Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 19– 26, 2025)

The IDF

• IDF forces continued aerial and ground activity throughout the Gaza Strip, focusing on the outskirts of Gaza City as part of preparations to take control of the city. The forces attacked terrorist targets, primarily of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and eliminated terrorist operatives, including those involved in the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack and massacre, and the kidnapping of Israeli civilians. The forces destroyed structures used for military purposes, rocket and weapons depots, tunnels and underground facilities, rocket launching and sniper positions, IED sites and other terrorist facilities, some of which operated in or near civilian buildings, including a rocket launch site near the al-Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital and a displaced persons camp in Deir al-Balah. An IDF officer was killed in Khan Yunis (IDF spokesperson, August 19-26, 2025).

     
Right: Map of IDF activity on the outskirts of Gaza City (IDF spokesperson, August 23, 2025). Left: Photo of the attack on the rocket launcher in Deir al-Balah. A rocket can be seen flying in the upper right corner (Palinfo, August 22, 2025)

• On August 20, 2025, IDF forces prevented Hamas from attacking a military post and kidnapping an IDF soldier. About 15 terrorists infiltrated from a tunnel, split into three squads and attacked the buildings in which IDF forces were located. The fighters, assisted by a tank and aircraft, killed about ten of the terrorists. Three fighters were injured, one of them seriously (IDF spokesperson and Israeli media, August 20, 2025). The Hamas military wing claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed that while the wounded were being evacuated, a suicide bomber blew himself up among the soldiers (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades Telegram channel, August 20, 2025).
• On August 25, 2025, the IDF attacked the Nasser Hospital compound in Khan Yunis. The Hamas government media information office in the Gaza Strip claimed that 20 people were killed in the attack, including five [alleged] journalists and several doctors and civil defense staff. Hamas called it a “war crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law” and placed responsibility on the “Israeli occupation and its supporters, first and foremost the United States” (Hamas government media information office in the Gaza Strip Telegram channel, August 25, 2025). The IDF spokesperson confirmed that IDF forces had attacked in the hospital area and the Chief of Staff instructed an initial inquiry to be held as soon as possible. It was further stated that the IDF regretted any harm to uninvolved persons and did not in any way deliberately target journalists as such, taking action insofar as possible to minimize harm to non-combatants while maintaining the safety of its forces (IDF spokesperson, August 25, 2025). A Hamas observation post was reportedly operating on the hospital roof and the forces shot at it after identifying a threat against them (Israeli media, August 25, 2025).
• The Hamas civil defense administration in the Strip claimed its teams could not respond to distress calls in areas where the IDF had penetrated and which were considered “military zones,” especially in the areas of east al-Zaytoun, al-Sabra, Khan Yunis and Jabalia. Hamas blamed Israel’s refusal to approve coordination requests to allow the teams to work at those sites (Hamas civil defense administration Telegram channel, August 20, 2025).

