(Reuters) Speaking at the White House on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I think the Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us. That means sovereign power, like overall security, will always remain in our hands." "After October 7th, people said the Palestinians have a state, a Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn't build it up. They built down into bunkers, into terror tunnels, after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns, our kibbutzim, and did horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn't see since World War Two and the Nazis, the Holocaust. So people aren't likely to say, 'Let's just give them another state.' It'll be a platform to destroy Israel." "We will work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don't want to destroy us, and we will work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands. Now people will say, 'It's not a complete state, it's not a state, it's not that.' We don't care. We vowed: never again. Never again is now. It's not going to happen again."

(BBC News) Rushdi Abualouf - A lieutenant colonel in Hamas's security forces has told the BBC the group has lost about 80% of its control over Gaza and that armed clans are filling the void. He said Hamas's command and control system had collapsed due to months of Israeli strikes that have devastated the group's political, military and security leadership. In several voice messages, he painted a picture of Hamas's 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. "Hamas's control is zero. There's no leadership, no command, no communication. Salaries are delayed, and when they do arrive, they're barely usable. Some die just trying to collect them. It's total collapse." Six armed groups affiliated with powerful local clans have emerged as serious contenders to fill the void. These groups have access to money, weapons and men, and are active across all of Gaza, but mostly in the south. One of them is led by Yasser Abu Shabab. Sources in Gaza told the BBC that Abu Shabab was working to co-ordinate with other armed groups to form a joint council aimed at toppling Hamas.

(Reuters) Renee Maltezou - Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility on Monday for a drone and missile attack on a Greek-operated bulk carrier in the Red Sea on Sunday, saying the ship had sunk. The attack was the first such incident since mid-April. The raid involved gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from eight skiffs as well as missiles and four uncrewed surface vessels. The 19 crew and three armed guards were forced to abandon the Liberian-flagged Magic Seas, which was carrying iron and fertilizer from China to Turkey, having nothing to do with Israel.

(Irish Examiner) Liz Dunphy - Iran and Hizbullah worked with the Kinahan cartel in a foiled plot to traffic more than 2.2 tons of cocaine through Irish waters, authorities believe. Two Iranians were sentenced on Friday for their involvement in a drug trafficking operation on the MV Matthew, in the biggest seizure of cocaine in Ireland's history. Saied Hassani, 39, a third officer, and the former captain of the MV Matthew, Soheil Jelveh, 51, are believed to have direct links to Hizbullah. The ship loaded its cocaine cargo in Venezuela.

(Ynet News) Yoav Zitun - Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded, two of them seriously, on Monday night near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The soldiers were moving on foot when a series of explosive devices detonated. As wounded soldiers were being evacuated, the rescue team came under fire in what officials described as a coordinated ambush by Palestinian terrorists. Since the start of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza in late 2023, 446 Israeli soldiers have been killed, in addition to the 442 soldiers killed on Oct. 7.

(Ynet News) Lior Ben Ari - The IDF launched a series of airstrikes Sunday night on Houthi targets in Yemen. The strikes targeted key terror infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, As-Salif and Ras Isa. Additional targets included the Ras Khatib power station and the Galaxy Leader, a ship hijacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea in 2023 and repurposed for terror activity.

(Ynet News) The Israeli airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday night included the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, which was hijacked by the Houthis at sea in November 2023. The freighter was reportedly owned by an Israeli businessman, but officials in the Prime Minister's Office clarified that the ownership belonged to a British company operated by a Japanese firm, with crew from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines and Mexico - and no Israelis. The 25 crew members were released only 14 months after the hijacking. The IDF said, "Houthi terrorist forces installed radar systems on the ship and use it to track vessels in international waters to advance Houthi terror activity." The vessel was also turned into a "tourist attraction," drawing crowds who arrived by small fishing boats and stepped on American and Israeli flags while Houthi music played over loudspeakers.

(Jerusalem Post) The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) slammed Reuters for claiming it proposed building camps called "Humanitarian Transit Areas" inside Gaza. GHF said it had informed Reuters that it had never seen, created, or been involved in such a plan prior to its publication. "It is disturbing that they falsely reported this disinformation despite repeated denials. Our sole focus remains on scaling up food aid operations to meet the urgent and overwhelming needs of the population in Gaza," GHF said.

