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Israel’s Hit Drama Series ‘Fauda’ Reigns as the Most Watched Israeli Show on Netflix
The cast of “Fauda” season 4. Photo: Elia Spinopolo.
The hit Hebrew-language drama series Fauda is officially the most popular Israeli series on Netflix, according to the streamer’s engagement report covering January-June 2023 that was released on Tuesday.
The show’s fourth season, which premiered on Netflix in January, ranked among Netflix’s top 200 titles – out of a total of 18,220 – with 71 million hours viewed. The first three seasons of the show from yes Studios also ranked impressively during the same six month time period, with 37.6 million hours viewed for season one, 28.4 million for season two and 27.8 million for season three.
“These figures speak to the quality of the programs that we help produce and represent, and to the power of Israeli storytelling in general and its enduring ability to engage viewers on the global stage,” Sharon Levi, managing director at yes Studios, said in a released statement. She added that the show “is a ground-breaking series and proved a breakout hit from the launch of season one.”
“It is incredible to see just how many people watched season four when it launched and to also know that the earlier seasons continue to find new – and possibly repeat – audiences every year,” she noted.
Netflix released its first-ever “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report” on Tuesday, detailing what people watched on the streaming platform over a six month period. The report will be published twice a year.
Fauda (Arabic for “chaos”) is created by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz. The show is about an elite undercover Israeli combat unit led by Doron Kavillio, played by Raz, who hunt down terrorists in the West Bank, Lebanon, the Israeli city of Ramla and even Brussels. The series has won numerous awards, including best series at the Israeli Academy TV Awards, and is Israel’s longest-running action series.
Other yes Studios’ productions also fanned well on Netflix during January-June 2023, according to the engagement report. The first season of The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem racked 10.6 million hours of views, while When Heroes Fly and The Girl from Oslo garnered 4.7 million and 4.6 million hours viewed, respectively. Also all three seasons of the family drama Shtisel each accumulated just under 1 million hours of views. Other Israeli shows mentioned in the engagement report included the documentary 44 Hours, which is only available on Netflix in Israel, season one of Hashoter Hatov (The Good Cop) and three seasons of the satirical sitcom Checkout.
The post Israel’s Hit Drama Series ‘Fauda’ Reigns as the Most Watched Israeli Show on Netflix first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.