Tonight's briefing covers the escalating political storm surrounding the NAZA documentary and its allegations about IDF targeting practices, continued security operations in the West Bank and Lebanon, and international developments including Trump's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine energy dispute and Iran talks.

Security

The IDF's Northern Command has revealed that Hezbollah is attempting to establish footholds in gaps along the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon, targeting areas the military never formally entered. Israel is countering this activity through airstrikes, artillery and combat engineering units. In the West Bank, a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation by the Duvdevan unit in the Ephraim Brigade area led to the arrest of a senior Fatah operative in Tulkarem following weeks of intelligence-led pursuit. Separately, controversy continues over police spending, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accusing police leadership of wasteful expenditure, including renovations at the Lahav 433 investigations unit. Police sources countered that some of the funds went towards housing for Yamam counter-terror unit fighters, who reportedly still sleep in tents. In the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Haymanot Kasao, a retired colonel who accompanied her father to a meeting with police and Lahav 433 said he had never witnessed such a lack of empathy shown to a grieving family member, despite his experience supporting hostage families.

Politics

Israel's Central Elections Committee is set to debate several disqualification requests this week ahead of the 2026 elections. Likud will argue that opposition parties intend to cooperate with the United Arab List (Ra'am), while Yisrael Beytenu is seeking to bar a Hadash MK from running. Separate petitions have also been filed seeking to disqualify Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from the race. Meanwhile, the NAZA documentary – which won an award at the Venice Film Festival – has ignited fierce political backlash. The film, which examines the IDF's use of artificial intelligence in targeting and alleges approval of strikes with significant civilian casualties, has been labelled an act of treason by some politicians, with the filmmakers branded 'Israel-haters' and a minister calling for their citizenship to be revoked. The IDF has strongly denied the film's central claims, including the assertion that strikes causing hundreds of civilian casualties were ever approved. Commentators have noted the backlash raises broader questions about legal and ethical accountability within the military that Israel has yet to fully confront.

International

US President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to halt strikes on each other's energy infrastructure, pressuring Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries, which he blamed for a surge in diesel prices rather than the war itself. However, President Zelensky pushed back, stating no final agreement had been reached and that Ukraine was not convinced Russia would honour any deal. On Iran, Trump said Tehran wants to reach an agreement 'quickly and eagerly', though he stressed the decision on whether to proceed rests with Washington. In Iran, state media reported that a senior Sunni cleric, Molavi Yousef Gorgij, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the southeast of the country; a local governor described him as having fought against 'divisive elements and Zionism'. In Sweden, the centre-left bloc led by Magdalena Andersson holds a narrow three-seat lead after roughly 95% of votes were counted, though internal divisions may complicate coalition-building. In Syria, a 40% jump in diesel prices has triggered the largest protests since the fall of the Assad regime, with demonstrators blocking roads and oil convoys; Damascus blames costly imports and Ukrainian strikes on Russian fuel supplies. In the UK, calls have been made for a public inquiry into the Manchester synagogue terror attack, with MI5 material potentially heard behind closed doors after the Home Office warned disclosure could harm national security. Human rights group B'Tselem has published a report alleging that Israeli policies in the West Bank are 'eliminating Palestinian collective existence' through violence, movement restrictions and economic measures, describing the impact as tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

Other Developments

American rapper Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran's US tour after venues objected to his 'Free Palestine' remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium. The promoter said several venues threatened to cancel shows if he remained on the bill, affecting hundreds of thousands of ticket holders; Sheeran has yet to comment. On a lighter note, the latest season of Israeli drama Fauda has topped Netflix charts in Lebanon and is proving popular across the Arab world. Hollywood actor Elliott Gould has spoken about faith, family and his late collaborator Barbra Streisand ahead of the release of Legend of Destruction, an animated film about the fall of the Second Temple in which he voices a character. Separately, a report from environmental group Green Now has called for Israeli control over West Bank wastewater treatment to protect the mountain aquifer, a critical drinking water source, arguing the Palestinian Authority is too weak and inefficient to prevent contamination. Elsewhere, US scholar David Nirenberg has won an award worth nearly £700,000, often dubbed 'the Nobel Prize of continental Europe', for his research on Judaism and relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Sources: Ynet, Walla, www.israelhayom.co.il, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post