Report: Hamas increases training ahead of possible war with Israel
Hamas has increased its training in preparation for a possible conflict with Israel, defense officials warned on Sunday.
Military
The secret story of how America lost the drug war with the Taliban
As Afghanistan edged ever closer to becoming a narco-state five years ago, a team of veteran U.S. officials in Kabul presented the Obama administration with a detailed plan to use U.S. courts to prosecute the Taliban commanders and allied drug lords who supplied more than 90 percent of the world’s heroin — including a growing amount fueling the nascent opioid crisis in the United States.
Erdogan presses U.S. over F-35 jet sale
Fresh from a successful re-election campaign, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is flexing its newfound clout in the fight on Capitol Hill over acquiring cutting-edge U.S. military hardware.
U.N. expert: Israel moving closer to formal West Bank annexation
Israel has taken steps that could lead to the formal annexation of the West Bank, UN legal expert Michael Lynk said in advance of Monday’s United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
July 4 terror plot thwarted in Cleveland, suspect pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, FBI says
A man who pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda sought to kill members of the military and conducted reconnaissance in downtown Cleveland for a planned attack on July 4 — but the Independence Day plot was foiled after a months-long investigation, federal officials said Monday.
Golan Heights: Israel Deploys Tanks And Artillery In Warning To Assad’s Syria
Israel beefed up its tank and artillery deployment on the Golan Heights frontier with Syria on Sunday, cautioning Damascus’ forces to keep a distance as they sweep rebel-held areas over the border.
IDF chief in Washington to meet senior US defense officials
IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot landed in the United States for a work visit in the American capital on Thursday night, the army said.
Trump will demand of Putin a total Iranian exit from Syria — report
US President Donald Trump intends to demand from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a full Iranian pullout from Syria territory, making the subject a priority in talks between the two leaders planned for next month, the Arabic-language Al-Hayat newspaper reported Thursday.
At least 13 rockets launched from Gaza after army strikes Hamas cell’s car
Rocket sirens blared throughout the predawn hours of Wednesday morning in the Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza Strip as Palestinians launched over a dozen rockets at southern Israel after the military struck a Hamas vehicle in the center of the coastal enclave.
Russian jets strike rebel-held town in south Syria, Breaking Ceasefire Deal
Russian jets struck an opposition held town in southwest Syria on Sunday, opposition sources said, in the first air cover provided by Moscow to an expanding Syrian army offensive to recapture the strategic area bordering Jordan and the Israeli Golan Heights.
Israel’s Public Security Minister Hints at ‘Large-Scale Military Operation’ in Gaza Strip
Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Thursday that there is a ‘very high chance’ a military operation will occur in Gaza in the near future.
45 rockets launched from Gaza amid night of intense IDF, Hamas fire
Rocket sirens blared in the south throughout the early morning hours Wednesday, as barrages totaling some 45 rockets and mortar shells were fired toward Israeli towns, prompting three rounds of Israeli airstrikes on Hamas military sites in the Gaza Strip.
US Senate approves $500m for Israel’s missile defense program
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the US Senate yesterday allocates $500 million for Israeli missile programs and $50 million for a joint US-Israeli program for combating the tunnels threat.
President Trump directs Defense Department to ‘immediately begin the process’ of establishing ‘space force’ as sixth military branch
President Donald Trump declared Monday he will move to make a new branch of the military focused solely on space.
UN chief warns Gaza violence is close ‘to the brink of war’
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the escalation of violence in Gaza is ‘a warning to all how close to the brink of war the situation is,’ and he is urging Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers to recommit to the cease-fire that ended their 2014 war.
North Korea’s Kim visit Beijing; South Korea, U.S. halt military drill
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, where he will likely brief Chinese President Xi Jinping on his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last week, as Washington and Seoul agreed to suspend a major joint military exercise.
U.S. walks fine line with Kurdish allies by joining Turkish forces on patrol in Syria
U.S. and Turkish military patrols have begun operating in the highly strategic northern Syrian enclave of Manbij, heading off a feared clash between the two NATO allies but potentially leaving the Pentagon’s Kurdish allies in the region shortchanged once again.
Syria says US-led strike hits troops in east, US denies
Syrian state media reported Monday that an airstrike against pro-government forces in the far east of the country caused casualties, while Iraqi officials said 20 Shiite paramilitaries were killed just across the border.
Saudi-led coalition conducts air strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah airport
Houthi forces fought to keep control of the airport in Yemen’s main port city of Hodeidah on Sunday as Saudi-led coalition air strikes struck the compound, in an offensive that could be a turning point in the three-year conflict.
Netanyahu: Iran has brought 80,000 Shiite fighters into Syria
Israel has attacked Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militias in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, casting such actions as potentially helping to stem a Syrian Sunni Muslim refugee exodus to Europe.