IDF set to vastly expand buffer zone in Lebanon
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2026
⏱️ 30 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 correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Like all Israelis, Fabian is experiencing the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran first-hand. We hear that his area of the country has been more battered of late, and about his onsite reporting from a crater caused by a several-hundred-kilogram warhead yesterday.
We turn to the IDF's airstrikes on Iran and what it is targeting now that the majority of military targets have been struck. Who turned out the lights in Iran yesterday?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would capture additional territory in southern Lebanon to expand a security zone on Israel’s northern border, as the Israel Defense Forces expanded its ground operation against the Hezbollah terror group. Fabian explains what this could look like.
We learn about the IDF's Alpinist Unit -- IDF soldiers on skis -- who conducted a rare border crossing in snowy mountains from Syria to Lebanon.
The IDF is pulling the Menashe Regional Brigade’s 941st “Netzah Israel” Battalion, a reserve unit made up mostly of former soldiers of the Kfir Brigade’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion, out of the West Bank. We learn why.
And finally, we hear what is happening on the ground in Gaza as operations continue there.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Iranian missile attack sparks blaze in chemical plant, fears of hazardous leak
Blackouts hit parts of Tehran as Israel conducts strikes in Iran amid peace talks
PM says Israel to expand south Lebanon buffer zone as IDF pushes deeper into territory
IDF chief: Detention, alleged assault of CNN crew in West Bank ‘grave ethical incident’
IDF pulls entire battalion from West Bank action after alleged assault of CNN crew
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: A poster shows former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site of a destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Sarafand village, south Lebanon, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. Today is Monday, March 30th. I'm Amanda Borschelle |
| 0:09.2 | Dan here in Jerusalem with our military correspondent, Emmanuel Fabian in Bersheva. Mani, thank you so much |
| 0:15.3 | for joining me today. I'm Amanda. Good morning. And you've experienced over the past day |
| 0:20.3 | several missile attacks from |
| 0:21.9 | Iran. We're going to discuss Iran and move to what's happening in Lebanon. We'll also talk about |
| 0:27.9 | our other borders that are definitely fronts right now during this war. We're talking about |
| 0:32.3 | the West Bank, the Houthis, and we'll move to Gaza at the end. All of this and more when we're back. |
| 0:42.5 | When the headlines feel overwhelming, where do you turn for deeper perspectives and ideas? |
| 0:47.4 | I'm Tali Rosenblatt-Kohen, host of the Five Books Podcast. |
| 0:51.0 | In every episode, I sit down with Jewish authors to talk not only about their latest work, |
| 0:55.5 | but about the five books that shaped their Jewish identity and shifted their perspective. |
| 1:00.6 | Recent conversations include award-winning authors like Ziva Bukai, Rabbi Angela Bookdahl, |
| 1:05.5 | Sam Sussman, and more. |
| 1:07.4 | Join us as we talk to Mati Friedman about his new book out of the sky about one of Israel's founding |
| 1:12.3 | legends. I'm trying to explain what this place is. It's a very confusing place and in some ways |
| 1:17.7 | the longer you live here, the more surprising it is. And the harder it is to understand. So it might |
| 1:21.8 | be strange for me to say that a book that takes place in 1944 is meant to help us understand Israel now, but I hope |
| 1:29.1 | it does. |
| 1:30.5 | See you soon on the Five Books Podcast for thoughtful conversations about books and ideas |
| 1:35.1 | beyond the intensity of the news cycle. |
| 1:37.7 | Listen to the Five Books wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:41.4 | This episode is brought to you by Jewish Communal Fund, the preferred donor-advised fund of the Jewish community for over 50 years. |
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