Media, Israel-US compromise on Hamas militiamen exile denied. Minister Dermer resigns

The first step for the creation of a new community in Gaza will be the clearance of unexploded ordnance and the removal of rubble. The State Department has already awarded a contract to a US company, Tetra Tech, which should prepare the ground for the first Alternative Safe Community.

According to The Atlantic, the plan is supported by Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as the Israeli government, while it has raised objections from some State Department officials, as well as foreign governments and humanitarian organisations. The objections would relate in particular to restrictions that would be imposed on Palestinians, after Israeli forces controlling the humanitarian border crossings into Gaza let US officials know that civilians allowed into the communities would not be allowed to re-enter the Hamas-controlled area of Gaza.

Those raising objections fear that preventing Palestinians from moving freely during a period of relative peace will create a lasting division in the centre of Gaza.

The United States is planning to establish a large military base in Israel, near the border with Gaza, for international forces that will operate in the Strip to maintain the ceasefire. This was revealed by the website Shomrim, citing Israeli sources, picked up by Ynet and other local media. The base could accommodate several thousand soldiers and its cost is around $500 million, the sources say. In recent weeks, the Americans have been working to bring the issue forward with the Israeli government and the IDF, and have begun evaluating potential areas. A security official told Israeli media that the move is a significant change for Israel, which has traditionally sought to minimise international involvement in the territories under its control, and underlines Washington's determination to take an active role in Gaza and the conflict. The US has already established the Civilian and Military Monitoring Centre in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, to monitor the ceasefire in Gaza and oversee the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

Meanwhile, the Yemeni Houthis announced in a message to Hamas that they had suspended their attacks against Israel and ships in the Red Sea, in light of the ceasefire in force in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian media, in a letter addressed to the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, the pro-Iranian Shia rebels wrote: 'We are closely following developments. We declare that should the enemy resume its aggression on Gaza, we will return to our military activities in the heart of the Zionist entity and re-impose the blockade on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea'.

Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer submitted his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the letter, Dermer states that he promised his family, upon joining the government in December 2022, that he would only hold the post for two years. The minister states that he extended his term twice with his family's blessing: "The first time to work with Netanyahu to remove the existential threat posed by Iran's nuclear military capabilities, and the second time to end the war in Gaza on Israel's terms and to bring our hostages home. "This government will be remembered both for the 7 October attack and for its handling of the two-year seven-front war," Dermer explains. "I don't know what the future holds, but I do know one thing for sure: in everything I do, I will continue to do my part to secure the future of the Jewish people." Dermer, who was born in the US, is considered Netanyahu's closest advisor and has been involved in a wide range of diplomatic issues, including relations with the US, negotiations for the release of hostages during the Gaza war, and Israel's relations with neighbouring Arab countries. According to a source quoted by Times of Israel Dermer, while leaving the government, he will continue to deal with certain issues, such as efforts to expand the Abrahamic Accords, and will act as Netanyahu's special envoy.

The Israeli police and army said security forces arrested several Israeli settlers following violent clashes near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, during which Palestinian citizens were injured and property was destroyed. The army said it sent troops after 'masked Israeli civilians... attacked Palestinians and set fire to property in the area', claiming that 'security forces intervened to disperse the clash using riot dispersal means and arrested several Israeli civilians', as well as evacuating four injured Palestinians for medical treatment. In a separate statement, the Israeli police said that four suspects were arrested "following the violent incident that occurred today in the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf" in the northern West Bank.

Hussein Hammadi, mayor of Beit Lid, told Afp that some 200 Israeli settlers descended from the hills towards his village before splitting into two groups. "One attacked the Bedouin community located on a slope along the road, while the other went up the nearby hill where the Juneidi dairy plant is located," Hammadi said, referring to one of the main Palestinian dairy brands. "The group that attacked the Bedouin community burned Bedouin vehicles, animal pens and houses, and attempted to steal sheep before moving on to another Bedouin camp," while those at the dairy plant burned five of the company's trucks and looted the facility, he said, adding that ten Palestinians were injured during the attack.

However, the mayor does not believe that the police arrested Israeli settlers: 'They would never have dared to do this if they were not protected by the army,' he said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that October 2025 was the worst month for settler violence since it began recording data in 2006, with 264 attacks resulting in casualties or property damage. Almost none of the perpetrators were held accountable by the Israeli authorities, in line with Palestinian authorities' complaints that Israeli forces do not usually arrest settlers, or even indirectly support them. Violence has escalated throughout the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023: at least 1,002 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the beginning of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and according to official Israeli figures 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank during the same period.