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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Lebanese media is reporting that in recent days Hezbollah has entirely evacuated its headquarters in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh and last night AXIOS reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke last night with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and told him Iran’s military preparations suggest Iran is getting ready for a large-scale attack on Israel. What are we hearing about Israel's preparedness?

On Saturday morning, after the IDF struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command room at the Taba’een school in Gaza City, international media was aflame with damning headlines. Horovitz weighs in.

The widely endorsed ceasefire and hostage release deal presented to Israel and Hamas earlier this year is still viable, according to US President Joe Biden, despite the Palestinian terror group’s announcement that it would not be sending a delegation to the August 15 confab.

During Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Yariv Levin reportedly pushed for the renewal of the government’s legal overhaul, which has been frozen since October 7. We hear how the judicial overhaul influenced the country last year, leading Borschel-Dan to ask, why make this push now?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

In reversal, Israel said to now believe Iran plans to attack in next few days

Hamas says it won’t attend Thursday’s ‘last opportunity’ talks for hostage-truce deal

In cabinet meeting, justice minister said to call to revive judicial overhaul plan

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Vehicles drive past a huge billboard depicting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) and slain Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at Tehran's Valiasr Square on August 12, 2024. (Atta Kenare/ AFP)

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