A 2700- year-old watchtower from the time of biblical King Hezekiah was recently discovered at a military base in southern Israel by an excavation that included members of the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade and recruits from commando units working alongside the Israel Antiquities Authority. The actual location of the site cannot be revealed for security purposes.
The Israeli military this week conducted a massive exercise simulating war against the Hezbollah terror group — its largest drill in two years — in a first test of army chief Aviv Kohavi’s new strategy for the Israel Defense Forces.
‘The Israel Defense Force will continue and intensify its covert and overt efforts to thwart Hezbollah’s desire to undermine Israel’s security,’ GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Amir Baram said Tuesday.
Several anti-aircraft missiles were fired toward Mount Hermon from Syria on Thursday, the second such incident in under a week.
Syrian state media reported that Israel attacked the T-4 airbase near the northern city of Homs just after midnight Sunday, killing one soldier and wounding two others. A watchdog group said 5 people were killed.
The Israeli military said it bombed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery on Monday night that earlier in the day had fired at one of its fighter jets during a routine mission within Israeli airspace.
Israel and Hamas have denied reports that a Gaza ceasefire understanding had been reached that would ensure six-months of calm.
The Israeli military on Monday said it was testing a new, more exact incoming rocket alert system in the north of the country as part of a larger exercise taking place this week.
Nearly 50 Palestinian rioters were reportedly wounded in ‘Nakba Day’ demonstrations on the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Wednesday.
Israeli security forces and communities near the Gaza border prepared for thousands of Palestinians to take part in Nakba Day demonstrations along the security fence surrounding the coastal enclave on Wednesday, though these were expected to be tamer than last year’s Nakba Day clashes in which protesters attempted to breach the security fence, threw explosives at Israeli troops and, in one case, shot at soldiers.
The central gathering ushering in national Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror began at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Tuesday evening at 8:01 pm, following a minute-long siren and moment of silence. President Reuven Rivlin, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and police Commissioner Motti Cohen were in attendance.
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian on Sunday after a house in Ashkelon suffered a direct hit. The 58-year-old father of four is the first civilian casualty since 2014 Operation Protective Edge. Since Saturday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants fired more than 400 rockets at Israeli communities, the military said.
Over 90 rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip Saturday morning and Israel responded with strikes as a fragile ceasefire along the border again faltered.
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched at least two rockets into southern Israel early Thursday, the military said. The projectiles fell in an open area, and no injuries were reported.
The Israeli military deployed Iron Dome missile defense batteries throughout the country on Tuesday, following a rocket attack from Gaza the previous night and ahead of what is expected to be a sensitive next few weeks.
The new commander of the IDF’s Ground Forces said Thursday the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah was still planning to carry out a surprise invasion of northern Israel, despite the recent Israeli operation to uncover and destroy an extensive network of cross-border attack tunnels dug by the Iran-backed militia.
The Israeli Air Force conducted successful live-fire tests of its Patriot and Iron Dome missile defense systems on Tuesday, the military said.
Several parties were eagerly awaiting the tally of the soldiers’, diplomats’ and prisoners’ votes Wednesday morning, as a count of some 97 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s elections revealed they were very close to the 3.25-percent electoral threshold.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, just days before Israel’s general elections on April 9.
The Israel Defense Forces and American military on Sunday completed a four-week air defense exercise that saw the deployment of the United States’ most advanced missile defense system in Israel for the first time.