Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel struck Hezbollah military targets in multiple locations across Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday morning.

According to the IDF, the operations dismantled terror infrastructure and launch sites within a Hezbollah compound used for training militants, storing weapons, and conducting artillery exercises. The IDF said the compound hosted courses where Hezbollah fighters practiced shooting and learned to use various weapons for attacks.

Additional strikes targeted other military structures used by the group over recent months.

Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israeli biopharmaceutical company Protalix BioTherapeutics has signed a collaboration and option agreement with Germany’s Secarna Pharmaceuticals to jointly develop antisense oligonucleotide therapies for rare kidney diseases. Under the deal, Protalix will select biological targets, while Secarna will use its AI-powered OligoCreator platform to design and profile drug candidates. The partners aim to advance selected programs from preclinical research toward clinical trials.

Protalix has received an option to acquire an exclusive, worldwide license to further develop, commercialize and market any resulting compounds, with milestone and royalty payments to Secarna. The agreement marks Protalix’s expansion into RNA-based therapies for rare renal conditions.

Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — ICL, an Israel-based specialty minerals and food ingredients group, has agreed to acquire Canada’s Bartek Ingredients in a two-phase transaction aimed at expanding its global food ingredients business.

Under the deal, ICL will make an initial cash investment of about $90 million to acquire roughly 50 percent of Bartek, with the first phase expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The second phase would see ICL acquire the remaining shares and is contingent on business and integration milestones.

Bartek, headquartered in Ontario, serves customers in more than 40 countries and generates about $65 million in annual revenue.

Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israeli-US focused ultrasound company Insightec announced the spin-out of Lotus Neuro, a new clinical-stage biotechnology firm aimed at advancing brain-targeted therapies using low-frequency focused ultrasound. Insightec, which is headquartered in Haifa and Miami, said the move is intended to accelerate drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier by pairing its device platform with advanced medicines. Lotus Neuro will initially focus on neuro-oncology indications, including glioblastoma.

The new company is funded by US-based Nexus NeuroTech Ventures and will be led by physician Arjun JJ Desai, formerly a senior executive at Insightec and at US healthcare group Johnson & Johnson.

Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — With the end of the “Iron Swords” war, the easing of travel warnings, and the resumption of flights to Israel, the Ministry of Tourism is preparing for the arrival of approximately 130,000 tourists in December, of which approximately 40,000 are Christian believers for Christmas.

The Ministry of Tourism maintains continuous contact with the leaders of the Christian communities in Israel throughout the year. In honor of the upcoming Christmas, the Ministry’s Director General, Michael Yitzhakov, together with Rakefet Levy, VP of Tourist Experience, and other representatives, visited senior leaders of the Christian communities in Israel, including the heads of the rabbis, to congratulate them and give them gifts for the holiday.

Jerusalem, 17 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — After approving the gas export deal to Egypt worth 112 billion Shekels ($34 billion), the largest in the history of the State of Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Eli Cohen issued a joint statement.

“Today it is clear to everyone that my insistence and that of then-Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, our insistence on getting the gas out, has proven itself beyond all expectations,” Netanyahu said. “And I assure you; it will be the same with this deal.”

“The approval of the gas agreement is a historic moment for the State of Israel, both in the security and political dimensions, and in the economic dimension,” said Minister Cohen. “The deal solidifies our status as a leading regional energy powerhouse upon which our neighbors rely.”

The two said the State’s revenue from taxes and royalties thanks to the deal will amount to approximately 58 billion Shekels ($17.5 billion), and the volume of direct investments in infrastructure in the economy will exceed 16 billion Shekels and that this will create jobs and strengthen the economy.

Jerusalem, 17 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Gila Gamliel, inaugurated in a ceremony held in the city of Maghar in the Lower Galilee, MEGASPACE – the largest regional and technological space center in the Galilee.

The innovative center in the Druze city was established as part of a national and strategic investment by the Ministry of Innovation and Science, led by Minister Gamliel, focused on promoting scientific and technological education in the northern periphery.

The Space Center, which covers an area of approximately 500 square meters, is a regional hub for experiential and practical learning that combines formal and informal education. The center focuses on space issues, lunar exploration, physics and astronomy, while referring to the major space programs of Israel and the world, such as “Beresheet” and the global ARTEMIS program.

The center is expected to serve thousands of students and residents from the entire regional area, and strengthen the connection between the education system, the community, and the worlds of science and innovation. It is intended to be an educational and experiential beacon for all students of the Kinneret and Emakim cluster and the city of Maghar, and for many families, a wide audience, and visitors from all over the country.

Jerusalem, 17 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — In light of repeated fires at pirated waste sites in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection reiterates its warning that this is an environmental and health hazard that directly affects Israeli residents and calls for immediate approval of the budget required to implement the National Strategic Plan for Eradicating Waste Hazards and Cross-Border Fires.

After abnormal pollution levels were measured in Shoham and in the settlements along the seam line, the Minister of Environmental Protection today (12/16) made an urgent appeal to Defense Minister Israel Katz and Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense Bezalel Smotrich, demanding that they activate all of their powers to immediately treat the burning sites and prevent re-ignition. The appeal presented current monitoring data indicating severe air pollution and significant exposure of residents to hazards originating from waste fires in the Judea and Samaria territories.

The ministry continues to implement in the field the full range of immediate actions that were approved, amounting to approximately 38.5 million Shekels ($11.8 million), including: strengthening enforcement in the field, increasing air quality monitoring measures, site restoration, and rapid response in cooperation with enforcement agencies and fire departments. Although these actions help reduce the immediate damage, they are not a substitute for the full implementation of the long-term plan.

Jerusalem, 17 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security will tighten the conditions for receiving a recommendation for a building permit for kennels to prevent the establishment of dog breeding houses in agricultural areas.

In recent years, a serious phenomenon of the establishment of commercial facilities that encourage the massive and uncontrolled breeding of dogs, under the definition of “kennels”, has been expanding. This industry, also known as “puppy mills” or “dog factories”, is designed to generate financial profit at the expense of animals and the public.

As part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s activities to protect animal welfare and as an additional step to eradicate the phenomenon, the ministry will tighten the conditions for obtaining a building permit for kennels, in order to prevent kennels for commercial breeding from receiving a permit.

In addition to the existing procedures for obtaining a building permit for agricultural structures, from now on every application for the establishment of a kennel will be required to present additional documents and strict conditions. Among other things, approval from a veterinarian accompanying the kennel will be required, a declaration by the applicant that no commercial breeding will take place there, as well as a comprehensive business plan that includes details about the nature of the activity, a broad industry overview, and financial reports.

The Ministry said that through these requirements, it will “ensure that only kennels that operate for the benefit of animal welfare and essential activities will be approved, and that the possibility of establishing dog factories in agricultural areas will be effectively prevented.”