Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-06-28 at 12:02

HEADLINES
Iran Strikes Gulf US Bases, Muharraq Hit
Hezbollah Burns Lebanon First Billboard
Israel Seeks Stop to Ultra-Orthodox Draft Arrests

The time is now 12:01 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

In Iranian Retaliation, Iran renewed its attacks on Gulf states early Sunday morning, firing missiles and drones at US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain shortly after President Donald Trump renewed threats that Iran would not honor the agreement. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Command warned that American bases in the region would experience hell in the coming days. An Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq. The article notes that the United States had previously launched attacks on Iran after a Panama-flagged tanker incident.

In the Conflict with Iran and its Regional Proxies, Hezbollah in Beirut burned a billboard reading “Lebanon First.” They prefer Iran first.

In Israeli Domestic Politics, Defense Minister Israel Katz urged the government to advance a proposal that would temporarily freeze arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, with the plan defining who is a yeshiva student and other conditions. He called on Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Boaz Bismuth to convene an urgent meeting to discuss the matter, following a Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs letter arguing that arresting draft evaders undermined broader enlistment. Bismuth said he would convene the committee this week to push the proposal forward. Separately, Major Shahar Varon will join Together’s list for the upcoming elections as the leader of a new plan to treat IDF veterans with physical and psychological injuries, a move announced by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Together, formed from Bennett and Yesh Atid’s merger, has seen its seat count shift in recent polls as the bloc attempts to present a renewed platform. In another development, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to oppose expanding his criminal trial schedule to five days a week starting in October, with hearings planned Sunday through Thursday after his own testimony. His defense team called the change a critical injury to their case, and it remained unclear whether Netanyahu would appear in Jerusalem for the proceedings as security considerations were weighed.

In Uplifting News, the story of Setsuzo Kotsuji is told of a Japanese scholar who rescued Jewish refugees during World War II. Late in 1940, Kotsuji took five or six Kobe police officials to the city’s best restaurant and, after a series of dinners, secured safe passage for some 6,000 people out of Japan. He borrowed 300,000 yen, telling his brother-in-law it was “for the lives of human beings,” and used the meals and time bought to win the officers’ trust. The refugees slept on borrowed mattresses as their transit visas neared expiration, yet the funds and carefully timed steps enabled their escape. The full record of how the scholar orchestrated this effort remains a point of astonishment for those who tracked the story.

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
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-900734
https://t.me/beholdisraelchannel/78054
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-900738
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-900733
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/benjamin-netanyahu/article-900732
https://t.me/newssil/205443
https://t.me/newssil/205442
https://www.jpost.com/history/article-900512