War in Israel: Update on Current Situation

April 24, 2025 - October 7 War, Day 566, 59 hostages remain in captivity

Yom HaShoa 2025: As Israel commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day today, a two-minute memorial siren sounded across the country at 10 am, bringing all activity to a short pause, as citizens stood at attention to remember our six million brothers and sisters who perished during the Shoah.

Ten of the freed hostages from October 7 are in Poland to take part in the annual Yom HaShoah March of the Living ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

IDF Activity

• Fighting continues in numerous locations across the Gaza Strip. In the last week, the IDF has taken control of the Morag Corridor, which separates the city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza.
• Last weekend, 35-year-old IDF Command Sergeant Galeb al-Nasasra, a Bedouin soldier, was killed in action in Gaza while attempting to rescue two female soldiers who were severely wounded when an RPG was launched at their vehicle. Al-Nasara was the first soldier to fall in Gaza since fighting recommenced. The tragic event highlighted the presence of both Bedouin and female soldiers among those fighting in the IDF in Gaza.
• Earlier today, an IDF airstrike in northern Gaza targeted a group of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives at a command center used by the groups. The strike hit Jabalia’s former police station, killing at least nine people. According to the IDF, the site was used by the terrorists to carry out attacks on Israeli civilians and troops. The military says that it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, using “precision munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
• Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved the entry of 600 Syrian Druze clerics into Israel tomorrow to celebrate the holiday of Ziyara at the tomb of Nabi Shuaib in the Lower Galilee. This will mark the first time Syrian Druze visitors have been permitted to stay overnight in Israel. In March, Katz authorized a similar visit for 60 clerics, who met with the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, Sheikh Muafak Tarif, and visited holy sites.

Rockets

• Sporadic rocket fire continues from both Yemen and Gaza, sending Israeli citizens to shelters.
• On Tuesday night, a single rocket fired by the pro-Iranian Houthis in Yemen activated sirens in Haifa and across the north. The missile was intercepted by Israel’s defenses and caused no damage or injuries. Last weekend, millions of Israelis in Tel Aviv and across central Israel ran to shelters as a result of separate Houthi attacks that were also intercepted.
• Despite its limited remaining capabilities, since the end of the ceasefire, Hamas has succeeded in firing a small number of rockets against Israeli civilian targets in the south, thankfully without causing major damage.

Hostages

• While hostage and ceasefire negotiations continue, the sides seem to be at an impasse. Hamas is demanding an internationally-backed agreement that will see a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal, in exchange for a release of all hostages. Israel, on the other hand, will not consider a deal that leaves Hamas in power, or that denies the IDF a security presence in buffer zones and other militarily strategic areas that are vital for the country’s security.
• Israel’s negotiating team, led by Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, is set to depart for further talks in the coming days.
• Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continue to release “sign-of-life” videos of hostages they are holding; they sent out three in just the past week. While families have welcomed any proof that their loved ones are alive, the psychological toll of seeing them in captivity is heavy.

Political Developments

• In further signs of increasing Palestinian frustration with Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) called the terror group “sons of dogs,” and said they need to release Israel’s hostages and “rid the Palestinian people of this issue.”  Anti-Hamas protests by Gazan citizens have continued.
• Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich accused the IDF of failing to carry out the government’s orders. The Cabinet has told the military to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza (in order to prevent Hamas from controlling the aid), but the IDF Chief of Staff says that this task would put soldiers’ lives at risk.
• Ronen Bar, whose dismissal as head of the Shin Bet by the government is being contested in court, has submitted an affidavit in which he accused Netanyahu of pressuring him to help postpone testimony in the prime minister’s criminal trial. Bar said the request was submitted against his own professional opinion, and that Netanyahu also asked him to use the Shin Bet to act against anti-government activists who are involved in legitimate political protest. Bar also alleged that it was “made clear to him” that he was expected to be loyal to the government even doing so defies a High Court of Justice ruling.

In Other News...

• Massive wild fires broke out yesterday in the Jerusalem region because of a heat wave. The fires caused the closing of a number of major roads and the evacuation of several small towns and moshavim. Three firefighters suffered smoke inhalation and one fire truck was consumed by the flames. Large swathes of forest have been burnt.
• An Israeli man was killed by sharks while swimming off the Mediterranean coast. Even though sharks are relatively common in these waters, attacks are rare.

For Further Reading

• Deradicalization in the Middle East and Lessons for Gaza’s Future
• Is It True That Iran’s Nuclear Knowledge Can’t Be Bombed Away?
• Recalculating Route – The Iran and Hezbollah Corridor to Lebanon
• Hamas Tacitly Admitted Its Casualty Figures Were Fabricated—but That Won’t Change Anyone’s Mind

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