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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-16 at 19:06
HEADLINES
Israel blocks Turkish rescue until hostages' remains
Intl push for Gaza stabilization force advances
Israel strikes Hezbollah targets amid Lebanon tensions
The time is now 3:01 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
Israel is signaling a shift in the Gaza corridor dynamics as it blocked entry for a Turkish rescue delegation until Hamas returns the remains of hostages and the bodies of fallen soldiers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior security officials to review Hamas’s refusal to yield the bodies and to discuss the next phase of the broader plan to end the war, including considerations tied to the proposed postwar framework.
In parallel, Israel told mediators and allied partners that it can provide intelligence on hostage remains still in Gaza. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar indicated that Hamas could release a significant number of hostages once the arrangement allows, underscoring Israel’s insistence that return of the living captives and the remains must accompany any further steps.
The ceasefire framework continues to shape diplomacy and military posture. Israeli into-the-foreign-policy glare shows a dual approach: maintain pressure on Hamas to recover hostages and keep security priorities front and center, while inching toward the broad, long-term plan championed by former US administration intermediaries for Gaza’s governance. In Washington, advisers have said progress on assembling a technocratic Palestinian governance body is unfolding slowly, with emphasis first on deconfliction, humanitarian aid, and demilitarization, and only then on institutionalizing a broader transitional authority.
Israel’s internal debate on how to manage postwar Gaza remains ongoing. Justice Minister Yariv Levin has pressed ahead with legislation to create a special tribunal to try Gazans accused of atrocities on October 7, with the potential for the death penalty under genocide statutes, subject to directives from senior security leadership and the prime minister. The aim is to demonstrate to the public that justice is being pursued for the scale and brutality of the attacks, while ensuring due process within a framework designed to handle a large docket.
Internationally, France and Britain said they are refining a United Nations Security Council resolution that would lay the groundwork for a future international stabilization force in Gaza, working in coordination with the United States as the ceasefire holds tenuously. A US adviser noted that planning for a longer-term stabilization presence is moving forward, provided conditions on the ground stay favorable for a multiparty arrangement.
Egypt said Hamas would have no role in governing Gaza during the transitional period, and the Egyptian position has been echoed by other mediators who stress that order and security must be restored before any broader political arrangements are settled. Greece reported an agreement with Egypt on the future of St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, aiming to protect the site’s religious status while alleviating tensions over development plans around it.
In the broader regional security context, Israeli air forces conducted strikes on targets in southern Lebanon tied to Hezbollah infrastructure used to rebuild and conceal militant activity under civilian cover. Israel’s defense establishment noted that these strikes targeted provisions enabling renewed operations and the organization’s post-2014 rebuilding efforts, arguing that such activity violates the understanding between Israel and Lebanon.
Across the region and beyond, the ceasefire has not halted all violence. Reports from Gaza describe continued executions by Hamas of Palestinians accused of collaboration, and several dozen such killings have been reported as the group asserts control over internal power dynamics.
Published on 2 weeks, 6 days ago