Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Is the IDF prepared for Palestinian violence this weekend?

With a violent week behind it, Israel’s security establishment is bracing for thousands of Palestinians to riot across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, marking Land Day and the one year anniversary of The Great Return March demonstrations along the Gaza front.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called on “our Palestinian people in Gaza, the occupied West…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Uneasy calm settles on Gaza border region after night of rockets, IDF strikes

Residents of southern Israel woke to a tense but relatively quiet morning Tuesday, following a night in which over 60 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip and the IDF struck dozens of targets in the Palestinian territory.

After firing around 30 rockets and mortar shells at Israel Monday evening, the Hamas terror group said it had accepted an…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF blames Hamas for rocket that hit Israeli home, sends troops to Gaza border

The Israeli military deployed two additional brigades to the Gaza region and called up reservists for air defense units following a rocket attack that struck a home in central Israel, injuring seven people, including two infants.

IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis said the rocket was fired from a Hamas launchpad in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. He…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF hits more than 100 Hamas targets in Gaza after rockets fired at Tel Aviv

Israeli war planes hit over 100 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in a night of strikes after two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv for the first time since the 2014 war, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The strikes came after an urgent late night consultation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chiefs in Tel Aviv. “Decisions were…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF helicopters pound Hamas positions in response to explosive balloon

IDF attack helicopters hit two positions of the Hamas terror group in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday in response to an explosive device that was carried into Israel by balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave, the army said.

It was Israel’s fourth retaliatory airstrike against the terror group in the past three days.

On Sunday night an…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel’s Secret Founding Fathers

Late on the night of Nov. 11, Hamas soldiers in southern Gaza stopped a van near the town of Khan Yunis. Inside were a group of Arabic-speaking men and women who said they were aid workers. The soldiers were suspicious. When the passengers understood that they couldn’t talk their way out, they dropped the pretense and drew guns. In the ensuing…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF arrests 12 suspected terrorists, finds assault rifles

Two Carlo-type sub-machine guns and a truck were seized during overnight raids conducted by the IDF, Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency), Border Police and Israel Police in a special joint operation, the IDF Spokespersons Office announced.

Twelve wanted persons suspected of involvement in terrorist activities and violent disturbances against…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli navy to be equipped with worlds most advanced 3D radar

ELTA Systems was awarded a contract to supply the Israel Navy four of the world’s most advanced radar systems for the new Sa’ar 6 warships, the company announced Tuesday.
The ELM-2248 MF-STARs multi-function digital radar systems produced by ELTA Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, are based on the latest Active Electronically…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Soldier injured in Gaza clashes identified as Yoadd Zaguri of Los Angeles

An Israeli soldier injured in clashes along the Gaza border was identified on Monday as Yoadd Zaguri, a lone soldier from Los Angeles.

Zaguri, an infantryman in the army’s Nahal Brigade, was moderately wounded Sunday after an improvised explosive device was thrown at troops during rioting in northern Gaza.

He was hospitalized at Ashkelon’s…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israeli airports fend off 3 million attempted attacks a day, cyber head says

Israel’s Airports Authority, in charge of the nation’s international and domestic airports and its land border crossings, has to block three million attempts to breach its systems a day, mostly by bots, the head of cyber and information security at the authority, Roee Laufer, said.

In an interview with The Times of Israel and other reporters at…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

‘From the north to the south we are ready’ for war: IDF officer

With tensions high along Israel’s northern border, soldiers from the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade are completing a large-scale drill simulating war with Hezbollah.

“This drill simulated what will need to be done during a war with Hezbollah,” Maj. Tsur Goldman of the 401st Armored Brigade told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

While most drills take…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

At farewell ceremony, PM salutes outgoing IDF chief for fighting Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lauded outgoing army chief Gadi Eisenkot for blocking Iran and its proxies on four fronts during his tenure as commander of the Israel Defense Forces.

Speaking at a farewell ceremony attended by a bevy of senior political and defense officials, Netanyahu said the general also succeeded in instituting a…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

IDF: With explosives and ‘liquid,’ cross-border tunnels from Kafr Kila destroyed

The IDF on Thursday said it had destroyed all of the attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila into the northern Israeli border town of Metulla.

The army released photos and video footage that it said proved “without a doubt” that the tunnels were dug from Lebanon into Israel. It also revealed some of its…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Lt. ‘Yod’ to become first Ethiopian-Israeli air force pilot

Lt. “Yod” will become the Israeli Air Force’s first pilot of Ethiopian heritage upon completing the military’s prestigious pilots course later this week, the army said Tuesday.

As with all pilots, the airman’s name cannot be released out of security concerns. He can only be referred to by his rank and the first Hebrew letter of his name.

On…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

PM visits bus stop where soldiers were killed, pledges terrorists will be caught

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday visited the Givat Assaf Junction in the West Bank where two IDF soldiers were killed in a terror attack last week and vowed that the military would catch the perpetrators.

“As you have heard, the manhunt is in full force. Over the weekend there were 100 arrests, yesterday 36. It is only a question…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Hundreds clash with Israeli forces north of Ramallah

More than a hundred Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israel forces north of Ramallah at the DCO area. The IDF and Border Police used tear gas and a bulldozer during the clashes which comes in the wake of the drive by shooting attack that killed two soldiers yesterday.

The demonstrators blocked a road leading from Al-Bireh to the DCO…

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Cabinet confirms Aviv Kochavi as Israel army’s 22nd chief of staff

The cabinet officially voted to confirm Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi for the position of Israel Defense Forces chief of staff on Sunday. He is scheduled to take over the position on January 15.

Kochavi, the former head of Military Intelligence and the Northern Command, and the current deputy chief of staff, will be the 22nd commander of the IDF.

Israel Defense Force (IDF)

Israel holds major drill to practice fighting Hamas and Hezbollah simultaneously

The Israeli military’s Commando Brigade launched a large-scale exercise this week to practice fighting the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip and the Hezbollah terrorist militia in Lebanon simultaneously, the army said Saturday. The drill is continuing into this week.

In the past, Israeli defense analysts have speculated that concerns over the…