The US embassy in Israel warned travelers to avoid large gatherings and be aware of shelter locations, stressing that rocket fire or drone infiltrations can occur without warning.

(Israel Hayom via JNS)

The U.S. Embassy in Israel issued a new travel advisory on Saturday in light of recent developments.

In a message distributed to U.S. citizens, the embassy urged heightened caution and increased personal security awareness, advising the public to avoid large gatherings and demonstrations and to know the location of the nearest protected space in case of an alert.

The message also noted that security incidents—including mortar fire, rockets, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicle infiltrations—often occur without advance warning. “The security situation is complex and can change quickly,” the statement read.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

Images: People take cover as siren warns of incoming missile fired from Yemen in Jerusalem, March 20, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

Former operations officer in IDF Gaza Division: In the last two months, the terrorist group sought to rearm itself and prepare for the next round.

Yaakov Lappin

(JNS)

At 2.20 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning, the Israeli Air Force restarted large-scale action against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Included in the first batch of some 80 targets, struck in just minutes, were senior- and medium-ranking members of Hamas’s political regime and key military infrastructure sites.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the renewal of military action, while the Israeli government and security establishment coordinated the decision to resume operations against the terrorist regime in Gaza.

The decision followed Hamas’s repeated refusal to release hostages despite multiple mediation efforts, particularly those led by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Netanyahu. The renewed strikes mark a decisive shift in Israel’s approach, signaling both military escalation and political determination to achieve its war objectives.

However, JNS has learned, the renewal of Israeli military operations was driven not only by Hamas’s refusal to release hostages but also by clear intelligence indicating that the terrorist organization had used the ceasefire period to strengthen its military capabilities. During the two-month truce, which began on January 19, Hamas worked to rebuild its forces, stockpile weapons, and prepare for future attacks.

The Israeli response targeted mid-level Hamas commanders, senior figures in its political wing, and key terrorist infrastructure. The strikes were part of a sustained military effort designed to degrade Hamas’s operational capabilities while applying pressure to release hostages.

The timing of the operation was also influenced by intelligence assessments that Hamas was preparing new attacks. The group had been observed reinforcing its military positions and laying explosives along expected IDF entry routes.

These activities suggested a concerted effort to prepare for a new, cross-border attack targeting Israeli communities, prompting the IDF to act preemptively. The military operation is expected to continue as long as necessary, with the scope potentially expanding based on battlefield and diplomatic developments.

Hamas’s repeated declarations about its intention to conduct further attacks reinforced the perception that it was merely using the ceasefire as a tactical pause to prepare more murderous attacks against Israel. Israeli intelligence had been closely monitoring Hamas’s activities and concluded that its leadership remained committed to its goal of carrying out new large-scale operations on Israeli territory.

Given this assessment, waiting any longer would have allowed Hamas to further entrench itself. While the current phase of the operation remains focused on airstrikes, Israeli officials have indicated that a military escalation remains a possibility.  The IDF’s extensive aerial campaign was executed with overwhelming force.

A joint announcement by the IDF and Shin Bet intelligence agency (ISA) on Tuesday stated that they were “continuing to strike terror targets belonging to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations across the Gaza Strip. The targets struck over the past few hours include terrorist cells, launch posts, weapons stockpiles, and additional military infrastructure used by these terror organizations to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”

The strikes took Hamas by surprise. The scale and speed of the attack were designed to inflict maximum damage while minimizing Hamas’s ability to respond effectively.

According to a subsequent IDF-Shin Bet statement, the operation resulted in the elimination of senior Hamas officials, including:

• Essam al-Da’alis, head of the Hamas government in Gaza, and the most senior figure of authority in Gaza.
• Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed Abu-Watfa, Hamas’s minister of internal affairs and the head of its internal security forces, which the IDF said were also used for terrorist missions.
• Bahajat Hassan Mohammed Abu-Sultan, the head of Hamas’s internal security forces who engaged in terrorism.
• Ahmed Amar Abdullah Alhata, Hamas’s minister of justice, whose role included the use of Hamas-controlled legal institutions for terror-related purposes.

The targeted killings of these figures significantly weakened Hamas’s internal organizational structure and disrupted its ability to maintain governance and military coordination.

Col. (res) Yaron Buskila, a former operations officer in the IDF Gaza Division, told journalists in a call organized by the Jerusalem Press Club on Tuesday: “There were actually three objectives for this attack. The first one, and I think the most important one, is to removing the immediate threat of a Hamas raid on the Israeli positions or again on the Israeli villages. And we know about the threats. In the last two months since the ceasefire, the Hamas tried to arm itself again and to prepare for the next round.”

He added: “We had a lot of alerts that the Hamas is preparing to raid. It can be civilians who are working in the field next to the border, or against the Israeli villages.”

The second objective, said Buskila, “is to push Hamas again to  the negotiation table under the terms of the first round.”

Hamas is currently attempting to engineer negotiations in a manner that would allow it to remain as Gaza’s ruler and armed force and prepare a new Oct.-7-style mass assault on Israel, according to Buskila.

