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DAILY ALERT

Thursday,
November 20, 2025

In-Depth Issues:

Iran's Security Services Turn on Each Other over Spy Fears - Afshin Madadi (Telegraph-UK)
Iranian regime officials are turning on one another amid fears of widespread infiltration by Israeli spies, as Revolutionary Guard members have battled to prove their loyalty, officials inside the regime told the Telegraph.
The sources said there were growing fears that individuals who may have been working with Israeli intelligence could be falsely reporting loyal Iranians as being traitors, as part of a broader effort to remove trusted insiders from key roles.
Moreover, one official said: "People within the system who have long-standing disputes are now building cases against one another and taking revenge."
Iran's leadership is increasingly using glories of the Persian Empire to rally the population.
This week authorities installed a replica of a 1,700-year-old relief sculpture in central Tehran, depicting Valerian, emperor of Rome, who fell to his knees before Iranian King Shapur I in 260 CE.
The replica included the message: "You will kneel before Iran again."

Freed Hostage Reveals Sexual Assault in Gaza (Ynet News)
Guy Gilboa Dalal, who was freed in the latest hostage deal after being held in Gaza for two years, told Israel's Channel 12 on Wednesday that he was sexually assaulted during his captivity.
He said one of his captors allowed him to shower, then dragged him out without letting him get dressed. "He took me back to their room and threw me onto one of their armchairs."
"He started touching me all over my body. I froze and told him, 'You're joking, right? This is forbidden in Islam.' He put a gun to my head and a knife to my throat and told me that if I told anyone, he would kill me."
Gilboa Dalal's testimony adds to growing accounts of mistreatment reported by former captives held in Gaza.

White House: U.S. Committed to Maintain Israel's Qualitative Edge after Saudi F-35 Sale (Jerusalem Post)
A senior White House official told Israel's Channel 12 on Wednesday that the administration would be holding talks with Israel to ensure that the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia can go through while still upholding the 2008 U.S. law to ensure IDF superiority in the region.
"The Trump administration is committed to the law that stipulates the United States will maintain the IDF's qualitative edge in the Middle East. We will not breach it," the official said.

Mossad: Hamas Expanding Terror Network across Europe - Itamar Eichner (Ynet News)
Israel's Mossad intelligence agency revealed Wednesday the scope of Hamas operations in Europe, where cells were planning attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.
The group has built a terror network across the continent using operatives based in Turkey.
The Mossad said close cooperation with European intelligence and law enforcement services has thwarted attacks and led to the discovery of weapons stockpiles and arrests of suspected terrorists in Germany and Austria.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Plan to Conquer the West (Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy)
Muslim Brotherhood Islamism is not Islam. It is a political ideology that arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that reframes Islam as a totalizing political program governing politics, law, and society.
By transforming elements of religion into ideological tools, Islamism seeks to redefine Islam itself in the service of political ends.
Tamkeen, one of the Brotherhood's most important doctrines, refers to a deliberate process of institutional entrenchment and empowerment.
Rather than seeking immediate revolution, it calls for embedding Islamist influence within civil society, consolidating authority inside Muslim communities, and normalizing Islamist discourse in the wider public arena.
Several Muslim-majority states have banned the Muslim Brotherhood, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, recognizing that the Brotherhood distorts religion for ideological purposes, undermines legitimate religious authority, and destabilizes societies.
This study demonstrates that the Muslim Brotherhood's long-term strategy is a deliberate, multigenerational effort to transform Western society from within.
Its strategy exploits legal freedoms and democratic institutions to advance objectives that are incompatible with democratic governance.

Israel Lauds Countries that Voted at UN to End UNRWA (TPS-Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar commended countries that refrained from supporting the extension of the mandate for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in a UN vote on Wednesday. The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to extend UNRWA's mandate.
Israel outlawed the continued operations of UNRWA within its territory and sent the UN proof of its ties with Hamas, including about UNRWA workers who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.
"UNRWA is part of the problem. It is not part of the solution," he declared.
The U.S., Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, and Tonga voted against the resolution.
Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Latvia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Micronesia, Nauru, and Samoa abstained.

Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement Encourages $3 Billion in Product Sales - Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Yaron Mayer (Vietnam News)
This week marks the first anniversary of the Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (VIFTA).
Total trade turnover between Vietnam and Israel exceeded $3 billion in the first 10 months of 2025.
Sectors that have benefited greatly over the past year include electronics, medical devices, chemicals and especially fresh agricultural products.
Computer components constitute the largest share of imports from Israel to Vietnam.
A direct flight route connecting Israel and Vietnam is anticipated to be operational in early 2026, boosting tourism, education, and people-to-people exchanges, as well as facilitating faster transport of high-value goods.

