WEEKLY UPDATE - 10.31.2025

Israeli strikes continue to kill civilians in spite of ceasefire in Gaza

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a wave of strikes in Gaza over Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning killing 104 Palestinians. According to the Israeli paper Haaretz, only 26 of the victims were confirmed militants while 46 were children and 20 were women. Another 200 people were injured in the strikes. The IDF released a statement accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire and said that it will continue to uphold the ceasefire while adding that it would respond “firmly to any violation” to the terms of the ceasefire. Hamas accused the Israeli military of seeking to undermine the ceasefire agreement while adding that it would continue to abide to its terms.

The Israeli strikes came after anonymous gunmen killed an Israeli soldier in Rafah on Tuesday. Hamas denied involvement in the attack. While Hamas is the dominant power in Gaza, several other militant groups operate in the enclave sometimes in cooperation with Hamas and sometimes at odds. This includes influential Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

There continues to be significant tension around the return of the remains of Israeli hostages held by Hamas over the past two years. On Monday the IDF released drone footage of what appeared to Hamas representatives staging the discovery of the remains of a hostage in front of representatives from the Red Cross. Hamas has routinely claimed that it is unable to locate the remains of all the hostages in Gaza and therefore is unable to return them as the terms of the ceasefire agreement have stipulated. Israel officials accuse Hamas of dragging its feet on the return of the hostages and cited the video footage as evidence. In response to the video, far-right members of the Israeli government repeated their calls for a return to war and destruction of Hamas.

Around the Region

• North Africa:

  • The Tunisian government imposed a one-month suspension of the migrant rights group the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. The group said that the government justified the move on the grounds that the group was being audited. The move comes less than a week after a boat of migrants sank of the coast of Tunisia.

  • After years of waiting, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza is opening. The planning and construction of the new museum took nearly two decades. The museum will house many of Egypt’s most significant artifacts including the Tutankhamen collection. Egyptian officials are hoping that the museum will boost the country’s tourism industry.

  • The Libyan government ordered the group Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym MSF) to leave the country by 9 November. The prominent humanitarian organization said that it was given no reason for its expulsion.

  • The Moroccan judicial system is preparing to prosecute more than 2,400 youth for their role in the GenZ 212 protests that have swept across the country over the past month and a half. They face charges such as “rebellion as part of a group”, “assaulting law enforcement officers”, and “incitement to commit crimes and participation in armed gatherings.”

• The Gulf:

  • Former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki accused the current government of seeking to normalize relations with Israel after it participated in the recent Sharm el-Sheikh summit.

  • European intelligence agencies said that Iran has began rebuilding its ballistic missile program citing the arrival of shipments from China of materials used missile fuel. In recent months, Iran has increased the discount price of the crude oil it sells to China from $8/barrel to $6/barrel.

  • Amnesty International published a report that said a US air strike in Yemen last April killed more than 60 African migrants who had been detained and amounts to a possible war crime.

• The Levant:

  • The Wall Street Journal reported that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has begun rebuilding its military wing based on sources close to Israeli and Arab intelligence agencies. According to the report Hezbollah has been restocking its artillery and missile supplies via seaports and smuggling networks through Syria. The organization has also begun manufacturing some of new weapons well. Naim Qassem, the new head of the militant group, has resisted demands for the group to disarm. According to the report, Hezbollah remains stronger than the Lebanese military in spite of the continued Israeli airstrikes targeting the group. After a recent Israeli raid in southern Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun ordered the Lebanese military to confront future Israeli incursions into Lebanon.

  • The Syrian Ministry of the Interior announced that it had arrested the heads of criminal networks associated with the Assad regime on Wednesday. The ministry said that Faisal Ahmed Marouf and his son Ahmed Faisal Marouf assisted the Assad regime through intimidation, killings, and robberies. Syrian state media also reported that SDF, which is largely Kurdish, killed two Syrian soldiers and wounded another in a missile attack near the Tishrin Dam. The SDF denied any involvement in the attacks.

  • The Syrian interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Saudi Arabia for talks with the Saudi FM and to participate in the Future Investment Initiative conference. Sharaa discussed the prospects of rebuilding Syria and building regional economic cooperation. Syria also announced that it recognized the independence of Kosovo, a move that was welcomed by Saudi Arabia.

  • More than 200,000 Orthodox Jews protested the controversial military draft-law in Jerusalem on Thursday. Protesters blocked the main entrance to Jerusalem while clashing with police and attacking journalists.

  • The IDF’s top lawyer resigned her position after acknowledging her role in leaking video evidence of IDF soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman last year. Earlier in the week, the IDF announced that it was launching a criminal investigation into the video leak.

Recommended:

• “Sermons urge youth to take part in public affairs in Morocco wave of protests” Associated Press

• “Jordan’s 2025 Crackdown Against the Muslim Brotherhood” On Jordan

• “Lebanon is still haunted by its last war” New Lines Magazine

• “What Palestinian Statehood must mean to mean anything” Cairo Review of Global Affairs