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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-04 at 09:05
HEADLINES
- Gaza civilians killed as city encircled
- Israeli forces enter Jemla, detain three
- Diplomatic push advances on hostage release plan
The time is now 5:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
At five o’clock in the morning, the uneasy calm around the Gaza front persists as the Israel Defense Forces shift to defensive operations inside the Gaza Strip. Gaza City remains effectively encircled by the lines the Israeli forces have reached, a posture that reflects a broader strategy to hold ground while diplomacy plays out.
In Gaza, local authorities report that Israeli strikes on Saturday killed six people across the territory, including four in a house in Gaza City and two in Khan Yunis in the south. The toll underscores the ongoing peril for civilians even as political moves seek a way out of the fighting.
On the Syrian front, reports from the region indicate that Israeli forces entered the village of Jemla in the western part of the Daraa area shortly after midnight, establishing a temporary checkpoint and detaining three individuals. The activity lasted about an hour before the forces withdrew, illustrating how cross-border pressures continue to shape the conflict’s perimeters.
Lebanon remains a focal point of concern for northern Israel. Hezbollah’s capabilities have been degraded in recent months, and Lebanon faces an active effort to remove the group from its borders. Yet the border remains volatile, with thousands of residents displaced and communities bearing the ongoing repercussions of years of conflict in the region.
The hostage dimension of the Gaza war remains central. Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have urged an immediate end to the conflict as the fighting persists. Hamas has signaled readiness to release hostages and to engage in negotiations that include the details of a peace plan associated with the United States, signaling a potential pathway to a broader settlement.
In Washington, President Donald Trump has urged Israel to halt bombardment in Gaza while presenting a plan that calls for hostage releases in exchange for limited concessions on the ground. Reactions from Europe and Britain varied but leaned toward supportive statements about the willingness to move toward a resolution. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Hamas’s stated openness to the plan and urged all sides to implement it promptly. In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised the apparent consensus and urged the parties to convert it into concrete steps without delay.
Palestinian mediator Bishara Bahbah told a media outlet that the Gaza deal could mark the end of the war and the release of all hostages, a view that underscores the fragile optimism now shaping discussions in the region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a late-night emergency briefing with a small circle of ministers, senior military officials, and the negotiating team, excluding a couple of hardline members. The purpose, according to participants, was to assess the situation and to prepare for renewed negotiations, with the next phase likely hinging on rapid diplomatic alignment in regional hubs.
Talks to resume in Cairo are under consideration, with the Israeli side expected to remain engaged in the coming hours. The talks would be led at high levels, with American officials hoping to push quickly into the first stage of the peace plan—an arrangement that would involve hostage releases in exchange for a measured pullback of Israeli forces. A senior Israeli source said the basic details were straightforward, though technical elements could shape the pace of the deal, and all parties would need to see the returned hostages alive as a precondition for progress.
AFP reported that Hamas informed its readiness to begin discussions to resolve all is
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