Day 590 - New day rises? IDF launches massive Gaza op
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 18 May 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
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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.
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, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” that 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.
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.
IMAGE: A Palestinian boy looks at a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in al-Saftawi area west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 18, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:05.0 | Today is Sunday, May 18th, day 590 of the war. |
| 0:10.0 | Amanda Borchelle Dan here with our military correspondent, Emmanuel Fabian. |
| 0:15.0 | Hi, Mani. Thanks for joining me today. |
| 0:17.0 | Hi, Amanda. |
| 0:18.0 | The IDF launched a major operation which is self-described as seizing the territory in the Gaza Strip and holding it. |
| 0:26.1 | We will hear what has been happening on the ground so far. |
| 0:29.1 | We'll also learn about airstrikes on Yemen, as well as the two missiles that approached Israel, at least this morning. |
| 0:37.3 | We'll also hear for dessert a little bit |
| 0:40.2 | about the Eurovision song contest where Yuval Rafael, Israel's candidate, secured a second place |
| 0:47.3 | last night. All of this and more when we're back. |
| 0:55.9 | Hi everyone, I'm Michal. And I'm no. when we're back. Hi, everyone. |
| 0:57.0 | I'm Mikhail. |
| 0:57.9 | And I'm Noam. |
| 0:58.7 | And we'd like to invite you to wander with us on our podcast, Wondering Jews with |
| 1:03.1 | Mikhail and Noam, a podcast from Anfax. |
| 1:05.7 | On Wondering Jews, that's Wondering with an O, not wandering, wondering, wondering. |
| 1:09.9 | We wonder together about big questions being asked by Jewish people and about the Jewish people, |
| 1:15.3 | challenging ideas, exploring traditions, and maybe even arguing just a little bit along the way. |
| 1:20.7 | Sometimes it's just the two of us, and other times we're joined by some fascinating guests. |
| 1:24.6 | For us, it's not about arriving at a neatly packaged answer, |
| 1:28.9 | but rather about the journey |
... |
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