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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-01 at 03:06
HEADLINES
Greta Thunberg Aboard Gaza Flotilla Near Interception
Israel Hires Parscale For Pro Israel Messaging
Pentagon Scales Back Iraq Mission Shifts Focus
The time is now 11:00 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
The Gaza-bound flotilla has entered what organizers describe as a danger zone about 150 nautical miles from Gaza. Israeli forces have vowed the vessels will not reach the coastal enclave and have prepared to intercept at sea, offering to unload aid in Ashdod if needed. Among the passengers is Greta Thunberg, adding international visibility to the mission as it proceeds close to Israel’s maritime approaches.
On the Gaza front, observers note that any pathway to a durable end to the conflict will require Hamas to sign on to a plan that ends the war, even as hostage concerns and regional pressures complicate the calculus. Hamas has shown no immediate indication of accepting the US-Israel framework, and hostage families along with Arab nations are watching closely to see how the talks unfold.
In Washington, lawmakers failed to prevent a federal shutdown, a development unfolding as President Trump signals new budgetary cuts. Market indicators reflected the risk, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both down about 0.4 percent in afternoon trading and gold advancing. Analysts put the odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut this month at roughly 96 percent, up from about 90 percent a day earlier, underscoring the unusual tension between fiscal standoffs and monetary expectations.
The Pentagon announced a scaling back of the military mission in Iraq, with officials describing a shift that would leave Baghdad to take the lead against Islamic State remnants inside Iraq while coalition forces refocus on Syria and move most personnel toward Iraq’s Kurdistan region to conduct that mission. The reassignment reflects a recalibration of counterterrorism priorities across the region and the continued challenge of IS affiliates beyond Iraq’s borders.
Back in Israel, a broad public diplomacy push is unfolding on multiple fronts. New government filings reveal a two-track effort to shape US opinion, described by officials as an ecosystem designed to saturate American media with pro-Israel narratives. Bridges Partners LLC has been hired to manage an influencer network under a project code-named the Esther Project, with work coordinated through a German division of the global PR firm Havas. The filings detail phase-based rollout, with three to six influencers onboarded at a time, each posting extensively across Instagram, TikTok and other platforms. The effort is part of a wider expansion of Israel’s global outreach, including a separate $1.5 million-per-month contract with Brad Parscale, the former Trump campaign strategist, to conduct strategic communications aimed at countering antisemitism in the United States. Parscale’s arrangement envisions automated scale, including up to 100 ads or pieces of content per month and as many as 5,000 ad variations, supported by AI and other digital tools. Israeli officials have described these measures as essential to defending Israel’s narrative in the face of intense international scrutiny. Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly engaged US influencers in New York as part of this broader effort, emphasizing that “we have to fight with the weapons that apply to the battles we face,” including the digital space. Critics, however, warn that reliance on influencers and rapid-fire messaging can complicate the humanitarian dimensions of the Gaza crisis and risk blurring the line between information and advocacy.
In related diplomacy and public affairs matters, Israel has expanded its outreach with partners abroad, including large-scale hasbara funding allocated in late 2024 to boost digital outreach, foreign press briefings, and rapid-response messaging. The government argues tha
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