Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (November 11-18, 2025)

The IDF in Gaza

• IDF forces continued operating within the Yellow Line (the area under IDF control) in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and the directives of the political echelon, and eliminated terrorists who posed a threat. Hamas terrorists are still trapped in tunnels in Rafah, while IDF forces continued destroying underground routes and eliminated armed terrorists. In Beit Hanoun, an offensive tunnel about one-kilometer-long was destroyed; about a year ago three IDF soldiers were killed in it (IDF spokesperson, November 18, 2025).
• “Palestinian sources” reported that IDF forces operating in the southern Strip and in the east of Gaza City, carried out intensive shelling and destroyed structures that served as command and control sites (Telegram channel Ratzad Eladu network, November 15, 2025). The IDF reportedly held the Yellow Line by firing dozens of shells daily at adjacent areas to prevent Gazans from approaching. Armed Israeli UAVs flew over the line and shot at anyone approaching it (al-Ayam, November 16, 2025). It was also reported that since the beginning of the ceasefire on October 10, 2025, IDF forces destroyed more than 1,500 structures in the Gaza Strip, including entire neighborhoods (BBC, November 12, 2025).

The Ceasefire Agreement

• Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) returned to Israel the body of a murdered Israeli civilian kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri in the October 7, 2023 attack and massacre Hamas’ military wing stated that the body of the hostage was located south of Khan Yunis (Telegram channel of the Izz al Din al Qassam Brigades, November 13, 2025). Three murdered hostages, two Israeli civilians and one Thai citizen, remain in Hamas’ hands (Israeli media, November 13, 2025).
• Teams of Hamas military wing operatives and the Red Cross continued searching for the body of a murdered Israeli hostage in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City (al-Aqsa TV, November 16, 2025). Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem claimed that the search for the bodies of the remaining Israeli hostages was continuing and that despite the difficulties, Hamas was fully committed to the ceasefire according to the American plan (Telegram channel of Hazem Qassem, November 16, 2025).

• The prisoners’ information center, AsraMedia^[2] announced that as part of the ceasefire agreement, and after more than a month of contacts through the mediators, “the Palestinian resistance”^[3] had received a list of 1,468 names of prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The list was checked and verified against the relevant bodies and all names were approved except for 11 prisoners whose investigation continued.^[4] According to the announcement, Israel was responsible for the lives of all prisoners and detainees and for any manipulation or discrepancies in the list (asramedia website, November 16, 2025; Hamas website, November 16, 2025).

Entry of Humanitarian Aid into the Gaza Strip

• The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) reported that the political echelon had approved the opening of the Zikim Crossing for the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. The aid will be delivered by the UN and international organizations after security inspections by the Crossings Authority (COGAT, November 12, 2025). In response to foreign reports based on UNRWA claims that Israel was allegedly blocking essential aid from entering the Strip, the COGAT stated that hundreds of trucks entered daily through Egypt, the Port of Ashdod and Israel with supplies of food, shelter and medical assistance. The Allenby Bridge Crossing was closed following the September 2025 attack in which two IDF soldiers were killed (COGAT X account, November 17, 2025).
• The Civil-Military Coordination Center, the multinational headquarters of the US CENTCOM operating from Israel, reported that in the week ending November 14, 2025, an average of 800 aid trucks had entered the Strip daily, compared to a daily average of 600 trucks in previous weeks. It was noted that more than 40 countries and international organizations were working within the coordination center to deliver and distribute commercial goods and aid to Gazans (CENTCOM X account, November 14, 2025).
• Aid and food distribution continued throughout the Strip, carried out by various volunteer associations from different countries and organizations. In Deir al Balah, as part of the UAE’s Operation Gallant Knight 3, food packages were distributed to more than 17,000 families. The Palestinian Women’s Committees Association distributed 1,500 food baskets. More than 30,000 families in the Khan Yunis camps received aid packages from Qatar distributed by the al-Fajr youth association, which operates in the Khan Yunis district in cooperation with MECA, Middle East Children’s Alliance (UNRWA and aid organizations Telegram channels, November 11-14, 2025).

