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Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-10-29 at 14:07
HEADLINES
Rafah strike renews Gaza ceasefire
Netanyahu trial expands to four weekly hearings
Knesset pushes three-role Attorney General reform
The time is now 10:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the latest developments across the Middle East and Israel’s domestic scene reflect a pattern familiar to international audiences: a continuing balance between security operations, political and legal maneuvering at home, and the broader questions of diplomacy and alliance that shape policy in Washington and beyond.
In Gaza, the ceasefire that had been held in recent days has been renewed, following a night of targeted Israeli airstrikes in response to an attack in Rafah that killed an Israeli soldier. The Israeli military said the strikes were aimed at Hamas targets and operatives, and the ceasefire restoration allows life to return to a measure of normalcy on the ground, even as the humanitarian toll from the renewed fighting remains steep. Palestinian medical authorities, controlled by Hamas, reported that more than one hundred people were killed in these strikes, underscoring the enduring human cost of the cycle of retaliation and the broader security dilemma surrounding the Gaza Strip. Israel has emphasized that its actions are calibrated to degrade Hamas’s military capabilities while attempting to preserve civilian lives, a difficult balance that continues to be at the center of international scrutiny.
Amid this, the conflict’s political and diplomatic dimensions continue to unfold. The Israeli judiciary and the government are squarely in focus as issues of security, governance, and accountability interweave with daily politics.
First, in a high-profile domestic legal development, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial proceeds with an expanded testimony schedule. The court has ordered four hearings per week, with Netanyahu slated to testify in three of them. The defense has argued that such a pace is unsustainable given the workload already shouldered by counsel; they warned they may be unable to provide the level of advocacy required if the schedule remains unchanged. The three ongoing cases—often described in broader coverage as involving allegations of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery—continue to polarize public debate around the proper role of politics, judicial accountability, and the rule of law in Israel. The prime minister himself has noted the demands on his time, insisting that the process must be fair but also recognizing the heavy burdens placed on those involved in the proceedings.
In parallel, the Attorney General’s office has been the center of another headline: an investigation into the publication of a damning video from a detention facility. The video—linked to the ongoing case pertaining to the detention environment—has already prompted arrests, protests, and subsequent follow-on actions. Government officials and legal authorities have stressed that the investigation is ongoing and that procedural norms are being followed, as the state seeks to determine if there were breaches in the handling and dissemination of sensitive materials.
Another major domestic issue concerns a proposed reform to the office of the Attorney General itself. A bill is moving through the Knesset to divide the attorney general’s responsibilities into three separate roles: legal adviser to the government, head of the state prosecution, and representative of the State of Israel in court. Supporters argue that the change could clarify functions and reduce potential conflicts of interest, while critics warn about the implications for cohesion and uniformity in legal policy. As this legislation advances, it will be observed for its potential to reshape the balance between government power and judicial oversight.
On the security front, a sepa
Published on 5 days, 14 hours ago