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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah Lebanon (January 13 – 25 , 2025)

The IDF continued to thwart Hezbollah's attempts to violate the ceasefire. IDF forces located and destroyed weapons and terrorist facilities in south Lebanon, some near UNIFIL bases and in residential buildings. Lebanese army forces continued to deploy in the villages evacuated by the IDF in the western and central sectors of south Lebanon; Na'im Qassem, Hezbollah secretary general, warned Israel not to try the organization's patience with "violations." A Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament threatened that if Israel did not withdraw by January 26, 2025, the ceasefire agreement would collapse and the Lebanese would have to "confront the enemy"; French President Macron and UN secretary general Guterres visited Beirut and met with senior Lebanese officials. They called for the completion of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon and expressed their commitment to the success of the ceasefire, strengthening the Lebanese army and rebuilding Lebanon; Senior Hezbollah officials rejected claims that the organization had been weakened and stated that the "resistance" remained strong and was cooperating with state institutions. Alleged information about the planned burial site for Hassan Nasrallah was posted to social media; Lebanese President Aoun gave Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the mission of forming a new government. Hezbollah representatives announced they did not support Salam's appointment; however, according to reports, progress has been made in discussions regarding integrating Hezbollah into the government.
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Intelligence

Intelligence communities around the world and in Israel make a vital and unique contribution to the decision-making process at all levels. For better or worse, the intelligence product affects decisions related to war and peace, military operations and political moves. Intelligence systems are complex and problematic.  Therefore, deficiencies and failures are often found in the performance of the central intelligence components in the processes of intelligence collection and research, in the operational and preventive processes, and in the area of cooperation and coordination between the agencies. Sometimes these deficiencies have serious consequences.

In light of the above, there has been growing interest in the methodological research of intelligence on the part of the intelligence organizations themselves, as well as by research institutes, academic institutions and governmental entities in many countries. Methodological research of all the various aspects of intelligence is now more relevant than ever before. This is because intelligence, and in particular the research and evaluation of intelligence, have undergone a fundamental change in recent years. Instead of engaging in traditional research work alone, intelligence research now includes researching organizations, trends, social media and public opinion. This situation presents an enormous challenge for intelligence researchers, requiring them to acquire new skills that are different from those required of them in the past. They also raise basic questions about the balance between the traditional research methods and new research, and the new skills required from the intelligence researcher of today.

In the wake of this interest, many studies and analyses are written, in an attempt to understand the nature and complexity of intelligence activity, the problems related to the function of the intelligence community, its capabilities and weaknesses, its connection with other systems, and above all to examine what can be done to correct and improve its performance.