News Digest — 8/21/25
IDF acknowledges ‘failure’ in Hamas attack on south Gaza army encampment
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday that it was a “failure” that Hamas gunmen managed to breach an army encampment — including a building where troops were stationed — the previous day in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, despite the soldiers managing to fight back and successfully repel the attack, killing around 15 of the operatives.
According to the findings of an IDF probe of the incident, the Hamas operatives emerged from a tunnel some 40-50 meters from the military post, which served troops of the Kfir Infantry Brigade and the 188th Armored Brigade’s 74th Battalion.
The tunnel had been known to the military, and part of it — including a main shaft– had been demolished previously. The gunmen apparently dug out a new shaft using the existing underground passage during the attack.
The gunmen split into three groups, with one stationed on a dirt mound for suppressive fire, the second heading into a building in the encampment that was not occupied by any soldiers, and the third attacking a building that had a platoon of soldiers stationed in it.
The platoon commander and another soldier heard noise from outside the building and headed out, where they came under fire from the Hamas gunmen. The officer then ran back inside and awakened other soldiers who had been sleeping, and they all took up positions inside the building.
Two Hamas gunmen breached the building where the troops were stationed. The operatives hurled grenades and opened fire as the soldiers shot back, in an exchange of fire that lasted around five minutes.
Fighting also took place outside the building with additional gunmen from the same group.
At least one of the gunmen was killed by the soldiers in the building, while the other fled and was killed outside, according to the IDF’s probe.
Three soldiers were injured in the exchange of fire, one seriously and two lightly. The seriously wounded soldier’s condition has since improved.
(Source: timesofisrael.com)
An impossible dilemma: Will Israel take a partial deal or fight Hamas to the end? – analysis
Israel is facing a major predicament as the Hamas terrorist organization has reportedly accepted the terms of an Egyptian proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shifted Israel’s stance and demanded the release of all 50 remaining hostages at once. The move coincided with Netanyahu’s declaration that Israel intends to occupy Gaza City and other areas of the territory in an effort to ratchet up pressure on the group.
While visiting soldiers on the Gaza border on Monday, Netanyahu addressed the reports. “Like you, I am hearing the reports in the media,” he said. “There is one conclusion from these reports—Hamas is under atomic pressure.”
Governments worldwide were quick to condemn Israel’s announcement. Several countries declared sanctions against Israel and its officials. Inside Israel, opposition parties staged demonstrations, warning the plan would endanger the 20 hostages still believed to be alive and held in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023.
Hamas’ earlier willingness to consider a partial deal—releasing half of the hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire—has complicated matters. Netanyahu must now decide whether to reject such a deal and gamble that occupying Gaza City will force Hamas’ surrender. Families of the hostages are also split. Some believe intensified military pressure will bring their loved ones home; others fear it could doom them to death inside tunnels beneath the city.
“Israel needs to decide which of the clocks that are ticking is the one that puts it under the most pressure,” Dr. Avner Saar, a crisis-negotiation expert and lecturer at Western Galilee College, told The Media Line. “There is pressure to save lives, there is internal pressure in Israel with a growing internal rift, and there is growing international pressure both from European countries and the US to end the war.”
(Source: jpost.com)
IDF begins warning calls to medical officials in northern Gaza
As part of the IDF’s preparations for evacuating the population southern from Gaza City for its safety, officers from the IDF Gaza District Coordination and Liaison in COGAT carried out initial warning calls two days ago (Tuesday) to medical officials and international organizations in the northern Gaza Strip in order to prepare for the evacuation of the population to the southern Gaza Strip.
The officers emphasized to the medical officials that adjustments are being made to the hospital infrastructure in the south of the Strip to receive the sick and wounded, alongside an increased entry of necessary medical equipment according to the requests of the international aid organizations.
The IDF Gaza District Coordination and Liaison officer said in a warning given to the senior official in the health system: “I am contacting you regarding the possibility of the army entering Gaza City, there will be a full evacuation from Gaza to the southern Strip. This requires you to prepare a plan to transfer the medical equipment from north to south, so that you will be able to provide treatment for all the patients in the southern Strip and prepare the hospitals to receive the patients coming from the north, it is important to us that you receive this from an official source. We are going to provide you with a place to be in, whether it is a field hospital or any other hospital.”
(Source: israelnationalnews.com)
Anti-Israel bias in UK hospitals alarms Jewish patients, fueling fears of global trend
Two recent incidents at hospitals in the UK fit a troubling pattern of Jews feeling unsafe due to medical professionals expressing antisemitism or even outright threats of death against Israelis.
The University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH Trust) has issued an apology following a patient’s complaints about the placement of anti-Israel posters at a facility.
“I’m an outpatient but God forbid in other circumstances to feel so vulnerable already and be surrounded by hostility would be so scary,” the unnamed female patient told the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), fearful of receiving subpar treatment if the hospital staff discovered she was Jewish.
“I shouldn’t have to remove my Star of David necklace to go to a hospital visit.”
David Probert, chief executive of UCLH Trust, released a statement on Sunday to UKLFI.
“Firstly, I would like to apologize on behalf of UCLH for the distress and upset caused by these posters. At UCLH, we value diversity and inclusivity, and we are committed to providing a fair and non-discriminatory service to all individuals, regardless of background,” Probert stated.
“Following receipt of your letter, I promptly made internal enquiries and was informed that the posters were initially noticed last week. This matter was immediately treated as an incident, and all the posters were removed without delay.”
Another instance of anti-Israel rhetoric at UK hospitals involves midwife Fatimah Mohamied, who resigned from her position after UKLFI highlighted her anti-Israel social media posts.
Mohamied has now filed a claim against Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alleging a violation of her rights.
Examples of Mohamied’s posts include her declaration “hell yeah!!!” on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, as she reshared the statement “Palestinians have a right to resist their occupation-we have a right to support them. It’s that simple.”
These instances in the UK track with other reports from Jews around the world expressing discomfort with health-care providers’ antipathy toward Israel manifesting as violent threats.
(Source: worldisraelnews.com)
Crisis talks in US after Iran refuses inspectors for nuclear program
Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are scheduled to meet with US counterparts in Washington next week amid mounting alarm over the agency’s inability to confirm the fate of Iran’s near-weapons grade uranium, diplomats told Bloomberg.
The talks come after chief inspector Massimo Aparo, acting under the direction of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, failed to secure Tehran’s consent to reinstate monitoring following the June war between Israel and Iran, three diplomats said to Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg, the IAEA has become increasingly discouraged about prospects of returning inspectors since they were expelled during the June hostilities, a step that ended global monitoring of the scope and intent of Tehran’s nuclear work.
Iran maintains that chemical and radiological dangers at bomb-damaged facilities make it impossible for inspectors to return. On August 11, Tehran told Aparo that visits might soon be allowed at unaffected sites, including the Russian-built nuclear power station on the Persian Gulf, but barred access to its main fuel facility, Bloomberg reported.
IAEA figures compiled by Bloomberg show that the location of 409 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent has been unknown since June 13, when Iran advised inspectors it intended to relocate the material to an undisclosed location. The failure to verify this stockpile has amplified questions about whether airstrikes destroyed Tehran’s nuclear weapons potential.
Although satellite images suggest that parts of the enrichment system were “obliterated,” as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared, Iran still possesses the material and the know-how to build nuclear arms should Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decide, Bloomberg noted.
(Source: israelhayom.com)
