News Digest —8/3/26
Earthquake Centered In Egypt Felt Across Central And Southern Israel
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Egypt early Monday morning (3rd), according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which added that the earthquake was at a depth of 10 kilometers.
Residents reported feeling the quake in central and southern Israel, with emergency alerts triggered on some mobile devices.
This past April, numerous residents in northern Israel reported feeling strong tremors in their homes.
Those reports originated from the Krayot area, Acre, Nahariya, and communities across upper and western Galilee, with residents describing moments of panic as furniture and walls shook for several seconds.
According to data from the EMSC, that previous quake registered at a magnitude of 4.5, centered in southern Lebanon between the cities of Tyre and Sidon, a short distance from the Israeli border.
IDF Confirms Explosive That Wounded Five Lebanese Soldiers Was From Hezbollah, Not Israeli Strike
The IDF confirmed on Sunday (2nd) that Hezbollah terrorists were the ones who deployed an explosive device, which ended up wounding five Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon.
According to the military, the explosive, which was run over by the Lebanese soldiers, belonged to Hezbollah, contrary to claims that the incident had been Israel’s responsibility.
The IDF further clarified that the incident occurred in the Kfara area of Lebanon, where Israeli soldiers had no presence.
On Sunday evening (2nd), the Lebanese Armed Forces said that five of its soldiers were lightly wounded after a “hostile Israeli strike” in the Kfar Kila area, southern Lebanon.
The initial assessment said that the explosion was the product of an Israeli strike, which happened while the soldiers were escorting several residents in town at the time of the reported strike.
Later in the day, Lebanon’s military walked back on the claim that they were hurt in an Israeli strike, while adding that the incident was the product of a “suspicious object.”
Israeli Doctors Debut Groundbreaking 3D-Printed Chest Implant
Israeli medical centers and technology companies are increasingly turning to 3D technology to tackle some of medicine’s most complex procedures, with recent breakthroughs ranging from personalized implants to laboratory-grown tissue and augmented reality-guided surgery, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Among the latest advances, surgeons at Clalit-Beilinson Hospital carried out Israel’s first reconstruction of an entire chest wall using a custom-made 3D-printed implant after removing a young woman’s sternum and sections of her ribs because of an exceptionally rare cancer.
The patient, identified only as Hadas and described as being in her twenties, underwent surgery after physicians found a tumor that had eroded her sternum.
Although the mass was initially believed to be a benign cartilage tumor, further evaluation identified it as a BRAF-altered mesenchymal tumor, an uncommon form of sarcoma documented in only about 20 cases worldwide in medical literature.
Because the cancer involved the center of the chest, the operation required removal of both the sternum and attached portions of the ribs.
Rather than building the area with conventional materials such as titanium plates, synthetic mesh, or bone cement, surgeons implanted a replacement tailored specifically to the patient’s anatomy.
The device was produced from PEKK (polyether ketone ), a high-performance carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, selected because its strength and flexibility closely resemble those of natural bone.
The operation lasted about two hours. After removing the diseased bone, surgeons inserted the customized implant through an incision beneath the breasts designed to limit visible scarring while restoring the chest structure.
The procedure reflects broader advances in Israel’s use of three-dimensional technology in medicine.
At Rambam Health Campus, physicians performed a pioneering transplant using a laboratory-grown 3D human cornea created from cell sources.
Israeli companies are also applying the technology in the operating room.
Augmedics’ xvision system projects real-time three-dimensional navigation images of the spine and pelvis directly onto a surgeon’s retina, while Beyeonics has developed digital surgical headsets that combine augmented reality with 3D imaging.
Three-dimensional printing is also being incorporated into orthopedic oncology, where patient-specific guides and plates help surgeons carry out complex bone resections and tumor removal procedures with greater precision.
As Defense Ties Deepen, Serbia Becomes One Of Israel’s Closest Allies In Europe – Jonathan Spyer
A recent conference at the National Assembly In Belgrade, in which I participated, cast a fascinating spotlight on an under-reported but significant component of Israeli foreign relations: the Jewish state’s flourishing relations with Serbia.
The connection has accelerated steeply in the nearly three years of war in the Middle East. At a time of deep strains between Israel and several European countries, mainly related to domestic opposition to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, the upward trajectory of the Jerusalem-Belgrade connection is of particular note.
The relationship is not without its complexities. Serbia’s close historic connections to Russia – and the desire of its president Alexander Vucic to maintain, at least in public, an equidistant stance in the emergent superpower contest between the US and China – place Serbia at a different point on the geostrategic map with regard to Israel.
But these details shouldn’t obscure the more general picture of growth and consolidation. The deepening ties have certainly been noticed by those opposed to them. UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, on her March visit to Belgrade, admonished the capital of Serbia for cooperating “without shame” with Israel by providing it with military supplies.
Israeli and Serbian leaders would no doubt take issue with Albanese’s stance that these actions are shameful. Still, the rapporteur was not imagining things Serbia played a vital role in the difficult first months of the Israel-Hamas war.
According to reporting by the Balkan Insight website, Israeli officials contacted their Serbian counterparts as early as October 8, 2023, with the Hamas assault only just contained and the military response still in early preparation. Their request was simple: ammunition. The Serbian response came without hesitation. The export order was cleared within four days, and the required munitions were on their way to the Nevatim air base outside of Beersheba.
