Daily Briefing May 18: Day 590 – New day rises? IDF launches massive Gaza op

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 reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.

A new round of negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal between Hamas and Israel began in Qatar on Saturday after the Israeli military launched its new expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, “Gideon’s Chariots,” which will seek to “seize strategic areas” of the Hamas-run Strip. Fabian describes the slow rollout of the operation so far and how many more troops have entered Gaza as of Sunday morning.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis say they fired two ballistic missiles at Israel early Sunday morning. This comes after Israeli fighter jets carried out a wave of airstrikes in Yemen on Friday afternoon, targeting two Houthi-controlled ports in the west of the country, and threatened to kill the terror group’s leader. We discuss the growing realization that the terrorist group is undeterred by IAF strikes and whether Israel will take another tack soon.

The Israel Defense Force said Saturday that it killed a Hezbollah commander in a drone strike in Lebanon. The operative, who was targeted on a road near Mazraat Jemjim — some 30 kilometers from the Israeli border — in the Tyre District, was the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the Beaufort Castle area, the military said. Fabian updates us on who he was and what he was allegedly up to.

To end the program, we discuss Israel’s participation in last night’s Eurovision final and Yuval Raphael’s second-place finish. Israel’s 2025 contestant, who survived the Nova festival massacre on October 7, 2023, won the popular vote, but was less warmly received by the jury. Fabian gives some reasons why.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

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

For further reading:

IDF launches major new Gaza op, ‘seizing’ key areas; Palestinians: Dozens killed in strikes

Israel, Hamas say Gaza talks renewed after IDF initiates major new offensive

IDF pounds Houthi ports in Yemen, threatens to kill leader, after missile, drone attacks

IDF says it killed Hezbollah commander in drone strike in southern Lebanon

Israel’s Yuval Raphael tops Eurovision public vote, finishes in 2nd place as Austria wins

Israel’s Yuval Raphael feels she’s ‘won at life’ after coming second at Eurovision

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves and video edited by Thomas Girsch.

Check out yesterday’s episode here: