News Digest — 10/28/25
Terror Attack Foiled Near Jenin: Police Commandos Kill Three Terrorists; Air Force Strikes Hideout
Israel security forces on Tuesday (28th) foiled a planned terror attack near Jenin, killing three terrorists in a combined ground and air operation, police said.
According to the statement, Yamam counterterrorism officers, acting on Shin Bet intelligence and supported by IDF troops, operated in the village of Qud in the Menashe Brigade area. The forces targeted a terror cell that had planned an attack and was linked to the terrorist network based in the Jenin refugee camp.
During the operation the Yamam unit spotted the terrorists emerging from a hideout. Snipers opened fire, killing all three. Shortly afterwards, the Israel Air Force struck the hideout to destroy the terror infrastructure, police said.
The IDF and Shin bet confirmed that Israeli aircraft, acting on real-time intelligence, had carried out additional strikes in the area targeting other terrorists.
In a separate overnight operation, Israel Police and the IDF said that officers from the Shai District and Paratroopers Brigade troops under the Yehuda Brigade located two illegal weapons manufacturing workshops and arrested several suspects in Hebron and the nearby town of Dura.
The forces–soldiers from the 202nd Battalion along with Yasam and Yilp special police units–carried out the raid based on intelligence from Central Command and the Shai District. During the operation troops found two workshops used to produce weapons.
In Dura, two main suspects were arrested on suspicion of inciting terrorism on social media and encouraging attacks against Israeli civilians. Police said cellphones used to post the incitement were confiscated. The suspects were taken for questioning by security officials in Hebron.
Hamas Says It Handed Over Hostage’s Remains To Red Cross, Israel Working To ID Body
Hamas said it handed over the remains of a deceased hostage to the Red Cross on Monday night (27th), with the body then transferred to Israeli authorities, who were working to confirm the identity.
It was the first time Hamas had handed over a body in six days, as Israel insists that the terror group is dragging its feet on the requirement of the ceasefire that came into place on October 10.
The agreement required Hamas to return all 48 living and deceased hostages within 72 hours and while the group followed through in handing over all 20 living hostages, it only returned four of the 28 bodies still held in Gaza within the required timeframe. As of Monday morning (27th), the bodies of 13 deceased hostages were still in Gaza.
Hamas said in its Monday (27th) statement that it had “retrieved” a hostage’s remains earlier that day, without elaborating further, while Al Jazeera reported that the body was recovered during a search of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood in the northern Strip.
The Red Cross handed over the coffin to IDF troops inside Gaza. The military inspected the casket and draped it in an Israeli flag. A small ceremony by a military rabbi was then held.
The casket was subsequently transferred to Israel, where police escorted it to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process that officials have said may take up to two days.
If the body is indeed that of a slain hostage, it would leave the remains of twelve hostages in Gaza.
According to a Channel 13 report published prior to the latest handover, Israeli intelligence believed Hamas could locate the remains of 10 of the then 13 slain hostages’ bodies still held in Gaza. Among those are Col. Asaf Hamami and Lt. Hadar Goldin – the former commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade and a soldier killed in 2014, respectively. Israel believes Hamas is intentionally withholding those bodies because the fallen soldiers have become symbolic figures in Israel, the report added.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of intentionally holding unto bodies despite knowing where they are, in violation of the US-brokered agreement that stopped fighting in the two-year-old war.
The IDF Chief Of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir said Monday (27th) that the war will not be over until the last of the deceased hostages held in Gaza are brought home, referring to this as a “sacred mission” and also calling for Israel to “continue the campaign against Hamas.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Monday (27th) demanded that the next steps in the US-brokered Gaza peace plan be put on hold until Hamas returns the remaining bodies.
“Hamas knows exactly where all of the deceased hostages are held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity,” the Forum said. ”The families urge the Government of Israel, the Trump administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the Gaza peace plan until Hamas fulfills all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel.”
Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have told families of both living and slain hostages in recent days that the US is exerting maximum pressure on Hamas to return the releases, adding that during Trump’s meeting Saturday (25th) with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, he reportedly said he also wanted to prioritize the return of the bodies of US citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra.
US Envoy Ortagus Visiting Lebanon Amid Rising Israel-Hezbollah Tensions
US Envoy Morgan Ortagus headed to Beirut on Monday (27th) for talks with Lebanese officials on disarming Hezbollah, sources familiar with the visit said, as fears mount that Israel could renew its air campaign against the group.
The concerns follow several days of intensified Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon that killed a number of Hezbollah members, according to Lebanese security officials.
Lebanon officials worry the escalation signals Israel intends to resume major air operations despite a November 2024 ceasefire that ended a yearlong conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed movement.
Ortagus, the White House deputy’s Middle East envoy, is expected to join a Wednesday (29th) meeting reviewing the Lebanese army’s efforts to clear Hezbollah weapons caches in the south, as required under the truce.
Last week, another US envoy , Tom Barrack, warned that Hezbollah risked a new confrontation with Israel if Lebanese authorities failed to act swiftly to disarm the group. Hezbollah has so far refused to comply.
