Channel 14 News Israel

Category: Israel

  • Israel Demands Recovery of 12 Murdered Lebanese Jews

    Israel Demands Recovery of 12 Murdered Lebanese Jews

    High-level diplomatic contacts between Israel and Lebanon have expanded in recent months to include a sensitive mission: locating and repatriating the remains of 12 prominent leaders of Lebanon’s historic Jewish community who were abducted and brutally murdered in the mid-1980s by Islamist terror factions, including a nascent Hezbollah.

    Photo: Shutterstock

    Newly surfaced details reveal that the effort is being spearheaded on Israel’s behalf by the Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, the National Security Council, and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter. The sacred file was also raised directly during formal bilateral negotiating sessions between Israeli and Lebanese delegations in Rome. Israeli defense and diplomatic officials have identified tangible readiness by the Lebanese government in recent weeks to help advance the searches. As part of the diplomatic exchange, Israel provided Lebanese authorities with actionable intelligence dossiers, including topographic maps and aerial photography of cemeteries and suspected burial sites where the victims may have been interred.

    Concurrently, Lebanese authorities have conducted operational searches on the ground based on Israeli intelligence leads, relaying photographic evidence and video documentation back to Israel for forensic review. While the complex recovery efforts remain active, Israeli officials note that no definitive positive identification has yet been confirmed. The issue has been formally embedded into the diplomatic architecture between Jerusalem and Beirut. Following an uncompromising Israeli demand, Ambassador Leiter ensured the inclusion of a binding clause in the bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) that legally obligates the Lebanese government to actively locate the missing leaders.

    Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter | Photo: Yonatan Sindel, Flash90

    For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the file represents the culmination of a personal commitment spanning four decades. During the mid-1980s wave of kidnappings and executions that targeted the remnant of Lebanese Jewry, Netanyahu served as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, actively working the diplomatic corridors of New York to uncover their fate. Several relatives of the murdered community leaders reside in Israel today. The Prime Minister’s Office, through Gal Hirsch, maintains continuous contact with the families, providing regular operational briefings on developments and searches carried out across Lebanon.

    Israeli officials express hope that the diplomatic opening established over the past year will finally yield a long-overdue breakthrough, bringing Jewish martyrs to a dignified resting place in Israel and closing a painful chapter left open for forty years.

  • Katz, IDF Brass Hold Assessment on Striking Iran

    Katz, IDF Brass Hold Assessment on Striking Iran

    Defense Minister Israel Katz is currently holding a high-stakes, multi-front situational assessment alongside IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior leaders of Israel’s defense establishment.

    Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90

    The emergency security consultations unfold against the backdrop of the Defense Minister’s explicit warnings that Israel is prepared to strike and cripple the Iranian regime’s strategic energy infrastructure. With tensions surging across all operational theaters, the defense leadership is reviewing forward offensive readiness, preemptive strike capabilities, and comprehensive multi-arena response plans to counter Tehran’s aggression and neutralize threats against the Israeli home front.

  • New IDF Sub “Dragon” Leaves Germany After Years of Delays

    New IDF Sub “Dragon” Leaves Germany After Years of Delays

    The submarine INS Dragon has left Germany bound for Israel after years of waiting. The new submarine, built at TKMS shipyards in Kiel, will make its way to its home port in Israel and join the Navy’s submarine flotilla. Upon arrival, it will become the sixth submarine in Israel’s underwater fleet.

    Dragon submarine commissioning ceremony, archive | Photo: IDF Spokesperson

    Just yesterday, a special ceremony was held in Germany led by the Navy commander, heralding a dramatic expansion of the naval arm: for the first time in the country’s history, the IDF will operate six submarines simultaneously. This is the most advanced war machine arriving in the IDF, a strategic asset equipped with the latest technology, designed to ensure Israel’s security and the superiority of its forces even in the most distant arenas.

    The Dragon’s expected arrival also caps an unusually long process. The submarine was ordered back in 2011 as part of the Navy’s continued force buildup and was built in Germany according to Israeli specifications. In August 2023, it was already spotted outside the construction hall in Kiel, and in November 2024, an official ceremony was held at the shipyard where it received its name. The Defense Ministry defined it then as a “strategic combat asset” and announced that it is equipped with unique systems and technologies designed to expand the IDF’s capabilities in various arenas.

    Dragon submarine commissioning ceremony, archive | Photo: IDF Spokesperson

    The Dragon is the third and final Dolphin AIP-class submarine built for the Navy, and it is also the largest of the six Dolphin-series submarines built for Israel. The AIP system allows the submarine to remain underwater for extended periods without needing to surface to run diesel engines and charge batteries—a significant advantage in covert, long-range missions.

    Many details regarding the Dragon’s operational capabilities remain classified. However, the Navy and Defense Ministry have made clear this is a vessel designed to expand Israel’s operational range. At the naming ceremony, Navy Commander Rear Admiral David Saar Salama said the submarine would operate “at distances and depths for extended periods,” and defined it as a significant force multiplier for the Navy, the IDF, and the State of Israel.

    Visual representation | Photo: IDF spokesperson

    One of the submarine’s prominent external features is an enlarged and extended structure on its upper section, different from its predecessors. Professional publications abroad have raised assessments over the years regarding systems that could be integrated in this area, but Israel has not disclosed its purpose. Ambiguity is also maintained regarding the precise weapons systems installed on the submarine.

    Just yesterday, it was reported in Kiel that the Israeli Navy officially commissioned the Dragon in a ceremony held at the TKMS shipyard under heavy security. According to the local report, this is the largest submarine from the Dolphin family that Germany has supplied to Israel, and its cost reaches about 700 million euros, with Germany financing about a third of the amount.

    The submarine’s name was also chosen for its historical connection to the flotilla. According to the Defense Ministry, “Dragon”—a mythological sea creature symbolizing power and strength—contains in Hebrew the letters D, K, and R, which form the name “Dakar,” thus commemorating the legacy of INS Dakar and its crew members.

    צוללת חיל הים בתמרון ימי |
    Visual representation | Photo: IDF spokesperson

    The Dragon’s arrival comes at a time when the submarine flotilla is undergoing a broader expansion process. In November 2024, parallel to the ceremony held for the Dragon, construction also began in Germany on the first submarine of the future “Dakar” series. Israel has ordered three next-generation submarines, which are eventually intended to replace the three oldest submarines from the Dolphin series. Their delivery is expected to begin in the early part of the next decade.

    Now, after completing the stages in Germany, the Dragon is making its way to Israel. Upon arrival, it is expected to be received at the Navy base in Haifa and join a fleet considered one of the most strategic and secretive assets of the IDF.

  • Former Haifa Resident Suspected of NIS 2M Crypto Tax Fraud

    Former Haifa Resident Suspected of NIS 2M Crypto Tax Fraud

    Leonid Lapshov, a former Haifa resident who now lives primarily abroad, is suspected of selling and converting cryptocurrencies totaling about NIS 2 million and maintaining undeclared foreign bank accounts in Russia without reporting them to the Israel Tax Authority.

    Photo: Freepik

    According to investigators, Lapshov executed extensive sales and conversions of digital currencies on an offshore exchange between 2019 and 2020 valued at roughly NIS 2 million. Furthermore, between 2019 and 2021, he allegedly maintained three undisclosed bank accounts in the Russian Federation.

    The investigation also revealed that one of the Russian accounts held about $500,000, a second account held about 600,000 rubles, and a third held about €20,000. The suspect was also questioned under caution regarding additional offenses under the Income Tax Ordinance and the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law.

    Investigation, Illustration | Photo: Shutterstock

    Yesterday, the covert investigation turned overt as authorities questioned the suspect. Lapshov was subsequently brought before the Haifa Magistrate’s Court, which ordered his release under restrictive conditions, including an 180-day stay-of-exit order from Israel and the immediate surrender of his passport.

  • IDF Kills Two Terrorists Who Crossed Yellow Line in Gaza

    IDF Kills Two Terrorists Who Crossed Yellow Line in Gaza

    Two terrorists crossed the yellow line Thursday and approached IDF forces operating in northern Gaza, posing an immediate threat. The forces identified them and eliminated them.

    According to an IDF spokesperson, the militants were killed immediately after being identified in order to remove the threat they posed to the forces. The spokesperson added that IDF forces in Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement, and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat.

  • Tally Gotliv Officially Cleared to Join Otzma Yehudit

    Tally Gotliv Officially Cleared to Join Otzma Yehudit

    The primary legal obstacle to one of the most dramatic political realignments of the current election cycle has been removed. A legal opinion issued on Thursday by Central Elections Committee Chairman and Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg effectively provides the legal green light for MK Tally Gotliv to jump from the Likud faction to the Otzma Yehudit slate led by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Although delivered in the formal matter concerning MK Eitan Ginzburg, the ruling’s legal ramifications apply directly to the high-stakes political negotiations surrounding Gotliv.

    Gotliv | Photo: Danny Shem Tov / Noam Moskowitz, Knesset Spokesperson’s Office

    The crux of the legal dispute centered on whether a serving Member of the Knesset seeking to run in upcoming elections on the slate of a rival faction is classified as a “lawmaker who defected from their faction,” and what their statutory status is when the transfer occurs with the explicit consent of their home party—a critical question given severe statutory sanctions barring defecting lawmakers from running on existing Knesset slates unless they immediately resign their seat.

    Justice Sohlberg examined the case of MK Ginzburg, who declared his intention to run on the list of an existing Knesset faction. While Sohlberg noted that “such an act inherently carries the characteristics of factional defection,” he ruled that explicit consent from the lawmaker’s original faction fundamentally alters the legal framework.

    Judge Noam Sohlberg | Photo: Flash90

    In his opinion, Sohlberg wrote: “It is my legal opinion that under these circumstances—the consent significantly obscures the character of the defection, to the extent of establishing that, for all practical and legal purposes, MK Ginzburg has not truly defected from his faction. Therefore, according to my legal opinion, there is no requirement for MK Ginzburg to resign from his parliamentary seat to run on a candidate slate submitted by a party currently represented in the outgoing Knesset.”

    This landmark determination was made possible largely by a sharp reversal within the Likud party itself. In legal filings regarding the Ginzburg proceedings, Likud announced it was retracting its earlier objections to the maneuver, arguing: “Following a reexamination of the circumstances, the Likud movement wishes to withdraw its argument, as it believes that when an explicit agreement exists between a Knesset member and their faction, there is no place for outside intervention.”

    Illustration | Photo: Yonatan Sindel, Flash90

    The shift in Likud’s posture, paired with Justice Sohlberg’s formal opinion, untangles the legal gridlock that threatened to derail Gotliv’s transfer and sets an unmistakable precedent: as long as mutual consent is reached with Likud, crossing over to a competing slate does not constitute an unlawful defection forcing the lawmaker to sacrifice her parliamentary seat.

    For Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ruling is a pivotal strategic breakthrough ahead of the deadline for submitting party lists. The Otzma Yehudit chairman has pushed aggressively to draft Gotliv to his ticket after she won a high spot in Likud’s primary but was later pushed down to the 20th spot on the final slate because of reserved factional slots. Her demotion sparked public fury from Gotliv, who launched scathing attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner circle, accusing them of deliberately trying to weaken her political standing.

    Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir | Photo: Channel 14 News

    With just days remaining before the official closure of Knesset candidate slates, the primary legal cloud hanging over the move has evaporated. Once final terms between Ben-Gvir and Gotliv are formalized alongside political understandings with Likud, the path is wide open for Gotliv to transition smoothly into Otzma Yehudit without resigning from the current Knesset—a transfer poised to significantly reshape the internal balance of power across the right-wing bloc ahead of election day

  • Israel Reportedly Set to Release 5 Lebanese Detainees

    Israel Reportedly Set to Release 5 Lebanese Detainees

    Lebanese television channels and media outlets reported Thursday that Israel is expected to release five Lebanese detainees and terrorists in the near future, repatriating them directly across the Rosh HaNikra border crossing (known on the Lebanese side as Ras Naqoura). In Lebanese broadcasts, the pending handover was framed as a diplomatic “goodwill gesture.” At the same time, Lebanese sources revealed the identity of one of the five individuals slated for release: Malek Kamal Ghazi, a 20-year-old Lebanese national.

    IDF Forces in Lebanon | Photo: Hillel Ben-Or, Flash90

    According to Lebanese sources, Ghazi will be officially transferred into Lebanese authorities’ custody during the operation. At this stage, the names of the remaining four detainees have not been publicized, nor have Jerusalem formally disclosed the specific operational parameters or reciprocal agreements governing the handover.

    Regarding Ghazi, Lebanese accounts say he first disappeared in October 2025 in the Ayn Ata–Rashaya region of eastern Lebanon. According to the standard narrative pushed by local Lebanese sources, he left home for a physical workout and vanished. It subsequently emerged that he had been captured by Israeli security forces during targeted operations and transferred into Israel for formal detention and interrogation. Now, months after his capture, Ghazi’s name has resurfaced amid leaks of the impending transfer. Sources in Beirut said Israel will deliver him through Naqoura as part of this reported gesture.

    IDF Forces in Lebanon | Photo: Hillel Ben-Or, Flash90

    Detainee handovers through the Rosh HaNikra crossing are not without recent precedent. In March 2025, Israel released five Lebanese detainees and transferred them to Lebanon under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). According to Lebanon’s National Human Rights Commission, that earlier release comprised four civilians and one serving soldier in the Lebanese Armed Forces. Beirut has long leveraged the issue of Lebanese detainees held by Israel as a primary diplomatic grievance.

    Lebanese authorities periodically circulate registries cataloging detainees, missing persons, and unaccounted-for individuals—blending recent cases originating from ongoing IDF operations with cold cases spanning several decades.

    IDF Forces in Lebanon | Photo: Hillel Ben-Or, Flash90

    An updated registry issued by Lebanese entities in late August 2026 cataloged individuals detained during Israeli military operations across 2025 and 2026. Documented incidents span captures along border security corridors, stops inside southern villages, and maritime intercepts off the coast of Naqoura, grouped alongside decades-old missing-persons files. The reported handover unfolds during a volatile juncture along the northern front. Despite the ceasefire framework announced in June, armed friction remains acute across key friction points in southern Lebanon—most prominently around the fortified Ali Taher ridge.

    Hezbollah continues to mount operations throughout the sector. At the same time, the IDF sustains intense operational pressure and strikes, reiterating that it will not permit the terror proxy to reconstitute positions that endanger Israeli forces or northern border communities.

    IDF Forces in Lebanon | Photo: Hillel Ben-Or, Flash90

    Concurrently, fierce domestic political fractures are paralyzing Beirut regarding the implementation of the disarmament roadmap, which stipulates a phased Israeli withdrawal in exchange for the full disarmament of Hezbollah and the expanded deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces. While Lebanese President Joseph Aoun continues to back the framework, Hezbollah firmly rejects it, demanding its immediate cancellation.

  • Paranoia: Hamas Launches Probe After Capture of Official

    Paranoia: Hamas Launches Probe After Capture of Official

    Hamas has formed an extensive ‘investigation committee’ following the abduction of Moeen al-Arabid, the terror organization’s ‘general security chief’ in the Gaza Strip, according to the Saudi newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat.

    The committee is examining how Israeli forces managed to penetrate the area where al-Arabid was staying and carry out the operation. Investigators are collecting videos filmed by residents and displaced persons in the area, along with footage from security cameras in nearby homes and residential buildings.

