News Digest — 10/30/25
Netanyahu: ‘US-Israel Plan Aims To Disarm Hamas, Redefine Gaza’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (29th) visited the Civil Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat.
Netanyahu spoke with CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper and with General Patrick Frank, and was impressed by the joint Israeli-American effort to advance and implement President Trump’s framework.
“I am pleased to host our American friends here in Kiryat Gat. They are working together with us on a plan to achieve a different Gaza, a Gaza that will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” said the Prime Minister.
“The first component, of course, is security responsibility for maintaining our forces and our freedom of action. This is an accepted matter, and we are doing it. It is important, it is a fundamental component,” he added.
“In the same measure,” continued Netanyahu, “We want to bring it about that in the end, the goal that President Trump and we agreed on – the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza – will be achieved. We are working on this in stages, together with other components of the plan.”
“I believe that through cooperation, we have already done things that have astounded the world – both in Iran and in the release of our live hostages, in which no one believed we would succeed. There is a real joint effort here, while keeping security in our hands, to achieve results that perhaps no one believed we would achieve, we want to try,”
“President Trump said it simply: Either we achieve this the easy way, as we hope, or we will have to achieve it the hard way, but we will achieve what we are looking to do,” concluded Netanyahu.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Tzachi Bravernan; IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir; Shin Bet Director David Zini; his Military Secretary MG. Roman Gofman; the head of IDF Coordination Command, MG Yaki Dolf, and senior IDF officials.
Israel Resumes Enforcing Ceasefire After Strikes Responding To Hamas Violations
Following a series of strikes across the Gaza Strip that came in response to Hamas’ numerous ceasefire violations, the IDF on Wednesday (29th) announced that it had returned to enforcing the ceasefire.
“In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of strikes, in which dozens of terror targets and terrorists were struck, the IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire in response to Hamas’ violations,” the military stated.
During the military action, the IDF and Shin Bet struck more than 30 terrorists “holding command positions,” the IDF added, noting that it would continue to maintain and respond to violations of the ceasefire.
Previously, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that Israel’s strikes across the Gaza Strip were “nearing completion.”
“We have hit dozens of targets and carried out numerous targeted eliminations of Hamas terrorists. This is our decision, we struck every target on the list,” the source said, adding that Israel is planning additional measures in light of the ongoing violations.
Following the IDF announcement, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that, in response to Hamas’ ceasefire violations, namely the attack on Israeli troops and its failure to return the remains of all the deceased hostages, the military had stopped dozens of the terror group’s commanders.
“There is and will be no immunity for any of the leadership of the Hamas terror organization – neither those wearing suits nor those in tunnels – whoever raises his hand against IDF soldiers – his hand will be cut off,” Katz stated.
On Tuesday (28th), Chief Sgt. First Class (Res.) Efi Feldbaum was killed in the Gaza Strip by Hamas sniper fire.
Earlier that day, the IDF intensified its strikes across Gaza after Hamas fired at soldiers in the southern part of the Strip, according to Palestinian reports.
Also since the ceasefire initially went into effect, Hamas terrorists attempted to reach a weapons cache hidden in a mosque in an IDF controlled part of the Gaza Strip.
Army Radio reported that the group of terrorists crossed the yellow line, the perimeter to which the IDF withdrew following the implementation of the US-brokered Israel-Gaza ceasefire, before they were spotted by an IDF drone.
The terrorists were apprehended and detained by IDF soldiers before they reached the mosque which is less than a mile away from the border fence opposite Kibbutz Nahal Oz..
Edan Alexander Returns To The IDF; Promoted To Sergeant 1st Class
American-Israeli survivor of Hamas captivity Edan Alexander was promoted on Monday (27th) to Sergeant 1st Class in a moving ceremony attended by the head of the IDF Personnel Directorate.
An IDF soldier in the Golani Brigade, Alexander was abducted while fighting Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and was released from captivity in May of this year after intervention by the Trump administration.
He first announced that he would return to serve in the IDF during a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) New York Gala in September.
“I also want to honor the IDF. Serving in the IDF is one of the greatest honors of my life. To the soldiers who continue to defend Israel, and to the families of the fallen – I carry your sacrifice with me always,” Alexander stated at the New York event.
At the conclusion of his remarks, Alexander announced, “Next month, God willing, I will return to Israel. I will once again put on the IDF uniform, and I will proudly serve alongside my brothers. My story does not end with survival – it continues with service.”
Senior Trump Administration Officials Pushing Lebanese Government To Talk With Israel – Sources
Senior officials in the Trump administration have recently approached top Lebanon government officials and urged them to open dialogue with Israel, several sources told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday (29th).
Earlier this week, well informed Lebanese sources told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Morgan Ortagus, the Trump administration’s special envoy to Lebanon, proposed improving the work of the five member committee overseeing the ceasefire in Lebanon and expanding its authority to cover all of Lebanon’s borders, not just the southern border.
She also suggested including diplomats as committee members.
In the end, only a broad dialogue between Israel and Lebanon can advance and improve the situation on the ground,” a Western diplomat told the Post.
Before arriving in Beirut, Ortagus visited Israel earlier this week and toured the northern region alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz. The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter, and the IDF Northern Command chief, MG. Rafi Milo , also participated in the visit.
