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The Defense Ministry announced on Sunday the delivery of the first operational high-power laser interception system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., dubbed “Iron Beam,” to the Israel Defense Forces.

The system, which has successfully intercepted rockets, mortar shells and drones during extensive testing, will be absorbed by the air force and integrated into the country’s multi-layered air defense array alongside Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow systems.

Calling the handover “a historic occasion,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said the system marks “the first time in the world that a high-power laser interception system has reached operational maturity,” adding that it “changes the rules of the game and sends a clear message to all our enemies… do not test us.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took off on Sunday from Ben Gurion Airport headed for Florida, where he is set to meet with US President Donald Trump for talks expected to focus on the future of the Gaza Strip and ongoing threats from Hezbollah and Iran.

In a rare move, Netanyahu did not have reporters accompanying him on his flight and did not give a customary statement ahead of his departure.

Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump, the fifth since Trump returned to office in January for his second term, is scheduled at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate at 3:30 p.m. local time on Monday.

Ahead of Monday's anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, sharp disagreements have emerged within the American administration regarding Gaza policy and Iran strategy, American and Israeli sources revealed to Israel Hayom Thursday evening.

The divide pits Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has the support of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Meanwhile, applying Israeli law throughout Judea and Samaria will surface among numerous discussion topics during Trump-Netanyahu deliberations, Israel Hayom confirmed from multiple involved sources. Surprisingly, American pressure for advancing such initiatives exceeds Israeli momentum, following senior evangelical figures expressing determination to pursue it.

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday struck a terror compound in Lebanon used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force to conduct drills for attacks against Israeli troops and civilians.

According to the military, training at the facility included live-fire exercises and additional drills involving a range of weapons.

“The training activities conducted at the compound constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” said the IDF.

At his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will voice the opinion that pushing for a political solution with Hamas still in power in Gaza will prove a "historic mistake," i24NEWS understands.

While a wide range of issues are expected to come up at the Trump-Netanyahu Florida summit, from Syria and Lebanon to Iran, the most concerning for the Israeli premier is Gaza and the transition to Phase B of the deal. Key figures within the administration, led by envoy Witkoff, push to move forward with the rehabilitation of the Strip and further withdrawals, without any clear plan for how Hamas would be disarmed.

The concern raised in yesterday’s cabinet meeting is that Washington does not fully understand the danger of leaving Hamas armed in Gaza. Netanyahu is expected to argue to the president that failing to disarm the terror group and keeping it as the ruling power in Gaza would be a “historic mistake.”

The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes Friday morning on Hezbollah targets in “several areas of Lebanon,” including a training compound used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, the military said.

According to the IDF, the compound struck on Friday was used for training operatives, conducting live-fire drills and planning attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah’s Radwan Force is tasked with preparations to invade Israel from the north, in an operation along the lines of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion from Gaza.

The US has launched strikes against militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, where militants have sought to establish a foothold.

Camps run by the group in Sokoto state were hit near the border with Niger, the US military said. Casualty numbers are unclear, but both US and Nigerian officials say militants were killed.

US President Donald Trump said the Christmas Day strikes had been "deadly" and labelled the group "terrorist scum", saying they had been "targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians".

Talks between Israel and Syria over a security agreement have moved forward significantly in recent weeks with the possibility to be signed soon, a Syrian source close to President Ahmed Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.

According to the source, the recent breakthrough is attributed to significant efforts made by US President Donald Trump. It is possible that the agreement, which will include a diplomatic annex, will be signed during a high-level Syrian-Israeli meeting in a European country in the near future.

The Syrian source tells me that he did not rule out the possibility of a direct signing at a meeting between al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Turkey has been trying to deploy radars on Syrian soil in recent weeks, two Western intelligence sources told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, amid an escalating confrontation between Israel and Turkey over Ankara's presence in Syria.

Deploying radars in Syrian territory would significantly restrict the Israeli Air Force's freedom of action in Syrian airspace, as was in recent strikes, as Turkish radars could detect Israeli aircraft activity over the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to arrive in Florida on Sunday, December 28, for a meeting with US President Donald Trump. He is likely to remain in the US for about five days and return to Israel on January 1.

During the visit, an additional meeting between the two leaders is also possible, as previously revealed by Israel Hayom. Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as with evangelical figures, public officials and representatives of Jewish communities.