Israeli Doctors Restore Woman's Sight with 3D-Printed Cornea - Conor Hale (Fierce Biotech)
Precise Bio has reported the first successful human implantation of its 3D-printed cornea implant, constructed of functional human eye cells cultured in a laboratory.
Its approach could potentially turn a single donated cornea into hundreds of lab-grown grafts. Currently, there is only one available cornea for every 70 patients who need one to see.
"This achievement marks a turning point for regenerative ophthalmology - a moment of real hope for millions living with corneal blindness," said Aryeh Batt, Precise Bio co-founder and CEO.
"For the first time, a corneal implant manufactured entirely in the lab from cultured human corneal cells, rather than direct donor tissue, has been successfully implanted in a patient."
Dr. Michael Mimouni, director of the cornea unit at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, who performed the procedure, said, "It was an unforgettable moment - a glimpse into a future where no one will have to live in darkness because of a shortage of donor tissue. This is a game changer."

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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:

U.S. to Sell F-35s, 300 Tanks to Saudi Arabia
On Nov. 18, President Donald J. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia finalized a series of landmark agreements that deepen the U.S.-Saudi strategic partnership. President Trump approved a major defense sale package, including future F-35 deliveries and the purchase of nearly 300 American tanks. (White House)
Hamas Rejects UN Gaza Resolution
Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza have rejected a UN Security Council resolution that establishes an international stabilization force in the territory, saying Tuesday that the U.S.-led effort "paves the way for field arrangements imposed outside the Palestinian national will." In its current proposed form, the international military force to be deployed in Gaza "will turn into a type of imposed guardianship or administration - reproducing a reality that restricts the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and to managing their own affairs."
Mohammed Hamdan, a resident of Gaza City, told Al Jazeera he believes the Trump plan was not in the interests of Palestinians. "It would strip the resistance of its weapons," he said. (Al Jazeera)
Texas Designates Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR as Foreign Terrorist Organizations - Gov. Greg Abbott
On Nov. 18, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR [Council on American-Islamic Relations] as "foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations" under Texas law. This designation authorizes heightened enforcement against both organizations and their affiliates in Texas.
"The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam's 'mastership of the world,'" said Gov. Abbott.
"The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable. These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas." (Office of the Texas Governor)
See also Text: The Basis for the Designation of the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR (Office of the Texas Governor)
See also Muslim Group Awards $1,000 to Anti-Israel Agitators at U.S. Colleges - Isabel Vincent
The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) awarded $1,000 checks to anti-Israel agitators who spread disruption at U.S. colleges and were punished by authorities. (New York Post)

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Hamas Attacks IDF Troops in Breach of Gaza Ceasefire, IDF Responds - Yossi Yehoshua
The IDF struck Hamas targets in Gaza on Wednesday after Hamas gunmen violated the ceasefire agreement by opening fire on Israeli troops operating along the designated "yellow line" buffer zone near Khan Yunis. No Israeli soldiers were injured. In response, the IDF launched a series of airstrikes across Gaza. (Ynet News)
IDF Spots Hizbullah-Lebanese Army Cooperation - Yaniv Kubovich
The IDF said Wednesday it has identified cooperation between the Lebanese Army and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. This has involved the transfer of Hizbullah equipment in Lebanese Army vehicles, as well as overlooking the introduction of Hizbullah engineering equipment into sites previously used by the group. Hizbullah is seeking to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon, in violation of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
The IDF said Hizbullah is accelerating weapons smuggling, and the Lebanese Army is failing to keep pace. In response, the IDF on Wednesday stepped up strikes in Lebanon to destroy terror infrastructure and weapons stockpiles, targeting locations where enforcement is lacking. (Ha'aretz)
IDF Attacks Hamas Training Camp in Southern Lebanon - Lior Ben Ari
An Israeli drone struck a Hamas training compound in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon on Tuesday. Lebanon's Ministry of Health said 13 people were killed and four were injured in the attack.
The IDF said, "The military compound that was struck was used by Hamas terrorists for training and exercises in order to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel. Measures were taken to reduce the chance of civilian casualties, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information." (Ynet News)

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:

