Weekly Israeli Bites

Good morning, and welcome to Weekly Israeli Bites.

In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces conducted precise strikes on military targets in Iran. Multiple missile manufacturing facilities, several surface-to-air missile arrays, and other Iranian aerial capabilities were struck.

The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil.

The attacks took place in multiple waves over several hours across different regions of Iran. The Islamic Republic closed its airspace during this time and appeared to lack the capability to respond effectively. Reports indicated strikes in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, and Shiraz.

At 6 a.m., the Israeli military announced that the operation had ended, with “all objectives met" and all aircraft returning safely. In connection with the recent Yom Kippur holiday, they referred to the campaign as "Days of Repentance.”

The military reported that dozens of IAF aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers, and reconnaissance planes, participated in this “complex” operation, located approximately 1,600 kilometers from Israel.

---

Arena overview

Northern Border

• The Paratroopers Brigade and Yahalom Unit Located and Destroyed a Strategic Hezbollah Underground Facility in Southern Lebanon

  The Paratroopers Brigade Combat Team has been engaged in complex targeted operations in mountainous and subterranean areas in Southern Lebanon for the past month. During a joint operation with the Yahalom Unit, the troops discovered and destroyed a strategic underground military facility built by Hezbollah over the past 15 years.

  The facility was over 1.5 kilometers long and stored equipment that enabled hundreds of militants to stay inside for extended periods. This included food supplies, beds, storage cabinets, electrical power, and an arsenal of weapons—including anti-tank missiles, rockets, RPGs, landmines, and numerous explosive devices.

• IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari disclosed that a bunker belonging to former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is situated beneath a hospital in Dahieh, southern Beirut, containing gold and cash worth half a billion dollars. According to the IDF, one of his bunkers was found underneath Al-Sahel Hospital, which serves as an emergency hideout. Hospital director Fadi Alameh informed Reuters that the hospital had been evacuated following Israeli assertions about the cash bunker. Hagari stated that Israel would not attack the hospital.

  

• The Israeli military conducted airstrikes on branches of the U.S.-sanctioned Al-Qard Al-Hassan bank in Lebanon, connected to Hezbollah. Israel claims the bank plays a vital role in Hezbollah’s financial operations and is instrumental in paying its operatives' salaries.

• Over the past week, IAF aircraft struck approximately 130 ready-to-fire launchers, some of which had previously been used by Hezbollah terrorists to fire toward the State of Israel.

  ---

Southern Border

• Hundreds of Gazan civilians were evacuated from Jabalya in northern Gaza on Monday after hundreds of terrorists had gathered there, turning the local population into human shields. Three weeks ago, the IDF encircled Jabalya to prevent senior field commanders from escaping.
  Since then, it has neutralized 300 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in close-range engagements. IDF sources say its recent actions have the potential to secure large geographical areas in northern Gaza, dramatically diminishing Hamas's control. Hundreds of terrorists surrendered over the weekend.

  Civilians in Gaza are being shot by Hamas terrorists while trying to evacuate from Jabalya amid a renewed IDF offensive, an Israeli paramedic said Monday. Cpl. Shai Gilboa told Israel's Channel 12 that a photograph of her tending to an injured Palestinian woman was the result of Hamas's attempts to prevent civilians from heeding Israeli orders to evacuate to designated safe zones during the fighting.

  

• Documents Expose 6 Al Jazeera Journalists as Terrorists in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad Terror Organizations

  The IDF has disclosed intelligence information and numerous documents found in the Gaza Strip confirming the military affiliation of six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations.

  The documents include personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists. These provide unequivocal proof that these individuals serve as military operatives for the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. These documents serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network.

  ---

Additional Arena

• Seven Jewish Israelis of Azeri origin were arrested for espionage for Iran, Israel Police announced on Monday. They gathered intelligence on sensitive military and infrastructure sites and identified potential human targets for Iran. Police officials said the suspects were motivated purely by financial gain and were paid hundreds of thousands of shekels, with payments routed through Russian intermediaries who traveled to Israel. The group's leader received orders from a Turkish intermediary and directed the others.

• Seven residents from eastern Jerusalem have been arrested for plotting attacks in Israel, which included plans to assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist and a mayor. The group's leader, Rami Alian, 23, was recruited by an Iranian agent. Alian confessed to investigators that he knew he was working for Iranians and aimed to jeopardize national security, referencing the conflict in Gaza.

  The cell had been operational for two years. They received various assignments for which they were compensated thousands of shekels, such as creating graffiti that demanded the release of hostages in Gaza, committing acts of vandalism in Jerusalem, and photographing several locations.

  ---