Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (November 25 – December 2, 2025)

he 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 eliminated terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line and posed a threat. In Rafah, the forces acted against Hamas terrorists entrenched in tunnels, eliminated terrorists who tried to escape and detained others. According to the IDF, more than 40 terrorist operatives were eliminated and facilities above and below ground were destroyed (IDF spokesperson, November 25–December 2, 2025).
• According to the Hamas ministry of health in Gaza, since the beginning of the ceasefire on October 10, 2025, 356 people had been killed and 909 others wounded (Telegram channel of the Hamas ministry of health, December 1, 2025). The Gaza Center for Human Rights reported that at least 130 children, 54 women and 14 elderly people had been killed since the beginning of the ceasefire, most of them within the area of the Yellow Line. According to the center, Israel carried out more than 535 “violations,” including gunfire, aerial and artillery attacks, ground and armored incursions, detentions and home demolitions (Telegram channel of the journalist Muthanna al-Najjar, November 27, 2025).
• “Two knowledgeable sources in Gaza” claimed that several “fighters”^[2] in the tunnels in Rafah escaped and reached areas not under IDF control. “One of the sources” added that according to information available to Hamas, IDF forces killed most of the fighters trapped in the tunnels and detained some of them. “The sources” did not say how many operatives were still alive in the tunnels or how many had been detained or killed, but there were between 60 and 80 at the beginning of the ceasefire on October 10, 2025, and the IDF was holding the bodies of the dead (al-Sharq channel website, December 1, 2025). “Palestinian sources” reported that among the operatives eliminated trying to escape the tunnels in Rafah were the commander of East Rafah Battalion, the son of Hamas political bureau senior Ghazi Hamad, and a military wing operative who was responsible for coordinating the handover of hostages in the first ceasefire (Ayam Gaza Telegram channel, November 30, 2025, al-Siyad Telegram channel, December 1, 2025). Senior Hamas figure Suheil al-Hindi said the movement had presented initiatives to resolve the issue of the trapped “fighters” in Rafah but Israel rejected them. He called on the mediators to intervene to settle the issue and ensure continuity of the ceasefire (journalist Yassin Qadih, November 30, 2025).

The Hostages and the Ceasefire

• Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) handed over to Israel the body of an Israeli civilian whose body was held in the Gaza Strip since his murder and abduction from Kibbutz Be’eri in the October 7, 2023 attack. Hamas still holds the bodies of two murdered hostages, an Israeli and a Thai (Israeli media, November 26, 2025).
• Teams from Hamas’ and the PIJ’s military wings and from the Red Cross continued searching for the body of the murdered hostages in the Jabalya refugee camp and in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza (Quds Agency, December 1–2, 2025). “Hamas sources” said that reaching the bodies of the two dead hostages could take a long time, especially because their abductors and those who supervised their “detention” were killed. In addition, the two bodies were located in dangerous areas where Israeli forces operated for long periods and cleared wide tracts after they were bombed and destroyed (al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 27, 2025). Hamas political bureau member Husam Badran claimed that Hamas and “the resistance”^[3] had done everything required of them in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement, and Israel was using “the excuse of the bodies [of the murdered hostages]” to avoid meeting its commitments. He added that every day the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, together with the Red Cross and in coordination with the mediators, made efforts to reach the bodies, and therefore Hamas had caused no delay or disruption (al-Jazeera Mubasher, November 25, 2025).
• The Hamas ministry of health in the Gaza Strip said Israel had returned to the Strip the bodies of 345 Gazan fatalities in exchange for the return of the bodies of the murdered hostages. According to the ministry, only 99 of the bodies have been identified so far (Telegram channel of the Hamas ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, November 26, 2025).
• A Hamas delegation led by the head of the movement’s Shura Council, Muhammad Darwish, left Cairo on November 28, 2025 after a series of meetings with the mediators without reaching an agreement on beginning “the second stage” or finding a way to resolve the crisis of the movement’s [terrorist] operatives trapped in the Rafah tunnels. A “Hamas source” said the movement refused to discuss the idea of disarming (al-Quds al-Arabi, November 26, 2025, al-Sharq channel website, November 28, 2025).
• Hamas political bureau member Muhammad Nizzal said the Palestinian “resistance” would not sit idly by in the face of “violations” in the Gaza Strip, but at this stage it was giving the negotiation process a chance out of its responsibility to the Palestinian people (al-Jazeera Mubasher website, November 25, 2025). “Sources in Hamas and other factions” claimed that the mediators could not force Israel to implement the ceasefire agreement and therefore it committed frequent “violations,” but despite growing frustration and dwindling patience, there was broad agreement not to engage in a “military response” to avoid a return to war, but rather to try to advance a more binding diplomatic solution which would not appear as surrender or as abandoning deterrence against Israel (al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 29, 2025).
• Approximately 190 prisoners from among Fatah operatives who were released as part of the agreement and deported to Egypt protested the Palestinian Authority’s treatment, claiming they were being ignored despite earlier understandings regarding their monthly salary (Quds Network, November 27, 2025).

