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Jewish Federations of North America 11.06.25

War in Israel: Update on Current Situation

November 6, 2025 - October 7 War, Day 762, 6 hostage bodies remain in captivity

Additional hostage bodies returned to Israel. Ceasefire is shaky, but holds.

Gaza Ceasefire

  • The Gaza ceasefire remains in place, despite some sporadic breaches and flare-ups, with all sides seemingly taking measures to ensure it holds steady.
  • Israel and Hamas each now control roughly half of the area of Gaza each. The territory is divided by the “Yellow Line.”
  • Approximately 200 Hamas terrorists remain trapped in tunnels in Rafah, within the Israeli-controlled sector. The 200 are isolated behind the Yellow Line, as negotiators look for a solution. While some have proposed safe passage for the Hamas members, potentially via Red Cross vehicles and contingent on disarmament, Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly rejected the idea, citing security concerns. Some Israeli officials argue that the terrorists should be captured or eliminated.
  • There have not been reports on significant progress in negotiations for the next stage of the ceasefire, which is supposed to include Hamas disarmament, a fuller Israeli withdrawal, and plans for new governance in Gaza.
  • Nonetheless, President Donald Trump confirmed that he thinks the deployment of an international group (the International Security Force - ISF) in Gaza will begin in January 2025. The force will be composed of Arab and international partners and is designed to oversee security, disarm Hamas, and support reconstruction efforts.
  • The UN Security Council is currently reviewing a draft US resolution that would authorize the force for a two-year mandate, starting in early 2025, with the potential to extend through 2027. The force would operate alongside a transitional governance body called the Board of Peace, which Trump also proposed. The proposed head of the Board is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
  • The IDF is reportedly preparing to escalate strikes against Hezbollah following repeated ceasefire violations by the Lebanon-based terror group. Hezbollah has rebuilt its arsenal since the November 2024 ceasefire, and the US is increasingly doubtful that the Lebanese government will move to fully disarm the group. Although Hezbollah’s weapon “supply chain” was briefly disrupted after the Assad regime in Syria fell in December, it is apparently being reconstituted.
  • According to Haaretz, Hezbollah has partially restored its weapons pipeline and is again receiving Iranian arms via Iraq and Syria. Those officials warn that Hezbollah’s rearmament is outpacing the Lebanese Army’s limited efforts to restrain it. IDF sources say the army is avoiding direct confrontation and doing little to halt Hezbollah’s rebuilding. Israel is now weighing next steps and is expected to intensify military pressure to slow Hezbollah’s recovery.
  • The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have not resumed firing at Israel since the ceasefire took effect.
  • A recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that a majority of Palestinians still consider Hamas’ October 7 attack “correct.” Support was highest in Judea and Samaria at 59 percent, and 44 percent in Gaza, totaling 53 percent overall.
    • Despite two years of suffering in Gaza, only 14 percent of Palestinians blame Hamas for the hardships, while 54 percent place the blame on Israel.
    • The survey also found that 53 percent of Palestinians oppose a two-state solution, with much of this opposition linked to skepticism over its feasibility; 41 percent still see it as possible.
    • When asked how to achieve Palestinian independence, a plurality—40 percent overall, including 35 percent in Gaza—supported “armed struggle,” indicating that even after years of conflict and destruction, many still view violence as the path forward.
  • The government last week directed that a humanitarian and medical aid delegation be dispatched from the State of Israel to Jamaica, following the hurricane that struck the area and caused numerous casualties.

