Israel at war: What happened on day 25?

IDF forces under the command of the Givati ​​Brigade took control over a Hamas military stronghold in western Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a military spokesperson said.

Approximately 50 terrorists were killed by Israeli forces. Furthermore, Israeli fighter jets, under Shin Bet intelligence, eliminated Ebrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas's Jabalia battalion, and was one of the leaders of the October 7 massacre. 

Natalie Raanan, a US citizen who was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization and was held in Gaza earlier this month, has returned to her home in Chicago, media reported.

Both Natalie and her mother were taken by Hamas on October 7.

"We got the news that Natalie landed in Chicago and headed back home - together with her family members, who've been anxiously waiting for her to come to Chicago," Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Yinam Cohen said in a statement to CBS 2.

 Japan will impose further sanctions on a number of individuals including people based in Gaza, according to a statement released by the Japanese foreign ministry on Tuesday.

IDF fighter jets attacked infrastructure belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah early Tuesday in Lebanon, a military spokesperson stated. 

Weapons used by the terror organization were reportedly destroyed. 

This is a developing story.

Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk said that the tunnels built by Hamas are meant to protect and hold terrorists, and not civilians, in an interview that was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"We have built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed," he claimed. "These tunnels are meant to protect us from airplanes. We are fighting inside the tunnels."

The video was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, and can be watched below:

Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk: The Tunnels in Gaza Were Built to Protect Hamas Fighters, Not Civilians; Protecting Gaza Civilians Is the Responsibility of the U.N. and Israel #Hamas #Gaza pic.twitter.com/LlIVcQX6dt

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 30, 2023

Marzouk's statements were in response to questions about why Hamas constructed over 500 kilometers of tunnels, according to the interviewer, and have not invested that effort into constructing bomb shelters.

"Everybody knows that 75% of the people in the Gaza Strip are refugees, and it is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect them," he continued.

Hamas tunnel that stretched several meters into Israel and was discovered by the IDF near Kissufim forest. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

"According to the Geneva Conventions, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide them with all the services as long as they are under occupation."

Tunnels constructed were also under hospitals, terrorists say

Marzouk's statements come a few days after two Hamas terrorists under interrogation by Shin Bet and the IDF admitted that Hamas terrorists have hidden under hospitals in Gaza, most notably Al-Shifa hospital, where their tunnels and operation rooms are also located, according to the IDF.

The two terrorists were captured on October 7 after the massacre.

The IDF killed a suspect who managed to cross into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on Monday night, a military spokesperson said.

There were no Israeli casualties in the incident.

This is a developing story.

National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, the retired army general who, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, leads Israel's emergency war cabinet, posted an address on X this morning to both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, telling the Arab Israeli community that they are an "inseparable part of Israeli society," and recounting his meetings with Arab Israelis who risked their lives to save other Israelis during the attacks of October 7.

The address came a day and a half after police had to escort a group of Arab students out of a university dorm in Netanya, while outside, hundreds of Jews chanted "Death to Arabs" and "All the Arabs out," after claims that the Arab students had thrown eggs at Jewish children at a nearby synagogue.

פנייה ממני לכל אזרחי ישראל. pic.twitter.com/SOkWIVRwww

— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 30, 2023

It is still not clear how the incident started, but the result drew comparisons to recent scenes of anti-Jewish crowds across the world. "Cooper Union in reverse," commented the Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky, invoking an incident in New York City in which pro-Palestinian demonstrators surrounded a group of Jewish students taking shelter in the college library. 

"Fellow citizens, Jewish and Arab," Gantz began, "we are in a war with those who want to destroy us, to hurt us, a murderous terror organization that goes against the ethics of humanity, the values of humanity, and also the values of Islam."

The minister went on to tell the story of Yusuf, a volunteer who drove dozens of Israelis from the south out of harm's way, while under fire. "I met dozens of Arab volunteers, alongside Jews," he said. "Paramedics, who rushed to save lives." Israelis' "destiny," Gantz said, "is shared." 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cabinet minister Benny Gantz during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. (credit: BIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS)

The speech, which went on for about two minutes, indirectly addressed vigilante violence and intimidation: "If there are minorities amongst the Arab citizens of Israel," he said, "who incite or act against the state, they must be condemned by their community, and the Israel Police and Shin Bet will deal with them with a heavy hand."

It is the "legal and ethical duty," Gantz continued, of all citizens of Israel to "leave that to law enforcement and them alone.

"It is important for me to say to Arab citizens of Israel: we are in a war for our home, and you are an inseparable part of it. Only together, with all parts of Israeli society, will we win, and will we bring better days." 

"It is important for me to say to Arab citizens of Israel: we are in a war for our home, and you are an inseparable part of it. Only together, with all parts of Israeli society, will we win, and will we bring better days."

Benny Gantz

Gantz also posted an address to Jews in the Diaspora

Gantz also posted a similar address late Monday night, in English, to Jews around the world.

"Like every Jewish generation," he said, "we find ourselves once again weeping for the murder of Jewish children. Entire families turned to dust at the hands of Hamas, a terror organization more despicable than ISIS."

My Jewish brothers and sisters -
As our Jewish and Israeli communities around the world are targeted and antisemitism rears its ugly head once again, this is my message to you: pic.twitter.com/QjuoTevXbV

— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 30, 2023

"But like every Jewish generation, we will outlive this evil too. The one and only Jewish state will prevail," he continued.

"As I speak, our sons and daughters endanger their lives to ensure our survival. We owe it to the Jew in Auschwitz crying for help. We owe it to the university student scared to wear a Star of David or speak Hebrew. We owe it to over 200 hostages sitting in darkness with nothing but hope to keep them warm."

We owe it to the children of am Yisrael who deserve one day to live beside their neighbors in security and peace," he concluded. "We will continue dreaming of peace, but we swear to deliver on our promise: the eternal, safe, powerful, one and only Jewish state is here to stay. Am Yisrael chai, forever."

The United States made clear to Israel that it was concerned about a shutdown of communications in the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on Monday.

"We've made this clear to Israeli leaders and we understand communication networks have started to be restored," she said. "This is essential. A shutdown of telecommunication imperils the lives of civilians, UN personnel, and humanitarian workers and risks exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."