Israel’s Land Authority has launched an accelerated process to move military bases outside populated cities in central Israel after the war with Iran, Ynet reported. The move will also free land for the construction of about 60,000 housing units. According to the report, some plans have already been approved, including the relocation of the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. However, the plan was expected to be implemented in 2030 and has now been brought forward. The IDF intelligence base and the neighboring military college in Ramat HaSharon were scheduled to be relocated to Jerusalem and the south in 2027 but those plans have been brought forward as well. The decision to move bases out of cities in central Israel was made by the government in 2011.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and senior cabinet officials on Sunday were presented with harrowing medical profiles of the 20 remaining living hostages in Gaza — a grim briefing that will shape life-or-death decisions in the expected hostage-ceasefire deal now edging closer to agreement. According to details reported by Channel 12, ministers were shown deeply troubling medical reports on each hostage, highlighting widespread malnourishment, untreated chronic illness, severe mental breakdowns, and physical injuries suffered during captivity. The information, some of which was shared on air, underscored the near-impossible task of deciding which hostages should be prioritized for release in a staggered deal that could see some forced to remain in captivity for weeks longer.

Socialist mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani is facing another political firestorm after newly resurfaced tweets appear to defend notorious al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki — while pinning the blame for his turn to terror on the United States. In a series of eyebrow-raising 2015 posts, Mamdani, then 23, criticized the FBI for its surveillance of al-Awlaki, claiming that federal monitoring helped drive the radical cleric into the arms of al-Qaeda. “Why no proper interrogation of what it means for FBI to have conducted extensive surv. into Awlaki’s private life?” Mamdani wrote after reading a New York Times report describing al-Awlaki’s use of unsavory women despite his conservative religious preaching. “How could #Awlaki have ever trusted @FBI to not release surveillance esp.

President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed optimism that a new deal to release hostages held by Hamas could come together “during the week,” ahead of his scheduled White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas… during the coming week,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington following the July 4th weekend. He noted that the United States is “working on a lot of things” with Israel, including what he described as a “probably permanent deal with Iran.” Trump also repeated his earlier claims that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities during the recent 12-day Iran-Israel conflict. Netanyahu, departing for Washington on Sunday night, said he would meet Trump and other top U.S.

Israel’s Interior Minister Moshe Arbel on Monday permanently revoked the entry visa of Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss — the twisted American spokesman for the fringe Neturei Karta movement — after Weiss was photographed meeting Iran’s foreign minister in Brazil and praising Tehran. Arbel, invoking rarely used emergency powers under the Law of Return, barred Weiss from ever setting foot in Israel, declaring he “will not allow anyone who acts against the State of Israel and identifies with its enemies to enter it.” Weiss, 69, traveled this week to São Paulo to participate in events around the BRICS summit.

Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem reiterated Sunday the terror group’s refusal to lay down its weapons before Israel withdraws from all of southern Lebanon and stops its airstrikes. He spoke in a video address, as thousands gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashoura. Ashoura commemorates the 680 A.D. Battle of Karbala, in which the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, was killed after he refused to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate. In response to those who ask why the group needs its missile arsenal, Kassem said: “How can we confront Israel when it attacks us if we didn’t have them?

Israeli special forces carried out an operation overnight Sunday to arrest a terror cell activated by Iran’s Quds Force in southern Syria. This is the second time in a week that the IDF announced the arrest of an Iranian terror cell in Syria. The cell was actively planning an attack on northern Israel. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

A senior Hamas official admitted on Monday morning that the terror organization has lost 80% of its control over the Gaza Strip and that armed clans are filling the remaining void. In an interview with the BBC, the official said that Hamas’ command and control system has collapsed following months of Israeli attacks that destroyed the organization’s political, military, and security leadership. The official, who requested to remain anonymous, said that he was wounded in the first week of the war in October 2023 and retired due to health reasons. He painted a picture of Hamas’ internal disintegration. “Let’s be realistic here — there’s barely anything left of the security structure. Most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead… The active figures have all been killed,” he said.

A “shadow” top command was prepared for the first time by the IDF during the war against Iran—in case the Chief of Staff and top generals were wiped out by Iran, Ynet reported on Monday morning. According to the report, the shadow staff, headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Tamir Yadai, operated in a highly secret and secure bunker. The staff members, senior present and past commanders, were trained in advance and briefed on the full operational war plans. During the war, the shadow staff was disconnected from the regular communication infrastructure to protect against cyber and physical attacks. The shadow staff would have allowed command continuity if, chalilah, the Chief of Staff and army generals were physically harmed.

Maj. Gen. Tal Kelman, the former head of the IDF’s recently dissolved Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate, was among the combat pilots who took part in the Israeli Air Force’s intensive strikes inside Iran last month, according to a report by Walla News. Kelman, 57, had previously overseen Israel’s strategic planning against the Iranian regime and its nuclear program before the directorate, which focused on Israel’s Iran portfolio, was shuttered earlier this year by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. During last month’s Operation Rising Lion, Kelman is reported to have not only helped plan the offensive but also actively flown missions during the 12-day air campaign. Joining him was Maj. Gen.