Israel SitRep: November 15, 2024

Today’s Issue: | Axios Report: Israel’s Strike Against Iran Destroyed Top Secret Nuclear Research Facility | IAF Drone Strike Eliminates PIJ Gaza City Brigade Commander | IDF Troops Find More Hezbollah Combat Equipment; IAF Strikes More Than 120 Targets in Past Day | COGAT: Aid from UAE and 1,000 Blood Units Entered Gaza Thursday | Latest FDD Analysis

Axios Report: Israel’s Strike Against Iran Destroyed Top Secret Nuclear Research Facility: On Friday, Barak Ravid reported in Axios, citing U.S. and Israeli officials, that Israel’s October strike on Iran destroyed a top secret nuclear weapons research facility, causing significant damage to Iran’s efforts to continue research on nuclear weapons. According to satellite images acquired by the Institute for Science and International Security, the Israeli strike destroyed the Taleghan 2 facility in the Parchin military complex, which was used to test explosives needed to detonate a nuclear device. Ravid cited a former Israeli official as saying that the strike destroyed equipment Iran was using to design plastic explosives needed to set off a nuclear weapon. According to both Israeli and U.S. officials, Iran was conducting research at Taleghan 2 that it could claim was being used for civilian purposes but could also be used for nuclear weapons development.

IAF Drone Strike Eliminates PIJ Gaza City Brigade Commander: The IDF announced on Friday that an Israeli Air Force drone strike killed Alkaman Abd as-Salam Khalil Anbar, who was in charge of the rocket firing array for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Gaza City Brigade. According to the IDF, Anbar played a major role in PIJ’s weapons-production processes. The drone strike also killed other PIJ operatives who fired rockets at Israel and at IDF troops. In Jabalya and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, in the past day, troops from the 162nd Division have eliminated terrorists in close combat and through airstrikes and have destroyed a large quantity of weapons including machine guns, explosive devices, and other military equipment. Also in the past day, in Rafah in southern Gaza, soldiers from the Gaza Division spotted several armed men who were planning to attack them. They called in an airstrike, which killed the men.

IDF Troops Find More Hezbollah Combat Equipment; IAF Strikes More Than 120 Targets in Past Day: On Friday, the IDF reported that troops from the 36th, 91st, and 146th Division are continuing targeted fighting is southern Lebanon. In the past day they found combat equipment belonging to Hezbollah fighters, weapons, and short-range rockets and launchers intended to be used against Galilee communities. Troops from the 91st Division destroyed Hezbollah underground terrorist infrastructures in the area. On Thursday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out targeted strikes in the Nabatieh area against command centers and military buildings of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. The targets included a building used by Hezbollah’s Badr Unit for promoting terror attacks against IDF troops and Israeli communities. The IAF has struck more than 120 terror targets throughout Lebanon in the past day, including command centers, terrorist squads, weapons depots, and a large number of launchers, some of which were used to fire rockets on Thursday at the Haifa area and the upper Galilee.

COGAT: Aid from UAE and 1,000 Blood Units Entered Gaza Thursday: On Thursday, COGAT, the Israeli entity coordinating humanitarian aid for Gaza, reported that aid from the United Arab Emirates is entering Gaza and that 15 trucks from the UAE entered northern Gaza yesterday. More than 300 trucks are moving the aid — which includes 2,261 pallets of medical equipment, water, hygiene products, and shelter supplies — through the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings. In addition, 1,000 blood units for the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza entered Gaza on Thursday in coordination with an international organization. COGAT notes that more than 6,000 blood units have entered Gaza in the past few months. Also on Thursday, COGAT announced that it facilitated the transfer of 16 patients and caregivers from Gaza to Jordan for medical treatment through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Latest FDD Analysis:

Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,” featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Madhav Das Nalapat, FDD Event

“Egypt’s disappearing women,” Mariam Wahba, Washington Examiner

“Beijing Displays New Stealth Fighter Jet at China’s Premier Air Show,” Jack Burnham, FDD Policy Brief

“Lebanon Ceasefire Talks: Beware of Trusting Russia to Restrain Hezbollah,” Ahmad Sharawi, FDD Policy Brief

“IDF reports 6 Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“‘Significant’ Damage: IDF Strikes Hezbollah Smuggling Routes Between Syria and Lebanon,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“U.S. Forces Strike at Iranian Proxies in Syria in Response to Series of Attacks,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Europeans Urge UN Nuclear Agency to Adopt Resolution Pressuring Iran Over Non-Compliance,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief