Podcast Episode Details

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-22 at 02:11

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HEADLINES
Identified Nir Oz hostages Adar and Zalmanowicz
US launches CMCC to stabilize Gaza
Hamas remains 20,000 fighters, ceasefire fragile

The time is now 10:00 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

Good evening. Here is your hour-by-hour briefing on the Middle East and related developments shaping the region today.

Israeli and hostage-related developments continued to mark the day. The Israeli government confirmed the identification of Tamir Adar, a Kibbutz Nir Oz resident who was killed defending his community during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and subsequently abducted to Gaza. Forensic authorities completed the identification, and military officials conveyed to his family that Adar has been returned to Israel for burial. He was 38 years old and is survived by his wife, two children, his parents, and three siblings. The Prime Minister’s Office and military spokespeople highlighted his courage and the personal sacrifice of many keeping vigil in the wake of the attack. Separately, Israel announced the identification of Arie Zalmanowicz, an 85-year-old Nir Oz resident who was taken during the same assault and died in captivity. His death date has been recorded as November 17, 2023, and his remains were identified as part of ongoing efforts to account for all those taken in the fighting. The Israeli military has emphasized that it continues investigations into the circumstances of each hostage’s death while pursuing all avenues to secure the return of the remaining captives and the dead for proper burial.

On the diplomatic and security front, the United States is expanding its stabilization efforts in Gaza through a new Civil-Military Coordination Center, or CMCC, to be based in southern Israel. Over the next two weeks, roughly 200 US troops and personnel from partner countries, NGOs, international organizations, and the private sector will be brought together to support stabilization, humanitarian flow, and the coordination of security assistance. US Central Command described the CMCC as a facility to monitor ceasefire implementation and to coordinate real-time assessments of developments in Gaza. Importantly, officials stressed that American personnel will not deploy into Gaza themselves; their role is to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian relief and coordinate security support with international partners. In accompanying visits, US officials indicated that the center would also serve as an operations floor to evaluate how the ceasefire is functioning on the ground and to help ensure that stabilization efforts advance a path toward a peaceful, sustainable transition.

In Washington, policy discussions continued about the broader framework for Gaza and the future of its governance. US President Donald Trump’s team has tied the ceasefire framework to a longer-term plan that envisions disarming Hamas and a transition toward a different governance arrangement for Gaza. At the same time, senior aides have signaled that any reconstruction funds would be contingent on Hamas’s compliance with security commitments. Jared Kushner, a longtime broker of the ceasefire deal, reiterated that reconstruction funds would not flow to areas under Hamas control as the administration weighs how to structure a postwar Gaza. Israeli and regional discussions about a broader normalization trajectory with Saudi Arabia remain intertwined with the Gaza ceasefire and the prospects for a two-state framework, even as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government faces domestic debates over settlement activity and territorial questions.

The broader political landscape in the United States also appeared in the mix. A delegation of Democrats in the Senate circulated a letter applauding President Trump’s stated opposition to West Bank annexation and urging continued commitment to a two-state framework and to the existing Abra

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Published on 2 weeks ago