Mediators Meet in Miami to Advance Phase Two of Ceasefire
- U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey in Miami to discuss the Gaza peace plan (Times of Israel)
Published by CFR's Wachenheim Center for Peace and Security
Latest News
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Israeli Strike in Gaza City Kills Five, IDF Investigating
- The Israel Defense Forces said it was investigating a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City; the IDF said troops spotted several suspects in structures on the western side of the Yellow Line and fired at them following their identification, but did not specify if they were armed or how they posed a threat (Times of Israel)
- Gaza’s civil defense agency said most of the victims were children (Reuters)
Sanctions on ICC Judges
- The U.S. State Department announced sanctions on two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges for targeting Israel without Israel’s consent (State)
- Israel argues the ICC cannot target it in part because it is not a party to the court’s statute; the Palestinian territories are a member (ICC)
- The ICC called the sanctions “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution” (ICC)
- Washington had sanctioned six other ICC judges involved in cases against Israel earlier this year (Times of Israel)
Strike on Hamas Leader
- Israel’s military said that it killed Hamas leader Ra’ad Sa’ad in a Gaza airstrike; the military said Sa’ad was “heavily involved” in planning Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and blamed him for violations of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire (IDF)
- Hamas confirmed Sa’ad’s death and said that the Israeli airstrike that killed him was a ceasefire violation (WaPo)
Flooding in Gaza
- Israel is blocking emergency supplies to reinforce flooded tents from entering Gaza, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM); Israel maintains it is meeting its obligations to allow aid into the enclave (Reuters)
- At least twelve people are dead or missing, and tens of thousands of tents were flooded following heavy rains yesterday, Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office said (NBC)
New West Bank Settlements
- Israel approved 764 housing units across three West Bank settlements, drawing condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, which urged Washington to pressure Israel to halt expansion, as the current government accelerates construction of settlements (New Arab)
- Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Trump administration officials are debating whether to apply terrorism-related sanctions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency over alleged ties to Hamas (Reuters)
- Several State Department staff officials warned that a designation could trigger major legal and humanitarian fallout, while UNRWA rejected the accusations as baseless and “unprecedented” (Reuters)
Hamas Places Conditions for Second Ceasefire Phase
- Hamas said it will not enter the next stage of the U.S.-brokered truce unless Israel halts strikes, opens Rafah to two-way traffic, and increases aid flows, arguing Israel has not met first-phase commitments; Israel says Hamas is delaying by withholding a final hostage’s remains and insists its limited strikes target militants near the Yellow Line, which separates Israeli-controlled territory from other areas of Gaza (AP)
- Israel today reopened the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, restarting the flow of aid and goods under stricter security conditions, following the killing of Israeli soldiers near the crossing in September (Reuters)
Israeli Police Raid UN Office in East Jerusalem
- Israel said it collected 11 million shekels in unpaid municipal taxes during a raid on the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; UN officials condemned the move as a violation of the inviolability of UN premises (Reuters)
- Separately, Israeli drone strikes killed two Palestinians accused of crossing into Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza (Times of Israel)
Hamas Expresses Openness to Disarmament
- A senior Hamas official said the group is open to “freezing or storing or laying down” its arms as part of the next phase of the ceasefire; Naim, who is based in Qatar, suggested a long-term truce of five to ten years for such talks to take place and said that Hamas would oppose an international force carrying out the disarmament (AP)
- That could pave the way forward for one of the most sensitive and controversial elements of the U.S.-backed peace plan (CNN)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the first phase of the truce was “almost” complete, noting that Hamas still needs to return the body of one Israeli hostage; Netanyahu said he would discuss the next phase of the truce with Washington this month (Israeli MoFA)