The Humanitarian Situation

• The Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation (GHF) announced it was ending its activity after nearly four and a half months, during which it distributed 187 million meals to Gazans at four distribution points. It reported that it had succeeded in showing that disciplined civilian humanitarian operations could achieve more than traditional aid systems, even under the most complex conditions, and that its activity had helped create conditions which enabled reaching the ceasefire agreement and the release of the hostages. It noted that the distribution was carried out safely, inclusively and without a single case of looting or unauthorized receipt (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation website, November 24, 2025). Hamas welcomed the end of the foundation’s activity, which it called an “inhuman organization,” and called for the foundation to be tried over the “deaths and injuries of thousands of residents” while they were waiting to receive aid (Hamas Telegram channel, November 24, 2025).
• The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said a ship from Cyprus carrying more than 1000 pallets of humanitarian aid donated by international organizations had begun unloading at Ashdod Port. The food and humanitarian aid will be transferred to the Gaza Strip for the local population. It was also reported that 600–800 trucks entered the Strip daily on average with food, shelter supplies and medical equipment (COGAT X account, December 1, 2025).
• Hamas continued to promote the narrative of the collapse of the public health system. The Director General of the Hamas Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Munir al-Bursh, claimed there was a shortage of about 54% of essential medicines, about 40% of emergency medicines were completely unavailable and 71% of the medical equipment inventory was “entirely lacking.” He added that about 82% of children under the age of one suffered from anemia, and 18,100 patients were waiting for approval to leave for medical treatment abroad, while about 1000 of them had died waiting even though they held official permits. He reiterated his accusation that Israel allowed the entry of “luxury” goods but prevented basic medicines and medical equipment from reaching hospitals (SAMA Agency, November 27, 2025). Sahar Ghanem, head of the laboratories and blood bank unit in the Hamas ministry of health, claimed that during the war more than 50% of the laboratory equipment in ministry of health institutions had been destroyed, and only four of the 12 laboratories in Hamas ministry of health hospitals were currently functioning (Palestine Online, November 25, 2025).
• In light of Hamas’ claims, the COGAT announced the establishment of another field hospital, the International Medical Center, which is already treating up to 1000 people a day. The hospital was established with government coordination bodies and the international community and has 150 beds and about 200 medical and support staff, and provides services in prenatal care, mental health, physiotherapy and internal medicine. It is the 14^th field hospital established since the outbreak of the war (COGAT Facebook page, November 28, 2025).

• Hamas also continued to promote its “Gaza is drowning” narrative following the recent storm and rains. The director of the Medical Relief Society, Dr. Bassam Zaqout, called the situation in the displaced persons camps “catastrophic,” claiming the tents were worn out, leaking and entirely unsuitable for winter, and living conditions were basic and harsh. He claimed winter revealed the depth of infrastructural failure after the extensive destruction, and there were no real solutions on the ground. He called for the urgent replacement of more than 400,000 tents and for immediate improvement of living conditions and infrastructure (Filastin al-Yawm channel Facebook page, November 25, 2025).

Security Governance

• A “Hamas source” said that in recent days the movement had completed filling all command positions in the military wing, the leadership positions in the political bureau and in the General Shura Council, and the administrative positions related to the management of civil affairs in the Gaza Strip, positions whose holders were killed. He claimed that commanders and deputies had been appointed to all battalions of the military wing (al-Araby al-Jadeed, November 29, 2025). Hamas denied the report and stated that such reports were not verified by the movement and could endanger the lives of the leaders (Hamas Telegram channel, November 30, 2025).
• Hamas continues police activity in all areas under its control. The Khan Yunis police reported that this past week they handled 19 complaints and cases from people who came to their five stations in the district. At a security checkpoint in Khan Yunis, a motorcycle stolen from the home of a man who had been killed was seized, during the escort of aid convoys on al-Rashid Street, several police officers were injured by attackers who tried to steal the aid, and five of the attackers were arrested and released only after written commitments from their families (Khan Yunis Police Telegram channel, November 26–27, 2025).
• The Rada “resistance security” force announced that its operatives had prevented a “group of mercenaries” operating on Israel’s behalf to abduct a “resistance operative” in the Gaza Strip. According to the announcement, the vehicle used in the attempted abduction was [allegedly] seized in an ambush, and the military equipment in the abductors’ possession was [allegedly] confiscated (Rada Force Telegram channel, November 29, 2025). According to other reports, the incident took place in Gaza City, the four abductors were killed, and their jeep was seized (Telegram channel of Amsak Aamil, November 29, 2025). After Israel released Tasnim al-Hammas, daughter of Marwan al-Hammas, director of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip who is imprisoned in Israel, she claimed operatives from the Yasser Abu Shabab clan abducted her in the Khan Yunis area, and she was handed over to Israel in order to pressure her father (al-Siyad Telegram channel, November 30, 2025).

Civil Governance

• While claiming damage to health institutions, the Hamas administration continues renovating and rebuilding hospitals in the Gaza Strip, foremost among them the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.^[4] After a full renovation, the pediatric intensive care unit, which has seven beds and is located on the fifth floor of the western building of the Shifa Hospital, was reportedly opened. The hospital also began operating the dialysis department with a capacity of 48 beds and machines (Facebook page of the construction unit of the Hamas ministry of health, November 27, 2025).

     
Renovating the women’s and maternity hospital at the Shifa Hospital
(Facebook page of Safa, November 30, 2025)

• The Islamic University of Gaza, one of Hamas’ power centers, renewed frontal studies after a two-year break. Hundreds of students reportedly returned to the university and study in buildings damaged in the bombings, parts of which were restored to allow basic academic services (Shehab Agency and al-Aqsa channel, November 30–December 1, 2025).

• The Hamas ministry of national economy reported that the ministry’s consumer protection teams in Khan Yunis issued 128 reports of seizures, confiscations and destruction against merchants and shop owners who violated regulations, conducted 3,103 visits and 271 inspection tours in markets, shops and bakeries. The legal committee was activated and fines were imposed on those who violated the ministry’s price guidelines. It was further reported that as a result of the oversight, a significant decline in the prices of vegetables, fruits and goods was recorded (Facebook page of the ministry of national economy, November 27, 2025).

• According to reports, the American administration is promoting a plan to establish “alternative safe communities” for Gazan refugees in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip under Israeli control. The communities will include temporary secure housing complexes for between 20,000 and 25,000 people, with each complex having clinics, schools and sources of employment. “Sources” expressed concern that the plan would in effect create a division of the Strip into a “green zone” under Israeli control and a “red zone” under Hamas control, and would create closed areas more similar to refugee camps or detention camps than to normal neighborhoods (New York Times, November 25, 2025).
• “Hamas sources” said that in recent months the movement had been conducting a broad internal discussion on its political future following the results of the war. According to the report, a secret document was sent to the movement’s leadership institutions proposing a significant change, which included establishing an official political party which would operate in the political, economic and social arena, work to promote Palestinian reconciliation, and the possibility of rejoining the PLO under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. According to “sources,” some voices in the movement warned that Hamas had lost a significant portion of public support because of the war, and therefore it had to think outside the box and build a balanced model which would preserve its political and social existence without compromising its principles (al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 26, 2025).
• Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty reiterated his country’s position regarding the unity of the territory between the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria and its opposition to any step that increased separation and damaged the possibility of a two-state solution (al-Sharq al-Awsat, November 28, 2025). Meanwhile, according to reports, Egypt completed the training of hundreds of Palestinian police officers who will join the monitoring force in the Strip. A “Palestinian source” said that all members of the force, which is expected to number about 5,000 police officers, will be from the Gaza Strip and will receive their salaries from the Palestinian Authority (Agence France-Presse, November 30, 2025).
• Pakistani foreign minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said his country was prepared to send soldiers to an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip, but would not take part in disarming Hamas (Telegram channel of journalist Yassin Qadih, November 30, 2025).
• Fatah spokesperson in the Gaza Strip Munther al-Hayek said they wanted the Palestinian police to be present inside the cities, while the international force would be on the borders and separate between the Palestinians and IDF forces. He added that Hamas’ position regarding the Palestinian police force was still unclear, and the movement was unable to reach a decision regarding the day after the war and who would control the Strip. He said that Hamas was currently still managing all areas of life, its police stations were operating and it could not leave a governance vacuum (Radio Alam, December 1, 2025).

Involvement of the Palestinian Authority (PA)

• PA prime minister Muhammad Mustafa held a coordination meeting in his office to monitor the government’s efforts in providing early assistance and restoring basic services in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of representatives from Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, the European Union and representatives of the International Quartet. He said the political and legal framework for managing the current stage had to be based on Palestinian sovereignty and unity under the law, and any international mechanism or committee had to be connected to the PA and its government. In addition, security arrangements in the Strip had to be entirely Palestinian, in accordance with needs and development plans, with support from the international force and partners (Wafa, November 26, 2025).
• The PA government’s emergency intervention operations room in the Strip, led by the ministry of public works and housing and in cooperation with the UN Development Program (UNDP), opened two additional shelter centers with locally produced tents in the central Gaza Strip in response to the needs of displaced persons in areas at risk of flooding with the arrival of winter (Facebook page of the PA ministry of public works and housing, November 29, 2025).