(Ha'aretz) Oded Yaron - U.S. military aid to Israel is funding infrastructure to accommodate the Israel Air Force's new refueling aircraft and helicopters, as well as a new headquarters for the Israeli army's naval commando unit, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $250 million construction program includes new facilities at military bases, including clinics, naval piers, headquarters for different units, and ammunition storage sites.

(Jerusalem Post) Israel's Mossad has an "extensive network" of spies operating in Iran, former Israeli intelligence officer Oded Ailam, 71, told the German newspaper Bild in an interview last week. He said only 40% of its population of 90 million are Persian. "This makes it extremely difficult for the government to control the people." Kurds, Turkmen, Baluchis, and Azeris can all be recruited to turn on the regime. "There are many dissatisfied people in Iran. Large parts of society are impoverished. While Iran sits on huge gas reserves, instead of investing this money in their own country, the mullahs have poured billions into terror organizations like Hizbullah. There is also the fact that Iran is a large country with borders that can't always be monitored, making it possible to smuggle anything into the country."

(Times of Israel) David Jacques Farahi - The debate about how long Iran's nuclear program was set back misses the point. The most significant consequence of the Israel-Iran war is the everlasting humiliation and exposure of the regime. On June 4, just before the war began, supreme leader Ali Khamenei declared: "They cannot do a damn thing [to us]." Twenty days later he had lost six top generals, a dozen senior military and IRGC commanders (including the entire leadership of his air force), 11 of his most senior nuclear scientists, key missile production capabilities, his air defense system, and suffered damage to his most important nuclear sites. The regime took hit after hit all while fighting completely alone. Not one of its proxies or allies lifted a finger to help defend it. Ali Khamenei rules under the doctrine that his authority is divinely ordained. Yet, Khamenei's shrinking base just watched their divine leader utterly humiliated by Israel and America, the regime's two greatest enemies. No amount of propaganda can erase that disgrace. We Iranians are not sheep. We are known for being critical, confrontational, and proud. We know how to smell weakness. The regime knows the truth too. Should it attempt to rebuild its nuclear weapons infrastructure, it will be destroyed again. Those inside Iran feel it daily: rolling blackouts, water shortages, and billions of national wealth squandered. The supposed "axis of resistance" has collapsed, from Gaza to Lebanon, through the Assad regime's demise, and into a shattered nuclear program that delivered neither dignity nor prosperity. Israel's greatest victory in this war was psychological: the exposure of the regime not as a paper tiger, but as a paper pussycat - and a badly beaten one at that. The writer is an Iranian-American Jew.

(The Dispatch) Reuel Marc Gerecht - If the Iranian theocracy remains, or if an Islamist military dictatorship replaces it, Israel will still face a virulently antisemitic regime likely still seeking a nuclear weapon. Israeli intelligence will need to be pitch perfect if it's to preempt future Iranian threats since the entirety of the clerical regime's nuclear weapons program will now be hidden. After Israel's attack, the counterespionage services within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Iranian intelligence ministry, will become ferocious in their efforts to uncover spies. In this dragnet, a lot of innocents will get picked up. Many will get tortured to death. This inquisition alone could greatly delay the effort to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program. The deeply buried nuclear sites now will likely remain abandoned, regardless of whether they were completely destroyed, since reoccupying them would signal nefarious intent and might bring new Israeli and American raids. Digging new ones would take too long. Numerous easily concealed surface facilities may now be a better bet. If the Iranians don't have a backup to the Isfahan conversion facility for making enriched uranium into metal plates, which has been destroyed, then they will probably have difficulty building another one quickly. The writer, a former Iranian-targets officer in the CIA, is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

