BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱

Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre. Providing timely and accurate news, analysis and briefings on Israel and the Middle East since 2002.

[اسرائیل به فارسی @IsraelPersian]

رومن گوفمن امروز رسماً وظایف خود را به عنوان رئیس جدید موساد بر عهده گرفت.

[Israel Defense Forces @IDF]

🔴ELIMINATED: Mohammed Mousa Mteirek, a unit commander in Hezbollah’s missile array.

Mteirek held several positions in Hezbollah’s missile array, & was responsible for planning and carrying out hundreds of rocket and UAV launches targeting Israeli civilians & IDF soldiers operating in the Beaufort area.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

In the latest episode of our podcast, Elliott Abrams warns against financially rewarding Iran: “So, I do worry that if there is an agreement here, it is one that will enrich the new or newly led Iranian regime. And what happens there? I mean, we know what happens. I mean, they will use the money for their proxies. They will use their money to rebuild aspects of their missile and drone and ultimately nuclear programme.

"They will use the money to repress the Iranian people. A deal that financially rewards the regime is a deal that, in a certain sense, is helping the regime against the Iranian people.”

Elliot Abrams is veteran US official and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the @CFR_org.

You can tune in to full episode of BICOM’s podcast on your favourite podcast platform.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

Full press release by @TheJusticeDept: https://t.co/DCxS1JLI3Z

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🚨🚨 US authorities indict suspect allegedly linked to London attacks

US authorities have indicted Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Saadi is alleged to have been involved in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States.

According to the US Department of Justice, evidence gathered by investigators links Al-Saadi to attacks in London, including the claimed drone attack on the Israeli Embassy and the Golders Green stabbing, both in April this year.

The investigation also alleges Al-Saadi’s ties to a new Iranian proxy network, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), the Iraqi Shia militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Al-Saadi is in US custody.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🚨🚨 US authorities indict suspect allegedly linked to London attacks

US authorities have indicted Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national, on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Saadi is alleged to have been involved in nearly 20 attacks and attempted attacks across Europe and the United States.

According to the US Department of Justice, evidence gathered by investigators links Al-Saadi to attacks in London, including the claimed drone attack on the Israeli Embassy and the Golders Green stabbing, both in April this year.

The investigation also alleges Al-Saadi’s ties to a new Iranian proxy network, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), the Iraqi Shia militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Al-Saadi is in US custody.

[Israel Elects @israel_elects]

Breaking: the Haredi parties have rejected Netanyahu's last-ditch effort to revive the conscription bill.
Israel is headed for early elections, presumably around September 15.

Per @AmitSegal

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

An announcement on a deal with Iran could be made later today, according to @SecRubio.

Previous reporting by @nytimes suggested this could include Iran committing to surrender its nuclear stockpile and fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🇮🇱🇱🇧 Israel and Lebanon are progressing their peace talks in Washington, while the IDF continues to face Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Could a historic breakthrough still be possible?

🎙️ In the latest episode of our podcast, Richard Pater speaks with @HagarChemali about the Israel-Lebanon peace process, Hezbollah’s role, and the fragile reality on the ground.

Available now on your favourite podcast platform.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar condemned the latest stunt by Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir:

@netanyahu: "Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza. However, the way that Minister Ben Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms."

@gidonsaar addressing directly Ben Gvir: "You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display - and not for the first time. You have undone tremendous, professional, and successful efforts made by so many people - from IDF soldiers to Foreign Ministry staff and many others. No, you are not the face of Israel."

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

Israel edges closer to election

Israel’s Parliament voted today in a preliminary reading in favour of a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset. Motion was supported by 110 MKs from both government and opposition opening formally the path to early general election.

⁠The bill will now return to the House Committee, where the government can determine the pace, and then returns to the plenum for a vote on its first reading.

⁠It will then be returned to the committee, and only then will it be introduced to the plenum for a vote on its second and third reading, at which point an election date will be set.

⁠To appease his ultra-Orthodox allies, Prime Minister Netanyahu has revived legislation intended to resolve the impasse over ultra-Orthodox conscription. This is also set to be debated today.

⁠Israel will therefore see three crucial debates and votes today, which will help set the stage for the upcoming Knesset election. The election is due to be held this autumn. Originally scheduled for 27 October, it is now likely to be brought forward to avoid a clash with the anniversary of the October 7 massacre.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🔴 Over the weekend the IDF eliminated Ez al-Dine al-Haddad, Hamas’s military wing commander and one of the last surviving architects of the October 7 massacre.

Haddad was responsible for the treatment of the hostages, used some of them as human shields, and was working to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities and plan attacks.