- Separately, Israel’s military chief called the withdrawal line in Gaza—behind which Israeli troops moved as part of the first phase—“a new border,” a move that would effectively split Gaza in half if formalized; the second phase of the peace plan stipulates Israel’s further withdrawal from that line (FT)
- Hamas official Bassem Naim’s comments to the Associated Press came as Axios reported that envoys from the United States, Israel, and Qatar—home to Hamas’s political bureau—held talks in New York (Axios)
- Meanwhile, in Gaza, health authorities announced that Israel had killed at least seven Palestinians, though the Israeli military suggested it fired at militants who approached Israeli forces, killing three (Reuters)
Clashes in Gaza and West Bank
- Israeli forces fired at Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, suggesting that individuals had again attempted to cross into Israeli-controlled territory; the military also killed a man in Nablus, as part of expanded Israeli raids across the West Bank (Al Jazeera)
- Separately, officials from mediating countries said that the Board of Peace, a transitional authority proposed as part of the U.S. vision for Gaza, would likely be announced by the end of this month, in conjunction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States; one of the officials added that the International Stabilization Force, which the U.S. proposal envisions as providing security in Gaza, would be announced at a later date (AP)
Anti-Hamas Gazan Leader Dies
- Yasser Abu Shabab, the Bedouin head of the Popular Forces group, was killed while attempting to resolve a family dispute, his militia said, though the precise circumstances of his death remain unclear; the death is a setback to Israel’s effort to empower local rivals as an alternative to Hamas rule (Reuters)
- Hamas, which has worked to crack down on rival groups since the Gaza truce, referred to Abu Shabab as a traitor but did not claim involvement in his killing (BBC)
- Separately, Israel confirmed that the body delivered by Hamas earlier this week belonged to Thai hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak, leaving a single hostage body that is yet to be returned (BBC)
- On the battlefield, Israeli forces fired at an alleged terrorist who tried crossing into Israeli-controlled territory, marking another instance of clashes despite the truce (Times of Israel)
Fighting in Gaza
Gaza Hostage Transfer
- Hamas said it would hand over the body of an Israeli hostage today after Israel noted the remains Hamas turned in yesterday were misidentified (Reuters)
- Israeli officials later said the remains did not belong to either of the two remaining hostage bodies in Gaza, despite assertions from Hamas; the exchange unfolded against a backdrop of continued Israeli strikes in the enclave, with Gazan health authorities reporting the death of a freelance journalist (Reuters; Times of Israel)
- An outstanding condition of the current Gaza truce is the transfer of the bodies of two deceased hostages (BBC)
- Separately, Israel said today it would allow the Rafah crossing to Egypt to reopen in the coming days for people who need to exit the territory for medical care (WaPo)
Trump Invites Netanyahu to Washington
- U.S. President Donald Trump extended the invitation in a phone call, paving the way for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fifth visit during Trump’s second term; the leaders also discussed Gaza’s post-war security arrangements and Israel’s relations with Syria (Reuters)
- Earlier, Trump warned Israel that its actions could undermine Syrian reconstruction, asking Netanyahu to slow military operations in the country (Al Jazeera)
- In Gaza, meanwhile, Israel said its forces killed forty Hamas militants who were stuck in a Rafah tunnel, despite efforts by mediators to negotiate safe passage for them (New Arab)
Netanyahu’s Pardon Request
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested that President Isaac Herzog grant him a pardon in his ongoing corruption trial, saying it would help heal national rifts; Herzog said he would seek expert opinions before making a decision (Haaretz)
- Normally, a pardon follows the conclusion of legal proceedings, and Netanyahu vowed earlier this month he would not request a pardon if it meant admitting guilt (Times of Israel)
Gaza Death Toll Passes 70,000
- The toll was reported by Gazan health authorities; meanwhile, Israeli drone strikes killed two Palestinian children, per hospital staff, though Israel suggested the attack targeted individuals who had crossed into Israeli-controlled Gazan territory, as international efforts to advance the ceasefire continue (AP)
Israeli Raid in Jenin Prompts Inquiry
- Israeli security forces shot and killed two men during an operation in the West Bank city, with video showing the men leaving a building in what appeared to be a surrender; Israel’s military said the men were suspected militants but confirmed an investigation into the incident, as Palestinian officials accused the forces of unlawful killing (Reuters)
- The UN later condemned the incident as a “summary execution” (Middle East Eye)