Bodies of Hostages Released

  • Seven additional bodies have been returned to Israel in the past week.
  • Israel has now positively identified the body returned last night by Hamas as that of 21-year-old Joshua Lolitu Mollel, a Tanzanian agronomy student who came to Israel for agricultural training. He was killed on Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7; his body was taken to Gaza. Joshua had arrived in Israel just 19 days before the massacre, when he was kidnapped and then murdered on camera. He leaves behind his parents and four siblings.
  • The body returned to Israel the previous night has been identified as that of Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, a 19-year-old soldier who held US, Israeli, and German citizenship. Chen was killed when his tank was struck at the Nahal Oz army base, and his body was taken into Gaza. He was the last American hostage being held by Hamas.
  • On Sunday, the body of Captain Omer Neutra, an Israeli-American soldier killed during the October 7 attack, was returned to Israel after 758 days in captivity. Neutra, who grew up in Plainview, Long Island, was serving as a tank commander in the IDF when he was killed and taken hostage.
  • Neutra’s parents, Orna and Ronen, who had become prominent advocates for hostage families, expressed both relief and sadness, saying, “For 758 days, we lived between hope and heartbreak. Today, that long nightmare ends with the knowledge that Omer is finally home.” President Trump confirmed the transfer and spoke with the family; he said he was “very happy to have it done,” although he acknowledged their pain.
  • Neutra’s remains were transferred by Hamas via the Red Cross, alongside those of two other hostages, Colonel Assaf Hamami and Sergeant Oz Daniel, both killed on October 7 and abducted into Gaza. All three were positively identified by Israeli forensic authorities.
  • On the morning of October 7, Hamami was with his five-year-old son Alon at the Gaza Division base. Entrusting his son to other soldiers and asking them to keep him safe, Asaf went out to fight the invading Hamas terrorists and fell defending Kibbutz Nirim. He left behind his wife and three children. Oz Daniel, 19, was also killed on October 7 while defending Israel in a tank near Kibbutz Nirim. His body was abducted by Hamas and held in Gaza for over two years.
  • Last weekend, two other bodies were returned to Israel and positively identified as belonging to Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch. Cooper was the last hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
  • Six bodies are still being held in Gaza, five Israelis and one foreign national. One of the Israelis is Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held since 2014.
  • Despite earlier, more pessimistic predictions, Israeli media reports that officials increasingly believe that Hamas knows the location of all of the remaining bodies, but may be deliberately withholding their return for the purpose of leverage, such as to demand safe passage for the Hamas operatives trapped in tunnels under IDF control (see above). Under the ceasefire agreement, all hostages, living or deceased, were supposed to be returned by October 13.
  • Watch this moving interview with recently released Israeli hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana.

Major Israeli Scandal #1 – Sde Teiman

The “Sde Teiman Affair” has rocked Israel in recent days.

  • Sde Teiman is a military base in southern Israel that was repurposed as a detention facility for Palestinian terrorists from Gaza in the early days of the war.
  • In July 2024, a Palestinian detainee was hospitalized with severe injuries, including broken ribs and a rectal tear, allegedly perpetrated by IDF reservists during a search operation.
  • In August 2024, Israel Channel 12 aired leaked security footage showing the detainee being taken behind riot shields and allegedly sexually assaulted. The footage caused international outrage and domestic political turmoil.
  • Five IDF reservist soldiers were indicted in February 2025 for aggravated abuse and serious bodily harm. Legal proceedings against them continue.
  • The leak of the video, which also harmed the prosecution’s case, was initially investigated by the IDF’s legal division, but no source for the leak was identified at the time. The footage was classified and part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
  • Last week, it was revealed that the leak had been authorized by then-Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who admitted to doing so in an effort to counter right-wing accusations that her office was unfairly targeting soldiers.
  • Tomer-Yerushalmi, who was the second-ever woman to hold the rank of major-general in the IDF, resigned at the end of last week, becoming the first major general in IDF history to step down due to a criminal investigation.
  • On this past Sunday, she disappeared for several hours, prompting a large-scale search after her family found a note at home that was interpreted as a possible suicide message. Her car was discovered near Hatzuk Beach in Tel Aviv.
  • She was later found alive and wet on a beach in Herzliya, without her phone. Authorities suspect the disappearance may have been staged to destroy evidence.
  • That night, Tomer-Yerushalmi was arrested and taken into custody, where she remains. She is now under investigation for obstruction of justice, fraud, breach of trust, and abuse of office.
  • Former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh was also arrested; he has been suspected of helping cover up the leak. He has now been released to house arrest.
  • The affair has sparked a fierce political backlash, with right-wing politicians accusing Tomer-Yerushalmi of betraying IDF soldiers and using the leak to damage the military’s image. One Likud MK claimed her disappearance was a “ruse to regain the narrative.”
  • The case has intensified political polarization in Israel, with some calling for the indictments against the soldiers to be dropped and others demanding accountability for both the abuse and the leak.
  • Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the leak caused “perhaps the most severe propaganda attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”

Major Israeli Scandal #2: The Histadrut

  • The Histadrut is Israel’s national trade union federation and the country’s largest and most powerful labor organization.
  • At the beginning of this week, Israeli police arrested Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David, his wife, and dozens of senior officials from the federation as part of a sweeping corruption investigation.
  • The probe, dubbed “Hand Shaking Hand,” followed a two-year undercover operation by the Israel Police’s anti-fraud unit, and centers on allegations of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax offenses.
  • Authorities suspect a “give-and-take” system in which senior Histadrut officials and businesspeople exchanged job appointments and board positions for financial benefits, including lucrative insurance contracts.
  • Raids were conducted at over 50 locations, including the Histadrut headquarters, municipal offices, and public corporations such as El Al, Israel Railways, and the Jewish National Fund.
  • Over 350 individuals are expected to be questioned, and the case is being described as one of the most serious public-sector corruption scandals in Israel in recent years.

Further Reading

For more information, please contact: Jewish Federations of North America’s Dani Wassner dani.wassner@jewishfederations.org. Subscribe to this weekly update here.