Haddad’s death removes a senior figure who combined combat experience, organisational authority, and symbolic weight inside Hamas’s war structure. Haddad was Hamas’s fourth military commander since October 7. He follows:
▪️ Mohammed Deif, the long-time commander of Hamas’s military wing who was eliminated by Israel in July 2024.
▪️Marwan Issa, Deif’s deputy and a senior military commander, who was eliminated by Israel in March 2024.
▪️ Mohammad Sinwar (Yahya Sinwar’s brother) and a senior military figure, was eliminated in May 2025.
▪️ The overall leader Yahya Sinwar himself was eliminated by Israel in October 2024.

Hamas has reportedly been blocking reconstruction activity in Gaza, including preventing contractors from working on a planned new Palestinian city in Rafah. A group of Palestinian contractors were recently held up at gunpoint by Hamas and prevented from crossing into the Israel-controlled sector, despite the work having been coordinated by the CMCC and the Board of Peace.

🚧 It has been widely speculated that Hamas views any reconstruction, particularly outside its zone of control, as a threat to its continued rule in the Strip. The move comes against the backdrop of new polling data indicating a dramatic drop in Gazans’ support for Hamas.

Despite international hopes to start the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, the Trump plan remains frozen as Hamas refuses to give up its weapons and demilitarise.

It is now over half a year since the deadline for Hamas’s disarmament passed.

[Israel Defense Forces @IDF]

🔴ELIMINATED: Wael Mahmoud Abd al-Halim, the Commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Beqaa region in Lebanon, in a strike in the area of Baalbek.

Al-Halim led the integration of Islamic Jihad terrorists into combat operations alongside Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and operated to advance terrorist attacks against IDF soldiers in recent weeks.

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Noam Batan, Israel's Eurovision representative, received at the President's residence on his return home.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

Most Israeli Arabs don’t primarily identify as Palestinians.

Arab identity, Israeli citizenship, and religious affiliation more often form their primary identity.

[Israel Elects @israel_elects]

What is the most import component of your personal identity? (among Israeli Arabs)

🟢Arab identity: 33% (-4)
🇮🇱Israeli citizenship: 28% (+7)
☪️Religious affiliation: 24.5% (+9)
🇵🇸Palestinian identity: 13.5% (-3)

via @DayanCenter , 04/26-05/03

1/3

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🎉 Israel finished second at #Eurovision. 🇮🇱

Singer Noam Bettan, with his song ‘Michelle’, captured the hearts of juries and the public across Europe and Australia.

Noam is 28 years old and was born in Ra’anana in central Israel. He began his music career at the end of his compulsory military service in the IDF.

🇬🇧 Noam also finished second in the UK public vote, thanks to the strong support he received from British viewers.

[Israel Defense Forces @IDF]

🔴ELIMINATED: Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Head of Hamas’ military wing and one of the last senior commanders involved in the planning of the October 7 massacre.

Following the elimination of Mohammed Sinwar, Haddad assumed his role and worked to rebuild Hamas’ capabilities and planned numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.

Throughout the war, Haddad was involved in the holding of many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity and managed Hamas’ hostage captivity system by surrounding himself with hostages in an attempt to prevent his elimination.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🇮🇱🤝🇦🇪 According to the @ynetnews, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir secretly visited the United Arab Emirates during the war, leading a security delegation and holding meetings in the Gulf state.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

🇮🇱 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

A bill to dissolve the Knesset has been introduced, with the backing of all the coalition parties.

The earliest practical date for “snap” elections is September of this year. With elections scheduled for October 27 2026 anyway, the impact of “early” elections would be to shorten the current Knesset’s four-year term by approximately one month.

The current dissolution proposal does not name a date, though two dates have already been bruited in local media. By law in Israel, general elections are held on Tuesdays and are paid days off from work.

🗓️ The Shas party is said to prefer September 15, which would fall during the High Holy Days, and would be expected to motivate its voter base.

🗓️ Degel HaTorah is said to prefer September 1, which is normally the first day of school for all schools in Israel, except those that are ultra-Orthodox.

An election in October will happen just as Israelis are marking three years since the traumatising October 7 attack, something the governing coalition as a whole does not believe will be to its advantage.

🛑 The current date, October 27, is particularly problematic because the standard Israeli way of writing the date (27.10) lends itself so easily to graphic manipulation in a way that recalls the standard way of writing October 7 (7.10), that no opposition poster, ad, banner, or video would conceivably resist incorporating into its visual campaign.

[BICOM 🇬🇧 🇮🇱 @BritainIsrael]

Two Israeli civilians were seriously injured and another lightly injured after an explosive drone struck Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra in northern Israel this morning.