IDF begins trial pullout from Lebanon buffer zone

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into a site in the Natanz area known as Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes. We hear from Fabian about the IDF's current assessment of Iran's capabilities.

Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh this morning after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, the Lebanese Armed Forces said in a statement, in line with a US-brokered plan for “pilot zones” in the south. We learn which areas are in the pilot program and the IDF's readiness to step back into the vacuum.

Hezbollah launched over 400 rockets from the Beaufort Ridge toward northern Israel during the current round of fighting, mainly at the border community of Metula, according to the IDF. Fabian visited a massive warren inside the mountain that the terrorists carved out over more than a decade. We get a sense of the scope of the underground base.

An analysis by Fabian has found that, despite the ceasefire, the IDF has in the past few months stepped up a large-scale retribution campaign with the avowed aim of hunting down and eliminating every single terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacre. Fabian unwinds the competing narratives surrounding these targeted killings.

After the Knesset voted to extend the mandatory military service period for males to 32 months, the chief of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate said Friday that the move did not replace the army’s immediate need for more troops. Fabian explains why.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Iran says it’s in ‘full-scale war’ with US as mediators said to proffer 10-day truce

Israeli intel said to show Iran has moved centrifuges to Natanz’s Pickaxe Mountain

US indicates Lebanese army deploying to ‘pilot zones,’ including one IDF will withdraw from

Beneath Beaufort’s strategic bulwark, a Hezbollah lair built to attack Israel is unearthed

Israel steps up campaign to kill all 5,000 Oct. 7 terrorists; 1,200 were killed on the day, 1,500 so far since

IDF says it killed terrorist who attacked Nova festival, abducted Inbar Haiman on Oct. 7

IDF manpower chief: Extension of service period doesn’t replace need for more troops

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