The Situation in the Strip

• The rain in the Gaza Strip caused flooding in the displaced persons camps and provided Hamas institutions and its media with an opportunity to promote “winter propaganda” by highlighting the condition of the residents while accusing Israel of preventing the entry of aid and claiming that the international community was not doing enough for the Strip:
  • The Amsak Amil channel, which reports on looters and thefts, issued a call to all network activists and humanitarian campaigners to unify messages to increase exposure to winter events in the Strip and to use shared hashtags: #GazaIsSinking, #SaveGazaWinter. According to the channel, the goal was to draw international attention to the urgent need for proper tents, thick blankets and caravans in areas where facilities and shelters had been destroyed (Amsak Amil Facebook page, November 14, 2025).
  • Hamas claimed the winter rain had worsened the “humanitarian tragedy” of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, the camps had turned into pools of mud and thousands of families found themselves without shelter from the cold. Hamas called for urgent and immediate assistance in establishing lodging sites and accused Israel of delays and preventing the entry of humanitarian aid and tents (Hamas Telegram channel, November 14, 2025).

     
“Gaza is drowning.” Right: Cartoon by Alaa al Laqta, Hamas’ in-house cartoonist (Araby21, November 16, 2025). Left: Cartoon by the Palestinian cartoonist Mahmoud Abbas [no relation] (Mahmoud Abbas’ Instagram account, November 14, 2025)

• • The Egyptian Committee for aid to the Gazans announced the distribution of tents and tarpaulins following the rain. The Committee’s Facebook page received harsh criticism, growing anger and accusations of abandonment, claiming that no one had come to help during the peak of flooding, they had repeatedly contacted the Committee with no response, and camps in the northern and central Strip had received almost no aid. Many commenters accused the committees and institutions of corruption, favoritism and preferring associates over the needy (Facebook page of the Egyptian Committee for aid to Gazans, November 15, 2025).
• The World Health Organization reported that in the past month since the ceasefire was declared, 165 patients had been evacuated from the Gaza Strip, including 105 children (UN OCHA website, November 12, 2025). However, the WHO director general claimed that more than 900 patients had died while waiting for approval for medical evacuation from the Strip and that 16,500 patients, including 4,000 children, were still waiting for travel approval (WHO website, November 12, 2025).
• More than 150 Gazans who flew from Ramon Airport in southern Israel to Nairobi and from there to South Africa on flights organized by an organization called al-Majd Europe were held for 12 hours on the plane after the South African government refused to allow them to enter the country. Eventually 23 Gazans left the country for their final destinations and the remaining passengers were allowed to enter the country for 90 days before being deported (The Guardian, November 14, 2025; aljazeera.net, November 14, 2025). Following the incident, the “Palestine” embassy in South Africa announced that a questionable party had exploited the Gazans’ humanitarian distress, collected money from them and sent 153 of them on an illegal route from Gaza to Johannesburg without any official coordination (Telegram channel of journalist Isma’il Abu Omar, November 14, 2025). Channels affiliated with Hamas issued warnings not to contact al-Majd Europe, claiming that it was serving as “a cover for the activity of hostile elements exploiting the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip by offering imaginary departures or promises of safe routes in order to obtain information from civilians and exploit it for espionage activity” (al-Haras Telegram channel, November 17, 2025).

Security Governance

• According to reports, nine members of the militia of Yasser Abu Shaabab, who enjoys Israeli support, surrendered themselves with their weapons to “resistance”^[5] forces in Khan Yunis (al-Ziyad Telegram channel, November 16, 2025). It was also reported that several members of the militia of Hussam al-Astal were arrested (Amsak Amil Telegram channel, November 16, 2025).
• However, the militia of Ashraf al-Mansi, the Popular Army in the North Gaza District, announced that it was beginning work to widen roads and clear land for construction in areas under its control in order to receive residents of the northern Strip (Facebook page of the Popular Army, North Gaza District, November 15, 2025). The militia also called on Gazans to register for the military courses it was conducting and to volunteer to join its ranks in various civil and humanitarian fields (Facebook page of the Popular Army, North Gaza District, November 8-13, 2025).
• The Telegram channel of the al-Majd al-Amni website, dedicated to enhancing security awareness, issued a notice to all “resistance” operatives and security mechanisms to exercise extra caution regarding their personal vehicles to prevent attempts by Israeli intelligence to place explosive devices or surveillance devices. They were to park their vehicles in closed, secure and known places and to avoid leaving vehicles for prolonged periods in public or uninhabited areas. They also had to perform a daily visual inspection of the vehicle before use, including the underside of the vehicle, behind the tires and in any hidden area (Telegram channel of the al-Majd al-Amni website, November 13, 2025).