The Gaza War

Hamas Is Refusing to Disarm - Editorial
The UN Security Council's endorsement of President Trump's Gaza peace plan gives a welcome legal imprimatur to the agreement. In the 13-0 vote, China and Russia abstained on account of broad Arab and Muslim backing for the plan.
Hamas announced its rejection of the terms because the plan places an international trusteeship over Gaza and because the next stage calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons or be disarmed by force. Without the terrorist group's compliance, most countries will be highly unlikely to send troops to Gaza.
Disarming Hamas, which started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, has always been the thorniest step in the peace plan. There are still many miles of tunnel infrastructure for hiding weaponry. And there seems to be no plan for separating fighters from civilians. Hamas militants can blend in with the population.
Hamas control over Gaza has to change for the other phases of the peace plan to have any chance of moving forward. If the Arab and Muslim countries are unwilling to step up and do the tough business of disarmament, Israel may be forced to return. (Washington Post)
UN Security Council Vote on Gaza Peace Plan Buys Time - David M. Halbfinger
The UN Security Council's vote to adopt President Trump's peace plan for Gaza bought Washington time. Time to assemble the members of an International Stabilization Force for Gaza. Time to work out the choreography and a realistic timeline for the demilitarization of Gaza. Time to develop the cohort of Palestinian "technocrats" whom the plan imagines administering Gaza. Time to raise tens of billions of dollars to rebuild the enclave.
The U.S. has deployed a small army of diplomats and a cavalcade of top officials to Israel to chart the way forward for Gaza and, perhaps farther out on the horizon, for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole. The International Stabilization Force is meant to ensure the demilitarization of Gaza - Israel's price for pulling its troops from the territory in the future.
Many countries that are being asked to commit forces to the demilitarization effort want to be told upfront whether their troops will be asked to disarm Hamas and its thousands of surviving fighters. They also want to know how they will be asked to do so, exactly, if those fighters do not readily comply.
Hamas said Tuesday that involving the International Stabilization Force in disarming it would turn the force into "a party to the conflict on behalf of" Israel.
The problem of demilitarizing Gaza is so daunting that the U.S. has begun planning for a situation in which Hamas retains control of the western half of Gaza, and keeps its weaponry, while reconstruction begins in the Israel-controlled eastern half. (New York Times)

Israeli Security

How Israel Is Rewriting Urban Warfare - Yonah Jeremy Bob
A military exercise on Tuesday viewed by foreign military officials displayed the IDF's new battle tactics. The IDF used four different drones. A large one gave the forces a bird's eye view of the entire wider battle zone, before, during, and after the assault.
A medium-sized drone was used to drop grenades to destroy IEDS or Hamas fighters. Another medium drone flew straight into the second-floor position of a Hamas enemy fighter in kamikaze style. A small drone the size of a human hand snuck into a multi-story, six-room structure to scan and locate enemy forces and boobytraps, returning to the structure repeatedly.
The drill showed how the IDF brought in a group of tanks along with a D9 bulldozer on one flank of the village to draw the Hamas defenders' attention, and then sent in other tanks with a different D9 bulldozer from another direction for the main assault. The D9s clear out potential IEDs before the infantry comes in.
At one point, an F-35 dropped a one-ton bomb on an enemy position with IDF forces only 130 meters away in a stunning show of joint army-air force precision. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Israel Shares Lessons of War with Foreign Military Officials - Yonah Jeremy Bob
Israel is hosting 130 officials from foreign militaries to present lessons and warfare techniques from the 2023-2025 Middle East war. They witnessed an IDF war games exercise and visited IDF bases displaying long-range firepower techniques. They included a large contingent from the U.S., with contingents from Canada, Britain, France, Germany, India, Morocco, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Estonia, Japan, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. (Jerusalem Post)

Saudi Arabia

Prospects for Saudi-Israel Normalization - Lee Smith
A normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's two major holy sites, in Mecca and Medina, and a Jewish state despised by Muslims worldwide would be a historic achievement for everyone. The catch is that the Saudis won't budge unless the Israelis agree to a roadmap for a future Palestinian state.
And while Israel seems enthusiastic about normalizing relations with the Saudis, it is unlikely to accommodate Riyadh on its big ask because the Israeli public is firmly against any further accommodations with an enclave run by terrorists who killed 1,200 people within Israel's borders just two years ago and continue to wantonly maim and kill Israelis wherever they are within reach.
Trump has already had his big Middle East victory - a win much more significant and durable than a normalization agreement. Not only did he, in partnership with Netanyahu, eliminate the Iranian threat, but also he revived the U.S.-led regional order that is crucial to American peace and prosperity.
Israel is America's regional enforcer, and a good destination for tech investors. The Saudis pump cheap oil to stabilize global energy markets, buy U.S. arms systems, and invest in U.S. industry. That's a regional order that works well for everyone - starting with the U.S. (Tablet)