(Foreign Affairs) Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar - Israel's June 13 assault on Iran is one of the worst setbacks the Islamic Republic has ever experienced. Iran's national security strategy remains broadly unchanged. The Islamic Republic may be weaker in some ways, but its leaders are proud of having withstood the Israeli and American assaults. They see the substantial damage they inflicted on Israel's cities as a major achievement. And they continue to believe that demonstrating resolve in the face of aggression is the only way to deter their opponents. Iranian leaders will thus set out to rebuild the country's network of proxies: the axis of resistance. They will trust diplomacy even less than before. Instead, they will lay the groundwork for a long war of attrition with Israel - and a potential nuclear breakout. The Iranian government is likely to use the ceasefire respite to accelerate its militarization in preparation for sustained conflict, channeling resources into the IRGC and other armed forces and security agencies. But it will struggle to prove that it can handle another war, especially given the extent to which its ranks have been penetrated by Israeli intelligence operatives. Critics have accused the regime of prioritizing ideological loyalty over competence, allowing individuals who simply mouthed hardline slogans to rise through the ranks while concealing their true allegiances. There have been calls for investigations, accountability, and even the resignation of senior officials accused of overseeing the catastrophic intelligence failure. While some commentators see Iran's aggressive Middle East strategy as a failure, given the collapse of Hizbullah in Lebanon, Assad in Syria, and Hamas in Gaza - plus the damage to Iran's own military - the IRGC sees the situation differently. Its leaders believe the country's forward defense strategy has been vindicated. This approach successfully deterred Israel and the U.S. from attacking for years and bought Tehran critical time to build up the industrial infrastructure, technical expertise, and institutional resilience it can now use to rapidly rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The writer is Associate Professor of International Affairs at Texas A&M University.

(Israel Hayom) David M. Weinberg - Israeli planes flew 400 sorties over Iran with 600 aerial refueling connections. IAF attack and surveillance drones flew an additional 1,100 sorties into Iran, and only eight drones were lost. Together, the jets and drones struck 900 targets in Iran with 4,300 munitions, including nine nuclear sites, six airports and air bases, and 35 missile and air defense production facilities. IDF commandoes and Mossad agents operated inside Iran or from bases just across Iran's borders, launching UAVs and secret weapon systems to neutralize Iranian abilities and target Iranian military and intelligence leaders. Not a single Iranian defensive system or force discovered these Israeli boots-on-the-ground in real time nor managed to interfere with these operations. All undercover Israeli soldiers and agents returned home to Israel safely. Over 14 days, Israel demolished 80 Iranian surface-to-air missile systems, 70 radars, 15 Iranian warplanes, 200 of Iran's 400 missile launchers, and 800-1,000 of Iran's 2,000 ballistic missiles. Unfortunately, 50 missiles and one drone broke through Israeli defenses, killing 29 Israelis, wounding 3,500 more, destroying 2,300 homes in 240 buildings, and leaving 16,000 Israeli civilians homeless. Enemy missile fire struck a central military base, a key Israeli oil refinery, and one of the country's top scientific research institutions. The writer is a senior fellow at Misgav: The Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy.

(The Times-UK) Christina Lamb - Among the 1,200 people slaughtered in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were young women stripped and tied to trees and poles, shot through their genitals and in the head. Sexual violence was "widespread and systematic" during the attack, with rape and gang rape occurring in at least six different locations, according to a report using testimony never heard before now. Most victims were "permanently silenced," either murdered during the assaults or left too traumatized to talk. The Dinah Project's report, to be published in Jerusalem on Tuesday, is based on first-hand testimony from 15 of the returned hostages from Gaza (only one of whom has spoken previously) and a survivor of attempted rape at the Nova music festival, as well as interviews with 17 people who saw or heard the attacks and with therapists working with traumatized survivors. The aim of this report, put together by Israeli gender and legal experts and partly funded by the British government, is "to counter denial, misinformation and global silence" and "to set the historical record straight: Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war."

