Iran/Israel News Updates Sunday May 31

- Several rockets were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the border community of Misgav Am a short while ago. According to the IDF, the projectiles struck open areas. There are no reports of injuries

- The IDF captured the historic Beaufort Castle and the surrounding strategic ridge as it pushed deeper into Lebanon.

- Netanyahu: "We have returned to Beaufort stronger than ever. Tonight, our heroic fighters captured the Beaufort outpost. They proudly raised there the flag of the State of Israel and the flag of the Golani Brigade. I remind you that 44 years ago, this place was a symbol of the heroic battle of our fighters, but also of a deep division within us. Today, we have returned to a different Beaufort. We have returned united, determined, stronger than ever.”

- A IDF soldier was killed and four others were lightly wounded in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in southern Lebanon, the IDF announced on Sunday, The soldier, Michael Tyukin, 21, from Ashkelon.

- Gaza, the IDF struck this week about 10 Hamas bunkers

- Iran IRNA news: Ghalibaf says we will not accept any agreement until the nation’s rights are secured

Donald J. Trump ReTruthed Newt Gingrich:

After spending this week reviewing the Iranian war I am now convinced President Trump is on the  of an historic victory. The real breakthrough ....s tandpoint of American unilateralism but from the standpoint of the leader of a remarkable historic coalition, the largest coalition ever put together in the modern Middle East. Everyone understands that Israel is an important ally. What is little discussed is the depth of support from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region. It has to be sobering for the Iranian dictatorship to realize that it does not have a  single ally willing to challenge the American naval blockade. Slowly, gradually, timidly, our European allies are lining up to help with the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. A great deal of President Trump’s maneuvers against Iran make sense once he is seen as a coalition leader and not just as a unilateral American President. I spent a lot of the last couple weeks reviewing kinetic options including wining the battle of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and if necessary using the shocking and shattering level of force President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger used against Hanoi and Haiphong in Christmas 1972 (which both leaders believed convinced the North Vietnamese to agree to a truce and the freeing of American POWs). If this were a unilateral American campaign I could enthusiastically support a more aggressive kinetic campaign. However it is also clear it would shatter the coalition because our Arab allies are convinced Iran could still do enormous damage to their oil fields and infrastructure. Coalitions are inherently slower than unilateral campaigns. However coalitions ultimately bring vastly more power to the fight. I am as frustrated as everyone else by the pace of talking with the dictatorship but having reviewed the correlation of forces and the options available to the coalition on one side and the Iranian religiously motivated dictatorship on the other I am prepared to assert that President Trump’s coalition leadership (something almost none of his critics want to acknowledge) is within reach of an enormous historic victory. And if the Iranian dictatorship ultimately  proves it is hopelessly  committed to a suicidal position there will be plenty of time for a kinetic campaign of enormous power and effectiveness. Either way we are on the edge of an astonishing victory for our values and for a safer Middle East.