Shavua tov (a good week). Israel enters the High Holidays with the war pressing on every front. In Gaza, Hamas has rebuilt tunnels and packed fighters underground. The IDF strikes heavily but halts certain missions where hostages may be held. Above ground, Hamas fires on UN teams, steals baby formula, and hijacks vehicles to script a famine story. Its propaganda poster invoking missing navigator Ron Arad shows how it weaponizes memory as much as rockets.
At home, the mood is a mix of resolve and vigilance, sharpened by the calendar: Rosh Hashanah is here, and Jews know that enemies often choose holidays for escalation. The echoes of 1973 and 2023 are not lost. Freed hostage Edan Alexander vows to rejoin his Golani unit.
Abroad, Western nations prepare to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations—even as many of their citizens oppose it. The Netherlands records another attack on Israel’s embassy.
These converging pressures—military, political, psychological—continues just as the shofar readies to sound.
The War Today
Hamas rebuilds Gaza City tunnels, IDF halts underground op. fearing hostages present – N12
Hamas has rebuilt major sections of its tunnel network in Gaza City, complicating Israeli operations as up to 10,000 terrorists are believed to be sheltering underground. The IDF has paused some tunnel missions out of concern for hostages possibly held in the shafts, while Hamas openly threatened that captives’ lives would be at risk if the offensive continues. Families of the hostages have voiced alarm, even as U.S. President Donald Trump defended the operations as potentially hastening their release (Jerusalem Post, citing N12). Read more →
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Israel Brief to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.