Israel and Iran are reportedly preparing for another war, although some analysts say it may not happen immediately. At the same time, the situation in Gaza appears frozen, with little progress on the ceasefire agreement and rising tensions in other Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
Iran publicly displayed its ballistic missiles and drones for the first time since the June war with Israel. A report in the New York Times stated it is “only a matter of time” until the next Israel-Iran confrontation.
Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, told the New York Times that Iranian officials say their missile factories are operating around the clock because they hope to launch 2,000 missiles at once “to overwhelm Israeli defenses, rather than 500 over 12 days” as they did in June.
Vaez said both sides believe another conflict is inevitable, and that Iran is “doubling down on preparedness… to produce a new equilibrium that will wipe out the sense of Iranian weakness.”
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Experts also say it is unclear whether Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile survived the war. Iran claims it is buried under rubble, but Israel believes the stockpile, which is large enough to build 11 nuclear weapons, has been whisked away to safekeeping.
This comes as talk that Gaza might remain divided at the yellow line, with one part controlled by Israel and another controlled by Hamas, after President Trump’s ceasefire agreement appears to have stalled.
According to the Times of Israel, six European officials say the next phase of the plan is on hold and that reconstruction would take place only in the Israeli-controlled area, potentially leaving the territory split for years.
Hamas returned the body of another hostage overnight. The IDF said 73-year-old Meny Godard was murdered by Islamic Jihad on October 7 and abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri into Gaza.
Three hostage bodies remain in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there is concern that rising violence in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, could scuttle progress in Gaza.
Rubio said, “But yes, look, certainly there’s some concern about events in the West Bank spilling over and creating an effect that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza. We don’t expect it to. We will do everything we can to make sure it does not happen.”
A handful of Israelis torched and defaced a mosque in a Palestinian village on Thursday and wrote graffiti messages on it. The move came a day after Israeli leaders condemned such violence.
Israeli Government Spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said, “Any incidents of lawlessness are dealt with to the full extent of the law. The IDF operates under strict ethical guidelines and international law in Judea and Samaria. Commander of the Central Command made it clear that the IDF does not accept any situation in which lawbreakers harm property and civilians.”
Bedrosian pointed out that Judea and Samaria are also a hotbed for Palestinians planning and carrying out terror attacks.
“Nine major attacks took place in September, eight in the West Bank, Judea, and Samaria region, and one inside Israel. The security services were able to foil 105 major terror attacks. Nine people were killed and 24 injured in the September terror attacks.”
The Israel Defense Forces announced it had “dismantled a Hamas terrorist stronghold” in the Bethlehem area. According to the military, more than 50 terrorists were apprehended, and they had planned to carry out shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.
