Note: There will be no Israel Update for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully returning around 19 November.
ELECTION-FREE ZONE
At the time of writing, the Israeli election result remains inconclusive. In any event, domestic Israeli politics lie outside the remit of these Updates.
HEBRON TERROR ATTACK
Two Israeli soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23,and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, , were killed and three others wounded when IDF troops intercepted two Hamas-affiliated terrorists near Hebron last Friday. The attackers were killed in the clash, preventing a potentially larger attack on civilians as their vehicle was found laden with a large quantity of explosives and ammunition.
Following the attack, IDF troops launched a multi-day operation in the terrorists’ neighbourhood, temporarily displacing around 2,000 residents while searching for Hamas threats. During the targeted operation, Israeli authorities also demolished illegally built structures that the gunmen had used as cover.
IDF troops scanning over 500 structures in the neighbourhood discovered a 15-metre-deep underground passageway adjacent to one of the terrorists’ homes.
GAZA
The IDF has intensified operations against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza recently, eliminating an average of two to three field commanders and operatives per day, some of whom were on their way to carry out operations against IDF forces. Earlier this week the IDF targeted nine terror operatives.
Last week the IDF announced that an airstrike had killed the final member of the Hamas cell that was seen abducting the body of Shani Louk on October 7, 2023. Three others were killed earlier in the war and one was captured.
HEZBOLLAH/LEBANON
As trilateral military talks began in Florida, the IDF publicly accused the Lebanese Armed Forces of failing to uphold 2024 security agreements and actively coordinating with Hezbollah to thwart enforcement operations in southern Lebanon. Consequently the Israeli Defence Minister affirmed that Israeli forces will remain in the security zone until Hezbollah is completely disarmed and the threat to northern Israel is removed.
An Israeli security official revealed that Hezbollah is actively rebuilding its military infrastructure and capabilities across Beirut and Tyre, as well as southern Lebanon. The group is making a major effort to regain operational experience and return to peak combat readiness in key Shiite population centres.
According to Lebanese security sources, Hezbollah has used tens of millions of dollars in Iranian funding over three months to prepare for renewed hostilities with Israel by procuring explosives and producing attack drones.
EUROPE
New regulations announced on October 16, 2026, mark a major turning point in the EU’s counter-proliferation and anti-financial crime efforts. By dismantling front companies, nominee arrangements, and complex cross-border trusts, the rules eliminate the structural loopholes that sanctioned entities like Iran’s IRGC previously used to access European markets and banking infrastructure.
European economic restrictions on Israeli businesses are threatening the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinian workers in West Bank industrial zones who rely on higher Israeli wages to support their families. Despite tearing down these economic bridges, Western governments advocating the boycotts have provided no alternative employment, financial aid,or absorption programs for the displaced workers.
GREECE
Last week the Israeli Navy conducted a joint Mediterranean exercise with the Hellenic Navy, featuring missile boats and live firings of newly installed, Israeli-made SPIKE missiles from Greek patrol vessels. The drill took place just days after Israel, Greece, and other nations expressed opposition to a ratified maritime-boundaries agreement between Libya and Turkey.
DEFENCE
Elbit Systems has announced a $235 million deal to supply artillery launchers and rockets to an undisclosed European country, subsequently identified as Azerbaijan.
Israel is to supply Cyprus with a new offshore patrol vessel equipped with advanced Israeli naval systems.
Israel’s Laser Detect Systems has launched SpectroDrone the world’s first drone-based explosive-detection sensor. With machines conducting initial inspections from a safe distance, it reduces human exposure to explosive hazards.
EDUCATION
Tel-Hai Academic College in the Galilee Panhandle has officially transformed into Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona,becoming Israel’s 11th university after fulfilling a government initiative launched in 2005. Located near the northern border with Lebanon, the new research and education centre aims to revitalize the war-battered region’s beleaguered economy.
TECHNOLOGY
The customers of US based Alkami Technology using technology from Israel’s BioCatch prevented over $263 million in fraud during 2025. This compares with $54 million in 2024.
SHEBA MEDICAL CENTRE (TEL HASHOMER)
Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre has risen from #9 to #6 in Newsweek and Statista’s World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2027 ranking of hospitals that successfully translate technological innovation into practical applications.
THE BBC
Former Panorama senior producer Phil Craig has accused the BBC of bias in its Gaza conflict coverage, stating that his long-standing faith in the broadcaster’s fairness and objectivity has ebbed away. He claimed that a “new, more radical generation” has led to insufficiently policed output and consistent, one-sided mistakes, including hiring partisan personnel. As a key example, Craig cited the BBC’s coverage of the al-Ahli hospital explosion, where a correspondent initially speculated that an Israeli airstrike was responsible before Western intelligence attributed it to a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket. click here (paywall)
BBC press officers refused to promote We Will Dance Again, an Emmy-winning documentary about the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, according to executive producer Lucie Kon, who has claimed that she faced discrimination at the broadcaster because she is Jewish. She subsequently instigated unfair dismissal proceedings against the BBC, which agreed to pay her substantial compensation without any admission of liability. It has refused to apologise or admit she was a victim of anti-Semitism.
click here (paywall)
THE UN CHALLENGED
UKLFI Charitable Trust (UKLFI) and UN Watch have published a response exposing fundamental flaws in the latest report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on (what the UN terms) the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel.
The analysis concludes that the Commission’s findings are undermined by a recurring pattern of selective quotations, unsupported assertions, repeated allegations presented as corroborated evidence, omissions of material facts and misrepresentations of the law.
Response: click here
NAS DAILY
Israeli-Arab social media entrepreneur Nuseir Yassin (known as vlogger/influencer Nas Daily) stated at a recent conference that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism driven by hatred toward Jews, emphasizing his belief that Israel’s success aligns with his own as an Israeli citizen. Following the October 7 attacks, Yassin shifted to identifying primarily as Israeli and argued that freeing Palestine should focus on removing Hamas and extremism rather than opposing Israel.
Footnote: Across all channels & platforms Nas Daily reaches 68 million followers in languages including English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Bahasa, Vietnamese, and Thai.
SAUDI ARABIA
IDF intelligence continues to provide Saudi Arabia with exceptional capabilities to assist its military operations against the Houthis.
COMMENT & OPINION
Richard Pollock: Western leaders expressed surprise when PA leader Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first legislative elections in two decades, a move consistent with authoritarian rule. Despite tens of billions of dollars in EU and U.S. aid pouring into the territory since the Oslo Accords, much of it has enriched Abbas and his family, who control lucrative state-funded contracts. Meanwhile, ordinary Palestinians live under a corrupt, repressive police state where human rights abuses are documented and a vast majority of the public wants Abbas to resign. This internal disparity is starkly illustrated by wealthy Palestinian elites building opulent mansions and estates while the leadership projects an image of widespread national poverty.
Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch and Amb. Alan Baker:
British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband’s proposal to sanction Israeli businesses in Judea and Samaria stems from a misunderstanding of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Neither the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, nor any other international determination, contain any commitment to a “two-state solution”; nor was Israel prohibited from building within Area C under its jurisdiction. Neither the UK nor any other authority has the right to impose any solution on the parties.
The UK demonstrates a double standard by penalising Israeli construction while failing to impose sanctions on Palestinian leaders who actively rejected peace proposals and supported terrorism.
By enforcing policies that undermine the agreed terms of the Oslo Accords, the UK and other foreign governments risk invalidating the very framework that legitimizes the Palestinian Authority. article here
Jeremy Havardi: Moderate Palestinians understand that true self-determination requires recognizing Israel’s right to exist rather than seeking to destroy it. However, long-standing rejectionism from anti-Zionist leadership and campaigns like BDS have locked Palestinians into decades of conflict and economic hardship by discouraging coexistence. This breakdown in stability is highlighted by the post-October 7 loss of over 100,000 Palestinian jobs in Israel, which previously provided vital income that accounted for a fifth of the local GDP.
Elliot Kaufman: The media and the UN display a double standard by highlighting Israeli violence against Palestinians while largely ignoring widespread Palestinian attacks, such as stone-throwing and bombings. Despite significant data from the Israel Security Agency documenting thousands of Palestinian terror incidents in the West Bank, UN databases vastly underreport these events while classifying harmless Israeli activities (Israeli road work, school trips to archaeological sites) or self-defence as violence. Ultimately, this creates a media landscape where Palestinian attacks are treated as routine rather than newsworthy.
article here (paywall)
Bassam Tawil: The Palestinian Authority is frequently described by Western governments as a potential partner for peace. If they wish to be regarded as a credible alternative to Hamas, they need to demonstrate that difference in practice. Condemning Israeli actions while refusing to condemn the deliberate killing of Israelis is no foundation for peace. The PA is part of the problem; it is not the solution – and wishing it were will not make it so, with its long-standing policy of paying monthly stipends to Palestinian terrorists who murder or wound Jews.
Brendan O’Neill: The “Israeli apartheid” libel has completely fallen apart. The success of the Arab parties in the election shatters the lies of the Israelphobes.