Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-09-05 at 15:06

HEADLINES
- Gaza City Offensive Expands to Forty Percent
- 700 Days Since Hostage Captivity Netanyahu Stance
- Iran-IAEA Talks Resume Amid Regional Tensions

The time is now 11:00 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

This is the hour’s news update. The latest reporting paints a picture of a region still under strain, with Israel tightening its military campaign in Gaza, while parallel struggles unfold in the West Bank, the political arena in Jerusalem, and regional diplomacy.

In Gaza, the Israeli military announced a sharp escalation as operations expanded deeper into Gaza City. Troops described selective, precision strikes against Hamas infrastructure, including underground facilities used to plan attacks and provide escape routes for fighters. The army said it has gained control of roughly forty percent of Gaza City and signaled further pressure in the days ahead as it moves to seize Hamas’s remaining strongholds. Evacuation notices were issued to residents of high-rise districts, followed by strikes that damaged several towers. Eyewitness accounts described residents scrambling to flee with belongings as smoke rose from multiple targets. The military framed these moves as necessary to reduce civilian risk by advancing into combat zones, while accusing Hamas of embedding its own command centers, snipers, and explosive devices in civilian buildings and using tunnels near those sites.

In parallel, Israeli operations in the West Bank continued, with security forces reporting the week’s activity across multiple districts. A combined operation by the Israeli military, the border police, and security services arrested seventy wanted individuals, seized weapons including long guns and pistols, and confiscated materials linked to violence. In several districts, authorities described the detention of numerous suspects and the destruction of improvised explosive devices and other weapons caches, with the aim of disrupting ongoing terror-planning activities.

The conflict’s human dimension remains severe. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has tallied more than sixty-four thousand dead across the enclave, a figure the Israeli government disputes in terms of attribution and casualty type, while stressing it has killed a large number of Hamas combatants and suspects that civilian infrastructure has been exploited by Hamas. Israel says it seeks to minimize civilian harm, but contends Hamas fights from within civilian populations and is accused of diverting aid. In Gaza’s wider theater, the military said it targeted money and logistics networks supporting Hamas, including the killing of Nur al-Din Dabbaghsh, a Hamas financier, a move the army said struck at the group’s ability to fund operations. Separately, forces reported destroying anti-tank positions, weapons storage facilities, and other infrastructure in northern Gaza, and continuing pressure in the Jabalia area and the city’s outskirts.

Egypt, meanwhile, warned against mass displacement of Palestinians as the Gaza operation broadens. Cairo reiterated that displacement would constitute a grave humanitarian and political problem and rejected characterizations of the fighting as genocide. Egypt stressed its intent to protect civilians and to press for humanitarian channels and aid delivery, even as it urged restraint from all sides.

Hostage families marked a stark milestone—700 days since captives were taken in October 2023. A voice from the families’ circle asked what 700 days of captivity means for those imprisoned, starved, and anxious. In public remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel sees war aims as achievable under terms laid out by his government: the return of all hostages, the life and safety of the missing and the dead, the dismantling of Hamas’s military capabilities, the demilitarization of Gaza, and...