Podcast Episode Details

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-09-23 at 07:07

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HEADLINES
Robotic units carve path in Gaza Sabra
Hamas seeks 60-day pause to free hostages
US seeks regional buy-in for postwar Gaza

The time is now 3:00 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

Good morning. This is your hour-by-hour update on the war and the wider regional and international picture, and what it means for security, diplomacy, and civilians.

In Gaza, the fighting is entering another phase as Israeli ground operations continue around central Gaza City. Palestinian accounts describe a coordinated push in Sabra, with unmanned, “robotic” vehicles clearing a path for tanks to move through the Sabra neighborhood from Tel al-Hawa to Sabra, a route north of the city center. Reports say at least three to four of these robotic units detonated in recent hours in Sabra, with a map showing Sabra just north of Tel al-Hawa. Arab media and Gaza sources also say tanks have been roaming Tel al-Hawa since yesterday. Video footage circulating reportedly shows a tracked vehicle laying explosive charges inside Sabra, with smoke rising and damage spreading across dozens of structures. In another development, Palestinian sources say Israeli forces have entered the Shati refugee camp on Gaza’s western edge, an area that had not seen ground activity for more than a year and a half. Military movements reportedly followed prior aerial and artillery strikes, with bursts of fire visible across the camp as tanks and armored units moved in west of the Al-Quds Open University site, about 750 meters from the coast. The camp’s congested streets have long raised concerns about civilian harm, and authorities describe a sustained air, artillery, and ground campaign aimed at neutralizing threats and hindering militants in the area.

The human toll remains enormous and difficult to verify independently. Gaza’s health ministry, run by Hamas, says more than 65,000 people have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting to date. Israel counters that its own campaigns have killed more than 22,000 combatants in Gaza and that about 1,600 terrorists have been killed inside Israel during the same period. The civilian toll, as always, is the most contested and painful part of the story, with both sides arguing over civilian casualties and the use of dense urban areas for militancy.

Hostages and captives remain a central, unresolved issue. Hamas and allied groups are holding 48 hostages in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead. Officials say roughly 20 hostages are believed to be alive, with two in potentially grave condition. The hostage crisis continues to color every ceasefire discussion and hostage negotiation, and efforts to reach a comprehensive ceasefire-hostage agreement are ongoing even as military operations press forward.

On the diplomatic front, the war in Gaza continues to shape broader regional and international diplomacy. In New York, US President Donald Trump is slated to address the United Nations General Assembly amid questions about the US role and its approach to Gaza. The White House has outlined plans for a multilateral discussion, inviting leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan to discuss Gaza and a post-war governance framework. Reports describe a US plan that envisions a withdrawal by Israel under a broader security and funding architecture, with a regional security presence to support reconstruction and governance. While Netanyahu has expressed support for a comprehensive ceasefire-hostage deal, sources familiar with the talks caution that parts of the plan, such as Palestinian Authority involvement in governance, could be difficult for Israel to accept. Hamas has separately circulated a letter to President Trump requesting a 60-day pause in hostilities in exchange for releasing roughly half of the remaining hostages, a p

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Published on 1 month, 1 week ago