News Roundup for November 20, 2025
J Street works to promote an open, honest and rigorous conversation about Israel. The opinions reflected in articles posted in the News Roundup do not necessarily reflect J Street’s positions, and their posting does not constitute an endorsement from J Street.
The Mamdani Freak-Out, In These Times
“‘We need our communal institutions to fight hate in all its forms wherever it comes from and not selective fear-inflation aimed at scoring political points or stoking communal panic,’ J Street wrote on X.”
Israeli Airstrikes Kill 25 Palestinians in Gaza, Rattling Ceasefire, Medics Say, Reuters
“The Israeli military said its forces struck Hamas targets across Gaza after members of the Palestinian militant group fired on its troops in violation of the nearly six-week-old ceasefire. No Israeli forces were injured.”
Israeli Military Steps Up Strikes in South Lebanon, Says It Is Targeting Hezbollah, Reuters
“The Israeli military stepped up airstrikes in south Lebanon on Wednesday, killing at least one person as it pressed a campaign of near-daily attacks which it says is designed to block a military revival by Iran-backed Hezbollah in the border area.”
Saudi Arabia to Receive Less Advanced F-35 Jets Than Israel, US Officials Say, Times of Israel
“The unnamed officials told Reuters that the jets Riyadh will receive will not have some of the advanced weapons systems and equipment that Israel’s fleet possesses, as every jet is customized to the country it is designated to.”
Charming Kitten Exposed: The Elite Iranian Cyber Unit Targeting Israel’s Most Sensitive Military Sites and Arms Makers, Haaretz
“Haaretz has analyzed a massive leak that exposed the global hacking operations of one of the Revolutionary Guards’ top hacker units. Advanced tools were used, including in an attempt to break into the systems of the company that makes Iron Dome and the Israel Airports Authority.”
Israel May Have Committed War Crimes in Expelling West Bank Refugees, Human Rights Group Alleges, Washington Post
“In its report, Human Rights Watch said that Israeli authorities didn’t offer any explanation as to why they had to expel the camps’ entire population to achieve their military objective and did not provide reasons why they haven’t allowed the return of Palestinians. The report said also that the military fired upon residents attempting to reenter the camps.”
Israel Used Widely Banned Cluster Munitions in Lebanon, Photos of Remnants Suggest, The Guardian
“The evidence is the first indication that Israel has used cluster munitions in nearly two decades since it employed them in the 2006 Lebanon war. It would also be the first time that Israel was known to have used the two new types of cluster munitions found – the 155mm M999 Barak Eitan and 227mm Ra’am Eitan guided missiles.”
Trump’s Gaza Plan Could Force Netanyahu to Make a Stand on Palestinian Statehood, Haaretz
Liza Rozovsky writes, “Netanyahu is known as a master of stalling, but it seems that this time, under unprecedented international pressure, he will struggle to reconcile the absolute yes to Trump with the absolute no to a Palestinian state that he’s broadcasting to the members of his ‘fully right’ government and the confused Israeli public.”
In Umm Al-Khair, Erasure Seems Only a Matter of Time, 972 Magazine
Palestinian activists from Umm Al-Khair Tariq Hathaleen and Ahmed Hathaleen write, “This is how life works here: Settlers build illegally, and we are punished ‘legally.’ The soldiers protect the attackers; the police dismiss our complaints; and the courts issue rulings that never reach the ground. The system designed to ethnically cleanse us has reached completion.”