Katz emphasized that Israel would continue to defend northern communities against any threat.
Israeli officials told the envoy that Hezbollah continues to arm itself and has managed to smuggle hundreds of missiles across the Syrian border. When Ortagus later arrived in Lebanon, she made it clear to senior government officials there that they must act against Hezbollah.
Following the meetings, Ortagus issued a statement saying that “the United States is closely monitoring developments in Lebanon and welcomes the Lebanese government’s decision to place all weapons in the country under state control by the end of the year. The Lebanese Armed Forces must now fully implement their plan,”the statement read.
President Trump’s envoy for Syrian affairs and the US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, likewise pressed the Lebanese government to engage in talks with Israel.
According to the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar, Barrack delivered a message to Beirut warning that if no progress is made toward disarming the terrorist organization, Lebanon will be left on its own.
“Either you learn the lesson and agree to enter direct negotiations with Israel under US sponsorship, to establish a timeline and mechanism for dismantling Hezbollah’s arsenal, or Lebanon will be left to its fate, and remain that way for a long time, with no one to help,” Barrack reportedly warned.
Last week, the Post reported that Western intelligence officials believe Hezbollah has accelerated its rehabilitation efforts, including by recruiting more terrorists into its ranks. “Hezbollah is rebuilding itself much faster than the Lebanese Army is dismantling its weapons,” the official said.
German Government Pledges Record $1 Billion In Funding For Holocaust Survivor Home Care
The German government has agreed to allocate $1.08 billion in funds for home care for survivors for 2026, marking the largest budget for home care in its history of Holocaust reparations, reflecting the growing needs of an aging survivor population.
The funding, which was secured following negotiations with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, will now enable all Holocaust survivors currently on waitlists for home care to receive it, according to Stuart E, Eizenstat, who leads negotiations on behalf of the Claims Conference.
“We really believe now that, with the largest home care budget in the history of the Claims Conference’s negotiations with Germany, which go back to 1952, that we will be able to cover all those on waiting lists,” Eizenstat said in an interview.
Last year, Germany also set a record for Holocaust reparations, spending $1,5 billion overall. But as the survivor population ages, with the median age now at 87, the need for home care has become the dominant expense.
Nearly all the Holocaust survivors who are alive today will be dead within fifteen years and half will die by 2031, according to a demographic analysis published by the Claims Conference in April.
“As we’re in the last phase now of survivors – in 10 years, half of the survivors, and there’s about 200,000 now, will be gone – so we’re dealing with people in the very last stages of their life and it’s very rewarding to provide a measure of dignity, both through these payments, but again, through home care,” Eizenstat said.
One difficulty during the negotiations, according to Eizenstat, came from explaining to German officials that although the survivor population has dramatically decreased over the years, the needs among the remaining population are much greater and require additional funding.
Eizenstat said that of the remaining estimated 200,000 survivors, over 80% of the population in countries that made up the Soviet Union are living below or near the poverty line. In the United States and Israel, around a third are living near the poverty line.
I’m hoping that this can prompt local federations to supplement what we’ve done, and to make sure that survivors in their last years don’t live impoverished, that they have dignity that was denied them when they were young,” said Eizenstat.
The German government also extended its support for Holocaust education programs through 2029, totaling $205 million over the next four years.
“The survivors, the eyewitnesses, won’t be here, and we need Holocaust education desperately at a time of rising anti-Semitism, Holocaust distortion, denial and sheer ignorance,” Eizenstat said.
Will Hamas Blow Up Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan? – Jonathan S. Tobin
President Trump and his foreign -policy team deserve enormous credit for brokering a ceasefire that achieved the release of the final 20 living hostages held by Hamas. Yet much of what the administration is saying about implementing and maintaining the ceasefire is rooted in mistaken notions about the nature of the conflict and fantasies about things that are highly unlikely even to occur.
Even Trump seems to believe Qatar is a good friend of the United States and a tireless worker for peace. That’s in spite of the fact that the Gulf Emirate (Qatar) is largely responsible for enabling Hamas to start the war and also spreading Islamist propaganda via its Al Jazeera media outlet and by sponsoring and funding the Muslim Brotherhood.
Even more disturbing is the way the US team speaks of Hamas’ disarmament being accomplished via an international security force made up of contingents from various Muslim and Arab countries. Such a force being able or willing to take on Hamas is a fantasy. Arab governments may dislike Hamas and wish to be rid of it, but the chances that any of them would actually take on that job themselves are zero. The same is true of any belief that a renewed flow of billions in foreign aid into Gaza will not be misused.
Too many of those who work for the president seem invested in fantasies about Hamas, the Palestinians, Qatar, and Turkey, rooted in naive beliefs about genocidal Islamism having the same hopes and dreams as Americans, Israelis and the people of the West. They don’t. And, sooner or later, that dismal fact is going to blow up the peace plan.
When this happens, we need to hope that Trump and his foreign policy team are able to divest themselves of the same foolish arrogance that characterized the beliefs of their predecessors about the Palestinians wanting peace and being willing to give up their century-old war on the Jews. Even an indomitable force like Donald Trump can’t wish away the Palestinian desire to destroy Israel. (JNS)
(jns.org)