Civil Governance

• Residents and merchants in the Gaza Strip reported that the Hamas authorities monitored everything entering the areas under its control, collected fees on privately imported goods, including fuel and cigarettes, and fined merchants who appeared to charge excessive prices. The director general of the Hamas government media information office, Isma’il al-Thawabta, denied that the government had raised taxes. The Fatah spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, Mundhir al-Hayek, said in response that Hamas’ actions clearly indicated that the organization wanted to continue its control. “Sources close to Hamas” reported that the Hamas government had replaced four district governors who had been killed,^[6] while “an official source in Hamas” said that the movement had appointed replacements for the 11 members of its political bureau in the Gaza Strip who had been killed (Reuters, November 14, 2025).
• The Hamas ministry of interior published pictures of traffic police directing traffic in the streets of Gaza, with their faces visible (Telegram channel of the Hamas ministry of interior and national security, November 11 and 15, 2025).

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Traffic police in action (Telegram channel of the Hamas ministry of interior and national security, November 11 and 15, 2025)

• The Hamas northern Gaza district police announced that it had solved several cases of robbery and theft from homes and property in Beit Lahia, estimated at about $100,000. Searches and surveillance operations were conducted and a suspect known to the police was arrested after fleeing to the central district of the Strip, in whose possession the stolen property was found (Telegram channel of the ministry of interior and national security, November 15, 2025).
• The Gaza Municipality launched a campaign called “We will rebuild,” calling for the reconstruction of the city with the participation of local and private institutions, along with entrepreneurs and volunteer groups. The campaign includes cleaning the main streets, removing rubble and garbage, and planting trees in the streets. The objective of the campaign is to provide hope for community participation in building and reconstruction and to encourage efforts to restore the city (Quds Press Agency, November 16, 2025).
• The Islamic University of Gaza, a main Hamas stronghold, announced that it was renewing frontal studies despite the extensive destruction at the site (Palestine Post Telegram channel, November 17, 2025).

Organizing Flotillas to the Gaza Strip

• Pro-Palestinian activists are preparing to launch a new Global Sumud Flotilla^[7] to the Gaza Strip after the Israeli Navy prevented the previous flotilla, which included close to 50 vessels, from reaching the Gaza Strip in early October 2025. Nabil al-Shanoufi, a member of the flotilla’s steering committee in the Maghreb countries, said the flotilla was supposed to depart in the coming months and to be larger than the previous one in terms of the number of vessels. He also noted that Tunisia would not serve as a gathering and departure point, but rather other countries such as Algeria and Mauritania (Sputnik Arabic agency, November 18, 2025).
• The organizers of the previous Global Sumud Flotilla held meetings in several countries to raise awareness and recruit support for further actions. Sayif Abu Kishk, one of the flotilla spokespersons, said the next stage would focus on addressing legal challenges, as they planned to promote legal proceedings over the “Israeli violations” against the participants, including their arrest in international waters and the seizure of the vessels. His colleague in the flotilla, Brazilian Thiago Avilla, said that the next steps should focus on preventing assistance to “the Israeli occupation” by governments and preparing a new, larger flotilla which would constitute the largest global protest ever assembled (al-Sabil, November 12, 2025).

