Bill and Joe catch up on the latest headlines related to Israel’s defensive war, including a possible ceasefire, more terror tunnels uncovered and destroyed, the Hezbollah attack that killed an IDF soldier, and the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Bill is joined by Long War Journal and Generation Jihad regulars Edmund Fitton-Brown and Caleb Weiss to discuss the latest report by the UN's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team on the status of jihadi groups in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Bill and Joe unpack Iran's strategy of keeping Israel and partners on their toes in anticipation of some form of retaliation for Israel's recent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Social media influencer Preston Stewart joins Bill and Joe to discuss Preston’s experience both serving in and covering global conflicts and wars from serving in Afghanistan to multiple TikTok bannings as well as his take on Israel’s rapidly expanding war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the conflict in Mali. 

Co-host worlds collide today as Bill and Wednesday CH Will Selber are joined by Monday CH Joe Truzman and Friday CH Behnam Ben Taleblu to discuss the at least two high-profile assassinations carried out in the last 24 hours presumably by Israel: one in southern Beirut that killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, and another in Tehran that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Bill and Joe are joined by David Daoud to unpack this weekend’s Hezbollah rocket attack on a Druze community in Israel’s Golan Heights that killed 12 Israeli children — and whether we should soon expect an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war.

Bill and Joe discuss Israel’s retaliatory strike against Houthi targets in Yemen following the Iranian-backed terror group’s drone strike in Tel Aviv, the CENTCOM Commander’s surprisingly honest letter to the Secretary of Defense, and the irony of Pakistan designating Prime Minister Netanyahu as a terrorist (congrats to him on his new villa in Abbottabad).

Bill and Behnam are joined by fellow FDD expert and friend of the show David David to talk about the drone strike in Tel Aviv — what we know so far and what it means for the broader war. 

The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has released its latest report on Afghanistan and the myriad of jihadist activity therein. To discuss, Bill is joined by former director of this team at the UN and longtime friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown. Edmund is now a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and previously served as the UK's ambassador to Yemen.

(…and don’t walk out.) Amidst the chaos of this weekend’s assassination attempt against President Trump, the Israel Defense Forces took advantage of Hamas being on the ropes in Gaza by conducting an operation targeting two of the remaining top brass: top Hamas commander Mohammed Dief and Rafa’a Salameh, Hamas brigade commander in Khan Younis.

Bill and Joe unpack the strike and discuss a lesser-known terror group inside Gaza (is it the ‘Popular Resistance Committee’ or ‘The Committee for Popular Resistance’?), and the issue of battlefield longevity with which Israel seems to be grappling.

Bill and Joe catch up on headlines related to the war in Gaza and the additional Iranian-backed conflicts at Israeli borders, including a status update on the latest round of hostage negotiations, action in the West Bank, and how Israel should handle Tehran’s noose-tightening. They also discuss the recent sighting of a top Hezbollah military official and specially designated global terrorist at the funeral of a Hezbollah commander.

Bill and Will Selber are joined by Lieutenant General Sami Sadat who among many other roles served as deputy commander of the Afghan ground forces and later the deputy chief of staff of the Afghan National Army. Now, he leads the Afghan United Front. They discuss America’s role in giving the Taliban the upper-hand that ultimately led to the collapse of Kabul; the vital role of morale during war; just how established Al Qaeda is inside Afghanistan and whether the Taliban-Al Qaeda relationship got stronger after U.S. withdrawal; and more. 

Bill is joined by his colleague Bradley Bowman to talk about a new FDD monograph edited by Brad, Cognitive Combat: China, Russia, and Iran’s Information War Against Americans. They discuss ways in which America’s adversaries are waging information warfare against it, how the U.S. can defend itself in the information domain — and how it can go on the offensive.

Bill and Will explain why Israel is not fighting an insurgency in Gaza as they unpack (and dismantle) a recent Foreign Affairs article authored by David Petraeus et al: Israel’s War of Regime Change Is Repeating America’s Mistakes: But Israel Can Still Learn From America’s Successes — wait, what successes? Israel should learn from our mistakes by repeating our mistakes? 🤔

Bill and Joe unpack recent headlines related to Israel’s defensive war in Gaza and simmering tensions in its north with Hezbollah, including the IDF chief of staff saying that Hamas brigades in Rafa have been dismantled; thousands of Iran-backed fighters offering to join Hezbollah in a battle against Israel; officials from the Islamic Republic meeting with the Taliban about taking joint action against Israel; how long Egypt will tolerate Israeli forces at its border; and why the Israeli government has yet to share a clear plan for Gaza almost 9 months into the war.

Bill and Behnam discuss new sanctions that dropped this week, including Canada’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. designation of a proxy militia in Iraq; the Houthis sinking yet another ship; and threats made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to conduct attacks in Cyprus. And an update on the Gaza floating pier because Bill.

The (still technically unofficial) leader of Al Qaeda, Saif al-Adel, wrote an article under a pseudonym calling for people around the world to flock to Afghanistan for training to conduct attacks against “the Zionists.” Clear efforts by Al Qaeda to capitalize on the conflict in Gaza — but is the threat credible? Does al Qaeda in Afghanistan even have the means? Yes and yes, say Bill and Will Selber, LWJ contributor and retired Middle East Foreign Area Officer. They discuss how we give an enemy time and space to innovate and then ignore their threats at our own peril.

The Islamic Republic of Iran tightening its noose around Israel can be evidenced by activity from the Houthis and in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and — lest we forget — the West Bank. How does the West Bank threat compare to the Gaza threat? Who holds power in the West Bank, and which terrorist groups are active there? Top of the list? Islamic Jihad. They discuss Joe’s recent research on the senior members of Islamic Jihad that were killed in a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank and losses suffered by the group’s Syria branch in Lebanon. 

Bill and Behnam unpack a recent DIA report on the impact of Houthi attacks on international shipping and discuss everything the Houthis have been able to do with the limited resources supplied by Islamic Republic of Iran (and considering the bang for their buck, why wouldn’t they continue to supply weapons?); the perilous pattern of the U.S. ignoring when its enemies scream from the rooftops what their intentions are; and the credibility of claims made by the Houthi leader that an attack against Israel is being planned with help from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — should we believe him? 

Bill and Joe discuss Israel’s slow news weekend which included a hostage rescue followed by a high-level war cabinet resignation. The floating Gaza pier and al Qaeda are also discussed (because Bill).