I - On Defense Podcast

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 suspected arms for Hezbollah, to turnaround.
3. Ukraine President Pushes for NATO Membership of Kyiv-controlled Territory before Peace Negotiations.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country needed security guarantees from NATO and more weapons t...

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 jets struck military infrastructure in Syria near border crossings with Lebanon on Saturday, which the IDF said were being “actively” used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons.
3.  Hamas Ready for Negotiations with Israel.
Hamas is displaying increased flexibility in long-stalled talks for a...

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 deliveries to the Lebanese terror group, including by striking shipments anywhere in Lebanon or Syria.
3. President-elect Trump selects Retired Army General as Ukraine-Russia Envoy.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Keith Kellogg, a f...

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."
2. Le Monde Report: France & UK Discuss Support for Ukraine.
3. Top defense leaders from Germany, France, the U.K, Poland, and Italy met in Berlin on Mond...

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 counter Ukrainian First Person View (FPV) drones.
4. US and Allies discuss cooperation between Russia, China, N. Korea, and Iran at the Halifax International Security Forum (Canada).
5.  Finland Hosts NATO Artillery Exercise.
The 12-day military exe...

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 Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. The warrants effectively bar PM Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant from entering the ICC’s 124 member states. Israel and the US are not members of the court.
3. IDF conti...

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 linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it,” said Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood.
All other...

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: Hezbollah Accepts US-sponsored Ceasefire Proposal.
A top Lebanese official told Reuters Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah have agreed to a US proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, but have...

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 killed the top spokesman (Mohammed Afif) for the Hezbollah terror group.
3. US: Ukraine Can Employ Long-Range Weapons inside Russia.
The US Biden administration has allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into...

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 ceasefire deal. Senior Advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader (Ari Larijani) said Friday- that it (Iran) would support any decision taken by the Lebanese government and Lebanon’s “resistance” in current talks on a ceasefire.
3. Ukrainian President Zelensky said that the...