Day 545 - IDF conducts deepest ground op into Syria to date

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.


The provincial government in southern Syria’s Daraa says nine
civilians were killed and several were injured in Israeli
bombardment following an “Israeli incursion.” Soldiers operated
on the ground in what is possibly the deepest into Syria that
Israeli forces have advanced thus far. Fabian weighs in.


Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that advancing
IDF forces were carving out a new security corridor across
southern Gaza as Israel seeks to pile pressure on Hamas to free
the hostages. Fabian explains the strategy behind the new “Morag
Corridor,” named after an Israeli settlement that stood in the
area before it was evacuated during Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from
Gaza, and compares the number of forces on the ground in the
Strip with that of troops at the height of the war.


On Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Beit Lahiya, in
the northern Gaza Strip, chanting “Hamas out” and “Enough death,”
in renewed protests against the terror group. Residents were
angered by new Israeli military evacuation orders, which the
military said followed rocket salvos by terror groups from the
area. We hear how the IDF is responding to the increase in
rockets -- and who is claiming blame for them.


Fifteen emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, the
United Nations and the Hamas-linked Palestinian Civil Defense
have been recovered from a grave in the sand in the south of the
Gaza Strip, UN officials said on Monday. The IDF acknowledged
Friday that it had fired on ambulances and fire engines, saying
it had identified them as “suspicious vehicles.” Investigations
are ongoing, but Fabian lays out what we currently understand
from the IDF.


Yesterday, Fabian toured an IDF post in Lebanon, on the edge of
Markaba, which overlooks the Israeli border community of
Margaliot. It is one of five strategic positions where the IDF
has remained after a February deadline to withdraw from Lebanon,
as part of an ongoing ceasefire that began in November. We learn
what Fabian saw -- and what Defense Minister Israel Katz had to
say about how long troops will be stationed there.


This conversation can also be viewed here:


 


Please see today's ongoing liveblog for
more updates.


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For further reading:


IDF says several gunmen ‘eliminated’ after firing on
troops in southern Syria


IDF strikes hit ‘remaining military capacities’ at Syrian
airbases


Netanyahu says IDF carving new corridor across Gaza to
cut off Rafah, pressure Hamas


Hamas threatens protesters, as new mass rallies against
terror group held in Gaza


UN says 15 Gaza medics killed by IDF found in mass grave;
IDF: We targeted terrorists


In Lebanon, Katz says troops to stay ‘without time limit’
to defend border communities


Katz says offensive aimed at seizing ‘extensive
territory,’ as IDF pounds south Gaza


ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Israeli soldiers on the border between Syria
and northern Israel, March 14, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)


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