Terrorist Attacks

• This past week there were two terrorist attacks, injuring three IDF soldiers:
  • A vehicular ramming attack at the Yehuda Junction: On December 1, 2025, a Palestinian terrorist sped his vehicle toward an IDF force at the Yehuda Junction in the Hebron area and injured an IDF soldier. After pursuit, Israeli security forces located the terrorist in Hebron; he was shot and killed after trying to flee while endangering the forces (IDF spokesperson and Israeli Security Agency spokesperson, December 1–2, 2025). Palestinian media reported that a 17-year-old had carried out the attack (Quds Agency, December 2, 2025).
  • A stabbing in the settlement of Ataret: On December 2, 2025, an IDF force arrived to check a Palestinian suspect who came to the community of Ataret in the Binyamin area. During the examination the suspect stabbed two soldiers; he was shot and killed. The two soldiers were superficially injured (IDF spokesperson, December 2, 2025). Palestinian media reported that the terrorist was an 18-year-old from Beit Rima (Quds Agency, December 2, 2025).

Counterterrorism Activities

• On November 26, 2025, Israeli security forces launched a broad counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria, focusing on the Jenin area and the cluster of communities of Tubas, Aqaba, Tayasir, the al-Faraa refugee camp and Tamun. The forces conducted extensive searches, questioned dozens of suspects, detained wanted persons and terrorist operatives, located and destroyed explosive devices and weapons, destroyed terrorist hideouts and seized tens of thousands of shekels intended to finance terrorist activity. A cell of five terrorists planning to carry out an imminent attack was detained and a terrorist operative who served as a leading weapons dealer in the Tulkarm terrorist network was also detained (IDF spokesperson, November 26–December 2, 2025).

• “Palestinian sources” reported that since the beginning of the operation, 130 Palestinians had been injured and 162 people had been detained, most of whom were released after questioning. The “sources” also claimed that IDF forces had raided homes and turned some of them into “military bases” (al-Quds al-Arabi, November 29, 2025). The PIJ’s military wing confirmed that two terrorist operatives who were shot and killed in Jenin were its operatives (Telegram channel of the Jerusalem Brigades in Judea and Samaria, November 28, 2025). The PIJ also claimed that the IDF operation had failed to achieve its objectives, alleging that the organization preserved its operational capabilities, employed plans adapted to the field, planted explosive devices in advance and even damaged a bulldozer and military jeeps and brought down Israeli UAVs (PIJ Telegram channel, December 1, 2025).
• As part of the operation, the Israeli Civil Administration informed residents of the Jenin refugee camp that the IDF intended to demolish 24 buildings. The IDF spokesperson said that the decision had made with great seriousness, reducing the demolition scope to the minimum necessary after other alternatives had been considered (IDF spokesperson, November 28, 2025). Hamas condemned the IDF decision, calling the action a “war crime” and “ethnic cleansing” (Hamas Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria, November 28, 2025). UNRWA’s head of affairs in Judea and Samaria, Roland Frederick, warned that destruction in the refugee camps in northern Samaria had continued uninterrupted for more than ten months and that the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps had been completely emptied, with about 32,000 residents “expelled” from their homes (Wafa, November 28, 2025).
• The Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the police uncovered a network of Israeli civilians transferring weapons and hundreds of thousands of shekels to Judea and Samaria. According to the investigation, the network operated under the direction of an Israeli citizen affiliated with Hamas and residing in Turkey. According to the claims, he had exploited family and social ties in Kafr Qassem to build a network to transfer funds using cryptocurrency which was converted into cash in Israel, with which weapons were purchased from weapons dealers in the Negev and transferred to Judea and Samaria (ISA spokesperson, November 27, 2025).

Friction between Settlers and Palestinians

• “Palestinian sources” reported that Israeli settlers set fire to the al-Falah mosque in the town of Bidiya near Salfit, and wrote racist graffiti on the wall of a nearby house before fleeing the scene. Residents managed to put out the fire after parts of the mosque had been damaged (al-Quds al-Arabi, November 26, 2025).

• The PA foreign ministry welcomed the decision of the president of the UN Human Rights Council to renew the work of the independent permanent commission of inquiry into severe violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in “the occupied Palestinian territory,” including east Jerusalem. The commission has a mandate to monitor “settler terrorism” and the supply of weapons to Israel and their effects on Palestinian rights (Wafa, November 27, 2025). The deputy chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Hussein al-Sheikh, welcomed the statement of France, Germany, Italy and Britain condemning the “serious escalation in settler violence” in Judea and Samaria and the “illegal” settlement policy (Facebook page of Hussein al-Sheikh, November 28, 2025).