Since November 27, a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has been in place, but even though Hezbollah has not totally kept their part of agreement not to fire any rockets, the situation in Northern Israel is much quieter now. The Lebanese Army has been deployed to keep Hezbollah away from the Israeli border, and the IDF has also been allowed to stay in Southern Lebanon for now to make sure that part of the deal is kept.

Shortly after the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon went into effect, the Syrian rebels grabbed their opportunity to conquer more and more land including Damascus, thus finally overthrowing the Assad regime, forcing former president Bashar al-Assad to flee the country. It is well known that Assad was ruling Syria as a dictator, brutally murdering many of his own people. However, though many Syrians do now feel relief by the Assad regime being overthrown, we must not forget that rebel leader Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani), who has taken upon himself the role as Transitional President of Syria, was an Al Queda terror leader in the past. Even though he might seem moderate and diplomatic in his approach to foreign governments right now, this might only be a way of deception. His current organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is likewise supporting jihad and Sharia law, so whether this new Syrian government will bring a better future for the Syrian people, is unsure, and so are its relations to Israel. Therefore, Israel has taken its precautions and deployed IDF soldiers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in order to create a buffer zone between the two countries. There are several Druze villages in that area, and some of their leaders did, indeed, appeal to the IDF asking them to please annex their village into Israel, as they would rather be under Israeli rule than under that of the Sunni rebels! Furthermore, the IDF has destroyed many military sites and weapons left behind by Assad’s army in order to avoid them falling in the hands of the rebels and being used against Israel.

In Gaza, the IDF continues fighting bravely against Hamas, but though the terror organization is severely crippled, it still refuses to give up the fight. There are still 98 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, though it is unclear how many of them are still alive. There are currently new negotiations going on with Hamas in order to get the remaining hostages free and home again, but unfortunately the ceasefire deal that is currently on the table includes releasing thousands of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons, which is of course no good deal for Israel.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the most active front fighting against Israel has been the Yemenite Houthis. These last weeks, two ballistic missiles that were sent off by the Houthis fell in the Tel Aviv area, as the Israeli defense system was unable to intercept them. However, a miracle happened that though both of them fell in inhabited areas (one fell on a school and the other in a children’s playground), only material damage was caused! Praise God!