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Chief of Staff: Israel Ready ‘to Return Immediately and Forcefully’ to Fighting on All Fronts

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
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Chief of Staff: Israel Ready ‘to Return Immediately and Forcefully’ to Fighting on All Fronts

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)
Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir speaks during the funeral of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who was killed during the six-week 2014 war in Gaza, in a military cemetery in Kfar Saba on November 11, 2025. (Photo by Abir SULTAN / POOL / AFP)

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that the military remained on high alert and was ready to return to fighting on all fronts, amid the fragile truces in Iran and Lebanon.

“Since the inferno of October 7, we have been working to reestablish our military strength through continuous fighting,” Zamir said while addressing soldiers honored at an Independence Day ceremony at the President’s Residence.

The Times of Israel quoted Zamir as saying that in Gaza, the Israeli military “prevailed in the fight against Hamas.”

“At this very moment, we are conducting intense fighting in Lebanon to strengthen the defense of the northern communities,” he stated.

“So too in the fighting against Iran in Rising Lion and Roaring Lion,” he said, referring to the June 2025 war with Iran and the latest 40-day conflict with Iran.

The Israeli military is on high alert and “prepared to return immediately and forcefully to combat in all sectors,” Zamir added.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah ahead of negotiations in Washington on Thursday.

The meeting follows a similar gathering last week in Washington, and is the first time in decades the two countries are speaking directly.

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World

US Sanctions Iranian Buyers of Military Technology

People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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US Sanctions Iranian Buyers of Military Technology

People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran, Iran, May 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The United States announced Friday that it is "dismantling a sophisticated Iranian network" used to obtain sensitive military technology.

The network "impersonated and defrauded" dozens of American technology companies out of millions of dollars to "acquire advanced equipment, including spectrum analyzers and security detection devices, for Iran's defense sector," State Department Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

The statement did not name the technology companies who were lured into doing business through fake websites that "mimicked real American companies, using intermediaries in Dubai to receive shipments, and then smuggling the technology into Iran in violation of US sanctions."

The network was led by Iran-based Ali Majd Sepehr, the State Department spokesman said.

On Thursday, the State Department announced a $15 million reward for any information "leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its various branches."

On Friday, the White House said US President Donald Trump will only sign an agreement to end the war with Iran if it meets all his demands, amid uncertainty over the outcome of talks between Tehran and Washington.

World

Top US and Cuban Military Officers Meet at Guantanamo Bay

This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
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Top US and Cuban Military Officers Meet at Guantanamo Bay

This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) on May 29, 2026, shows SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan (C), the Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) General Roberto Legra Sotolongo (2nd/L) and other Cuban military officials, during their meeting at the perimeter of the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 29, 2026. (Handout / US Southern Command / AFP)

Senior US and Cuban military officers met on Friday at Guantanamo Bay, the US base on the communist island, as relations between the two countries deteriorate over President Donald Trump's threatened takeover.

US General Francis Donovan met with Cuban General Roberto Legra Sotolongo "for a brief exchange on operational security matters," US Southern Command said in a statement issued along with a photograph of the meeting.

"Gen. Donovan also led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials."

Cuba's Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces stressed that "both delegations consider the meeting to have been positive" and they agreed "to maintain communication between the two military commands," according to a statement released on Facebook.

The uniformed men met at the US base at the southeastern tip of the island.

- Deteriorating relations -

Relations between Havana and Washington have continued to worsen since January, when the United States imposed a de facto oil blockade on the island by operating a military raid to remove leftist Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.

Without Caracas as a lifeline, Cuba has struggled to keep electricity on, or food and medicine in stock.

Cuba's other allies in Russia, China and Iran are also facing US pressure to back off, through a fresh round of sanctions against Cuban companies and leaders. US officials also brought an indictment against former president Raul Castro, in a case that dates back to 1996.

Now Cuba is facing the brink of collapse.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is Cuban American, has said the US is seeing a diplomatic solution to the standoff.

Reports last week suggested that Havana was considering drone strikes on the base in the event of an American attack.

Donovan led a perimeter security assessment of the US facility and discussed safety of service members and operational readiness, the statement said.

Guantanamo Bay, 430 miles (700 kilometers) southeast of Miami, on the southeastern coast of Cuba, is notorious as the site of abuse against terror suspects detained after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Trump has also planned to use the base as a holding center for undocumented migrants.

"Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is a vital operational and logistical hub that supports US military efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability and democracy in our hemisphere," US Southern Command said.

World

Raise Defense Spending or Else, Hegseth Tells NATO, Europe

Swedish Air Force Saab Gripen fighter jets fly over Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 21, 2026, during the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place on May 21-22. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
Swedish Air Force Saab Gripen fighter jets fly over Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 21, 2026, during the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place on May 21-22. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
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Raise Defense Spending or Else, Hegseth Tells NATO, Europe

Swedish Air Force Saab Gripen fighter jets fly over Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 21, 2026, during the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place on May 21-22. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
Swedish Air Force Saab Gripen fighter jets fly over Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 21, 2026, during the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs taking place on May 21-22. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took another swipe at Washington's NATO and European partners on Saturday, saying those that do not hike defense spending sufficiently "will face a clear shift in how we do business".

NATO members pledged last year to ramp up defense-related spending to five percent of GDP but, despite increased efforts, many states say they may not be able to reach that target, said AFP.

"For too long, polite pleas from our European allies to spend more on their own defense fell on deaf ears," the Pentagon chief said at a defense summit in Singapore.

"They are finally playing catch-up," Hegseth said in a speech at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue conference.

"Allies who refuse to step up and carry their own weight for our collective defense will face a clear shift in how we do business."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month NATO was facing US troop cuts in Europe as Washington focused on other threats and European nations ramped up their defenses.

In Asia, Hegseth reiterated that the region's security had "rested disproportionately on American military power, while many of our allies and partners allowed their own defense capabilities to atrophy".

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region were indeed stepping up, Hegseth said, using South Korea as a particular example.

"South Korea has invested consistently in its own defense, because it does not have the luxury of treating war like an academic exercise.

"They live on the front lines, and so they build real combat power."

This "reflects simply a clear-eyed understanding of the threat environment", he said.

Hegseth also praised the spending policies of other countries including Australia, the Philippines and Japan.

"You don't have a strong alliance unless everyone has skin in the game. No freeloading," Hegseth said.

Hegseth agreed when asked by a New Zealand delegate whether he considered the Pacific island nation's plan to increase defense spending from one to two percent to be "freeloading".

"If I'm being honest, two percent is not enough, and so two percent is freeloading.

"I don't have anything against New Zealand, (but) I want partners to step up," Hegseth said.