Israel Defense Forces

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Body of Israeli Hostage Found in Raid, Sister Slams Bibi

Body of Elad Katzir, 47, recovered in Gaza's Khan Younis, has been returned to Israel, military says

(Newser) - The body of a hostage taken from Israel during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel was recovered by the nation's military during an overnight raid in the Gaza city of Khan Younis, reports the BBC . "The body of ... Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity,...

It's Deadliest Attack on Israeli Forces Since Hamas Raid

21 soldiers killed Monday as two buildings collapsed

(Newser) - Palestinian militants carried out the deadliest single attack on Israel's forces since the Hamas raid that triggered the war, killing 21 soldiers, the military said Tuesday, a significant setback that could add to mounting calls for a ceasefire. Hours later, the military announced that ground forces had encircled the...

Israeli Official: Killing of 3 Hostages Was Against 'Rules of Engagement'

Men killed in friendly fire had been waving white flag, official adds, raising questions on IDF conduct

(Newser) - Three Israeli hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip had been waving a white flag and were shirtless when they were killed, an Israeli military official said Saturday. Anger over the mistaken killings is likely to increase pressure on the Israeli government to renew Qatar-mediated...

Israel Releases Palestinian Poet of New Yorker, NYT Fame

Mosab Abu Toha was seized at military checkpoint while trying to evacuate: family

(Newser) - The Israel Defense Forces says Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha was released Tuesday, the day after IDF arrested him as he attempted to evacuate to southern Gaza, the Times of Israel reports. His wife and children had been allowed to continue on. The IDF says Abu Toha was among a...

IDF: Here's Proof of Hamas Tunnels Under Hospital

Israel says footage of shaft, tunnel is evidence of complex Hamas tunnel network under Gaza facility

(Newser) - The world wanted evidence, and Israel now says it has it. On Sunday, the IDF said in a statement that it had discovered a tunnel underneath Gaza's Shifa Hospital, proof that the militant group was using the hospital as a command center. The IDF had long insisted that was...

Israel Military: We 'Just Eliminated Him'

IDF says it killed top Hamas commando Ali Qadhi in drone strike, as well as head of Hamas' air forces

(Newser) - Israel's military said Saturday that it had killed two top Hamas commanders who helped lead the massacres in Israel last weekend. Per the Times of Israel , the Israel Defense Forces identifies one of those as Ali Qadhi (also spelled Qadi in some outlets), a commando in the Nukhba unit...

Israel Frees Pork-Eating Soldier

US-born man didn't realize sandwich would be a problem

(Newser) - The Israeli military has scrapped a punishment for a US-born Israeli soldier who had caused a stink by violating the military's kosher rules by eating a pork sandwich while in uniform. Earlier, the military said the soldier, whose name was not released, "violated rules and regulations," which...

Israeli Military: Protesting Vets Face 'Sharp' Discipline

Spokesperson decries actions of Unit 8200 vets

(Newser) - The 43 veterans of an elite Israeli intelligence unit who are refusing to serve, in protest of past treatment of Palestinians , are in hot water. They're being criticized by officials on both the right and the left, as well as hundreds of their colleagues, and the Israeli military yesterday...

Netanyahu Warns of Possible 'Expansion' in Gaza Assault
Obama: Israel Has Right
to Fire Back at Gaza
UPDATED
Nov 18, 2012 7:44 AM CST

Obama: Israel Has Right to Fire Back at Gaza

As Netanyahu warns of possible 'expansion' in Gaza assault

(Newser) - President Obama, who started a three-day Asia tour today , took time at a news conference in Bangkok today to address the Israel-Gaza conflict, the AP reports. "No country on earth would tolerate missiles raining down" on its people, he said, and Israel does have the right to defend itself...

Netanyahu Announces Early Elections

His coalition government won't be able to agree on budget, he believes

(Newser) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that national elections will be held within three months—some eight months ahead of schedule—because he knows his conservative coalition government won't be able to agree on a budget. "For the benefit of Israel," the elections will be held "...

Saudi Royal Offers $900K for Capture of Israeli Soldier

Prince brings cleric's bounty to $1M

(Newser) - Israel's freeing of a thousand Palestinian prisoners in return for one captured soldier must have sounded like a pretty good deal to Prince Khaled bin Talal. The Saudi royal, brother of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has added $900,000 to a prominent Saudi cleric's offer of $100,...

Draft-Dodging Refaeli Poses Topless in Army Helmet

Israeli model's 'GQ' cover is kinda ironic

(Newser) - Bar Refaeli allegedly dodged the draft in Israel via a sham marriage —which makes her recent cover shoot for GQ Italia rather ironic. The Israeli model poses topless, wearing an army helmet, seven years after she escaped mandatory national service in the Israeli Defense Forces. The Daily Mail has...

Israel, Hamas Reportedly Agree to Ceasefire

The deal comes after weeks of increasing violence

(Newser) - After weeks of increasing violence, the likes of which has not been since since the end of the Gaza war in 2009, Israel and Hamas have agreed to step back from a major confrontation. A weekend of attacks left 19 Palestinians dead, including six civilians, and 65 injured. In addition,...

Israeli Troops Kill Unarmed Palestinian

Farm laborer was reportedly carrying a glass bottle

(Newser) - Tensions in the West Bank came to a head yesterday, when an unarmed Palestinian man was shot at an Israeli checkpoint. The Israeli military says Ahmad Maslamani, a 24-year-old farm laborer, was holding a glass bottle and ignored orders to stop, and that soldiers followed the rules of engagement when...

Photos Show Alleged Israeli Troop Misconduct

Former soldiers release photos

(Newser) - A group of former soldiers has released three pictures that it says show Israeli soldiers committing misdeeds during Israel’s 2008-2009 Gaza offensive . One image show soldiers pointing a rifle at a man who could be a Palestinian detainee; another shows a man with a rifle in what appears to...

UN Slams Israel's 'Brutal, Illegal' Flotilla Raid

Raid 'betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality'

(Newser) - A United Nations-appointed panel has strongly condemned the deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla of ships trying to break the Gaza blockade. The raid, which left nine activists dead, "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality," the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission concluded. The panel found that there...

Soldier's Facebook Post Derails Israeli Raid

Grunt who posted details on social network gets 10 days in jail

(Newser) - A West Bank raid by the Israel Defense Forces had to be called off after a soldier posted details of the operation on his Facebook page. “On Wednesday,” the status update read, “we are cleaning out " a village, which the soldier named. “Today an arrest...

Hamas Releases Video of Captive Israeli Soldier

Sept. 14 footage of Shalit obtained in trade for Palestinian prisoners

(Newser) - Imprisoned Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit appears healthy and talkative in a video released to the Israeli government by his captors in exchange for 20 Palestinian prisoners. In the video, Shalit talks of wanting to return home after his 3-year detention and holds up a copy of a newspaper dated September...

Majority of Gaza Victims Were Civilians: Rights Group

252 children among casualties of Israeli operation, group concludes

(Newser) - The majority of casualties in Israel's operation in Gaza last winter were civilians, a human rights group has concluded, contradicting the official stance of the Israel Defense Forces. According to the NGO B'Tselem, which conducted extensive interviews and has compiled a list of victims' names, 1,387 Palestinians died in...

Israel Hones Ability to Launch Strike on Iran

(Newser) - Israel is engaging in a bit of saber rattling directed toward Iran, the Times of London reports. The military is beefing up its air arsenal and training to be ready to strike Iran’s nuclear sites at a moment's notice. “Israel wants to know that if its forces were...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser