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Spotlight on Terrorism – September 2025

During September 2025 fighting in the Gaza Strip and counterterrorism activity in Judea and Samaria continued. The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah continued despite IDF strikes on Hezbollah targets. The Houthis continued attacking Israeli territory; The IDF continued aerial and ground attacks on terrorist targets throughout the Strip and began a ground maneuver inside Gaza City. Ten IDF soldiers were killed. Commanders and operatives in the military wings of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terrorist organizations were eliminated, including operatives involved in the October 7, 2023 attack and massacre, and operatives who held hostages. An attempted strike on the Hamas leadership in Qatar failed. Five rockets were fired at Israeli territory during September; There were four terrorist attacks compared with one in August; six Israeli civilians and three IDF soldiers were killed. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism operations across Judea and Samaria, during which rockets were found and a network operating under the direction of Hamas' headquarters in Turkey was exposed; The IDF continued operations against Hezbollah's violations of the ceasefire which went into effect on November 27, 2024, and against the organization's attempts to reconstruct its military capabilities. At least 13 Hezbollah operatives were eliminated, including one involved in directing terrorism from Syria and another operating in the Iranian Imam Hussein Division, and military facilities were attacked. An operative from the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese Brigades for Resistance to the Israeli Occupation was eliminated; Suspects planning to attack IDF forces in southern Syria were detained, and weapons and missile depots were attacked; The Houthis claimed responsibility for 26 ballistic missile and UAV attacks on Israel. The IDF spokesperson reported the interception of nine ballistic missiles and 12 UAVs, with additional missiles disintegrating en route to Israel; three UAVs hit Eilat, Israel's southernmost city, and Ramon Airport, injuring more than 20 people. The IDF attacked Houthi regime targets in Yemen twice.
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Instructions Given by Yahya al-Sinwar for the October 7, 2023 Attack and Massacre

After Operation Guardian of the Walls (or "The Sword of Jerusalem Battle," as Hamas calls it) in May 2021, the Hamas leadership, led by Yahya al-Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, began planning a campaign to realize the vision of "the destruction of Israel."; In addition to the Hamas leadership's strategic coordination with Iran and Hezbollah, al-Sinwar personally participated in planning the terrorist attack and massacre carried out by the organization's military wing; A document handwritten by al-Sinwar in August 2022, which was found by the IDF in the Gaza Strip, detailed his instructions, from the deceptions in the weeks before the invasion to the conduct of invasion itself, based on the understanding that the Israeli defense measures along the border would not be able to stop the waves of attacking terrorists; According to the document, al-Sinwar kept the plan secret from the other terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, intending to involve them only in subsequent waves after Hamas had secured control of Israeli territory; Al-Sinwar expressed his confidence that the Hamas offensive would lead to a multi-front campaign involving Israeli Arabs, Judea and Samaria, and east Jerusalem, as well as an invasion of Israel's north by Hezbollah; A central part of the document is dedicated to the psychology of the attack, with al-Sinwar's explicit instructions to document Hamas terrorist operatives indiscriminately slaughtering civilians, trampling soldiers' bodies, burning residential neighborhoods, and blowing up tanks. The documentation of the atrocities was intended not only for internal use but was planned as a psychological tool to shock and terrorize the Israeli public and send a message of power to "resistance" operatives in the region; The document shows al-Sinwar's control over all the details of the invasion as it was carried out during the early hours of the attack on October 7, 2023. In ITIC assessment, al-Sinwar was not content with a large-scale terrorist attack or with sending a message but aspired to a complete strategic change on the ground through prolonged physical control of command centers, communication hubs, and IDF bases to leverage Israel's initial confusion and establish a new reality before the IDF or the international community could respond.
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Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis (September 17—30, 2025)

In his speech at the UN General Assembly, the Iranian President accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and declared that the “Greater Israel” plan expresses the true intentions of the “Zionist regime.” The Houthi leader in Yemen accused the Arab countries of making a “strategic mistake” due to their continued ties with Israel; Hardline media in Iran expressed reservations about European countries’ recognition of the “State of Palestine,” arguing that such recognition is not enough to bring about a change in the Palestinians’ situation or to end the “Zionist occupation.”; Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, arrived in Lebanon to participate in the commemoration ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He stressed Iran’s continued support for Hezbollah but made it clear that it does not interfere in Lebanon’s decision-making. Before Larijani’s visit, the Lebanese government refused to allow two Iranian planes to land in Beirut ahead of the anniversary events; The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to the Syrian President’s remarks that the severing of relations between the two countries is not permanent and said that Iran is ready to renew ties with Damascus but is not in a hurry to do so; The Houthis claimed responsibility for nine attacks against targets in Israel using ballistic missiles and drones. Two drones exploded in Eilat, injuring at least 20 people. In response, the IDF attacked Houthi military targets in Sana’a; The Houthis reportedly improved their own capabilities in the production of drones and long-range missiles and are preparing for the possibility of a ground raid into Israeli territory; A Dutch-flagged cargo ship was attacked in the Red Sea and caught fire. Two crew members were injured; The United States has added four pro-Iranian militias in Iraq to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The militias are preparing amid concerns about an Israeli attack; A Syrian militia claimed responsibility for an explosion near an IDF post in southern Syria, in which an IDF reserve officer was seriously wounded. 
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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (september 15 – 28, 2025)