• UN Security Council approved Resolution 2803, which adopts the American 20-point plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and for regulating “the day after.” Thirteen member states of the council supported the proposal submitted by the United States, while Russia and China abstained but did not veto it. The resolution calls for the establishment of a Peace Council as a temporary governing body to coordinate the reconstruction of the Strip. It will remain in place until the PA completes all required reforms and can resume control of the Strip, and it approves the establishment of a temporary international stabilization force to operate alongside a trained Palestinian police force, in coordination with Israel and Egypt, to secure the borders, ensure the demilitarization of the Strip and protect the Gazans. The completion of the reforms and the advancement of the Strip’s reconstruction may also create “a credible pathway for Palestinian self-fulfillment and the establishment of a state” (UN website, November 18, 2025). Hamas condemned the resolution and claimed that it was “far from the demands of the Palestinian people” and meant to ensure the objectives Israel had not achieved in the war. Hamas said that the issue of weapons belonged solely to the internal Palestinian arena and “the resistance remains a legitimate right [sic].” Hamas warned that any international force operating inside the Strip would become “a party fighting alongside the occupation” (Hamas Telegram channel, November 18, 2025). Conversely, the PA welcomed the resolution, noted the need to implement it immediately, and reiterated its willingness to assume full responsibility for the Gaza Strip (Wafa, November 18, 2025).
• “European and American sources” reported that it was becoming increasingly probable that the Yellow Line would become the de facto border of the Gaza Strip because of Hamas’ refusal to disarm and Israel’s refusal to accept the presence of the PA in the Strip. Therefore, the stalemate in the positions on both sides would prevent the implementation of the second phase of the American plan, which would lead to the reconstruction of the Strip taking place only within the borders of Yellow Line, outside the areas controlled by Hamas (Reuters, November 11, 2025). “Egyptian elements” also expressed concern that the stalemate in implementing the second phase of the agreement would turn the Yellow Line into a permanent security division in the Strip, preventing the return of residents to their homes (al-Araby al-Jadeed, November 14, 2025).
• Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy PA chairman and deputy chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, said that during the talks in Cairo he had proposed to Hamas to disarm and allow the PA to rule as the basis for a process that would oblige Israel to withdraw and would enable international reconstruction of the Strip. He said reconstructing the Strip was the next important challenge and it would not be possible without national agreement on the issues of weapons and governance. He said the transfer of weapons and sovereignty in the Strip would be to the PA and to the Palestinian people and not to the Fatah movement, and general elections would be held after the end of “the occupation” (al-Sharq Telegram channel website, November 13, 2025).
• The PA’s governmental operations room for emergency interventions in the Gaza Strip met with the Qatari minister for international cooperation, Mariam al-Misnad, and briefed her on the needs, latest humanitarian developments, aid efforts and reconstruction initiatives in the Strip. The head of the operations room, Samah Hammad, said the room was working to improve the integration of roles, unify operational mechanisms and direct resources to national priorities in view of the shortage of basic resources. She confirmed that the current priorities focused on supporting hospital activity and on supplying spare parts for maintaining the water network, in addition to providing mobile services and essential shelter materials. Al-Misnad presented Qatar’s efforts to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip through humanitarian interventions, shelter support programs and easing the burden on affected families (Wafa, November 13, 2025).
• Given the rain in the Gaza Strip, the operations room of the PA government, led by the ministry of public works and housing, began work on a first shelter center using locally produced tents in Deir al Balah. Reportedly, the center would be able to host about 70 families and work would continue to organize additional shelters, in coordination with local and international partners, as part of a comprehensive plan that defined 294 sites for shelters across the Strip (Wafa, November 13, 2025).

