Daily Briefing June 1 – First we take Beaufort, then we take Beirut?

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.

WATCH the full episode here:

Israel announced Monday morning that it would renew strikes on Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, after significantly curtailing attacks on the Lebanese capital for weeks at the request of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz came as Israel has steadily expanded its ground offensive by capturing more areas in southern Lebanon, including the iconic Beaufort Castle, amid constant Hezbollah drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel and on IDF troops in Lebanon.

We delve into what is actually happening on the ground — and in the air — during this “ceasefire” in Lebanon.

Yesterday evening, two teenage girls were injured, including one seriously, in a car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank just outside of Jerusalem, with the attacker shot dead by IDF troops at the scene. Fabian fills us in.

Netanyahu said Thursday that he ordered the IDF to take control of 70 percent of the Gaza Strip – well beyond the portion of the enclave that Jerusalem was allowed to temporarily continue occupying as part of an October 2025 ceasefire deal with Hamas. We discuss what this new directive means in practice and explore what the IDF is currently doing in the Strip.

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

For further reading:

Israel says it will renew strikes on Hezbollah in Beirut after lobbying for US green light

IDF captures strategic Beaufort Castle, as soldier killed in Hezbollah drone strike

IDF soldier killed, 3 hurt, in Hezbollah drone attack near newly seized Beaufort Castle

Israel shuts schools near Lebanon border amid repeated Hezbollah rocket, drone attacks

Two teen girls hurt, one seriously, in car-ramming terror attack at West Bank junction

Netanyahu says he told IDF to seize 70% of Gaza, well beyond terms of truce

‘A jungle’: Reservists speak of permissive open-fire rules along Gaza’s Yellow Line

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.

Check out yesterday’s episode here:

Today’s transcript:

Amanda Borschel-Dan: Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing. Today is Monday, June 1. I’m Amanda Borschel-Dan here in Jerusalem, joined by our military correspondent Emanuel Fabian. Mannie, thank you so much for joining me today.

Emanuel Fabian: Hi, Amanda. Good morning.

Borschel-Dan: Good morning. We are going to talk about what is happening on both sides of the Lebanon border, what’s coming in, what’s coming out, and what is happening on the ground, as Israel yesterday announced that it had recaptured the Beaufort castle. We’re also going to discuss a pigua, a terrorist attack, that took place yesterday in the [Gush] Etzion Junction just outside of Jerusalem. And to finish off, we are going to talk about what’s happening, or not, in Gaza right now. All of this and more when we’re back.

And we’re back. I’m Amanda Borschel-Dan here with our military correspondent Emanuel Fabian.

Mannie, yesterday all the buzz was over the Beaufort Castle recapture, which Israel left when it left the Lebanon buffer zone area, occupied Lebanon in the year 2000. This is highly symbolic, of course. But first, I want to touch on what is actually coming in and out from Lebanon. So, let’s first discuss the rocket attacks that took place yesterday, including targeting Tiberias, which is kind of an unusual target in the past several years of war. So, what is coming out from Hezbollah right now?

Rocket attacks from Hezbollah

Fabian: So, since we saw the IDF expand its ground operation in southern Lebanon, including the capture of the Beaufort Castle, which is, like you said, a symbolic site. It’s also very strategic because of the way it sort of overlooks the Galilee Panhandle on the Israeli side, but also overlooks Nabatieh, which is a Hezbollah stronghold on the Lebanese side. It’s really important to say, it’s not very far from the border. It’s about four or five kilometers from the border. So all these reports of, you know, this is the deepest incursion — that’s not the case. It’s very close to the border; Israel didn’t capture it yet, and it did now. But, as the army advanced toward the site, we saw Hezbollah ramp up its rocket fire and drone attacks on northern Israel, targeting Israeli cities. We saw rocket fire on the Acre area, like you said, also on Tiberias and many other towns across the Galilee — no injuries among civilians and no damage, as far as I’m aware. There was a drone that hit a military position near Beit Hillel yesterday, which wounded four soldiers lightly. That’s in Israel, of course. And of course, in Lebanon, many, many more rocket and drone attacks target Israeli forces. We saw a soldier killed overnight and a soldier also killed the day prior in around the same area near the Beaufort Castle, but not at it exactly.

Borschel-Dan: Right. Of course, these drone attacks have been in the news for quite a while, but Mannie, I don’t recall hearing much about rockets until the past several days. Did it just not cross my radar?

Fabian: There were rockets being fired by Hezbollah, in fact dozens, but mainly targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon or military bases on the border, and not really, I would say, longer-range ones targeting Israeli cities, which is what we saw Hezbollah do in the last, I would say, two or three days, really ramp up those rocket attacks. It’s mainly because the IDF is advancing into southern Lebanon. And even in the Beaufort area, the army says that Hezbollah used the site to launch many rocket attacks. So once the army starts pushing into those areas, Hezbollah tries to fire what it can before it withdraws as the troops advance.

Israel’s Beaufort Castle recapture

Borschel-Dan: You mentioned the strategic importance of Beaufort, and I just wonder if that was actually “before.” Meaning in this particular war that we’re waging right now, it has been less about the ground troops and more about drones and aerial strikes and things of that nature. Is it really such a big achievement that we have taken Beaufort again?

Fabian: Not particularly. I think it’s more of a minor sort of strategic point in this larger operation. It’s not going to stop the drone attacks, it’s probably not going to stop the rocket attacks, but it does give Israel a bit of a better position to launch a further attack on the Nabatieh area, where, of course, we know is a major Hezbollah stronghold. That may not happen right now. I think that would be a much bigger escalation, and I don’t think the Americans would be too happy with that, considering the restraints they’ve placed on Israel right now. But I think that’s where it’s sort of heading toward, that sort of direction where Israel’s now taken this hill that overlooks the area. It’s now able to prevent some attacks being launched from there on Israel. Obviously, it’s not going to stop all of them, and is sort of poised for future operations, and potentially expanding the operation in Lebanon even further.

Borschel-Dan: Our colleague Lazar Berman said that a government turns to symbolism when it’s not actually achieving any real victory on the ground. So let’s take a second and actually diagnose what’s happening on the ground in Lebanon. Soldiers are falling, if not every day, every other day. That is definitely putting Israel in a mourning mood. But I wonder if anything is actually happening to improve the conditions on the ground for the people of Israel, not to mention, of course, the — what, a million displaced Lebanese just across the border.

Fabian: We look at the situation and think it’s terrible because soldiers are dying and rockets are being launched at Israel. But, if you compare it to the situation two years ago, the situation’s already much, much better. Hezbollah is firing maybe 20 or 30 rockets at Israel a day. That’s obviously a lot, but the assessments, the pre-war assessments, I would say before October 7th of “What is Hezbollah’s power?” It was 3,000 rockets a day, and that would be sustained for about a month. Those were Israel’s assessments of Hezbollah.

And not to mention Hezbollah’s plans to invade northern Israel, like Hamas did on October 7. Really, really terrible things. So I think the situation is not perfect, but it’s definitely a lot, lot better than it could be. In terms of what Hezbollah’s up to, Israel says it’s killed around 800 to 900 operatives just during the ceasefire alone since April 16. Since the beginning of the Iran war, nearly 3,000, and since the beginning of October 7, since the beginning of the multi-front war, over 8,000 Hezbollah operatives. Hezbollah has something like between 30,000 and 50,000 members.

So, if you include also those wounded, we’re talking about a very large chunk of their fighting force that’s been taken out. And Israel says that that’s a pretty big achievement. But the goal, the very, I would say, lofty goal of dismantling Hezbollah entirely, disarming the terror group, is very out of reach. It’s not something that Israel was going to achieve anytime soon, and definitely not just by force. And a senior officer told me a few weeks ago, saying that if you want to disarm Hezbollah, you want to dismantle the terror group entirely, you’re going to need to capture all of Lebanon, and that’s not something that Israel is planning to do. It’s not very feasible. But on the other hand, Israel doesn’t expect the Lebanese government, or Lebanese army specifically, to actually be able to disarm Hezbollah either. So it really has to come down to some sort of agreement.

Possible military strikes in Beirut

Borschel-Dan: I heard an analyst yesterday speaking, and she said that the heart of Hezbollah is Beirut. She meant it physically and metaphorically. And in the meantime, at least for the past several weeks, as far as I understand it, Israel has not really been striking Beirut as the diplomatic efforts have continued. So my question to you, Mannie, is whether you think that that is the next step in this campaign in Lebanon right now.

Fabian: Beirut is exactly the next step. So as we’re recording this, the Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] and Defense Minister [Israel Katz] issued a joint statement saying they’ve ordered the IDF to carry out strikes on Hezbollah in the Dahieh district, the southern suburbs of Beirut, following Hezbollah’s repeated attacks on Israel, on soldiers during the ceasefire. So, this is probably what we’ll see later today. So, definitely keep checking back on the sites. We’re likely to see, probably, several waves of strikes against Hezbollah in Beirut.

Borschel-Dan: Let’s go to a short break.

And we’re back. I’m Amanda Borschel-Dan here in Jerusalem, joined by our military correspondent, Emanuel Fabian. Mannie, let’s turn to a terrorist attack which took place yesterday evening, wounding two teen girls, a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, at the Etzion Junction, which is located just outside of Jerusalem. This was again a car ramming at a bus stop, something we’ve seen many times before. What can you tell us about this attack, Mannie?

Terrorist attack at the Gush Etzion Junction

Fabian: So the Palestinian terrorist rams his vehicle into these two girls who are waiting at the bus stop, like you said, seriously injuring one of them, moderately injuring the other. A soldier who was stationed in the area from the Kfir Brigade immediately opened fire on the vehicle, killing the attacker, and then he provided emergency care for the wounded civilians, including placing a tourniquet on the seriously wounded teen. And according to medical officials, that saved her life. And he was commended for his actions by senior military officials. The terrorist was identified as a 30-year-old Palestinian from the Hebron area. So that’s just south of the Gush Etzion area. And the army was enforcing roadblocks in the area following the attack. But that was pretty much it. It wrapped up very quickly. And of course, the army will likely later operate at the terrorist’s home, question his family members, and arrest additional suspects who may have known that he was planning this attack.

Increased IDF presence in Gaza

Borschel-Dan: Let’s turn to Gaza. And we are seeing repeated attempts of Gazans to cross the Yellow Line, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to capture 70% of the [Gaza] Strip. Mannie, until now, or at least according to the agreement, Israel was meant to hold 53%, I believe facts on the ground state otherwise, and we’re up to what, 60% by this point? So what can you tell us about this new order to capture 70%? What does this mean?

Fabian: I don’t think it means anything right now because the troops aren’t advancing any further. Israel did expand its area to about 60%. Basically, it’s areas that are more free of Hamas, but not necessarily really controlled by the army. The army’s not at every single point, of course, in its area that it controls, but the area which Israel does not allow people to come into is now around 60% of Gaza. Prime Minister said that when he was asked about this, he said, “We’ll do 70%,” and someone asked him, “What about 100%?” He said, “Well, we’ll get there later.” So, it looks like Israel’s planning a new Gaza offensive, if Hamas does not disarm by agreement according to the deal. Of course, the ceasefire deal is supposed to disarm, which is clearly not happening. Eventually, I think we’ll see Israel return to fighting in Gaza, but the focus is all on Lebanon now, so I don’t think there’s a very high chance that we’ll see a Gaza offensive very soon.

But, meanwhile, the army is still enforcing the Yellow Line, preventing anybody from crossing. But it’s also been carrying out a lot more proactive strikes. So we’ve of course seen the killing of Hamas’s military chief and his replacement. I don’t know who’s replaced them, if anybody has been selected yet to replace the latest one. But there was another strike that killed the deputy commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade [Imad Hassan Hussein Aslim], a relatively senior commander, of course, because there aren’t very many senior commanders left in Hamas anyway.

And we also saw last week that the army announced that it carried out strikes on three Hamas weapon depots in Gaza, so areas where Hamas was trying to prepare and store weapons. And one of the sites also had 10 pickup trucks, according to the military, that Hamas would use for military activity. So we are seeing more proactive strikes. Israel has obviously claimed in every case that it’s acting against imminent threats, but it is definitely a lot more proactive with these strikes in Gaza ahead of what may be a new offensive. But if Lebanon is still the main front, then I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Cross-border movement from Gaza

Borschel-Dan: We heard from Defense Minister Israel Katz last week that he’s going to push for a mass attempt at emigration from the Gaza Strip. That, of course, has not been in the works. We heard that at the Rafah Crossing, something like 50 are allowed each day. Do you have any kind of update about the traffic in and out of people from Gaza?

Fabian: Very few. That’s like you said, it’s only around 50 people going in and out. It’s mainly sick Palestinians who are seeking medical care abroad. The mass immigration that I would say Israel Katz and other ministers in the government fantasize about is not happening. It’s not happening on the ground. Even if Israel wanted to, Palestinians aren’t leaving Gaza. They’re staying there. We’re not going to see that many or thousands and thousands of Palestinians leaving. People left at the beginning of the war as well. I think it was maybe 30,000 Palestinians who left Gaza at the beginning of the war, when Egypt controlled the Rafah crossing and allowed people out. But even if Israel wanted to, it’s just that people aren’t leaving.

