Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-07-23 at 08:02

HEADLINES
Israel weighs drone ban amid Iranian threat
Iran and Pakistan trade to hit 10B
US weighs regime change option on Iran

The time is now 8:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

In Direct Israel-Iran Clashes, the government is weighing a total ban on drone use in Israeli airspace amid growing fear of an Iranian attack after drones have caused damage across the Middle East in recent weeks. A recent Security Cabinet session discussed the issue, with the defense establishment’s view relayed to all Knesset ministers, and officials noting the lack of effective counter-drone technologies as a key reason for the possible prohibition. Given the private use of drones for civilian activities such as photography, officials said options are being explored carefully before a final decision is made. The context remains tense as Iranian drone activity continues to factor into regional security calculations, and reports have tied Iran’s campaign to broader US-Iran hostilities, including a claim by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it struck US-linked targets in Bahrain with explosive drones. In a related local precaution, Ramat Gan opened all its public bomb shelters after a municipal risk assessment found the chance of Iranian missile fire over the weekend no longer negligible. Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen said the step was a precautionary measure, not prompted by a national alert, and urged building committees to ensure communal shelters are ready, while stressing that Israel stands prepared to respond if Iran launches another round and that residents should not panic.

In Regional Impacts, Iran is expanding trade with Pakistan as experts say it will ease the squeeze of the Hormuz blockade. Officials said the goal is to raise truck trade to about 2,000 vehicles per day, with the aim of lifting bilateral trade from about $3 billion to at least $10 billion. Infrastructure measures include a new border crossing at Kuhak and improvements at the Rimdan crossing, along with plans to expand agricultural trade to $5 billion, supported by facilities like cold storage on both sides. Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni announced the move after talks with Pakistani counterparts, and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi said officials would visit Iran on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation.

In US Policy Concerning Israel, reporting suggests the regime-change option is again being considered in Washington as diplomatic pressure falters. The Financial Times, citing unnamed parts of the Trump administration, notes that some officials are weighing economic, political, and potentially covert measures aimed at destabilizing Iran after diplomacy failed to yield satisfactory concessions. The analysis recalls that regime change had been among prior aims when the Trump and Netanyahu governments first sought to confront Iran, but that approach was deprioritized in favor of negotiations over the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz after expectations of a popular uprising did not materialize. Separately, Trump announced that any nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia would be contingent on that country joining the Abraham Accords, signaling a linkage of broader regional diplomacy to security arrangements.

In Israeli Domestic Politics, authorities reported that three Hamas terrorists were killed in a targeted strike in the northern Gaza Strip, including Abdallah Jahja, a member of Hamas’s naval force, who also helped plan attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, alongside Mohammed Al-Hawari, a Zeitoun Battalion commander, and Sabhi Saqallah, an intelligence operative. On Saturday, the IDF and Shin Bet said two more Hamas operatives who abducted and held Israelis hostage during the October 7 attacks were killed, including Adham Ibrahim Sha’aban Nasman, Gaza City Brigade operations head, who led infiltration operations and had held several hostages. In domestic political developments, New Hope MK Sharren Haskel alleged in a sworn affidavit that members of the New Hope-United Right faction were required to film themselves voting for Michael Rabello as state comptroller and show the footage to Prime Minister Netanyahu, a claim tied to ongoing questions over ballot secrecy though not submitted in the Rabello case. Separately, a Nazareth man, Muhammad Awad, was indicted for repeated attempts to contact Hamas, seeking its help to attack National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, while the indictment also accuses him of researching missiles and explosives, and of possessing ammunition. In another case, a Jerusalem man was indicted for threatening foreign journalists and damaging vehicles north of Ramallah, including blocking CNN and an Italian outlet’s vehicles, brandishing a club and a rock, and attempting to slash a tire, with one vehicle’s windshield damaged. In a separate incident, a 51-year-old Israeli man was seriously wounded in a West Bank stabbing near Elon Moreh; two Palestinian attackers were killed at the scene as Israel police and the IDF fenced off the area, with authorities noting the stabbing followed a fire set by nearby residents. Preparations for possible escalation continue, with public shelters opened in several cities, though Home Front Command guidelines remain unchanged.

In Uplifting News, a new city study finds one in four Tel Aviv-Jaffa families is headed by a single parent, well above the national average of 15 percent. The city’s 13,412 single-parent families include 6,730 headed by an unmarried parent, and women lead 96 percent of these families. The proportion has risen by about four percentage points since 2015. The report, produced by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality’s Center for Economic and Social Research using Central Bureau of Statistics data and other sources, also notes that roughly 234,100 women live in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, making up more than half the city’s population, with women comprising 57 percent of residents aged 65 and older. The city’s fertility rate is about 1.8 births per woman.

Thank you for tuning in to this Israel Today: Ongoing War Report update.
I'm Noa Levi. Stay safe and informed.
Keep in mind that this AI-generated report may contain occasional inaccuracies, so consult multiple sources for a comprehensive view. Find the code and more details in the podcast description.

SOURCES
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