I - On Defense Podcast

For review: 1. Israel to send Team to Qatar for Hostage Negotiations. The Prime Minister’s Office said that “Netanyahu authorized a working-level delegation from the Mossad, Shin Bet and IDF to continue negotiations in Doha.” 2. IDF Releases Details from September 2024 Commando Raid in Syria.  The raid — dubbed internally by the Israel Defense Forces “Operation Many Ways” —  was aimed at destroyin...

For review: 1. US CENTCOM Forces Strike Houthi Rebel Targets. On Dec. 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).  2. Israeli Ambassador (Danny Danon) to UN Gives Last Warning to Houthis.  “To the Houthis, perhaps you have not...

For Review: 1. Details Released on the Haniyeh Assassination. 2. IDF Operations from Neztarim Corridor. 3. Finland Seizes Tanker from Undersea Cable Incident. 4. Finland to increase defense spending to 3.3% GDP by 2032. Currently, Finland spends 2.4% of GDP on defense- well above the NATO mark of 2%.  5. China's Amphib Assault Ship Can Launch & Recover Fighters.

For review: 1. Another Round of IDF Strikes on Houthi Targets. The targets included “infrastructure used by the Houthi terror regime for its military activities” at Sanaa International Airport, and the Hezyaz power plant just outside the Houthi-controlled capital.  2. Mossad Chief: We Need to Go Head to Head with Iran. 3. Slovakia to Procure Barak Air Defense Systems. 4. Report: Russian Naval Vess...

For review: 1. Israel Opposition Leader: Target Iran Directly. Faced with Houthi attacks from Yemen and dangers posed by other Iranian proxies, Israel “must target Iran directly,” opposition politician Benny Gantz declared on Monday. Mr. Gantz stated that “the solution to putting an end to the attacks lies in Tehran.” 2. US President-elect Donald Trump stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin...

For review: 1. US Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen. 2. US Navy F/A 18F Super Hornet Downed by friendly fire over the Red Sea. The Super Hornet, assigned to aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), was flying over the Red Sea when guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG-64) fired upon it, according to the CENTCOM statement. The two pilots ejected safely, and were recovered.  3. Israel Turns...

For review: 1. Israel Strikes Houthi Ports, Depots, & Power Stations. Fourteen fighter jets, alongside refuelers and spy planes, flew some 2,000 kilometers in the early hours of Thursday morning and dropped over 60 munitions on Houthi “military targets,” the IDF said. 2. Russian President Putin addresses country during four-hour news conference- with broad range of topics. The news conference...

For review: 1. Israeli PM visits Mount Hermon on Syrian Side. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that Israeli troops would remain stationed inside Syria for the foreseeable future. 2. New Syrian Leader (Abu Muhammad al-Julani) speaks with journalists- presents moderate proposals and ideas for new Syrian State. Speaking to journalists at the prime ministerial headquarters in Dam...

For review: 1. Israel - Hamas Potential Hostage Deal in Two Weeks. An unnamed Israeli official told the Israel Hayom daily on Sunday that a ceasefire-hostage deal will likely be completed by Hanukkah, which begins this year on the evening of December 25. 2. Hezbollah leader (Naim Qassem) acknowledges that the supply route from Iran- through Syria- to Lebanon, has been cut. “Yes, Hezbollah has lost...

For review: 1. With lowered air defense threat in Syria, "air road" to Tehran less dangerous to Israeli Air Force. According to the IDF, the IAF destroyed 86% of the former Assad regime’s air defense systems across Syria, totaling 107 separate air defense components and another 47 radars. 2.  IDF Will Remain on the Syrian Side of Mount Hermon During Winter. Defense Minister Israel Katz s...

For review: 1. In 48 Hours - IDF Destroys 70-80% of Assad Regime's Strategic Weapons.  The airstrikes destroyed many long-range projectiles, Scud missiles, cruise missiles, coast-to-sea missiles, air defense missiles, fighter jets, helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars and more. 2. Poland PM: Russia - Ukraine Peace Talks This Winter. Peace talks to end the war in Ukraine could begin this winter...

For review: 1. IDF Deploys into Buffer Zone with Syria & Controls Strategic Mount Hermon. On Sunday, the IDF captured the Syrian side of strategic Mount Hermon, along with a buffer zone that has existed between the countries since the 1970s. The 235-square-kilometer demilitarized buffer zone was established in the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, which concluded the Yo...