Borschel-Dan: Well, I don’t think they’re actually given the opportunity to leave right now. And it’s not as if Egypt is opening its doors as well.

Fabian: That too. But I’m saying if Israel wanted to and wanted to allow as many people out as possible, it could, but that’s just not happening.

Borschel-Dan: Right. So it has to be some kind of different policy decision and not just some kind of rhetoric, is what you’re saying.

Fabian: Yeah, there’s a lot of rhetoric about mass emigration and kicking all the Gazans out of Gaza. But on the ground, that’s not the reality. That’s just not what’s happening.

Borschel-Dan: So I do wonder, Mannie, things are, of course, terrible for the Gazans. We’re hearing reports from our soldiers themselves about mice crawling up their legs when they’re trying to guard, and the refuse and the sewage. And it’s just a terrible condition for our soldiers. They’re not in the midst of 2 million people living all together in terrible conditions. And I do wonder sometimes, when I hear these reports of people trying to cross the Yellow Line, are we seeing death by suicide in these cases? Are they martyring themselves in order to perhaps find where the line might be porous? Or what is happening here? Why are we seeing these cases over and over and over again?

Fabian: It’s hard to say. I don’t know what these individuals are thinking when they cross the  Yellow Line. According to the army, those that it kills in most cases are members of terror groups who are trying to either carry out attacks, or trying to scout the area, or trying to prepare for something. There are cases where innocent people have crossed the line, and the army has called them suspects. In some cases, it hasn’t even opened fire because it can identify them as young children or women. But the general line that military commanders say is that there’s nothing to look for there. There are just destroyed houses. It’s all flattened. There’s nothing really there. There’s no reason for anybody to be crossing the line or approaching Israeli soldiers in the area. Therefore, if somebody is crossing there, either they’re not innocent because they’re trying to carry out an attack, or maybe they lost their way, or maybe, as you said, they’re trying to find a way out. But it’s pretty far from the residential area, so you have to really make the journey and, sort of, be quite purposeful about it.

But really, that’s what the army is doing right now. It’s basically just enforcing that line, and if anybody crosses. It usually just opens fire, and it will check to see if it’s somebody innocent. But in pretty much all of the cases, at least according to the army, it’s members of Hamas or other terror groups who are trying to test the military.

Continued detonation of the Hamas tunnel network

Borschel-Dan: So, in addition to enforcing the Yellow Line, the deconstruction, the detonation of the tunnel network continues, correct, Mannie?

Fabian: Yeah, in the past few weeks, the army reported destroying more tunnels, several kilometers’ worth of Hamas tunnels on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, basically in the Israeli-held area. It’s a pretty endless task. I was in Gaza about 6 months ago, and soldiers told me there that it’s basically an endless task. They keep finding more and more tunnels. Hamas built way more than Israel believed that there was. That’s one of the more surprising things that Israel found out when I went into Gaza: how much more extensive the Hamas tunnel network actually was compared to what the intelligence saw. It’s ongoing. But, if they ever complete destroying all the tunnels on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, of course, there are the tunnels on the Hamas side of the Yellow Line. And there are areas of Gaza that Israel has not even been in with ground troops yet. And who knows how many tunnels will be found there. So it’s really something that will likely continue for decades, if I had to guess how long it would take to destroy the last tunnel.

Borschel-Dan: So in the meantime, we’re saying essentially that Israeli soldiers are guarding the perimeter, the yellow line. They’ve been instructed with no end date to take another 10-20% of the Gaza Strip. No plans are actually being enacted at this point, and it’s basically a waiting game to see what happens in Israel’s north, in Lebanon.

Fabian: Yeah, I would say it’s both waiting on that and also on the technocratic government in Gaza, whether or not they come into play, they take over control of the Hamas areas. I think that’s another big, big part of the, sort of the story here of what’s happening with Gaza.

Borschel-Dan: All right, Mannie, thank you so much for your updates and insights today.

Fabian: Thank you.

Borschel-Dan: Thanks for listening to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing. Please check out another installment tomorrow. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht. If you have any questions or comments about this or any other episode, please drop us an email to podcast@timesofisrael.com. Until tomorrow, shalom.