The central topics to be discussed by the two leaders are the front against Iran and the implementation of Phase Two of the American president's 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip.

Israel will 'respond accordingly' following another Hamas violation of the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday.

"The Hamas terror organization continues to violate the ceasefire and President Trump’s 20-point plan," Netanyahu said.

This statement followed an IDF announcement that a combat officer was wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on an armored vehicle during an IDF operation in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Tuesday with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra in Moscow, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA.

The meeting addressed a range of political, military and economic issues of mutual concern, with a particular focus on strategic cooperation in the military and defense industry sectors, it added.

According to SANA, the talks also explored prospects for expanding economic and trade cooperation, including support for reconstruction projects, the development of infrastructure sectors, the encouragement of investments in Syria, boosting trade exchange and facilitating partnerships, steps expected to positively impact the Syrian economy and improve living conditions.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee warned on Monday that Iran’s ambitions pose a direct threat not only to Israel but to the United States itself, saying Tehran ultimately seeks to undermine and destroy America.

Speaking at a high-level conference hosted by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Huckabee said U.S. policy toward Iran should be understood in a broader strategic context. “The president has made it clear this isn’t only about Israel,” he said. “Iran’s ultimate objective is the United States.”

The conference, titled “Israel–U.S. Relations: An Alliance in Transition? Interests, Values, and Community Amid Changes,” brought together senior officials, diplomats, and security experts to discuss shared challenges facing Washington and Jerusalem, including Iran, the war in Gaza, regional instability, and future defense cooperation.

The United States and Iran trade barbs at the United Nations Security Council over conditions for reviving nuclear talks, with the US saying it remains ready for direct negotiations and Iran rejecting Washington’s terms.

The two countries held five rounds of nuclear talks prior to a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, which Washington joined by striking Iranian nuclear sites.

“The United States remains available for formal talks with Iran, but only if Tehran is prepared for direct and meaningful dialogue,” Trump’s deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus tells the Security Council on Tuesday.

“We have been clear, however, about certain expectations for any arrangement. Foremost, there can be no enrichment inside of Iran, and that remains our principle,” Ortagus says.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has walked back his Tuesday morning statement claiming that Israel plans to settle northern Gaza and has no intention of withdrawing from territory under Israeli control in either Gaza or Syria.

"The defense minister’s remarks regarding the integration of Nahal nuclei in northern Gaza were made strictly in security-related contexts," Katz's office said in a Tuesday afternoon statement. "The government has no intention of establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.”

The statement came after Katz told Reuters on Tuesday afternoon that Israel has "no intention of establishing settlements in Gaza" in a statement only released in English. 

Nearly 30 career foreign service officers are being told to report back to Washington as part of a continuation of major changes inside the U.S. State Department.

Mass resignations from the Heritage Foundation continued on Monday, as more than a dozen former staffers ... announced they were joining former vice president Mike Pence’s policy organization. ... The moves come amid the ongoing fallout from Heritage president Kevin Roberts’s decision to defend media personality Tucker Carlson for giving a friendly interview to neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes, which Roberts said later was a “mistake” but that he would stick by Carlson.

After the three rounds of direct conflict with Iran since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Israeli officialdom understands that the country cannot afford to let fundamentalists possess destructive capabilities, Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz told JNS on Monday.

“The missile plan of Iran is definitely a strategic weapon in their hands, and I think we should re-prevent it,” he said, speaking at a meeting of his party at the Knesset in Jerusalem.

“When to do it, how to do it, and what is the right calculus, whether it’s regional or global, that’s a different story. But we should not allow Iran to be able to negatively dominate the region,” he added.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned on Sunday that Hamas appeared to be rearming and trying to strengthen its control of Gaza, while Hezbollah continued to produce weapons in Lebanon.

The senator spoke during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu welcomed Graham, calling him “a great friend of Israel and a dear personal friend,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is aware that Iran has been conducting “exercises” recently, adding that Tehran’s nuclear activities will be discussed with US President Donald Trump.

“We are following this and doing all the necessary preparations,” Netanyahu says in a press conference in Jerusalem alongside the leaders of Greece and Cyprus.

“I want to convey this clearly to Iran: Any action against Israel will be met with a very severe response.”