’s south after the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty and the 1982 Lebanon War, which largely disrupted the Secular Left, the report noted.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was quick to take advantage of the situation.
Throughout the 1980s, Iranian funding was channeled to Shiite religious schools, alongside rhetoric surrounding “Hezbollah’s students” and “educational mobilization.”
By 1997, there were 198 schools benefiting from Iranian funds in West Beirut and the suburbs.
Mobilization schools were specifically created to prepare the ground for a coup against the Lebanese state, according to the report, and students were prepared with the skills needed both for the modern economy and the ideology to further Hezbollah’s interests.
The Al-Mahdi and Al Mustafa schools were later credited by the now-assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with shaping the next generation of terrorists.
“We will continue expanding and developing these schools horizontally, vertically, and geographically, as they are deeply tied to our faith and jihadist mission,” he had said during an address commemorating the anniversary of the opening of the Al-Mahdi schools.
Notably, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s current secretary-general, was one of the founders of the Al-Mustafa school network. He has written that the school’s educational objective is to “create an identity linking knowledge, jihad, education, and faith in service of the resistance, the homeland, and the nation, as preparation for the Imam Mahdi state.”
“The Hezbollah-affiliated” Schools of the Islamic Foundation for Education and the Islamic Religious Education Association” adapted programs that promoted images of ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei as role models.
The schools also ensured that the lessons taught were aimed at raising a generation of Hezbollah loyalists.
Even as of 2026, the report noted that Hezbollah was estimated to oversee at least 22 schools and 47,000 students, with far more under affiliated networks.
The Al-Mustafa schools are specifically designed to target the Shiite middle and upper-class, along with the children of senior party officials, to produce the next generation of the group’s elite who will represent Hezbollah in the professional sphere, the report claimed.
Directed by the Islamic Religious Education Association, the schools aim is to compete with the state curriculum while offering an “Islamic alternative” under the direct supervision of Hezbollah leaders such as Qassem.
The Al-Mahdi network, which operates under Hezbollah’s Executive Council’s education unit, is made up of at least 17 schools, including both elementary and high schools.
These schools focus on mobilizing the next generation of Hezbollah, emphasizing the concepts of self-sacrifice and martyrdom, according to the report.
The institutions are designed to transform the Shiite community into a disciplined, ideologically uniform base, ensuring that the party’s survival is anchored in the minds of the next generation,” Meriah assessed.
Hezbollah views education not merely as a social service or an academic pursuit, but as a primary pillar of societal engineering and the building of what they term “a society of resistance.”
Both Al-Mahdi and Al-Mustafa schools are heavily subsidized, allowing them to meet the legal requirements of the state while maintaining their “parallel curriculum” designed for ideological and religious indoctrination, the report continued.
This allows students to be taught the concept of “the Guardianship of the Jurist”, which gives the Islamic regime ultimate authority.
From as young as age five, children’s physical activities in the schools mimic military training and operations.
The report underlined that while standard schools shield children from violence, Hezbollah’s network actively seeks to normalize it.
In these schools the report noted that textbooks and classroom activities normalized and glorified martyrdom, “resistance,” and hatred toward Israel and the West.
The Mahdi Magazine, given to children ages four to 17, further strengthens these lessons taught in class with comics featuring stories of armed struggle.
The Lebanese national anthem is rarely heard, with the song “Salam Ya Mahdi” taking its place, a hymn that pledges allegiance to the Shiite Iranian cause. This is sung daily to further separate children from their Lebanese identity, Neriah said
