The News You Didn’t Hear About This Week: Friday, March 13, 2026

By: Jennifer Kouzi March 13, 2026

Famously, the slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” graces the front page of every New York Times edition. The slogan was coined at the end of the 19th century by the paper’s publisher, Adolph Ochs. Of course, in today’s hyper-globalized world, the slogan is wishful thinking. No paper could realistically cover all the important news stories of the day.

Still, it would be hard to argue that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and others adequately cover even those stories they do print. They often devote precious space to emotive or opinionated claims, while omitting highly material and relevant information that sheds important new light.

Provided below are three important, but underreported, stories from the week bearing on Israel and the Middle East that media consumers should know.

1) Iranian Regime Forces and Officials Use Schools and Other Civilian Areas for Military Purposes

On Mar. 8, 2026, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) posted a safety warning to Iranian civilians on the social media platform “X” (formerly Twitter), strongly urging that they stay home. But another part of the statement revealed that “[t]he Iranian regime is using heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including launching one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles.” CENTCOM explained this is dangerous to civilians because locations used for military purposes could become legitimate military targets and lose their protected status.

The revelation received bare coverage, with outlets (like The New York Times, The Hill and Newsweek) simply repeating the CENTCOM language but not offering any real reporting or analysis of the issue.

The Foundation for the Defense of Democracy revealed a disturbing pattern:

Following intense waves of attacks against repression sites, videos sent from residents on March 2 show the regime’s security forces using a local school as a base in the city of Qazvin. Another photo shows that the same forces were stationed at Roqaiiye Elementary School in Tehran.

Similarly, Ismail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, held a press conference in a classroom at Shahid Mahallati School near the Chaharrah-e Ab Sardar intersection in Tehran.

On Mar. 11, 2026, IDF International Spokesperson Nadav Shoshani posted a video on X showing a missile launcher that had been placed by the Iranian regime beneath a bridge in a civilian area. He remarked that the tactic of hiding weapons near civilian infrastructure is one belonging to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime.

It was also widely reported that Hamas terrorists used Gaza schools during the two-year Israel-Hamas War.

It is unsurprising that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – a military unit responsible for supporting the proxy militia terror organizations, including Hamas – shares tactics for breaching civilian spaces and endangering non-combatants. It is also unsurprising that the media did not dig into this further. It would force them to acknowledge that this was a tactic Hamas used in Gaza, supporting Israel’s long-standing claims that Hamas used civilians as human shields.

2) As if There Weren’t Enough Already, There’s a Brand-New Shi’ite Terror Group

Reported today by The Jerusalem Post, a new terror group which calls itself Ashab Al Yamim (translated and explained by The Post as “Companions of the Right” or “People of the Right” – as in “righteous” or “just”) has formed. With its history of forming front organizations so that it can obscure its affiliations and origins, there are strong indications Iran may be behind it.

The group has no social media or Telegram channel but has claimed responsibility for anti-Jewish attacks in Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands – all in the span of one week. Per The Post, “the group seemingly did not exist before this week.”  

The first attack was a synagogue bombing in Liege, Belgium in the early hours of Monday, Mar. 9, 2026. Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin called it a “despicable antisemitic act.”

The second was an attack in Greece on Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2026, though details are sparse.

The third was an arson attack on a Rotterdam synagogue in the early morning hours of Mar. 13, 2026, and the fire died down quickly. Associated Press reported that four teens were detained in a car near another synagogue in Rotterdam.

Thankfully, no one was hurt in any of the attacks.

Videos taken by the terrorists surfaced on Shi’ite axis Telegram channels linked with Hezbollah or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), which, according to The Post, may suggest a link between the group and Iran-related proxy organizations, though they were notably less violent than typical Hamas or Hezbollah videos.

The Post further reported that like other Islamist groups, Ashab Al Yamim’s statements taking responsibility for the attacks included quotes from the Quran, high praise for Allah, and calls for jihad in its videos. The group’s logo also bears similarities to the logos of other Iranian terror groups or Iranian-led Islamic Resistance groups, e.g. a hand holding a rifle pointed rightwards, superimposed on a globe.

Perhaps news of the group’s “coming out” is fairly fresh, as it has not been reported widely in the media yet. Most articles on the individual events did not include attribution to the group, or only a vague, unnamed reference. Any future link proven between this group and the IRGC would be further evidence of the worldwide terror the group disseminates.

3) Record-Breaking Sale of Israeli Company “Wiz” to Google Reveals a Too-Strong Shekel 

It’s not only Israeli military planners who are busy these days, but also the Israeli tax authority and Bank of Israel planners. Google’s purchase of Israeli cybersecurity company “Wiz” for a record-breaking $32 billion on Mar. 11, 2026, means the founders will pay hefty taxes. The unprecedented tax bill caused the Jewish state’s financial experts to need an economy-preserving plan regarding the anticipated $2.5 billion in taxes it will collect from Wiz’s founders.

As reported by Ynet, the taxes will be collected in U.S. dollars rather than Israeli shekels, which is highly unusual. This is not an ode to the Americans who are fighting alongside the IDF in Iran, but the result of an extraordinarily strong shekel.

The beginning days of Operation Roaring Lion saw a sharp swing in the exchange rate, and the shekel has now settled in at around 3.1 to the dollar. The Israeli currency is currently one of the strongest in the developed world, having gained about 18% against the dollar since April 2025.

Israel has and likes a strong military and strong coffee… so what’s wrong with a strong shekel? As Ynet explained, if the whole tax bill had been converted into shekels all at once, the flood of dollars into the market would have driven the shekel even stronger, which could hurt exports. Too strong a shekel would cut into the profits of companies that do business internationally, so preserving good conditions for exports and employment is both economically and strategically important.

The Google-Wiz deal was covered by several business and tech outlets because of the price of the deal and the capabilities the acquisition will give Google. Understandably, the reporting about the unusual way the Israeli government will be collecting the taxes, due to the strength of the shekel, was not their focal point.

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