The Times of Israel

An army Humvee stolen from a base in southern Israel last week was located by police officers this evening in a community near the Gaza Strip. The vehicle had been identified as missing from the Julis base near Ashkelon on Thursday, prompting an investigation. Police say officers from the Segev Shalom station located the Humvee hidden in a packing factory in the community of Ami'oz, following intelligence information on the vehicle's location. No suspects have been detained yet in the case.

More than 10,000 firearms, ammunition, and pieces of military equipment were returned to the IDF on the first day of a weapons return campaign, including an Uzi submachine gun that has not been in service for over three decades. On Sunday, the IDF opened some 65 stations and collection points at bases across the country, where weapons and equipment can be returned -- with no questions asked. The IDF says that on the first day of the campaign 10,000 items were collected, including an Uzi which was "phased out of IDF service more than 30 years ago." "In accordance with the terms of the operation, the person who returned the weapon was not questioned, and their details were not recorded in the system," the military says.

Speaking at a conference on integrating artificial intelligence into the military, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the IDF has "an obligation to be a global leader" in AI and robotics. "Artificial intelligence is a revolution that is changing the face of the 21st century. In recent years, the battlefield has undergone one of the fastest, deepest, and most dramatic changes in military history," he says, according to remarks published by the IDF. Zamir says that "to meet the challenges of war and achieve victory, the IDF has a responsibility and an obligation to be a global leader in innovation and transformation, including in the adoption and integration of advanced artificial intelligence and robotics capabilities." "As part of an innovative operational concept, the IDF will strengthen and develop its concept of integrated human-machine warfare," he says, adding that "manned units will fight in coordination with unmanned systems to achieve an operational advantage and superiority on the battlefield."

Israeli security forces arrested 18 settlers who rioted and attacked troops during the evacuation of an illegal outpost in the West Bank earlier today, the military says. This morning, dozens of Border Police officers and Civil Administration soldiers arrived at the Givat Ora Yisrael outpost, near the Palestinian town of Salfit, to demolish it. Givat Ora Yisrael has been evacuated by Israeli authorities in the past. The IDF says the forces this morning "conducted a renewed enforcement operation against several illegal structures built under a closed military zone... where Israeli civilians have repeatedly engaged in violent and illegal activities." Israeli rioters from the illegal outpost "set tires on fire and placed roadblocks on main roads in the area in an attempt to prevent forces from the enforcement operation," according to the military. "As a result, roads and main routes remained blocked throughout the morning, disrupting the daily lives of residents of the area and causing roadblocks and traffic congestion across all roads in the area," the military says, adding that the forces "cleared the roadblocks to restore order in the area." The IDF says that during the evacuation of the outpost, dozens of settlers "engaged in physical and verbal violence against security forces, despite the forces' efforts to avoid physical confrontation." The troops detained a total of 18 suspects "for assaulting and obstructing security personnel," as well as seized several vehicles belonging to the rioters, the army says. They were handed over to the police for questioning. "Incendiary materials, weapons used for assault, and pepper spray were found in one of the vehicles," the IDF adds. Over 200 illegal settlement outposts have been established in the West Bank during the four-year term of the outgoing government, many of which have reportedly been set up with the coordination of settlement municipal authorities, the IDF, and other state agencies. A small percentage of outposts are set up without such coordination, and it is these outposts that are often the target of enforcement by the Civil Administration, a quasi-military agency within the Defense Ministry controlled by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the architect of the government's massive expansion of the settlement enterprise. (Photo Flash90)

Six Palestinians from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank were arrested for attempting to build rockets to launch at Israel, the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police say. The investigation by the Shin Bet and police uncovered a terror network that had manufactured a rocket and explosive devices, and had conducted at least three launch tests. "The investigation also revealed that the cell received information via a messaging app concerning materials required to manufacture explosives, from an outside source who was in contact with the main suspect in the affair," the Shin Bet and police say in a joint statement. Forces seized several weapons, including an assault rifle and an RPG, along with "written materials containing information and instructions for manufacturing explosives, rockets and explosive devices intended for use against the State of Israel and security forces," the statement says. Indictments are expected to be filed against the six in the coming days. In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to develop and launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.