On Sunday (26th), an Israeli strike killed a man identified by Israel as a Hezbollah weapons dealer, Ali al-Musawi, who Lebanese security sources said was the most senior member of the group killed since the ceasefire.
Also on Sunday (26th), UN peacekeepers said they had “neutralized” an Israeli drone flying aggressively over their patrol in southern Lebanon. A source briefed on the incident said peacekeepers shot down the drone because it posed a threat. An Israeli tank then fired a warning shot near the UN troops.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the drone was conducting “routine intelligence gathering” and did not threaten the peacekeepers.
The Israelis maintain its strikes in Lebanon are aimed at stopping Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure in the south – a claim Hezbollah denies.
Rubio Says, All Mediators Agree That Israel’s Gaza Strike On PIJ Terrorist Was Justified Self Defense
The ongoing ceasefire in Gaza does not obligate Israel to refrain from taking defensive action, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, addressing Israel’s Saturday (25th) strike on a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist in central Gaza.
Rubio’s comments came as he accompanied US President Donald Trump on an Air Force One flight on Monday night (27th).
Rubio defended the strike. Stating that “all of the mediators agree” and they “don’t view the strike as a violation of the ceasefire.”
In the ceasefire deal negotiations, “Israel didn’t surrender its right to self-defense. Obviously the ceasefire is based on obligations on both sides,” Rubio elaborated. “Israel has a right to self-defense. Terrorist activity is an imminent threat to Israel.”
Rubio also expressed to reporters present on Air Force One that ceasefire mediators would “also like to see Hamas speed up the return of hostage bodies,” emphasizing that of the 13 hostages whose remains have not yet been returned from Gaza, two are American citizens.
The target of the strike, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza, had been planning to carry out an attack on Israeli forces, according to the IDF.
The IDF deployed troops are in the area in accordance with the guidelines of the ceasefire deal, which requires Israeli forces to stay behind a designated ‘yellow line.’
The ceasefire guidelines also required Hamas to return all living and deceased hostages within 72 hours of implementation, a deadline that passed on October 13.
Jordan Lawyer Disbarred For Representing Israel Kibbutz In Business Dispute
A Jordanian lawyer asked Israeli authorities for intervention after he was disbarred from the Jordanian Bar Association (JBA) for representing an Israeli kibbutz in a business dispute with a Jordanian company.
The controversy relates to the Jordanian private company Hijazi & Ghosheh Group, which works with meat and livestock (calves and sheep) exports. According to some Arabic media reports, Hijazi & Ghosheh export food and livestock to Israel through the Australia-based company ISS, which delivers the animals to Hijazi & Ghosheh’s quarantine station in the port city of Eilat.
Kibbutz Eilot, in Arava, entered into a business dispute with Hijazi & Ghosheh in 2020 after an Israeli court ordered the latter to pay the kibbutz $300,000 in debt. The attempts to collect the debt failed, so the kibbutz hired Al-Rashidat, who sent Hijazi & Ghosheh a letter of warning prior to filing a lawsuit.
However the case was leaked to the media, leading JBA to disbar Al-Rashidat “for collaborating with Zionist settlements.
Kibbutz Eilot has now sent official letters to Jordan’s ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali, Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, Rogel Rahman, the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and the Royal Court, urging them to reinstate Al-Rashidat The letters also request that the Jordanian government intervene to recover the money owed by Hijazi & Ghosheh.
Kibbutz Eilot asked the relevant Jordanian authorities to “rectify this injustice” and ensure that attorney Al-Rashidat is able to continue practicing law without discrimination or political pressure.
In an exclusive interview with KAN, Al-Rashidat said, “The most basic right of any citizen is to have a lawyer in every country. I ask, if a Jordanian encounters a problem while in Israel, is it forbidden for him to have an Israeli lawyer? Of course not. Yet, here in Jordan, the association sets itself up as both decision-maker and judge. They come to judge us and take away my professional license.”
He then told KAN, “I sent a letter to the Jordanian Minister of Justice – no reply. I contacted the Prime Minister by email – no reply. I reached out to the Royal Court – no reply. I reached out to you, and you’re the only one who answered me.”
Al-Rashidat told KAN that the incident demonstrates how the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace agreement is only “ink on paper” and is not put into practice.
He also claimed that fellow lawyers in the JBA contacted him to say they were forced to sign his removal under instructions from the chairman.
“I ask the government of Israel to intervene to resolve this matter because here in Jordan no one is listening,” he told KAN. “There is an urgent need for strong intervention, because the current situation means that the interests of Israeli companies and factories in Jordan will be severely harmed. I cannot recommend that Israel invest in Jordan.”
The JBA has, however, doubled down on its categorical rejection of all forms of normalization considering that, “defending companies linked to the Israeli occupation constitutes a breach of national and ethical values,” according to Jordanian media.
Interestingly, there are reports within Arab media that the head of the JBA – Yahya Abu Aboud – is a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abu Aboud also spoke at a press conference of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) earlier this year. The IAF is widely recognized as the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