IDF Preparations to Take Control of Gaza City

• As part of preparations to move the population from Gaza City to the southern Gaza Strip ahead of a military move to take control of the city, the IDF began initial talks with medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip. IDF representatives reported that the hospitals in the south had been prepared to receive the sick and wounded and additional medical equipment was being supplied according to the requests of aid organizations. They noted the need to prepare a plan to transfer medical equipment from the north of the Strip to the south to enable continuous treatment, with Israel’s commitment to provide alternative facilities such as field hospitals or other medical institutions to receive patients (IDF spokesperson, August 21, 2025).
• Hamas and representatives of its public health system in the Strip opposed the evacuation of hospitals:
  • The Hamas ministry of health in the Gaza Strip claimed that the move would deprive more than one million residents of their right to medical care and endanger their lives. The ministry called on all international and UN institutions to act immediately to protect what remained of the health system in the Strip and to provide the necessary resources to save lives (Hamas ministry of health in the Gaza Strip Telegram channel, August 21, 2025).
  • Dr. Munir al-Barsh, director-general of the Hamas ministry of health, declared that despite Israel’s demand to evacuate Gaza City, the medical teams would not leave but would continue to fulfill their humanitarian roles. He said the message was clear, the teams would remain in place despite the threats (Sunud website, August 21, 2025).
  • Faisal Na’im, director of the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, said the workers had decided to stay and would continue treating the sick and wounded unless they were forcibly evacuated (al-Jazeera Mubasher website, August 21, 2025).
  • Bashar Murad, director of Palestinian Red Crescent Society health programs, said the Red Crescent had decided not to evacuate the Society’s hospitals in Gaza City, al-Quds and al-Saraya (al-Risala Telegram channel, August 21, 2025).
  • Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, called the hospital evacuation plan a “death sentence” for more than two thousand patients in the city’s hospitals, including more than 120 patients in intensive care units and neonatal wards. He claimed there was no place in Gaza City or to the south of it which could absorb such a large number of patients and wounded (aljazeera.net, August 21, 2025). He added the hospitals in the Gaza Strip were now operating at more than 300% capacity, and the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and the al-Shuhadaa al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah were also overcrowded (Quds Press, August 23, 2025).
  • The Hamas government media information office in the Gaza Strip claimed that the European Hospital in Khan Yunis could not serve as an alternative to the hospitals in the north since more than six consecutive months of work were required to repair its facilities, equipment and medical staff (Hamas government media information office in the Gaza Strip Telegram channel, August 23, 2025).
  • The Hamas ministry of interior and national security in the Gaza Strip called on local residents and displaced persons living in Gaza City to disobey the threats of the “occupation” and refuse to move to what was left of the central districts and Khan Yunis, since there was no safe place anywhere. The ministry called on Gazans to remain in their residential areas, and if they felt threatened, to move to the nearest safe place (Hamas ministry of interior in the Gaza Strip Telegram channel, August 24, 2025).
• Gazans expressed great frustration and helplessness in the face of evacuation from the city. Many stated that they were unable to buy tents and did not know where to evacuate to, and expressed fear of living on the street during the cold winter and the danger of rain and mud. The call “Allah will avenge us” was often heard, alongside accusations Hamas was disconnected from the people’s suffering (residents’ reactions summarized Abd al-Hamid Abd al-‘Ati’s Facebook page (199 thousand followers), August 26, 2025).

• This past week the wait continued for Israel’s response to the updated proposal of the Witkoff outline for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of ten live and 18 dead hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and the Palestinian terrorist organizations which had consented to the updated proposal claimed Israel had sabotaged the negotiations. However, they also claimed to be willing to negotiate on a comprehensive deal “under certain conditions:”
  • “A Palestinian source involved in the negotiations” referred to official Israeli statements regarding the goal of “a comprehensive, not partial deal” and claimed the “resistance factions”^[1] had told the mediators they were prepared to accept the proposal for a comprehensive deal. However, added the “source,” a comprehensive deal required serious, genuine negotiations without preconditions (Ultra Palestine website, August 21, 2025).
  • Muhammad al-Hajj Musa, a PIJ spokesperson, claimed Israel “systematically sabotaged” the negotiations and was now preventing negotiations after having approved the takeover of Gaza City. Musa said Israel’s claim that the “resistance” made concessions because it had problems on the ground was false, and added that the “resistance,” with all its “factions,” had decided it would continue to exhaust the IDF until the last moment when an agreement would be announced. He noted that they had not received an answer from Israel or from the United States regarding the new agreement proposed by the mediators, but Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz’s statements “confirm that they want to prolong the war.” He added that the “resistance” was present on the ground and would “force” Israel to agree to the ceasefire agreement (al-Jazeera Mubasher website, August 20, 2025).
  • Hamas figure Mahmoud Mardawi accused the Israeli prime minister of being the main obstacle to reaching an agreement which would lead to a ceasefire and an end to the war against the Palestinians. He claimed the entire world witnessed Israel’s “crimes” but did not take steps to maintain the status and importance of international humanitarian law. Mardawi claimed that Netanyahu was “deliberately evading” a response to the mediators’ proposals and avoided a serious step toward an agreement, proving he was not interested in releasing the “prisoners” [hostages] and preferred to continue the war at the expense of their lives and the future of the region (Mahmoud Mardawi’s Telegram channel, August 21, 2025). On another occasion, Mardawi claimed Hamas was ready to reach a comprehensive agreement which would lead to the release of all Palestinian and Israeli “prisoners.” He added that the movement had accepted the proposals presented by the mediators, with American support, without reservation, but Netanyahu refused to send his delegation to the negotiations and continued his policy of evasion. According to Mardawi, Hamas did not oppose any formula that would lead to a ceasefire, the release of prisoners from both sides, and ensuring the entry of aid and reconstruction based on a purely Palestinian “vision” (al-Jazeera Mubasher website, August 22, 2025).
  • Dr. Abd al-Jabbar Sa’id,^[2] a member of the Hamas external political bureau, said the mediators had committed to ensuring the continuation of the ceasefire even if the negotiations extended beyond 60 days, in addition to preventing the resumption of the war during the negotiation process. He said that according to the proposal, 150 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences would be released, 50 who had been sentenced to more than 15 years, and 1,500 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7, 2023, as well as all women and children, according to lists to be submitted by Hamas and approved by Israel. In addition, 15 bodies of Palestinian “shaheeds” would be released for every body of an Israeli hostage. In return, the movement would hand over eight live Israeli hostages on the first day, two on the 50^th day, and 18 bodies in three stages. Sa’id noted that what the “resistance” agreed to this time was almost identical to what it had agreed to the previous time, with only very minor changes. He accused Netanyahu of “maneuvering and deceit” with a proposal for a comprehensive deal, and claimed that from the first day Hamas had announced its willingness for a comprehensive deal based on the principle of “all for all.” He said any comprehensive deal had to include a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a permanent ceasefire, continuous entry of humanitarian aid, the opening of the crossings, the start of reconstruction, the repair of hospitals, the removal of rubble and an “acceptable” prisoner exchange deal (Arabi21 website, August 23, 2025).

