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Here’s What Happening in Gaza and the West Bank Right Now
Israeli security and emergency responders work at the site of a bomb blast in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Moti Milrod
The Gaza Strip
The fighting in Gaza continues at the same reduced pace and with the same methods on both sides. The IDF is deliberately setting the pace, slowly combing through the Rafah area against small pinprick ambushes and raids by Hamas and other groups. IDF units operate both above and below ground.
Since my last report, the IDF also conducted a number of raids into northern Gaza in the Nusayrat and Burayj areas as well as the Khan Yunis area.
In the Rafah area, one hostage (an Israeli Bedouin) was rescued, but his rescue apparently prompted the guards imprisoning six other Israeli hostages at a different site to execute them. A Hamas spokesperson said that following the earlier rescue of four hostages in early June, “new instructions” had been given for “action” when Israeli troops approach a location containing hostages. This was essentially a threat that Hamas will kill hostages if IDF units are detected in their vicinity.
Hamas and other groups are still managing to fire a few rockets per week into Israel, though no Israeli casualties have been reported. One rocket landed in the sea just south of Tel Aviv, most were intercepted or landed on open ground in the areas around Gaza, and some failed to cross the border and landed inside Gaza.
To protect themselves, the terrorist launching teams operate from within the safe haven declared by Israel, near the road on which the humanitarian supply convoys travel, or inside schools, mosques, and UNRWA facilities.
A typical example of a rocket launch site adjacent to the Humanitarian Supply Convoy Route. This was the launch site of the rocket fired at Tel Aviv
In another case, a convoy of the humanitarian NGO ANERA was halted by Hamas personnel who commandeered one of the vehicles to travel to an undisclosed location “protected” by the convoy. This was observed by the IDF via a drone monitoring the convoy’s movement, and the specific vehicle was destroyed. No ANERA personnel were hurt.
To operate against the launch teams, the IDF periodically changes the instructions to the Gaza population about areas where they can be and areas to which they must evacuate. It also conducts precision strikes on specific targets. Hamas responds by invariably claiming large numbers of civilian casualties in these strikes.
In one example, on August 10, the IDF attacked a Hamas command post during a meeting there and killed 31 Hamas commanders and other personnel, all of whom were verified by name. Hamas claimed that none of its personnel were there and that the IDF had massacred about 100 civilians.
On local social media in Gaza, obituaries naming only 33 people were published, of which 31 corresponded to the IDF’s list. Furthermore, Hamas claimed that the IDF had used a one-ton bomb (the type President Biden refuses to provide Israel), but photographs of the damage published by Hamas and Gazan individuals do not show the level of damage such a large bomb would have caused. The IDF stated that three small precision munitions had been used, and a nearby school and mosque were not damaged.
As usual, a flood of condemnations of Israel in Western media and by Western politicians was quickly issued, all accepting Hamas’s version and dismissing Israel’s and without bothering to check the facts.
The IDF found several dozen smuggling tunnels between the Rafah area in Gaza and Egypt. These are the tunnels through which Hamas and the other groups imported their heavy weapons. These discoveries are increasing tensions between Egypt and Israel, as it is Egypt’s responsibility to prevent the existence of the tunnels. There have been reports that not only did it stop doing so, but high-ranking members of the Egyptian regime receive commissions on the operation of these tunnels.
Below is a smuggling tunnel crossing the border into Egypt. The vehicle parked inside it is Israeli to show its dimensions
This is not the original entrance to the tunnel. To bypass explosive booby-traps, the IDF digs into located tunnels through the roof.
Inside Gaza, in addition to fighting Israel, Hamas is busy asserting its threatened dominance over other Palestinian factions. There are reports by Gazans of executions, abductions, and beatings of critics or members of other factions that have taken too independent a stance. Hamas of course reports all these cases as dealing with “collaborators with the Zionists.”
For all the talk of “the day after,” there can be no day after so long as Hamas remains the most powerful force in Gaza.
The IDF published numbers for the supplies being provided to the population of Gaza:
First, on the issue of preventing casualties by warning the population of impending operations: the IDF has dropped 9.3 million leaflets with instructions, conducted 100,000 telephone conversations with locals, and sent 15.5 million text messages and 17 million recorded messages.
As to supplies being sent into Gaza: up to the beginning of September 2024, more than 49,100 trucks carrying supplies and 9,930 air-dropped packages entered the Strip. These included food, medical supplies, some 25 million liters of gasoline, and 20,000 tons of cooking gas.