IDF forces attacked Hezbollah infrastructure and eliminated operatives of the organization as part of ongoing operations against Hezbollah's presence in south Lebanon, which violates the ceasefire agreement understandings, and against Hezbollah's efforts to increase its military capabilities and restore its arsenal. A precision missile production site and Radwan Force camps were, attacked and seven Hezbollah operatives were eliminated; The continued Israeli attacks, and especially the deaths of four uninvolved family members in Bint Jbeil, aroused anger in Lebanon: Hezbollah accused the Lebanese government of weakness, while leaders criticized the performance of the committee supervising the implementation of the ceasefire and that it was biased in Israel's favor; Hezbollah marked the anniversary of the pager attack and the killing of secretary general Hassan Nasrallah and his designated successor Hashem Safi al-Din, as well as other senior figures. Na'im Qassem, the current secretary general, reiterated the organization's refusal to disarm and claimed Hezbollah was prepared for "martyrdom."; Lebanese President Aoun used his visit to the UN General Assembly to call for pressure to be exerted on Israel to stop its attacks and withdraw from Lebanese territory while reiterating the commitment of the Lebanese authorities to Hezbollah's disarmament. Aoun reportedly instructed the army commander to ensure weapons were cleared from all the territory south of the Litani River; Senior Lebanese government officials met with senior Iranian officials who reiterated their promises not to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council denied that his country was sending weapons to Hezbollah.
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The Anniversary of Nasrallah’s Death and the Challenges facing Hezbollah

Hezbollah held formal ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the pager attack and the deaths of secretary general Hassan Nasrallah and his designated successor Hashem Safi al-Din, among others. The ceremonies exposed the challenges facing the organization, led by the demand it disarms, its status in Lebanon, continued Israeli attacks and economic and other internal difficulties; Hezbollah secretary general Na'im Qassem and others used the ceremonies as a platform to reiterate that the "resistance" would not disarm and threatened violence if disarmament were implemented by force. On the other hand, President Aoun and Prime Minister Salam reiterated their intention, with increasing American pressure, to achieve a state monopoly on weapons: Aoun was the more cautious of the two, fearing civil war; Hezbollah ignored the ban on projecting pictures of Nasrallah and Safi al-Din on the tourist site of the Raouche [Pigeon] Rock in Beirut, causing the tensions between the organization and Prime Minister Salam to resurface; Salam demanded the arrest of those responsible and threatened to resign; In ITIC assessment, the Lebanese state's inability to enforce its sovereignty over Hezbollah, despite the blows inflicted on the organization in the past two years, reflects the Lebanon's fundamental weakness and the difficulty of the international system to motivate the state's institutions to act. Hezbollah, on the other hand, maintains its military capabilities and has a wide enough circle of loyalists to allow it to challenge the decisions of the government of which it is a part and to use threats of force to achieve its goals. However, the continuing attempts to disarm Hezbollah and the continued Israeli enforcement of the ceasefire agreement may cause Hezbollah to use force in the domestic arena, or attempt to act against Israel as a "common Hezbollah and Lebanon enemy," despite its weakness and its restraint so far. 
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Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis (September 10—17, 2025)

Iran took advantage of the Israeli attack against the Hamas leadership in Doha to intensify efforts to mobilize the Arab and Islamic world against Israel. During the emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Qatar, Iran’s President and foreign minister stressed that statements and condemnation are not enough and that practical steps against Israel are needed; The Iranian foreign minister met with his Lebanese counterpart and claimed that Iran is not interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs and that the decision to disarm Hezbollah is up to the organization and the Lebanese government; The IDF attacked Houthi military targets in Sana’a and Al-Jawf, as well as the port of Hodeidah, which is used for smuggling weapons from Iran. The Houthis claimed that dozens of people were killed in the attacks, many of them journalists, and threatened a broad response against Israel along with continued “support” for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip; The Houthis claimed responsibility for launching three ballistic missiles, including one with a cluster warhead, and seven drones against targets in Israel. The IDF Spokesperson confirmed two cases of intercepting drones and three interceptions of ballistic missiles; Kata’ib Hezbollah reportedly decided to release the Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov without compensation following growing pressure from the Iraqi government and the United States. A source in the militia claimed they gave up so as not to embarrass the government; The commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces visited Baghdad and met with the Iraqi interior minister and the chairman of the umbrella organization of the pro-Iranian Shiite militias. 
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