    Two security sources who spoke with the newspaper said al-Arabid was caught by surprise as he left his home with one of his escorts. During the firefight, he was shot in the leg and tried to escape, but the Israeli force chased him down, wounded him again, and ultimately overpowered him and extracted him from the Gaza City area.

    Photo: Shutterstock

    During the operation, aircraft and drones operated in the area to secure the force and create diversions, the report said. According to one source, more than five missiles were fired from unmanned aircraft, along with additional bombs dropped in the area.

    A-Sharq Al-Awsat noted that al-Arabid has held several sensitive security positions in Hamas over the years, including handling Israeli collaborators and cases involving armed organizations and elements suspected of activity against Hamas rule.

    The report points to significant confusion within Hamas’s security apparatus, which is now trying to understand how Israel managed to reach a senior security official in the heart of an area previously considered relatively protected.

  • Two Terrorists Killed in Binyamin Agro-Terror Raid

    Two Terrorists Killed in Binyamin Agro-Terror Raid

    The relentless war against agricultural terrorism in Judea and Samaria never ceases, and Wednesday evening proved once again that our security forces will not remain silent in the face of ongoing attacks against Jewish pioneer farming communities. Over the past two months, Arab terrorists operating out of the hostile village of Al-Mughayyir carried out a series of severe strikes against local farmsteads, looting sheep and goats from grazing herds at Givat Or Nachman and the Metzudat David Farm, alongside incidents of lethal livestock poisoning.

    The Eliminated Terrorists | Photo: None

    Whenever Israeli security forces entered the village’s fortified core to recover stolen livestock hidden in the local casbah, they were met with violent riots by hundreds of village residents hurling heavy stones and firing commercial-grade fireworks in calculated bids to thwart law enforcement.

    On Wednesday evening, following another wave of livestock poisonings, IDF soldiers and officers from the Binyamin Police Station launched targeted sweeps to hunt down the terror cell, once again locating the stolen herds deep inside the village. During the operation, hundreds of Arab rioters mobilized, hurling boulders at the forces in a life-threatening confrontation that rapidly deteriorated into an attempted lynching.

    Arrest of Terrorists in Binyamin, Archive | Photo: IDF Spokesperson

    Responding rapidly with operational resolve, troops opened precise fire toward the perpetrators, eliminating two terrorists on the spot and wounding several others. No Israeli casualties were reported. The forces continue to operate aggressively across the sector to safeguard residents and secure the continued growth and steadfast presence of Jewish communities throughout the Binyamin region.

  • Jewish Woman Confronts NYC Mayor at Brooklyn Judaica Store

    Jewish Woman Confronts NYC Mayor at Brooklyn Judaica Store

    New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pre-Rosh Hashanah visit to Brooklyn’s Borough Park turned turbulent on Wednesday after a Jewish activist approached him inside the famed Eichler’s Judaica store, leveling sharp accusations regarding the surge of antisemitism across the city. Mamdani arrived at the store as part of a tour through the heavily Orthodox neighborhood, meeting with local community representatives, viewing holiday essentials, and receiving traditional honey ahead of the Jewish New Year, while a local representative demonstrated how to blow a shofar.

    During the visit, Stephanie Benshimol, a Jewish activist and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, directly confronted him in front of customers and cameras: “This is all because of you that we have so much antisemitism; you have such nerve coming here,” she called out. Benshimol stressed that Borough Park is the sanctuary where her family rebuilt their lives after the Holocaust, demanding that the mayor take uncompromising action against anti-Jewish hatred and charging that his obsessive hostility toward Israel directly jeopardizes the safety of New York’s Jewish community. Following the heated exchange, security personnel and members of the mayor’s detail moved in to push Benshimol away. According to local reports, she was ushered from the premises while Mamdani was quickly escorted outside by his protection unit without addressing the accusations on site.

    The confrontation comes amid sustained outrage within the Jewish community over Mamdani’s radical political record, set against NYPD statistics documenting a steep climb in hate crimes—where over half of all targeted bias incidents across New York City continue to single out Jews.