• This past week, IDF forces, through the Unit for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), continued the entry of extensive humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the UN and other countries, to ease the distress:
  • The COGAT reported that in the week ending August 24, 2025, more than 1,600 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, most of them carrying food. In addition, the UN and international organizations collected close to 2,500 aid trucks from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim Crossings and distributed them in the Strip. On August 25, 2025, 320 aid trucks were brought in, while the UN and international organizations collected and distributed 330 trucks. In addition, UN fuel trucks entered to operate essential systems (COGAT X account, August 24-26, 2025).
  • The airdrop operations of hundreds of pallets of humanitarian aid continued and increased with the participation of a number of countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Germany, France, Singapore and Indonesia (IDF spokesperson and COGAT X account, August 19-26, 2025).
  • Mohammed VI, king of Morocco, ordered the transfer of 100 tons of food and medicine to the Gaza Strip, with most of the aid intended for children and infants. According to the Moroccan foreign ministry, the king, who chairs the al-Quds Committee, instructed that the aid be delivered by air to ensure a fast, direct shipment (African News Agency, August 19, 2025).

• • The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) reported that since the start of its activity at the end of May 2025, more than 138 million meals had been distributed to residents of the Strip at the four distribution centers. On August 25, 2025, two trucks loaded with potatoes and onions were distributed at a site in Khan Yunis (GHF X account, August 19-26, 2025).

The UN Report and Hamas “Hunger” Propaganda

• On August 21, 2025, the international report of the UN’s famine experts’ organization (The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC]) was published, which claimed there was “famine” in the Gaza Strip. The report claimed that according to food security classification, more than half a million people were already at the stage indicating extreme hunger, mortality and extreme poverty, while most of the population was dealing with other stages of food insecurity (UN Arabic website, August 21, 2025).
• Hamas rushed to use the report to reinforce its “hunger” propaganda, claiming the report was “conclusive international testimony to Israel’s crimes against more than two million people under siege…in blatant violation of international law.” Hamas accused Israel of “denying reality and lying to cover up crimes directed against children, women and the sick.” The movement called on the UN and the Security Council to intervene immediately to stop the war and lift the “siege,” to open the crossings without restrictions, to put Israel on trial for “using hunger as a weapon,” and to mobilize Arab, Muslim and international pressure for the urgent flow of humanitarian aid to the Strip (Hamas Telegram channel, August 22, 2025).
• Doctors Without Borders claimed that more than 60 desalination facilities had been destroyed since 2023, two of the three main water lines were out of service, and 70% of the remaining water was leaking from damaged pipes. At the same time, about 80% of essential medicines were unavailable, including medicines for treating high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Medical teams in the Strip called the situation a “death sentence for patients” (al-Aqsa TV Telegram channel, August 23, 2025).
• Alongside promoting “hunger” propaganda, Hamas continued to interfere with aid activity:
  • The Hamas ministry of interior and national security in the Gaza Strip warned residents not to provide personal details, information or photos to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which it claimed operated under Israeli supervision. The statement claimed that the objective of the new mechanism launched by the foundation, which enabled residents to obtain an ID card for ordering food packages, was to bypass the conventional aid system managed by UNRWA and its partners, and its real purpose was to turn aid into a security-intelligence mechanism. The ministry claimed the foundation had a “dubious reputation” and was engaged in recruiting collaborators under the guise of humanitarian activity, thereby creating a real danger to the lives of civilians (Palestinian Police Telegram channel, August 20, 2025).
  • On August 21, 2025, a rocket was fired from a site near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis toward the main route for loading humanitarian aid trucks in the southern Strip. According to the IDF, the rocket was fired during the passage of a convoy of trucks moving to collect humanitarian aid from the Kerem Shalom Crossing, and it fell about 300 meters from the route (IDF spokesperson, August 21, 2025).

