Day 556 - With Rafah encircled, IDF preps to empty Gazan city
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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.
Yesterday, the family of Edan Alexander approved the publication of a Hamas propaganda video released Saturday, which showed signs of life from the US-Israeli hostage soldier who has been held by the terror group since he was kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. He returned to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from high school in 2022. Fabian fills us in and we hear a segment of the video.
This morning, we learned that over 1,600 former IDF paratroopers and infantry soldiers signed a letter demanding the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home, even if it means ending the war. We discuss this latest appeal, which adds to a growing wave of public pressure to end the ongoing war following similar letters from IDF reservist doctors, the Talpiot program, former 8200 intelligence unit members, ex-Mossad members, navy reservists, and reservist air force personnel. We focus on the air force letter, which has brought the most media attention, and hear what steps -- if any -- the IDF is taking to stem this tide.
The Israel Defense Forces announced at noon Saturday that it had completed the capture of the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, cutting off the city of Rafah from Khan Younis. Fabian explains how this is part of a greater plan to widen the new border buffer zone.
Yesterday, the Israeli military carried out an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City, after telling staff and patients to evacuate ahead of the overnight attack, one of a series of strikes that Israel said were targeting Hamas operational centers. No casualties were reported in the hospital strike, with Israel issuing a warning to evacuate the facility before the attack. We learn where civilians are meant to go during such airstrikes, and in general.
Air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early on Sunday evening. The Houthis claimed to have fired two missiles in the attack, one targeting the Sdot Micha Airbase — where, according to foreign reports, Israel holds nuclear-capable Jericho missiles — and the other aimed at Ben Gurion Airport. Fabian weighs in.
On Friday, the IDF confirmed that it participated in a just-completed annual aerial exercise hosted by Greece, which this year included the participation of Qatar -- along with 11 other countries. We ask Fabian how significant this joint exercise is.
Please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog for more updates.
For further reading:
‘Why am I not home?’ Edan Alexander’s family okays publication of Hamas propaganda video
Over 250 ex-Mossad members, 3 former chiefs urge hostage deal even if it ends war
IAF to dismiss reservists who signed letter demanding prioritization of hostages over war
IDF says it hit a Hamas command center embedded in Gaza City hospital
IDF fully surrounds Rafah as Katz warns Gazans of ‘final moment to remove Hamas’
IDF says Houthi missile intercepted; shrapnel falls in West Bank
In first, Israeli Air Force participates with Qatar in aerial exercises hosted by Greece
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IMAGE: Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in Gaza, in a handout photo issued on April 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. Today is Monday, April 14th, day 5506 of the war. |
| 0:11.9 | Amanda Borchelle Dan here with our military reporter, Emmanuel Fabian. Hi, Manny. Thanks for joining me today. |
| 0:17.2 | Hi, Amanda. We are going to get caught up after this long holiday weekend, and we'll learn what is happening on the ground in Gaza. |
| 0:24.6 | Many will also make a little sense out of the plethora of protest letters that we have been seeing in protest of the ongoing war in order to get the hostages out now. |
| 0:35.8 | We'll also hear what U.S. Israeli citizen hostage, Idan Alexander, |
| 0:41.8 | said in a recently released Hamas propaganda video that was recorded of him while in captivity. |
| 0:51.4 | And we will also learn about a first aerial exercise between Israel, |
| 0:57.0 | many other countries, including Qatar, all of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:08.4 | Listeners of this podcast might be familiar with Sapir, a quarterly journal devoted to ideas for a thriving Jewish future, edited by Brett Stevens of the New York Times. |
| 1:18.3 | Every issue of Sapir focuses on a theme relevant to Jewish life and offers practical solutions to the problems facing the Jewish people and the Jewish state. |
| 1:27.5 | Past themes have included Zionism, anti-Semitism, and the war in Israel. |
| 1:31.9 | If you live in the U.S., you can now receive SIPIR delivered directly to your home free of charge, |
| 1:36.8 | which is kind of amazing, considering how high quality it is. |
| 1:40.2 | The current issue on diversity even includes an article in English by Israel's president Isaac Herzog, |
| 1:45.2 | who is himself an avid reader. |
| 1:46.9 | Go to superjournal.org slash Times of Israel and sign up for your free subscription. |
| 1:52.2 | That's S-A-P-I-R-Journal.org forward slash Times of Israel. |
| 1:57.7 | And start receiving this excellent publication in the mail absolutely free. |
| 2:11.0 | Yesterday, the family of Idaan Alexander approved the publication of a Hamas propaganda video that was released on Saturday, |
| 2:19.2 | and it shows, of course, signs of life from Idan, but also a dictated message decrying the |
| 2:25.5 | current stance of the government in not ending the war. The video is very difficult to watch, |
| 2:31.0 | but it is a second sign of life from Idan since November. |
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