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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-14 at 02:11
HEADLINES
Families Seek Full Hostage Returns Closure
Hamas Reasserts Itself Post Ceasefire
Netanyahu Ben Gvir Clash Over Temple Mount
The time is now 10:00 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
This is the 10:00 PM update on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Day 739. The past 24 hours have underscored the fragility of the ceasefire and the continuing toll on families on both sides, even as diplomatic and political moments ripple through regional dynamics.
Yael Adar, the mother of slain hostage Tamir Adar, delivered a pointed critique this evening, telling Channel 12 that families feel they have been left without leverage to obtain the return of bodies held by Hamas. Her remarks highlighted a central tension in the current phase of the conflict: while a ceasefire has brought a pause to large-scale fighting, for many families the prize of a full accounting—living hostages returned and the bodies of the dead recovered—remains elusive. Adar described a perception among families that government deliberations and the terms of any deal may not fully translate into tangible results for those awaiting closure. Her account also touched on disagreements over what leverage Israel could or should wield to secure dead hostages, and she criticized moves she saw as signaling that the hostage issue was over.
On the battlefield and in the streets of Gaza, Hamas appears to be reasserting itself after the ceasefire, testing the confidence of regional and international mediators. Security sources in Gaza say Hamas fighters have resurfaced in the city and its outskirts in limited numbers as the group seeks to reestablish its presence with care not to trigger a renewed, wide-scale confrontation. The hard truth emerging from the ceasefire period is that Hamas remains weakened by sustained Israeli pressure, yet it continues to function as the governing power in Gaza with the capacity to fulfill or stall agreed terms. In parallel, Hamas publicly released the last living hostages it held, while continuing to face pressure from rival factions within Gaza and from international mediators who are pressing for disarmament and broader guarantees against renewed violence.
At the same time, the terms of the ceasefire agreement and the associated “Comprehensive End of Gaza War” document continue to be parsed by officials in Jerusalem and Washington. The agreement set a 72-hour window for Hamas to release all 20 living hostages and for it to locate and turn over the bodies of dead hostages it can find. While Hamas fulfilled the living-hostage portion, questions linger about the retrieval of all dead hostages. Iranian- or Gaza-linked factors have complicated the calculus, and Israeli officials have publicly warned that even when a deal is in place, imperfect compliance can delay closure. Some Israeli officials have told reporters that a subset of dead hostages may remain unrecovered within the constraints of ongoing searches and information sharing with mediators, a reality that feeds domestic frustration among families who lost loved ones.
In a separate development that has drawn wide attention, US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters about his recent address to the Knesset. He said he did not intend to call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be pardoned, but that the moment and the applause surrounding Netanyahu’s leadership influenced his decision in the moment. Trump described the scene as “good timing,” and suggested that the public reception played a role in his choice, while emphasizing that it was not premeditated. The exchange underscores how American political debates about leadership, accountability, and diplomacy intersect with ongoing security concerns in Israel during a period of wartime stress.
Turning to casualties on the Israeli home front, the city of Ramat Gan reported the death of Aharon Mizrahi, 76, w
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