The Popular Forces captured Adham al Akar, a Hamas company commander in Rafah, and transferred him to Israeli custody. Akar’s capture underscores the growing role of local anti-Hamas militias in conducting offensive operations against the Islamist organization. However, with the ceasefire framework expected to bring further Israeli military withdrawals from Gaza, these groups may face mounting strategic risks.
The United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned seven entities linked to Hamas’s covert support network. The sanctions add to a lengthy history of the group leveraging nongovernmental organizations and sham charities to raise funds for terrorism.
An assessment published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week points to a sharp reduction in Palestinian-perpetrated terrorist activity across the West Bank in 2025. The IDF attributed the decline to sustained counterterrorism operations in the territory throughout last year. However, despite the figures, there are signs that West Bank terrorist organizations are attempting to renew their efforts.
Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia, warned the United States that if Washington launched a war with Iran, the group would attack American bases in the region. The threat comes amid rising tension between Washington and Tehran as the Islamic Republic continues a brutal crackdown on demonstrations that began nearly three weeks ago.
The Popular Forces militia claimed that it eliminated two members of Hamas. The group and its anti-Hamas allies continue to operate in Gaza despite threats by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist factions to dismantle the organizations.
In contrast to its ambiguity about casualty announcements during the recent war with Israel, Hamas confirmed the killing of veteran senior leader Raed Saad and additional operatives. Israel said Saad held multiple senior positions within Hamas and was among the planners of the October 7 attack.
Two gunmen carried out an antisemitic terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 16 people and wounding dozens before one attacker was killed and the other arrested. Australian authorities, who said one suspect was previously known to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, are investigating possible foreign links as Israel separately examines whether Iran or its proxies played a role amid warnings about Iranian-backed threats to Jewish communities abroad.
Yasser Abu Shabab, the head of the Popular Forces, was killed in Gaza on December 4. Shabab was a polarizing figure who led the first armed group to emerge during the Gaza war that actively opposed Hamas and its allies’ rule in the territory.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad issued a statement detailing its activities in the West Bank in recent days. The release follows an increase in the terror group’s activity in the territory over the past few months, including the deaths of nine of its members in separate incidents involving the IDF in November.
A Palestinian police officer, identified as Younis Ishtayeh, shot and wounded an Israeli soldier in the West Bank on Thursday, and Israeli counterterrorism forces killed the shooter the next day. The incident adds to growing signs of rising violence in the West Bank following months of general calm.
The recent arrest of four East Jerusalem residents for their ties to the Islamic State reflects a rise in terrorism cases linked to the jihadist group in the West Bank and Israel. Israeli authorities have noted the trend and point to online radicalization as a factor in this emerging pattern.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the border with Egypt to become a closed military zone following the detection of arms and drug smuggling by drones. Nearly 900 incidents of smuggling from Egyptian territory have reportedly happened in three months.
Mounting evidence suggests that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is becoming more active in the West Bank following extensive Israeli military operations in the territory that began earlier this year. Claims of attacks by PIJ, the killing of its members in counter-terrorism operations, and other evidence point to the group attempting a resurgence.
With the help of China, Tehran is importing a chemical precursor for its medium-range ballistic missiles despite recently imposed United Nations sanctions, CNN reported. The report assesses that Tehran “appears to be stepping up the rebuilding of its ballistic missile program” following the 12-day war with Israel in June.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed four members of Hamas who took part in kidnapping Israelis from the Nova Music Festival on October 7. Among these Hamas members killed was Arafat Dib, whose family established a GoFundMe page to raise funds in the wake of his death. The IDF also highlighted four other Hamas members whom it killed for their roles in infiltrating Israeli territory.
Hamas has told Arab mediators that it will not carry out any more public executions, as the acts have threatened the stability of the group’s ceasefire with Israel. However, Hamas’s Arrow Unit has continued to carry out violent public beatings of Palestinians who have been accused of committing a range of crimes.
Mahmoud al Muhtadi, a reported member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), was arrested by federal authorities in Louisiana for his alleged participation in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Hamas has embarked on a campaign against opposing militias and clans in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire with Israel took effect on October 10. Hamas’s Arrow Unit has conducted public executions and threatened more against those it has deemed collaborators with Israel.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s branch in the West Bank announced the death of two fighters in the northern West Bank following clashes with Israeli forces. Both members, a commander and a regular fighter, were allegedly planning to carry out a terrorist attack, according to the Israeli military.
The Counterterrorism Strike Force has emerged as the latest anti-Hamas militia in the Gaza Strip. While the group has not disclosed its origins, reports suggest it is managed by the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency. The nascent organization may also be affiliated with the Popular Forces militia led by Yasir Abu Shabab.
Israel attacked a gathering of senior Hamas members in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday afternoon. Israel has said it is awaiting confirmation if the operation was successful, while Hamas has denied that its leaders were killed in the attack. However, Hamas acknowledged that five members of its delegation died in the strike, including the son of senior member Khalil al Hayya.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) eliminated Hamas member Hazem Naim, who it said held several Israelis hostage during the war. An FDD’s The Long War Journal analysis found that Hazem Naim was the nephew of senior Hamas official Basem Naim. It is the first publicly known example of a senior Hamas member’s family involved in holding Israelis captive during the war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Abu Obeida, Hamas’s spokesperson, was killed in Gaza on Saturday. Abu Obeida was one of Hamas’s few senior members left from before its launch of the October 7 surprise attack on Israel, and he played a central role in the Islamist group’s propaganda apparatus.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other security personnel conducted an operation in the West Bank city of Ramallah to seize funds destined for Hamas. The effort was linked to a broader military campaign that began earlier this year, targeting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations.
The Israeli military said it targeted and killed terrorists disguised as World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff in the Gaza Strip. The WCK denounced the individuals who posed as aid workers, saying it put humanitarians at risk. The incident adds to a longstanding trend of Palestinian terrorists infiltrating and exploiting charity groups.
Twenty-two months after Hamas invaded southern Israel and started the war, Israel’s security cabinet voted in favor of occupying Gaza City. The decision came after the conclusion of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, where Israel was unable to disarm Hamas and rescue the remaining hostages held in captivity by terrorist groups in the territory. In protest of the cabinet’s decision, the German government announced that it would halt arms for Israel that could be used in Gaza.
Israel is set to decide on occupying the Gaza Strip following the collapse of ceasefire talks with Hamas in Doha, according to reports. The decision is expected to be discussed and potentially approved in a security cabinet meeting on August 7. Hamas has warned against the move, saying it will endanger the lives of the hostages that it and other terrorist groups have held for almost two years.
Following a five-month manhunt, Israeli authorities said they located and apprehended the suspect behind a series of bus bombings in central Israel earlier this year. Authorities did not detail if the individual had ties to specific terrorist groups, though there are indications the bombings were connected to a Hamas branch in the West Bank
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said that Hamas affiliates are behind a deadly crowd crush at an aid distribution site in Khan Younis on July 16. Twenty Palestinians died in the incident, including one person who was stabbed to death. In a related incident at the site, an American medic belonging to the GHF was wounded by a Hamas affiliate.
For the first time in the war, the Israeli military acknowledged that Hamas attempted to abduct an Israeli soldier. The incident follows Hamas speculating that “additional prisoners will fall into our hands” in a statement two days before the attack.