Palestinian Arabs

The Palestinian Authority Continues to Foment Hatred of Israel - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch
On Nov. 18, two Palestinian terrorists rammed their car into Israelis standing at a bus stop at the Gush Etzion junction and then exited the vehicle with knives to stab more victims. Aharon Cohen, 70, was murdered in the attack. Three other Israelis were wounded.
An integral part of the Palestinian Authority's policy to foment hatred against Israel and Israelis is to present an alternative reality in which Israel is a mindless aggressor against Palestinian victims. This policy is used to create an environment of incitement, constantly emotionally charging the Palestinians in preparation for direct incitement to terror and murder.
WAFA, the official PA news agency, described the deadly terror attack as Palestinian victimhood. "Two Palestinian youths from the occupied West Bank district of Hebron were killed this evening by Israeli forces' gunfire south of Bethlehem." According to WAFA, there was no terror attack. No Israelis were murdered or injured.
The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs conducted a study of WAFA's English-language coverage for the month of July 2025, and found that 99.9% of articles related to Israel were explicitly negative, spreading false narratives. WAFA content in Arabic is no better than its English content.
The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
See also The Use of WAFA by the Palestinian Leadership to Set the Stage for Terror - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch and Margaux Jubin (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Official PA Newspaper Pushes Antisemitic Content
20% of the articles mentioning Jews or in opinion columns that appeared in the official Palestinian Authority (PA) newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, between January 2022 and August 2025 contain antisemitic content, a new Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) study revealed on Monday.
This included the denial of the very existence of the "Jewish people," claims of Jewish control over the global economy and American elites, and comparisons between Israel and Nazism, the Crusaders, and various colonial entities.
Zionism was almost always presented as a colonial movement and the source of Palestinian suffering. No significant change was found in the rate of antisemitism before and after Oct. 7, 2023.
The primary criticism in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida articles of Hamas and the Oct. 7 events was not about the murders themselves, but about the fact that the attack "provided Israel with an excuse" to expand its military operations and the resulting severe consequences for Palestinians. (Walla-Jerusalem Post)
PA Textbooks Still Teach Antisemitic, Anti-Israel Messages - Nurit Yohanan
Palestinian Authority textbooks continue to glorify terror, demonize Israelis, traffic in antisemitic themes, and advance exclusivist nationalist rhetoric despite promises to implement reforms, according to a report released Wednesday by the IMPACT-se watchdog, which monitors educational content.
Textbooks from grades 1-4 and 12, meant to be updated recently to comply with international demands to scrub inciting content, in fact contain no significant changes. Across 290 textbooks and 71 teachers' guides serving those grades and others, researchers cited 210 examples of problematic content.
PA-produced texts have been flagged for years for containing content that is a key factor in inculcating hate among Palestinian youths, fueling extremism, and undercutting efforts to foster peaceful coexistence with Israelis. The materials are used widely across the West Bank and Gaza, including in classrooms run by the UN agency UNRWA.
"Virulent antisemitism, the glorification of jihad, and incitement to violence remain deeply embedded across all grades of Palestinian Authority textbooks," said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.
Reform of the Palestinian educational curriculum is a central component of the U.S. peace plan for the region. In a 1st-grade Arabic book, a reading exercise introduces the word "martyr." A 2nd-grade Arabic book presents a poem reading, "We give our souls for the revolution." (Times of Israel)