(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Since the Hamas-Israel war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have discovered 90 tunnels crossing under the border between Gaza and Egypt. The tunnels were used by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups to smuggle rockets and weapons into Gaza. There may be additional tunnels that have not been discovered. The Egyptians chose to ignore the smuggling as long as the weapons were going into Gaza and not staying in Egyptian territory. After all, these weapons were being used against Israel, and did not pose any threat to Egypt's national security. In addition, Egyptian military and police officers apparently benefitted by accepting bribes. Yet by turning a blind eye to the massive smuggling, Egypt significantly contributed to transforming Gaza into a major base for Islamist terrorism, paving the way for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Egypt does not care about the Palestinians or Israel. It only cares about its own interests, and that is why it would be a big mistake to rely on the Egyptians or any Arab state to bring security and stability to Gaza. The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

(Ynet News) Nitzan Pincu - Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Israeli 20-somethings have largely abandoned the traditional post-army trip abroad. Instead, they are cycling through endless reserve duty, coping with trauma, mourning fallen friends, and putting their careers and dreams on hold. One of those is Sgt. 1st Class (res.) A., 23, a Druze who serves in an intelligence unit. On Oct. 7 he left a bomb shelter under heavy fire to reach a bunker and relay intelligence - while surrounded by terrorists for several days. "I was the first to leave the bomb shelter heading to the bunker because I realized it was a death trap," he recalled. "I understood I wanted to live. You can't hesitate - it's a risk to step out under rocket barrages. My gut told me the terrorists would get here. And that's exactly what happened. The terrorists were just 200 meters from me. As we ran from the bomb shelter, I heard bursts of gunfire - AK-47s. A rocket landed right next to me. While running, I yelled to the guys, 'Keep running, don't look back.' I couldn't believe it was real, but we kept transmitting from the bunker."

(Ynet News) Yoav Zitun - Aside from UAVs and one and a half F-35 squadrons, most of Israel's jets were antiquated by Western standards: older-model F-16s and F-15s, Boeing 707-based refuelers. An officer said, "Remember, less than two years ago, we couldn't even fly freely over Lebanon due to Hizbullah's 100 Iranian-aided anti-air batteries. Now imagine sending hundreds of aircraft on thousands of sorties into Iran's airspace." Toward the end of 2024, the Defense Ministry, Air Force, and IDF Planning Directorate quietly launched a multi-pronged, secretive race against time to prepare for the operation. While jets were airworthy for quick strikes on nearby Hamas or Hizbullah targets, they were not mission-ready for deep-strike missions to Iran. Many of the replacement parts were no longer in production. "We quietly enlisted the manufacturers, without disclosing the full reason, but they didn't have all the solutions," an IAF officer said. "So we turned to friendly nations to ask for rare spare parts. These were added to components 3D-printed here." Meanwhile, the U.S. provided a vast range of weaponry in recent months and led an air and sea supply bridge involving thousands of spare parts. "We asked them to reopen old production lines - and thanks to a new, friendlier tone in Washington, it happened," said a senior officer. The deputy commander of CENTCOM, Vice Admiral Charles "Brad" Cooper, "went all-in to help us - opening U.S. stockpiles around the world for critical IAF needs....Some crucial parts arrived just a day or two before zero hour." U.S. support for the Iran operation peaked with the landing of the 8,000th cargo plane in Israel since Oct. 7, alongside dozens of supply ships. "The Air Force was rearmed over the past year with a decade's worth of munitions and systems," one officer noted. Nevertheless, multiple fighter jets and refueling planes suffered technical malfunctions mid-air, hundreds of miles from Israel. Brig.-Gen. Shlomi, head of the Equipment Directorate, said, "Not everything went smoothly. We lost some important drones. But to finish an operation like this without a single manned aircraft down - that's unprecedented."

(Jerusalem Post) Amir Bohbot - In January 2025, the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall in the West Bank, aiming to restore operational freedom inside Palestinian refugee camps. The campaign targeted armed terror cells, some directly funded by Iran. Since the start of the operation, the number of senior wanted suspects has dropped from around 120 to just a handful, according to Israeli security sources. "There are no longer armed parades in the camps. There are no more safe havens," one senior defense official said. "A year ago, we couldn't enter the heart of the Jenin refugee camp. Today, there's no more daily gunfire at nearby Israeli communities." The IDF also reports a sharp decline in terror alerts and thwarted plots. "We now have the operational freedom to act wherever we need." According to the IDF, more than 1,000 terrorists have been killed since the start of the operation, and over 2,000 weapons have been seized. "Anyone who visits the camps today will see they're unrecognizable. These used to be the central hubs of terror activity.... And now? We're seeing the lowest level of terrorism in a year and a half."