Counterterrorism Activities

• Israeli security forces continued routine counterterrorism activities in various areas of Judea and Samaria, detaining dozens of suspects and wanted individuals involved in terrorist activity, including 50 terrorist operatives who were part of a Hamas network in Bethlehem planning to carry out attacks. Two Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails were eliminated, weapons were confiscated and lathe machines for manufacturing weapons were located (IDF spokesperson, November 18, 2025).
• PIJ spokesman Muhammad al-Hajj Musa claimed Israel was conducting an “existential war” against the Palestinian issue in Judea and Samaria. He said the organization’s military wing had decided to intensify “resistance”^[8] activity in Judea and Samaria in response to [alleged] “Israeli crimes” (Izz al-Din Brigades combat information Telegram channel, November 12, 2025).
• The Israeli Security Agency and the Israel Police detained four ISIS-supporting residents of the Beit Safafa neighborhood in Jerusalem on suspicion of purchasing military equipment and weapons to attack Jews, as part of what they call “the great war at the end of days” (Israeli Security Agency and Police spokespersons, November 14, 2025).

Clashes between Settlers and Palestinians

• Jewish settlers continued to attack Palestinians in Judea and Samaria during the olive harvests:
  • According to reports, masked Jewish settlers attacked Palestinians and set fire to property near the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf in Samaria. Four Palestinians were injured and property damage was reported. Later, dozens of masked Jews were reported near the Braun industrial zone near Tulkarm, and attacked IDF forces who arrived at the scene. According to IDF data, during the current olive-picking season there has been a sharp rise in incidents of nationalist crime, with 86 incidents during October 2025 compared to 25 incidents in the corresponding period last year (IDF spokesperson, November 11, 2025). The governor of the Tulkarm District called for the establishment of guard committees among Palestinians and PA employees in all areas and towns throughout the district (Facebook page of the governor of the Tulkarm District, November 11, 2025).
  • During the night of November 13, 2025, the al-Hajja Hamida mosque between the towns of Kafr Harith and Deir Istiya was set on fire and vandalized. Hamas blamed Jewish settlers, claiming that they operated with the full backing and support of the “occupation government,” and called for international measures to restrain “the rogue entity” (Hamas Telegram channel, November 13, 2025). The PA foreign ministry placed responsibility on the Israeli government for the “crime” and called on the international community to take immediate and binding steps to protect houses of worship and holy sites in “Palestine” (PA foreign ministry website, November 13, 2025).

     
The mosque after the attack (Telegram channel of the combat information of the Izz al Din al Qassam Brigades, November 13, 2025)

• • After the evacuation of illegal structures in an outpost near Bethlehem, dozens of Jewish settlers set fire to and vandalized houses and vehicles in the nearby Palestinian village of Jaba (IDF spokesperson, November 17, 2025).

• PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas met in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. They agreed to establish a joint French-Palestinian committee which would assist in consolidating the “State of Palestine” and address legal aspects, including the drafting of a new constitution based on a draft presented by Mahmoud Abbas. Macron said partial or full Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria would be considered a red line for France, which would act against it together with its European partners, and announced humanitarian aid of €100 million for the Gaza Strip in 2025. They also discussed maintaining the ceasefire in the Strip and humanitarian assistance and granting Palestinian responsibility over the Strip, and Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to reforms (Wafa, November 11, 2025).

• Mahmoud Abbas told incoming UNESCO director general, Khaled al-Anani, that he had instructed the Palestinian government to dispatch a delegation, headed by the minister of education and higher education, for talks with UNESCO representatives regarding adapting the Palestinian curricula to the international standards adopted by the UN agency. Reportedly, the move was intended to promote the development of the Palestinian education system in terms of form and content, while preserving the “core of the Palestinian national consciousness,” and in accordance with UNESCO standards and the international commitments of “Palestine” (Wafa, November 15, 2025).
• The office of Mahmoud Abbas stated that the PA chairman had reiterated the validity of the decree with the force of law that he published on February 10, 2025 regarding the Palestinian national fund for economic empowerment, under which the method of paying financial allowances to the families of prisoners, shaheeds and the wounded had been changed. Mahmoud Abbas said the fund was the sole body responsible for implementing the law, authorized to distribute financial allowances and implement eligibility criteria fairly and transparently, and that no financial allowances would be distributed to any category included in the new system except after completing the unified form approved by the national fund and meeting the eligibility conditions and the criteria established by law. He also said any procedure or instruction by bodies other than the national fund was null and void and not binding, and he called on all beneficiaries to cooperate fully (Wafa, November 16, 2025).