🛡️ IDF COMPLETES “BREAKING DAWN 2.0” SURPRISE READINESS DRILL: The IDF completed the surprise General Staff exercise Sunday, testing its ability to respond to a sudden, complex and large-scale multi-front event. Without prior notice, headquarters across all regional commands, directorates and branches were placed on alert for scenarios including ground, aerial and maritime incursions, projectile fire, shooting attacks, mass-casualty incidents, abductions and hostage situations.
Standby and reserve forces, including battalions and special units, were activated by ground and air and dispatched to multiple sectors to test rapid response. The exercise also examined coordination across the air, land and maritime domains, decision-making and operational responses from field commands through the General Staff.
The IDF said the drill incorporated lessons from combat on several fronts and the October 7 massacre, including implementation of operational plans ahead of the upcoming holiday period. It was conducted as part of the Operations Directorate’s 2026 training schedule, and its findings will undergo an in-depth review to identify vulnerabilities and improve readiness.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who inspected forces at the Ground Training Center during the exercise, called it “another step in implementing the lessons of October 7th” and a test of readiness for a surprise war. “The IDF is fit, prepared and ready to defend the State of Israel, and is also prepared to take the initiative and strike anyone who attempts to harm us,” Zamir said, adding that anyone who attacks Israel and its civilians “will pay an immediate and very heavy price.”
⚓ IRAN THREATENS NEW RESTRICTED ZONE AROUND HORMUZ: Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezai claimed: “48 hours ago, for the first time, we tested an Iranian anti-ship missile above an American warship. This special missile created a hell for the Americans, and they fled”.
Rezai also said: “In the coming days and weeks, we will announce a restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz that starts from the U.S. Navy's blockade line and extends through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. Any ship identified entering this zone with the intention of passing through the Strait will be added to our sanctions list”.
He further warned: “We have reserved the right to respond to the Americans’ attack on a wedding ceremony in Kuhestak, and the Americans should know this”.
⚓ U.S. NAVY MINE-CLEARANCE OPERATION: The Financial Times reports that the U.S. Navy secretly spent four months conducting a mine-clearance operation in the Strait of Hormuz. Small teams of Navy divers, robot boats and underwater vehicles used sonar to locate Iranian mines, which were then destroyed with explosives. The operation was conducted largely at night.
Although President Trump said the mines had been cleared, shipping companies remain cautious amid concerns that Iran could re-mine the strait, while missile and drone threats continue.
⚠️ NETANYAHU WARNS IRAN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “If Iran attacks us, it will suffer a blow beyond anything it can imagine.”
🔹 SAAR ON ISRAEL-KURDISH RELATIONS: Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: “The Kurds are a minority in four countries and, unfortunately, have not yet achieved political independence. We believe in strengthening relations between the different minorities of the Middle East, particularly between Jews and Kurds”.
🔁 Know someone who should see this? Forward it.
🌐 Full updates & discussion: https://www.israelrealtime.com
