Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-11-26 at 09:09

HEADLINES Trump irked as MBS stalls Israel ties Dror Or identified; Thai hostage unaccounted Fordo largely non-operational after airstrikes The time is now 4:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report. This hour, a broad roundup of developments shaping the Middle East and adjacent regions, with emphasis on Israeli security concerns, international diplomacy, and the evolving US stance. First, a private clash inside the corridor of power. A source familiar with discussions says President Donald Trump grew irritated when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, declined to commit to normalizing ties with Israel. The exchange highlights persistent sensitivities around any broader Gulf-Israel alignment and the delicate balance Riyadh seeks between strategic partnerships and domestic and regional sensitivities. The episode comes as US policymakers weigh how to maintain customary support for Israel’s security while managing broader regional diplomacy that could shift in the coming years. Turning to Gaza and Israel’s ongoing hostage crisis, the remains of a deceased Israeli hostage have been positively identified. Dror Or, 49, from Kibbutz Be’eri, was seized during the October 7, 2023 attack and was later determined dead. For Or’s family and for a nation waiting for the return of the last captives, authorities stress the government’s unwavering commitment to bring all hostages home. In parallel, reporting confirms one remaining international hostage—the Thai national held in Gaza—whose fate has continued to draw intense international attention. In parallel, the United States remains deeply engaged in Gaza’s governance questions. A New York Times report, drawing on interviews with US, Israeli, and European officials, describes a push to establish “alternative safe communities” in the Gaza Strip. The plan envisions several temporary housing compounds on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line to provide housing for Gazans—roughly 20,000 to 25,000 per site—along with clinics and schools. The first compound is expected to be built in Rafah near the Egyptian border. The effort, led by a team including Aryeh Lightstone, aims to jump-start humanitarian relief and job creation but faces questions about scale, funding, movement, and the long-term implications of residency within or near areas under Israeli control. US officials and Israeli partners have described this as a practical step toward stabilizing the enclave, while European and UN voices caution about feasibility and political acceptability for Gazan residents. On the security front in the West Bank, Israeli forces conducted a broad counterterrorism operation in the northern region overnight. The campaign, involving multiple brigades and the Shin Bet, targeted alleged terrorist networks in Tubas, Tammun, and al-Aqaba, and included arrests and weapon searches. The operation follows a broader pattern of intensified activity since the Gaza war began last year and amid a rise in settler-related incidents across the West Bank. The Israeli military stresses that the objective is to prevent terrorist activity and outages in security, while Palestinian authorities report movement restrictions around medical facilities in some areas. The violence over the past two years has led to substantial casualties among Palestinians and Israeli security personnel, as well as a significant uptick in attacks by settlers against Palestinian communities. Across the region, Iran’s nuclear program remains a central strategic concern for Israel and its allies. New assessments of the Fordo facility suggest the site remains largely non-operational, five months after a series of airstrikes. Satellite-based analyses indicate damaged underground halls and closed entrances, with experts noting no clear sign of ongoing enrichment activity at Fordo. Analysts caution that the broader picture of Iran’s nuclear program remains complex and contested, with focus on how Tehran responds to external pressure and how its program might evolve in the near term. In a broader regional dynamic, three Turkish lawmakers visited Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, signaling a potential shift in Ankara’s approach to the Kurdish insurgency and a possible pathway toward peace discussions inside Turkey. The move reflects careful calculations by Turkey as it balances domestic political factors with regional security concerns, and with the broader aspiration to reduce decades of internal conflict. Cultural and scholarly developments offer a different lens on the region’s long arc. In Israel, researchers are harnessing artificial intelligence to unlock the Cairo Geniza, a vast medieval collection of Jewish manuscripts. By training AI to read and transcribe the Geniza’s Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and Yiddish texts, scholars hope to accelerate discoveries about Jewish history and the broader historical context of the Middle East