(Washington Times) Ohad Tal - Israel is the single most effective force advancing American interests in the Middle East. Iran wishes to destabilize the Middle East, and it propagates chaos through its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its proxies in the region. Iran doesn't want a seat at the regional table; it wants to flip the table altogether. Last month, when America actively joined Israel's response to Iranian aggression, it was a watershed moment. The U.S. attack on Iran was a strategic message to the entire world: The West still has teeth. For once, America didn't need to send in the Marines. With its unmatched intelligence, cyber capabilities, air force, technologies and spies, Israel did the heavy lifting. Iran was humiliated. The myth of its regional invincibility was shattered. Israel has proved to be America's most reliable, efficient and cost-effective ally in the region. No other partner is willing or able to take the initiative, act decisively and serve as the West's first line of defense. Israel removes the Iranian nuclear threat against America and its allies, dismantles Iran's terrorist proxies, and protects the Gulf States, all without requiring American boots on the ground. This is what smart power looks like. Leverage strong allies that share your interests and do the job right. America needs friends who aren't freeloaders. Israel is the one holding the line of liberty, stability, security and prosperity. The writer is a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

(National Review) Charles C. W. Cooke - In 1981, Menachem Begin, then the prime minister of Israel, urged Israelis to "never pause to wonder what the world will think or say. The world may not necessarily like the fighting Jew, but the world will have to take account of him." There is no country in the world that would want to be surrounded by well-armed enemies determined to do them harm. Nor is there a country that would prioritize being viewed positively by the rest of the world over eliminating that threat. Such a position would be wholly absurd. Why Israel is supposed to be different from everywhere else is unclear. If, somehow, the U.S. was in the same position as Israel - and if it were capable of fixing that - it would act in precisely the same way as Israel has. So would Britain. So would France. That is elemental statehood. If the U.S. broke up and Oklahoma found itself surrounded by a bunch of armies that were hellbent on wiping it off the map, Oklahoma's No. 1 priority would be changing that. That people in Oregon or New York were upset by it would simply not matter. Human nature dictates as much, and Israelis are humans, too.

(Commentary) Seth Mandel - A July 5 New York Times headline read: "The Cost of Victory: Israel Overpowered Its Foes, but Deepened Its Isolation." The headline's claim doesn't even hold up. Israel had the use of Syrian airspace for its attacks on Iran, and Jerusalem and Damascus are in negotiations over burying the hatchet completely. Flying over the Arab world to take out Iran's air defenses is a sign not of isolation but of integration. The article says, "Netanyahu's relentless and unapologetic military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack...has cemented the view of Israel as a pariah, its leadership accused of genocide and war crimes, and disdained by some world leaders." A quick search shows the Times warning of Israel's "pariah" status - using that exact word - for nearly 20 years. Israel's leadership has been "accused of genocide and war crimes" since 1982. Israel's bad press is made of 100% recycled material. Israel's government is "disdained by some world leaders"? - as if that's a new development. The president of France disdaining the Jewish state is what we call "the status quo." Israel won a defensive war. And its enemies and critics are struggling to cope.

(Israel Hayom) Ariel Bulshtein - As talks with Syria's new regime reportedly advance, it is crucial to include two key elements in any future peace agreement. A century ago, Syria's Jewish community numbered 50,000 people and was one of the world's oldest Jewish communities. Following World War II, Syrian Jews faced increasing persecution. Their assets were confiscated, and often Jews were forced to forfeit their property in exchange for permission to leave Syria or to save their lives. The value of Syrian Jewish assets in 1947 was $200 million - equivalent to $11 billion today. Justice demands restitution. A second component involves lands legally purchased by Jews in southern Syria during the early days of the Zionist movement. At the end of the 19th century, Jewish Europeans legally acquired large tracts of farmland and even entire villages in the Hauran region south of Damascus. These Jewish-owned lands were confiscated. One possible mechanism for redress could be to forfeit monetary compensation for the stolen property in return for annexing to Israel parts of the buffer zones in southern Syria already under IDF control. There is no reason to forgive the looting and persecution of Jews from Arab countries.