“We can never know when [Hamas will try to attack again]. And that’s one of the things that we cannot allow. We have to stay, leave our forces in the Philadelphi Corridor and go inside Gaza again to fight against Hamas, to make sure Hamas will not stay in Gaza anymore. Otherwise, they will just arm themselves again and prepare for the next raid.”

The third objective, Buskila said, is to remove threats to Israel such as explosive devices, rockets and anti-tank missiles that were planted by Hamas in Gazan homes, along roads which the IDF is expected to enter in a future ground operation.

Buskila stressed that “Israel is trying to exhaust as many ways as possible to free the hostages,” adding, however, that “it is clear to us that the Hamas will not release everyone without achieving its goal because they [the hostages] are only assets that they have in their hands.”

“So if you want to change the terms of the next negotiation, we have to get inside Gaza and to fight again, and to go back to the table with terms that are better for Israel.”

In a statement to the nation on Tuesday, Netanyahu said:  “Hamas refused offer after offer to release our hostages. In the past two weeks, Israel did not initiate any military action in the hope that Hamas would change course. Well, that didn’t happen. While Israel accepted the offer of President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, Hamas flatly refused to do so. This is why I authorized yesterday the renewal of military action against Hamas.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced this message during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase, southern Israel, declaring: “Hamas must understand that the rules of the game have changed. If it does not immediately release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open, and it will face the full force of the IDF—by air, sea, and land—until its total destruction.”

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the new IDF chief of staff, toured Rafah in the southern Gaza on Tuesday and reiterated the IDF’s commitment to securing southern Israel, telling troops: “Your mission is to protect the communities here. We are engaged in an ongoing operation against Hamas, alongside the IDF’s full obligation to bring back the hostages.”

At present, the operation remains an air campaign, but Israeli officials have made it clear that a ground incursion will follow if Hamas continues to refuse to change its position.

Image: Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, center, during a tour of the Rafah area in southern Gaza on March 18, 2025.
Credit: IDF.

“This is intended to protect the residents of the north, regardless of any future negotiations over disputed border points,” the Defense Ministry said.

JNS Staff

(JNS)

Israeli troops will remain at five strategic outposts in Southern Lebanon “indefinitely,” despite the launch of talks with Beirut over 13 disputed points along the international border, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.

“In a situation assessment held yesterday by Defense Minister Israel Katz, attended by [Israel Defense Forces] Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the head of the Operations Directorate, the head of Military Intelligence, the Home Front Command chief, and other senior officials from the IDF and the defense establishment, the defense minister clarified that the IDF will remain at the five key points controlling the buffer zones in Lebanon indefinitely,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“This is intended to protect the residents of the north, regardless of any future negotiations over disputed border points,” it continued.

“The defense minister instructed the IDF to strengthen and solidify its hold on the outposts and prepare for an extended stay at the five key points currently held by the IDF,” the ministry concluded.

The five outposts are positioned at dominant points that allow remote control, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported.

The posts are located outside Lebanese villages, as the IDF hopes this will prevent friction with the local population, per Kan.

The company-size posts, located within several hundred meters of the border, will be manned by hundreds of IDF soldiers.

The five outposts are located at a hill near Labbouneh, opposite the Israeli border town of Shlomi; on the Jabal Blat peak, opposite Moshav Zar’it; on a hill opposite Moshav Avivim and Kibbutz Malkia; on a hill opposite Moshav Margaliot; and on a hill opposite the town of Metula.

On Tuesday, Israel and Lebanon initiated negotiations toward settling the border disputes between the countries.

Representatives of the IDF, the United States, France and Lebanon agreed during a meeting in Naqoura in Southern Lebanon to establish three joint working groups aimed at stabilizing the region.

As part of these developments, and in coordination with the United States, five Lebanese detainees were transferred from Israel to the Land of the Cedars as a gesture of goodwill to Lebanon’s recently elected President Joseph Aoun.

Image: Defense Minister Israel Katz touring the Gaza Strip, Dec. 25, 2024. Credit: GPO

He rejected a Hezbollah-style model for Gaza in an interview with ABC News.

(JNS)

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed the idea that Hamas is prepared to lay down its arms.

“I don’t think so, and I don’t see any indication that Hamas is ready to disarm,” Sa’ar said in an interview with ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman on Tuesday.

Sa’ar emphasized that if Hamas were to agree to disarm, it would significantly alter the current conflict. “That would be a huge development—one that could change the entire equation. But up until now, they have been very clear and decisive that they will not disarm.”

Instead, Sa’ar said Hamas appears to be considering an alternative approach modeled after Hezbollah in Lebanon. “They are looking at a different approach, something similar to the Hezbollah model—allowing someone else to handle the ruins they left behind in the Gaza Strip while they remain the most powerful military force there. Their goal is to continue the war against Israel,” he explained.

Sa’ar firmly rejected this possibility, insisting that it would pose an ongoing security risk for Israel. “This is totally unacceptable. For us, there is no way to guarantee our security without the complete disarmament of the Gaza Strip—Hamas, Islamic Jihad, all of them.”

The Israeli government has repeatedly defined the dismantlement of Hamas’s military capabilities as a key war goal.

Image: Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar speaks to reporters at the ministry in Jerusalem, Jan. 13, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.