Israeli Operation in Northern West Bank
- Israeli troops entered the city of Tubas and nearby areas, fortifying positions and detaining dozens of Palestinians as part of an expanded campaign across the north of the territory; the military said the operation was intended to dismantle militant networks (Reuters)
Talks for Second Phase of Ceasefire Deal
- The intelligence chiefs of Turkey and Qatar, as well as Egypt’s foreign minister, met in Cairo to discuss efforts to move the ceasefire deal forward (Reuters)
- In Gaza, Hamas announced that it had returned a hostage’s body that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad discovered earlier this week, leaving two more slain hostages in the Strip, provided forensics confirms Hamas’s claim (NYT)
Israeli Attacks in Gaza
- Israeli forces killed three people in Gaza, Palestinian medics said; Israel said they were threatening its troops (Reuters)
- That brings the total number of people that Israel killed in Gaza since the start of the current truce to 342, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry (Guardian)
- Meanwhile, the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it had identified the body of an Israeli hostage in an Israeli-controlled area of the territory, but did not announce when a handover would occur (Times of Israel)
- Separately, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced it is closing permanently after months of controversy over deadly risks faced by Palestinians approaching its distribution points, saying its model will now be folded into a U.S.-led coordination center (AP)
Rebukes Over October 7 Failures
- The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, dismissed several senior commanders from reserve roles and issued reprimands to others after an internal review concluded that systemic lapses enabled Hamas’s 2023 attack; the disciplinary steps come amid growing public demands for a national inquiry into the attack (Reuters)
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz later sparred with Zamir over the internal review, demanding a re-examination of the army’s lapses (AP)
Israeli Strikes Kill Dozens of Palestinians
- The Israeli attacks also injured nearly one hundred, hitting vehicles, homes, and shelters, and prompting Hamas to urge U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari mediators to intervene over what it called a systematic breach of the truce (Al Jazeera)
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the strikes followed a violation of the ceasefire by Palestinian militants that fired on Israeli troops (AP)
Israeli Raid in West Bank
- Palestinian officials said Israeli forces fatally shot two youths during an overnight operation in Kfar Aqab, as the West Bank experiences surging violence (Reuters)
- Across the Gaza Strip, Doctors Without Borders reported that women and children suffered blast injuries and gunshot wounds, as Israel and Hamas continue accusing each other of violating the fragile truce; UNICEF separately reported that an average of nearly two Palestinian children have been killed per day since the ceasefire began (Reuters)
Israeli Strikes in Southern Gaza
- Israeli airstrikes near Khan Younis killed five Palestinians and wounded eighteen amid repeated accusations by both Israel and Hamas of ceasefire violations (Reuters)
- Israeli defense officials reportedly believe Hamas is rebuilding its forces under the ceasefire while coordinating with Hezbollah and Iran to restore weapons networks; senior commanders favor harsher action against these violations but say U.S. pressure has been limiting Israel’s response (Jerusalem Post)
- Separately, Israeli leaders suggested they were not concerned about losing the Israeli military’s qualitative edge, despite the U.S. sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, as U.S. officials indicated the aircraft had been downgraded (Times of Israel)
- Finally, the New York Times reported that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. official convicted of spying for Israel, in July in Jerusalem, though the White House denied knowledge of the meeting (NYT)
Vehicle-Ramming and Stabbing Attack in West Bank
- The attack near the Etzion settlement bloc killed one man and wounded three others, with Israeli troops shooting the two assailants and later discovering explosives in their car; the incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of rising settler violence, which prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call a meeting this week to discuss measures to prosecute Israelis involved in such attacks (Reuters)
- During a White House visit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Saudi Arabia wanted to join the Abraham Accords but that “we want also to be sure that [we] secure a clear path [toward a] two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; he added that Saudi Arabia will “definitely help” fund the reconstruction of Gaza, though he did not provide an exact figure (Times of Israel)