Israel Brief: Wednesday, November 5

Gaza’s truce is run on signatures while Hamas fractures and tests the line; up north the Lebanese army toys with dangerous ROE, and in Jerusalem the state is tightening its control.

Shalom, friends.

The fronts are steady only on paper. In Gaza, the IDF is enforcing inches while Hamas’s camps fight over spoils and bodies. In Lebanon, precision strikes now rub against a Lebanese army order to shoot Israeli drones—a misstep away from a bigger fire. At home, the Sde Teiman shock has become a power realignment across justice, defense, and media.

Here’s the map before the noise:

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⚡️Flash Brief: The Day in 90 Seconds or Less

• Gaza: Third Yellow Line breach in as many days; IDF destroys a Jabaliya tunnel and Shejaiya launcher sites; Itay Chen’s body returned. See The War Today.

• Rafah: IDF chief conditions any “trapped” Hamas exits on Hadar Goldin’s remains; Hamas infighting widens between Hayya and Mashal camps. See The War Today.

• Lebanon: Israel hits a courier vehicle near Nabatiyeh as LAF orders troops to fire on Israeli UAVs over harvest zones, spiking miscalculation risk. See Developments to Watch.

• Region: Washington warns Baghdad to rein in Iran-backed militias as Tehran feeds Iraqi proxies and vows a “heavier defeat.” See Developments to Watch.

• Borders: IDF downs a Jordan-border quadcopter with 10 pistols; two Turkish nationals detained crossing illegally amid a broader smuggling uptick. See Developments to Watch.

• Inside Israel: Justice, defense, and media levers shift—new MAG appointed from outside, Karhi’s broadcast bill clears first reading, AG sideline bid intensifies. See Inside Israel.

• World: Germany bans an Islamist group; a French report maps Iranian influence ops; India signs defense MoU; Nairobi–Jerusalem academic pact; Wikipedia freezes a biased Gaza page. See Israel and the World.

• Coordination: CENTCOM’s Kiryat Gat CMCC grows to ~40 members, tightening aid deconfliction and outside scrutiny of strike/convoy timing. See Developments to Watch.

The full brief and analysis continue below.

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For American readers, one headline today deserves extra scrutiny. New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani—an avowed anti-Israel activist reportedly bankrolled by Islamist-aligned political networks and backed by CAIR-linked donors—will soon control appointments and oversight for the NYPD Intelligence Bureau. That unit is no ordinary police squad; it’s a fusion node that coordinates daily with the CIA, FBI, and allied services including Israel’s. It has “detectives” assigned around the globe as intelligence officers. It’s not a Barney Fife sort of operation. Whoever holds City Hall wields access to sensitive data streams (potentially including sources and methods), personnel vetting, and inter-agency coordination that keep terror plots from reaching American streets.

Federal partners are already discussing how to firewall classified channels and personnel until separation is guaranteed. Expect quiet resistance from the Bureau’s veterans and from Washington’s counter-intel offices—because a mayor with open ties to groups hostile to the United States, Israel, and the rest of the West is about to inherit the keys to America’s most sophisticated municipal intelligence hub.

Beyond the classified world lies the civic one. Mamdani’s record—refusing as a state legislator to affirm Holocaust remembrance, calling Israel a “colonial project,” and campaigning alongside agitators with Tehran-friendly sympathies—signals a cultural shift that will test New York’s Jewish community. Many families who once rode out waves of antisemitism in Brooklyn and Queens are now weighing aliyah or permanent relocation.

Now, here’s the operational picture in full.

The War Today

Gaza Ceasefire Frays as Hamas Fractures and Israel Holds the Line