Israel Update 22.7.26

LUTON AIRPORT

Last Thursday, at (London) Luton Airport a pushback tug collided with and damaged an Israir Airbus aircraft before a scheduled flight to Tel Aviv.

Around 300 passengers were left stranded aboard the plane as it sat on the runway for more than two and a half hours. They said there was no air conditioning, describing the experience as an “absolute nightmare”.

Israir stated that it was the third time that a service vehicle had hit and damaged one of their aircraft at that airport within a relatively short period, prompting aviation officials to investigate the recurring ground collisions. Reports herehere& here

 

IRAN WAR VICTIM

Michael Katz, 82, who was critically wounded in an Iranian missile strike on his home in Haifa in April, has died of his injuries. He was wounded in the same attack on April 5 that killed four members of the Gershovitz family. He had worked for decades at Israel’s Rafael defence technology company, and “contributed to the security of the country.” Report here

IRANIAN ATTACKS – HOW ISRAEL IS AFFECTED CURRENTLY

On Sunday, the IDF’s Iron Dome was used to shoot down fragments of an Iranian ballistic missile fired at Jordan near the border with Israel after the U.S. Aegis anti-missile system had shot down the primary missile warhead. On Wednesday (today), six Iranian missiles and four drones were intercepted in Jordanian airspace again near the border with Israel. No Iron Dome interceptors were launched and no debris fell in Israeli territory. Reports here& here

 

As tensions between Iran and the U.S. are rising rapidly, Israel’s political and military leadership is preparing for a possible escalation. Dozens of U.S. military refuelling aircraft have landed in Israel in recent days and deployed to Israeli Air Force bases. Israeli officials are holding daily security assessments. Report here

Footnote:

 Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside Pickaxe Mountain last year, heightening concerns that Tehran could reconstitute its nuclear programme.  Report here

 

LEBANON

On Monday, the IDF confirmed that a pilot programme had begun to enable the Lebanese military to enter designated “Safe Zones” in southern Lebanon to verify they have been cleared of Hizbullah operatives and weapons, in cooperation with the U.S. “The pilot areas will serve as a test of Lebanon’s ability to exercise its sovereignty in practice by implementing the agreed-upon conditions through the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) under the supervision of [the U.S.],” an Israeli official said.
A U.S. official said, “The establishment of these initial pilot zones represents…an opportunity for the Lebanese state to begin to reassert real control in areas historically dominated by Hizbullah….The LAF will clear the areas of terrorist weapons and infrastructure, conduct verified clearance operations, and hold and secure the zones so Hizbullah cannot continue to use these communities as cover for their terror attacks.”  Report here

The IDF is racing to finish eliminating Hizbullah terror infrastructure in 52 southern Lebanese villages in the coming weeks before, according to IDF sources,  the U.S. presses Israel for a wider withdrawal.Report here

The IDF destroyed a Hizbullah stronghold in Bint Jbeil, which had overlooked the Israeli communities of Avivim, Yiron, Bar’am, Rehaniya, Safed and as far as Haifa Bay. Report here

 

GAZA

 

The IDF has in the past few months stepped up a large-scale campaign to hunt down and eliminate every terrorist who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.
Israel has created a list of all the Gazans who invaded Israeli territory on Oct. 7, using video and photographic evidence posted online by terrorists and running the footage through facial recognition software. Also on the list are all Hamas leaders involved in orchestrating the massacre. Report here

The IDF and Israel Security Agency killed Adham Ibrahim Sha’aban Nasman who led Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade’s infiltration into Israel on Oct. 7 and who held several former hostages captive. Recently, Nasman attempted to train terrorists and worked to advance the production and distribution of weapons in an effort to rebuild Hamas’ military capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire agreement. In a separate strike, the IDF killed Asma Kamal Shehadeh Abu Tim, a cell commander in Hamas’ military wing who had also abducted hostages.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Taher Ahmad Salem Abd al-Wahed, who, on Oct. 7, “infiltrated the Nova music festival and commanded” the kidnapping of Israeli Inbar Haiman, 27, was killed in an IDF strike. Reports here& here

 

 

Two Hamas Nukhba commanders were killed in a strike last week. Report here

 

 

According to senior Israeli military officials, the IDF now controls between 67% and 70% of Gaza. After Hamas refused to disarm as required under President Trump’s peace plan, and amid the continuing threat it posed, the IDF expanded its operations in recent months to capture more territory.Report here

 

According to Gazan sources, in recent days, groups of Hamas terrorists had stormed food distribution points and refugee shelters. On July 13, gunmen stormed into a shelter for the elderly, firing into the air and then demanding compensation for the bullets they had fired. “For some time, there has been a pattern of smuggling, cigarettes, mobile phones, tobacco and various other goods inside trucks, including those belonging to international food organizations and commercial merchants…” Report here (paywall)

 

 

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

 

Colombia, the world’s second most populous Spanish-speaking nation after Mexico, seems to have little in common with landlocked Slovenia, the second-smallest of the six republics that once comprised Yugoslavia.

However, within one month of each other, leftist, pro-Palestine governments in both countries were voted out of office and replaced by leaders who vowed not only to restore full diplomatic relations with Israel but also to inaugurate embassies in Jerusalem.Report here

 

The Pacific island nation of Nauru will open an embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the tenth country to do so. Report here

 

 

DEFENCE

 

 

Following the death of his brother Capt Eitan Itzhak Oster in Lebanon, tech entrepreneur Udi Oster revamped the startup EyesAtop to bridge the gap between rapidly evolving commercial technology and military capabilities. The company developed a universal AI platform and controller that allows a single soldier to operate multiple drone types simultaneously, streamlining tactical operations for IDF forces and allied militaries. Report here

 

 

Israeli defence-tech start-ups working with the Defence Ministry raised nearly $3 billion in the first six months of 2026.
Some 800 start-ups are currently fulfilling direct procurement orders for the ministry. Report here

 

 

Israel Aerospace Industries has unveiled HYPNOSIS, an advanced navigation warfare system designed to counter a wide range of airborne threats, including large drone swarms, by disrupting their satellite-based navigation systems. Report here

 

 

 

Israel should be able to produce its own Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs, which convert unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, en masse within two years, which will revolutionize its warfare capabilities.  Israel started producing more of its own bombs in late 2024 after decades of relying on the U.S. after the Biden administration slapped a partial arms freeze on certain bombs to Israel in May 2024 over differences related to the IDF’s invasion of Rafah in Gaza. Report here

 

 

BUSINESS

 

 

Israeli exports reached an all-time high of $169 billion over the past year, according to official annual figures. The total exceeded both the ministry’s conservative forecast of $165 billion and the previous record of just over $166 billion set in 2022 and came despite ongoing geopolitical challenges, boycotts by several countries, disruptions to global shipping routes, and sharp currency fluctuations.The record performance was driven primarily by the high-tech sector. Report here

 

 

MEDICAL CLOWNS

 

Israel has become a global leader in medical clowning over the past two and a half decades, with two main organizations and the world’s first full bachelor’s degree programme in medical clowning, offered at Haifa University. In the three years since Oct 7, clowning has taken on a renewed role in supporting healing and resilience. Dream Doctors, founded in 2002, has developed a more clinical model, placing about 100 salaried medical clowns in more than 30 hospitals, where they work as paraprofessionals alongside hospital teams and even participate in medical procedures.

At Ichilov in Tel Aviv, the clowns are brought into operating rooms, oncology wards and transplant units. Report here

 

FOOD TECH

 

 

Israeli food technology startup Plantopia has raised $9 million to build its first commercial manufacturing facility for plant-based dairy proteins, as rising global demand for protein and supply constraints drive up dairy prices. Report here

 

 

While a meal produced entirely by microbes might still be years away, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science are working to genetically engineer bacteria to produce food from the air. Report here₂/

 

 

MEDICAL RESEARCH

 

Ben-Gurion University researchers have found that damage to stem cells caused by salmonella, a chronic bacterial infection affecting millions of people worldwide, can be completely reversed in mice which are treated with antibiotics. They hope that their findings may improve the chances of success for some of the 90,000 stem cell transplants performed annually in humans. Report here

 

 

GIN

 

The British Embassy and the UK Department for Business and Trade recently hosted a tasting of new British gins being introduced to the Israeli market. Several established UK brands and mixers are already available in Israel, including Tanqueray Gin and Bombay Sapphire.I srael also has some of its own unique gins, including several that incorporate local botanicals like citron, Medjool dates and sumac. Report here

 

SPORT

 

Israeli judoka Ariel Shulman won gold at the European Open in Sarajevo, claiming the under 60kg title and earning his third European Open gold medal. Instagram here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

The US

Wall St Journal Editorial: The vote by 103 House Democrats and one Republican last week to block U.S. arms to Israel as it fights a multifront war is a shocking abandonment of an ally.

The measure to strip Israel of all aid – humanitarian and military, offensive and defensive – was offered by the isolationist Republican Thomas Massie.
The second ranking Democrat in leadership, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said, “We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests, and values.” Israel has violated no U.S. laws we know of.
As for U.S. interests, Israel is fighting by the side of the U.S. against Iran and fighting alone against Iran’s proxies that have killed Americans.
The defence relationship with Israel is a U.S. military advantage that helps maintain America’s technological edge over adversaries.
These Democrats are voting to abandon even Iron Dome missile defence. How is it a U.S. “value” to disarm an ally fighting against murderous enemies that fire rockets on civilian towns? Editorial here (paywall)

 

 

Dr. Dan Diker warns that a recent congressional vote to cut off aid highlights a troubling political convergence between Republican isolationists and left-wing Democrats in the U.S. He argued that while maintaining ties with America remains vital, Israel must achieve full military and defence independence to avoid reliance on outside suppliers. He further emphasizes that Israel is fighting on the front lines to defend Western civilization, cautioning that Western critics fail to realize anti-Israel hatred is fundamentally rooted in opposition to America itself. Interview here

 

 

 

Palestinian Authority Threat

 

 

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch argues that the PA security forces in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) have grown 400% into a 70,000-strong trained military body, far exceeding the limits established by the Oslo Accords. Located just 14 km from the Mediterranean Sea, these heavily armed forces pose a direct and severe threat to major Israeli population centres in the Tel Aviv region. He contends that the PA is fundamentally no different from Hamas and warns that Israel must act to reduce these forces or risk a potential massacre more severe than the events of Oct. 7. Article here

 

Iran

 

 

Khaled Abu Toameh argues that Iran’s recent wave of drone and missile attacks against at least seven Arab nations demonstrates that Tehran’s war extends far beyond destroying Israel, posing a threat to the entire Middle East, the U.S., and the West. Despite Iranian claims of targeting only U.S. military assets, the strikes have damaged civilian infrastructure and killed non-combatants, steadily eroding Arab sympathy for the regime. Consequently, he contends that Arab states must align with the U.S. and Israel to confront the Iranian threat and defend their own sovereignty. Article here

 

David Patrikarakos warns that Iran’s regime poses a direct threat to Western democratic nations, citing a recently published Iranian “revenge list” targeting world leaders including Trump, Netanyahu, Starmer, Merz, Macron and Meloni. He argues that Islamic Republic-linked institutions are cultivating extremism internally within London and that the West must dismantle the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ financial and business empire to cripple its global power. Article here

 

Lebanon

 

Matthew Levitt: On June 26, 2026, Israel, Lebanon, and the U.S. signed a Trilateral Framework Agreement aimed at disarming Hezbollah, restoring Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) authority, and facilitating the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces. However, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has declared the deal “null and void,” rejecting its conditions despite the proposed transition of cleared areas to LAF control. For the agreement to succeed, substantial intelligence monitoring will be required to ensure the LAF effectively keeps Hezbollah from returning to these territories.
As long as Washington sees this effort as a viable and functioning path toward the parties’ shared goal of achieving lasting peace and security, and as long as other countries share the burden of any military, intelligence, and financial support mechanism, it just might work. Article here

 

 

Turkey

 

Ashley Perry argues that relations between Israel and Turkey have reached unprecedented hostility since October 7, with President Erdogan using rhetoric against Israel that echoes Tehran. Driven by neo-Ottoman ambitions and support for Muslim Brotherhood offshoots like Hamas, Turkey poses a unique strategic challenge to Israel as NATO’s second-largest military power with an expanding footprint across the region. Article here

 

 

Church of England

 

Melanie Phillips criticizes the Church of England for adopting a document that demonizes Israel with false accusations of genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing while attempting to strip Jewish people of their historic identity and indigenous status. Furthermore, the text asserts that the church’s long-standing theological opposition to Israel excuses Palestinian violence and directly fuels contemporary levels of antisemitism. Article here