Podcast Episode Details

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-06 at 04:07

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HEADLINES
Israel marks Oct 7 anniversary amid losses
Fifteenth MSF staffer killed in Gaza
ICC to deliver Kushayb war crimes verdict

The time is now 12:00 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

This is the hourly update from the newsroom. As Israel marks the two‑year anniversary of the Hamas-led assault that began on October 7, the Defense Ministry reports 1,152 Israeli security personnel have fallen in the war and more than 6,500 relatives have joined the circle of bereavement. The ministry notes that roughly 487 of the fallen were under age twenty‑one, with 141 over age forty. In 2025 alone, 262 soldiers and security personnel have died in the line of duty. The toll reflects a conflict that remains deeply personal for families across the country, even as authorities press on with security operations intended to protect civilians and counter ongoing threats.

On the leadership front, Major General Tomer Bar, chief of the Israel Air Force, has indicated he does not intend to extend his four‑year tenure and is expected to retire in April, even as the force and the wider military prepare for ongoing operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s proxies in the region. In domestic political life, a prominent Jewish party leader stirred controversy by urging a controversial policy position connected to hostages, underscoring how security and political debates remain tightly interwoven as Israel tries to chart a path forward.

International and humanitarian headlines frame a war that continues to exact a heavy humanitarian toll. In Gaza, Doctors Without Borders confirms a fifteenth staff member has been killed in the conflict, as aid workers and medical teams struggle to reach those in need. The most recent casualty, Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, a longtime physiotherapist and occupational therapist, is mourned by the organization, which says he helped build Gaza’s health capacity for years. MSF emphasizes the risk to its workers and the broader health system as strikes and air operations press on and aid convoys face restrictions. The Israeli Defence Forces say its forces are acting against Hamas threats and have reported collateral damage incidents in the course of strikes, while stressing that Hamas embeds itself within civilians and uses civilians as shields.

In Gaza City and Rafah, local health authorities report that at least nineteen people were killed on Sunday, with casualties spread across multiple strikes. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and other facilities report patients arriving with injuries from a range of targets and fighting around the city, reflecting the challenge of distinguishing militants from civilians in a densely populated theater. The Hamas‑run Gaza health ministry says the overall death toll in the fighting exceeds sixty‑seven thousand, a figure not independently verifiable and difficult to reconcile with competing tallies from Israel, which says thousands of Hamas fighters have been killed, alongside additional terrorists detected inside Israeli territory during the October 7 onslaught. The balance of numbers and the reliability of casualty tallies remain a central point of contention as international humanitarian agencies seek to provide relief amid ongoing hostilities.

In the battlefield narrative, the Israel Defense Forces released footage and information alleging that Hamas has weapon depots and combat equipment hidden in civilian sites, including a school in Gaza City and a nearby kindergarten. The force says it discovered explosives and weapons left behind by Hamas operatives in places that civilians attend, arguing that such examples illustrate the group’s strategy of turning civilian infrastructure into tools of terror. The military also notes it continues to use facilities in Gaza as temporary encampments for troops as operations proceed and as a broad shift to defensive posture

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Published on 4 weeks, 2 days ago