Refuting Hamas “Hunger” Propaganda

• The COGAT reported a significant discrepancy between the humanitarian aid data that Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip and that presented by the UN. The UN claimed that since May 2025 only 3,553 aid trucks had entered, whereas in fact Israel had allowed the entry of almost 9,200 trucks, a difference of nearly 6,000 trucks. It was further stated that the UN presented only partial data, which included only aid trucks through its agencies and a small number of aid organizations working with them, and did not include aid from different countries, additional international organizations, the private sector, airdrops and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers (COGAT’s X account, August 19, 2025).
• Following the UN report, the COGAT stated the UN had disregarded data provided by Israel before it published its report, including verifiable data on aid entry, availability of products in the market and humanitarian projects. Since May 2025, more than ten thousand aid trucks have entered the Strip, 80% of them carrying food shipments, and more effective steps have been taken for collection from the crossings for the UN and NGOs. As a result, there has been a sharp drop in food prices in the Strip’s markets, and a broader availability of essential products (COGAT X account, August 22, 2025).
• After the British tabloid Mirror‘s front page showed a picture of a “hungry Gazan child” under the headline “Stop starving the children,” it was revealed that the child photographed, Karim Ali Fuad Abu ‘Amar, three years old, had a genetic disease and Fanconi syndrome, which led to weakness in the muscles and urinary tract. It is a hereditary disease from which other family members also suffered (COGAT’s X account, August 24, 2025).

The Situation in the Gaza Strip

• A video published on social media shows a Palestinian from Gaza, who introduced himself as Abu Zein al-Maqdisi, on behalf of the Ahrar Bayt al-Maqdis^[3] in Gaza, thanking the Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen, al-Qaeda’s Arabian Peninsula branch (AQAP), for funds it had sent to the group in Gaza, “which were used to prepare food for the poor.” The speaker also conveyed condolences for the death of Osama bin Laden (X account of Hamid al-Qusay, who represents himself as an investigative journalist researching Islamic groups, August 19, 2025; Shahada news agency of the Somali al-Shabaab organization, August 19, 2025).

• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported it had evacuated 110 patients and escorts from the Gaza Strip to the UAE for medical treatment, in coordination with the World Health Organization (Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip Facebook page, August 20, 2025).

Hamas Governance

• The command of the Hamas Piercing Arrow units announced they would deploy in combat zones classified by the IDF as red areas to prevent the looting of homes of people who were “forcibly displaced” due to “enemy” attacks. Anyone caught looting Gazan’s homes or property would be summarily shot without investigation or interrogation and dumped in one of the garbage sites, with a note stuck on his forehead reading “thief and collaborator with the Zionist enemy.” A circular would be distributed to medical teams not to accept or treat “the thief” but to leave him to “bleed and die a dog’s death” (Arrow Unit 103 Telegram channel, August 19, 2025).
• The Piercing Arrow units announced they had executed four Palestinians, three men and one woman, found guilty of ties with the IDF and involvement in the elimination of fighters and in the bombing of homes with their inhabitants inside (Arrow Unit 103 Telegram channel, August 23, 2025).
• The Israeli-supported Popular Forces militia of Yasser Abu Shabab announced the recruitment of security personnel, including soldiers, officers with a military background and legal officers, to be employed in the Popular Forces general security mechanisms in eastern Rafah. The advertisement stated that the salary of a soldier would be 3,000 shekels (ca. $900) and of an officer 5,000 shekels (ca. $1500), and that life in the areas under their control was at pre-October 7, 2023 prices (Popular Forces Facebook page, August 22, 2025).
• In an armed clash between Hamas operatives and members of the al-Majaida clan in Khan Yunis, the clan seized four Kalashnikov rifles and a pistol from Hamas militias (al-Qastal News Telegram channel, August 23, 2025).
• Between August 18-21, 2025, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) held mass activities demanding an end to the war. The activities were conducted near hospitals across the Strip, with the participation of dozens of Palestinians and senior PFLP operatives, including of the PFLP Central Committee in Gaza (PFLP website, August 18-21, 2025). The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) also held a demonstration in the al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza demanding an end to the war (Safa, August 21, 2025).

      
PFLP demonstrations near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza (right) and near Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis (PFLP website, August 18 and 19, 2025)

• Palestinian Authority (PA) Interior Minister Ziad Hab al-Rih said the Palestinian security forces were prepared for the task of controlling the Gaza Strip. He said it had been made possible by the training they had received in Egypt, adding that it would also benefit the PA institutions and mechanisms. Hab al-Rih also noted the PA’s interest in strengthening cooperation mechanisms and sharing knowledge with the Egyptian security forces (al-Arabiya, August 19, 2025).
• PA Minister of Public Works and Housing Ahed Bseiso met in Ramallah with the UN humanitarian coordinator in the territories, Ramiz Alakbarov, to discuss cooperation in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. At the meeting, attended by senior officials from the ministry, it was agreed to establish joint technical committees to deal with various fields of reconstruction, headed by the management and removal of rubble (Wafa, August 20, 2025).
• Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the PA and of the PLO Executive Committee, said the PA was in contact with Hamas and noted that Hamas had to rethink its national and political ideology. He said the PA was determined to restore its control over the Gaza Strip and appealed to the head of the Hamas political bureau in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, and to the Hamas external leader, Khaled Mashal, saying they had to “prevail for the sake of Palestine,” but any decision about the future had to be Palestinian and not made in another capital (al-Arabiya, August 24, 2025).
• Dr. Abd al-Jabbar Sa’id, a member of the Hamas external political bureau, said that the weapons of the “resistance” could not be negotiated, and were a legitimate right guaranteed to the Palestinian people by the laws of Allah and international law. He claimed no serious proposal regarding weapons had been presented to Hamas in any negotiation, and what they heard was nothing more than worthless statements in the media (Arabi21, August 23, 2025).

Terrorist Attacks

• Shooting in Binyamin, north of Jerusalem: On August 21, 2025, a Palestinian terrorist shot at Israeli civilians near the community of Malakhi HaShalom, after a physical altercation with them. An Israeli was superficially injured (IDF spokesperson, August 21, 2025). The suspect was captured the next day in the village of al-Mughayyir (IDF spokesperson and Israeli Security Agency, August 22, 2025).
• Attempted attack in Hebron: On August 21, 2025, a terrorist drew an air pistol at soldiers at an IDF post at the Tamar checkpoint in Hebron. He was shot and killed (IDF spokesperson, August 21, 2025).

Counterterrorism Activities

• This past week, the Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism operations in various areas of Judea and Samaria, detaining dozens of wanted persons and terrorist operatives and confiscating weapons and funds used to finance terrorist activity. A senior terrorist operative from Tubas was located in Jenin, and two terrorist operatives planning an attack were detained (IDF spokesperson, August 19-26, 2025).
• Palestinian media reported that Israeli security forces raided a money-exchange office in central Ramallah. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that at least 58 people were injured in clashes with the Israeli forces, some from live and rubber bullets, and from smoke inhalation (Quds Agency, August 26, 2025).

• Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the PA and of the PLO Executive Committee, spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty about efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Al-Sheikh noted the “humanitarian catastrophe” and the need for immediate international pressure, and praised Egypt’s central role in the mediation along with Qatar and the United States (Hussein al-Sheikh’s X account, August 19, 2025).
• The Palestinian committee for implementing UN Security Council resolutions, headed by the PA attorney general, announced the addition of 15 new names, 11 individuals and four organizations, of Israeli settlers to the “national terrorism list.” The move followed the escalation in settlers’ actions and attacks on villages, cities, and allegedly on Muslim and Christian holy sites. The committee claimed the settlers were committing “systematic crimes,” including repeated assaults on al-Aqsa Mosque and damage to Palestinian communities, while exploiting the war in the Gaza Strip to strengthen “illegal settlements.” The committee called it “organized state terrorism, which also includes forced deportation and illegal population transfer,” crimes according to international law. The committee added that the list would be transferred to other countries for inclusion in their lists, “as part of the global fight against terrorism and its financing” (Palestinian general prosecution Facebook page, August 19, 2025).