Electricity: Before the war, Israel provided electricity to Gaza on 10 lines. Hamas cut nine of them, and now complains that there is a drastic reduction in electric power available for civilian use.
Water: Before the war, Israel provided Gaza with drinking water through pipes. It has built another pipe and Egypt has built two more. Among the trucks sent into Gaza, almost 2,500 carried water.
Health: Gazan civilians in need of medical care have been evacuated through Israel. Also, in addition sending copious amounts of medical equipment and medicines into Gaza, Israel sent 1.26 million polio vaccines into Gaza via its own territory last week. Within three days of their arrival, already approximately 200,000 Gazans were vaccinated.
Judea and Samaria:
Throughout August, there has been an escalation in Palestinian attacks in Judea and Samaria or emanating from that area into Israel. The difference is not in the total number of attacks but in the methods.
There have been more attempts to conduct suicide bombings, with individuals carrying bombs on their bodies and cars loaded with explosives.
Below is the Israel Security Agency’s Monthly Summary for August, and the number of attacks on Israelis in or from Judea and Samaria:
In July, there were 500 attacks, but 343 were stone-throwing, whereas in August, there were more attacks involving firearms, explosives, and fire bombs. Also, there were three failed attempts to drive cars filled with explosives into Israeli villages. One was a failed attempt to explode a bomb next to a passing civilian bus. The bus was damaged but no one was hurt.
These attacks killed four Israeli civilians and wounded 12. Also killed were four Israeli soldiers and policemen. Seventeen more were wounded.
In response to this escalation, the IDF escalated its offensive counter-terrorist operations and on August 29 began its biggest offensive operation since 2002. While the operation was conducted in a number of Palestinian towns and villages, in other areas, Palestinian terrorists continued to attack passing cars or roadblocks and to infiltrate into Israeli villages.
Each IDF entry into Palestinian towns faces varying intensities of resistance, including bombs dug under roads (which are cleared by bulldozers that tear up the asphalt), rifles, machine guns, grenades, and improvised hand-thrown bombs as well as petrol bombs. During the operation a number of Israeli soldiers and policemen were wounded.
The Palestinian Authority stated that 39 Palestinians had been killed and 145 wounded all together. From the obituaries published, almost all were members of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Fatah militia, and a few Palestinian Authority personnel who, contrary to orders, joined the fight against the IDF. Hundreds of members of the various groups were captured and a large quantity of weapons stores were taken and cleared or destroyed in situ.
Apart from the official response, there was also an escalation of violence by Israeli civilians who conducted revenge raids on Palestinian villages from which they were attacked. The IDF and Israeli police had to send troops to these villages to force these Israelis away, and they arrested a number of them.
Throughout the month, there have been gunfights between the official Palestinian Authority security forces, controlled by the Fatah, and the militias of other Palestinian factions. The Palestinian Authority security forces cleared bombs placed by Hamas, arguing that they threatened the lives of Palestinian civilians living near or driving on the roads beside which they had been placed.
The Palestinians claim that more than 10,200 people have been arrested since October 7, 2023, but the official Israeli number is approximately 4,950 (about 700 more since my last report), of whom approximately 2,000 belong to Hamas and the others to other groups.
The discrepancy is apparently because the Palestinians count anyone who was detained as “arrested” even if they were released after questioning. They also claim that more than 690 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, but do not provide a breakdown between armed personnel of the various factions and civilians. This figure is 170 more than in my previous report, but not that many Palestinians have been reported killed in this period. The reason for this discrepancy is not clear.
Dr. Eado Hecht, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, is a military analyst focusing mainly on the relationship between military theory, military doctrine, and military practice. He teaches courses on military theory and military history at Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University, and Reichman University and in a variety of courses in the Israel Defense Forces. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
The post Here’s What Happening in Gaza and the West Bank Right Now first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire

Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel

People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns

Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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