Antisemitism

Geneva's Disneyland of Deceit Sets the Stage for UN's Betrayal of Jews, Israel - Gil Troy
Israel's Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva hosted me on Nov. 12 at an event organized by Israel and the U.S. - "1975-2025: Confronting Antisemitism and Racism at the United Nations." By UN standards, the turnout was impressive, with representatives from 37 nations and the office of the director-general of UN Geneva. Just showing up for Israel resists peer pressure these days.
America's acting deputy chief of mission, Mireille Zieseniss, branded the Zionism-racism libel "a symbolic assault on the Jewish people and the legitimacy of the State of Israel." Teaching us to affirm, not defend, Israel's ambassador, Daniel Meron, proclaimed, "I am a Zionist."
I quoted America's former UN ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan's summary of the fight against the 1975 UN resolution libeling Zionism as racism. "An issue of honor, of morality, was put before us, and not all of us ran." Diplomats advised Moynihan to "tone down." Fuming, he wondered how to tone down "when you're faced with an outright lie" about America, Israel, the West. "Do you say it is only half untrue? What kind of people are we? What kind of people do they think we are? They know it's not true."
After the speakers, the moderator invited comments. Only one diplomat responded - Hungary's courageous ambassador, Zsofia Havasi. Too many liberals ask: "What's wrong with Israel that only right-wing Hungary stands up for it?" I wonder: What's wrong with the rest of the world? Moynihan explained that acting "diplomatically" should only be one of many arrows in the diplomat's quiver. Sometimes, righteous anger and moral clarity are the logical responses.
The writer, a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, is a Senior Fellow in Zionist Thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute. (Jerusalem Post)
Antisemitism Betrays America's Heritage - William A. Galston
Robert P. George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton, who had been a Heritage Foundation trustee since 2019 and resigned from the board, regards any toleration of antisemitism as a violation of principles that can't be compromised. "My hope for Heritage is that it will be unbending and unflinching in its fidelity to its founding vision, upholding the moral principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition."
"I pray that Heritage's research and advocacy will be guided by the conviction that each and every member of the human family, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, or anything else, as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, is 'created equal' and 'endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.'"
"The anchor for the Heritage Foundation, and for our Nation, and for every patriotic American is that creed. It must always be that creed. If we hold fast to it even when expediency counsels compromising it, we cannot go wrong. If we abandon it, we sign the death certificate of republican government and ordered liberty."
This is - or used to be - the ground on which all Americans could unite, the basis of opposition to racism, antisemitism, anti-Catholicism and other prejudices. It was the creed that President Abraham Lincoln placed at the center of our national identity. America is what Lincoln declared it to be at Gettysburg, which is why the latest outbreak of antisemitism is a test for all Americans.
The writer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, was deputy assistant for domestic policy to U.S. President Clinton. (Wall Street Journal)

Understanding Israel's Enemies

Between Hitler and Hamas: The Dangers of Appeasement and Genocidal Aggression - Dr. Joel Fishman
Appeasement was a policy which the British political class adopted during the first decades after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919). Many considered that the treaty's terms were so unfair that they would prevent the peaceful recovery of Germany. They considered it a moral necessity to correct the situation by appeasing Germany.
The well-known failure of this policy was the Munich agreement of September 30, 1938, by which Britain conceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany and forced a third party, Czechoslovakia, to pay for this concession. This policy failed to bring "peace in our time," because Hitler had his own program of conquest and genocide. Hitler had a strategy of progressively weakening his victims and pursuing his goals by waging war as a tool of policy.
One of the purposes of studying history is to learn from the mistakes of others. At the very least, we must try to understand the real goals and methods of our enemies. Recent searches by the IDF in Hebron and Gaza have produced copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf translated into Arabic.
One of its key passages is Hitler's description of "The Big Lie" and its effectiveness. He explained that simple people can only handle small lies, but with repetition, big lies gain credibility, "and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie."
If one takes into account the methods of The Big Lie which Hitler described in Mein Kampf and those of Hamas, one may observe a nearly identical choice of method. It is evident that the ideas of Mein Kampf remain current, and Hamas has copied a page or two.
The writer is a fellow of the Jerusalem Center. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)

Observations:

Will the Gaza International Security Force Enforce Peace or Merely Observe It? - Maj. (ret.) John Spencer (Miryam Institute)

The UN Security Council resolution proposing the establishment of an International Security Force (ISF) in Gaza empowers the force "to use all necessary measures to carry out its mandate." The ISF is to "stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups."
When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 1982, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was never equipped or mandated to disarm the militia that later evolved into Hizbullah, which entrenched itself across southern Lebanon and built formidable capabilities, even within sight of UN positions.
According to its mandate, UNIFIL could monitor but not prevent, record but not eliminate. It became a spectator in the conflict. If the ISF observes but does not enforce, it will replicate the same failure.
For the Gaza mission to succeed, it needs certain guiding principles: The mission must have the legal and operational ability to compel demilitarization if armed groups refuse. Without that, it will share UNIFIL's fate.
Aid and materials must be tied to verified disarmament and must not be diverted to re-arming. No aid without oversight. A new Palestinian police force must be properly vetted, trained, and mentored over an extended timeline.
Equally important is the narrative. Israel and its partners must now show that what is happening in Gaza is liberation from militant rule, not occupation. The most credible narrative will be visible results: security, opportunity and respect for civilians.

The writer is chair of urban warfare studies at West Point's Modern War Institute.

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