1) At the FDD, Natalie Ecanow discusses documents found in the Gaza Strip.
“Despite longstanding evidence to the contrary, Qatar has long maintained that it is not a “sponsor of Hamas,” claiming that no “aid has ever been delivered to Hamas’s political or military wing.” But new documents discovered by the Israeli military in Gaza show even more collaboration between the Gulf nation and the terrorist group than previously known.”
2) At the Alma Center, Tal Beeri reports on ‘Hezbollah’s UAV Array’.
“Currently, after the war in which Israel severely damaged Hezbollah’s UAV array (active units and infrastructure for production/assembly/storage/launch), the estimate is that only a few hundred operational UAVs remain. To implement the “Russian operational model,” thousands of UAVs are required. Hence, emphasis is being placed on restoring independent production capability on Lebanese soil.”
3) At the JISS, Professor Efraim Inbar explains how ‘Turkish Might, Qatari Wealth Spearhead a New Radical Sunni Axis in the Middle East’.
“Turkey’s capabilities and ambitions are enhanced by the financial largesse of Qatar, which also helps it weather periods of economic difficulty. Qatar is a long-standing backer of Muslim Brotherhood activities worldwide: it hosts the Brotherhood and Hamas leadership, is a crucial source of financing for Hamas, and served as a haven for the Taliban’s exiled political leadership. It has also become the principal global propagandist of Islamism through its media powerhouse, Al Jazeera, which reaches 430 million people in more than 150 countries.”
4) At the INSS, Sima Shine and Eldad Shavit provide ‘An up-to-date overview of the nuclear talks with Iran, in the context of the serious report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency’.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published two alarming reports regarding Iran’s nuclear program. One report addresses Iran’s past activities at sites not declared to the IAEA, for which Tehran has failed to provide satisfactory explanations. The second report concerns the current status of the program and indicates an acceleration in the accumulation of highly enriched uranium, enabling Iran to enrich to military grade for 10 nuclear bombs within days.”
5) At The Moshe Dayan Center, Ido Yahel discusses ‘The New Struggle for Syria: Sunni Power Competition in the Post-Asad Era’.
“Following the unexpected fall of Bashar al-Asad in December 2024, and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that had long controlled Idlib and northern parts of Syria, a new struggle for Syria has begun. It is not a struggle between East and West, or between Arab nationalism and Western imperialism. Rather, it is a fierce rivalry within the Sunni Middle East: between a reactionary, interventionist camp led by Turkey and Qatar, and a conservative, status quo-oriented bloc centered around Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan. At stake is the shape of Syria’s future political order, its regional alignment, and the ideological tone of Sunni politics across the Middle East.”