For review: 1. Qatar Returns as Mediator Between Israel & Hamas. Unnamed source confirmed to The Times of Israel that Doha had quietly resumed its role as a mediator at the behest of officials from US President-elect Trump’s transition team. 2. Syrian rebel forces are closing in on the capital Damascus from the north, east, and south. CNN reported Saturday that the US was increasingly believin...

For review: 1. Egypt Proposals Hostage Deal to Hamas - Israel Open to Discuss. Reportedly, the proposal is not for an end to the war, but an extended ceasefire that will allow the elderly, children, women, ill and badly wounded hostages to be released.  2. Israel Cautiously Observes Fighting in Syria. Statement from IDF: “The IDF will not allow a threat near the Syrian-Israeli border and will act...

For review: 1.  Israel Alert for Iranian Weapon Transfers to Hezbollah. The IDF on Monday said it would ensure Iran does not smuggle weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon as the Islamic Republic sends reinforcements to its ally Syrian President Bashar Assad to counter an ongoing rebel assault. 2. NATO Sec General Talks Ukraine Negotiations. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte: "The front i...

For review: 1.  Israel Plans for Northern Border Communities Return. Northern border residents will not be asked to return to their homes until February 1, 2025, despite the ceasefire. At that point, assuming the truce has been held, those who return immediately will receive a grant based on the size of their household. 2. Over Syria and Iraq, Israeli Air Force forces Iranian aircraft, with suspec...

For review: 1. US General to Beirut for Ceasefire Implementation. US CENTCOM announced that Major General Jasper Jeffers, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), would oversee the implementation and monitoring mechanism of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, alongside his co-chair, US Mideast envoy Amos Hochstein. 2. IDF Continues to Strike Hezbollah Targets in Syria. Israeli Air Force fighter j...

For review: 1.  IDF Strikes Hezbollah in S. Lebanon after Ceasefire Violation. IDF Fighter jets struck a Hezbollah facility, which was used to hold medium-range rockets, after identifying activity there. 2. Israel warns Syria of allowing weapons transfers from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces has said that amid the truce it would continue to act to prevent all weapon deliver...

For review: 1.  Israel and Hezbollah Ceasefire to Begin at 0400 Local Time. Israeli PM Netanyahu said there were three reasons for accepting the ceasefire now. “The first is to focus on the Iranian threat, and I won’t elaborate,” he said. The second was to allow troops to rest and to replenish weapon stores. The third reason, he said, is to delink the northern and southern fronts and isolate Hamas...

For review: 1. Israel Agrees to US-backed Ceasefire in Lebanon (In Principle). 2. Russian President (Vladimir Putin): Oreshnik Missile in Production. The Russian President said that Moscow would carry out more tests of the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in “combat conditions- and the missile will be put into serial production. 3. Russia equips quad-copter drone with flamethrower payload to...

For review: 1. IDF kills Hezbollah Commander in Syria that participated in the attack on US Forces in Karbala, Iraq in 2007.  2. US Rejects International Criminal Court (ICC) Warrants for Israeli PM & Former Defense Minister. The White House said Thursday that it “fundamentally rejects” the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya...

For review: 1. Hamas officials have left Qatar for Turkey, but still maintain their office. Turkey confirmed on Monday that Hamas’s key foreign leaders are in Ankara while insisting that it has not opened an office for them. 2. US Vetoes UN Security Council Ceasefire Resolution for Gaza. “A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably l...

For review: 1. Hamas to leave Qatar for Turkey?  An Arab Diplomat told the Times of Israel  on Sunday that senior members of Hamas’s leadership abroad left Qatar last week for Turkey,  A Turkish diplomatic source on Monday dismissed reports that Hamas had moved its political office to Turkey, adding that members of the Palestinian terror group only visited the country from time to time. 2. Report:...

For review: 1. Qatar suspends its' mediation role between Israel and Hamas. Hamas refrains from appointing a sole successor to the organization- instead choosing to use a 5-member committee approach, until leadership elections in March 2025. 2. Top Hezbollah Spokesman Killed in IDF Airstrike. An Israeli airstrike on a building in a central neighborhood of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday...

For review: 1.  During 26 October Strike - Israel Hit Undeclared Iranian Nuclear Site. The Israeli strike on Parchin, destroyed sophisticated equipment used to design the explosives that could surround uranium in a nuclear device, significantly damaging Iran’s efforts to resume its nuclear weapons research. 2. As IDF continues attacks in Beirut and Southern Lebanon, Iran signal support for ceasefi...