As the Israeli ground offensive into Gaza began, the Serbian consignments kept coming. By mid-2024, Belgrade had exported a total of E16.3 million worth of munitions to Israel. In 2023, prior to October, the total of arms exported from Serbia to Israel was only E40,000.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a public statement in February 2024, following a telephone conversation with Vucic, expressed gratitude for Serbia’s “unwavering support, both in word and deed,” and described the Serbian president as a “true friend of Israel.”
In the subsequent two years, the value of Serbian arms exports continued to rise exponentially, increasing by 140% in 2025, reaching E114 million that year. Thirty-eight cargo flights carrying munitions reached Israel in 2025.
Israel remains mainly dependent on the United States for weapons provisions, of course. But the relationship with Serbia is an early example of the realization of Israel’s desire to diversify its supply sources, and develop relationships with peer countries in this region, rather than being exclusively dependent on a super power patron whose internal politics are undergoing a process of rapid change.
What does Serbia gain from the defense relationship? During the last three years, Belgrade has been able to advance the modernization of its military, thanks to the Israeli connection. Like Israel, Serbia also seeks to diversify its sources of defense equipment.
The relations with Israel enable Belgrade to draw tacitly closer to the West. Traditionally, Russia was Serbia’s main arms supplier. In recent years, China has acquired a significant role in the area of air defense and drones. The growing relationship with Israel, and also to a degree with France, enables Serbia to balance its orientation.
Israeli-Serbian defense ties are centered on a $1.6 billion deal with Elbit Systems. This five-year agreement includes a joint plan between Elbit and the Serbian state-owned SDPR company to produce long-and short-range reconnaissance and combat drones on Serbian soil. The agreement also contains provisions for the development of advanced AI-powered unmanned combat aerial systems, loitering munitions, long-range precision artillery rockets, and electronic warfare infrastructure.
In an earlier agreement, Serbia purchased Elbit Systems’ PULS multiple rocket launcher systems and Hermes 900 surveillance and combat drones.
In 2026, Belgrade and Jerusalem signed an agreement to facilitate intelligence and defense data exchanges, further deepening the relationship in the security sector.
Israel is currently solidifying an alliance with India, the United Arab Emirates, and Greece, at the center of which is IMEC – the India Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Serbia could potentially act as a significant inland transportation and distribution route from southern European maritime hubs further into Europe.
The growing connection has not gone unnoticed by regional rivals. Turkey, which has its own ambitions regarding the Balkans and trade routes to Europe, is watching developments carefully. Ankara is increasing its own defense relations with Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo, a matter of particular concern to Serbia.
The Children Hamas Chose To Weaponize – Mansoor H. Laghari
As a father, as a Muslim, and as someone who has spent much of my life advocating for human rights, I refuse to become numb to the suffering of children, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian. But compassion cannot replace honesty. Much of the international conversation measures this war by counting the number of dead children, while asking almost nothing about how those children came to be in the middle of a battlefield in the first place
One of the most uncomfortable truths is that Palestinian terrorist organizations have systematically recruited, indoctrinated, trained, and used children for military purposes for decades. This is not Israeli propaganda. It is documented by the UN, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Child Soldiers International.
The militarization of Palestinian youth has been institutionalized. For years, Hamas organized military-style summer camps where tens of thousands of boys learned weapons handling, tactical drills, ideological indoctrination, and military discipline. International law recognizes that the party deliberately embedding military assets among civilians bears responsibility for creating extraordinary risks to those civilians. As long as children are taught that dying for a cause is more honorable than living for a future, peace will remain painfully out of reach. Only when Palestinian children are freed from the grip of militant organizations will they truly have the opportunity to build the peaceful future they deserve.
The writer , born in Pakistan, is a US Army veteran, human rights advocate, and founder of the Global Youth Unity Project. (Times of Israel)
Proposed Gaza Plan Would Leave Hamas With Political Gains while Tying Israel’s Hands – Ron Ben-Yishai
The “road map” for implementing President Trump’s peace plan in Gaza published Friday (7/31) by the “Peace Board” is a vague declaration of intent rather than a binding agreement. The “road map” grants Hamas in Gaza the same status that Hezbollah currently holds in Lebanon.
This means armed political influence through Hamas members who will be absorbed into the new police force in Gaza, as well as behind-the-scenes management of central government institutions through Hamas officials who will retain their positions. All this will happen without Hamas bearing any responsibility for residents’ welfare, their safety or the provision of essential services.
The plan leaves Hamas as a force of power in Gaza and improves the personal situation of surviving Hamas operatives and commanders. The “road map” also speaks of opening a “credible pathway” toward a Palestinian state. This means Hamas has also secured a significant political and public-relations achievement that will allow it to expand its influence among Palestinians.
Hamas members who serve as police officers or receive weapons permits from the technocratic government will retain their personal weapons. By contrast, the militias and clans that cooperated with Israel and the IDF during the war and clashed with Hamas will be disarmed and will not be allowed to serve as officials in the new government.
Israel is on the giving side and Hamas is the one receiving. Israel is required to halt military operations, including the targeted strikes it is currently carrying out. According to the “road map,” the IDF will have no ability to address violations of the agreement by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, even if the technocratic government and the international stabilization force fail or refuse to deal with them. Israel will have no veto over who will hold senior positions in the new Gaza government and no right to conduct “hot pursuit” if Hamas attacks or fires a mortar shell toward Israeli communities. (Ynet News)
