OVERVIEW
Week 41
In Gaza, the Israeli military has begun withdrawing from certain areas, following the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli armed forces. Turkey has offered to contribute to peacekeeping efforts in Gaza through military deployment, and the US has deployed 200 troops and to monitor the ceasefire.
The UN has updated its list of companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and a UN rapporteur has classified Israel’s 2023 attack on journalists in Lebanon as a war crime.
A French judge at the ICC has spoken out against US sanctions targeting him and other international jurists.
In Ukraine, Russian strikes have caused widespread power outages and civilian deaths, including a 7-year-old child in Zaporizhzhia.
In Myanmar, civilians—especially children—face ongoing airstrikes, forcing schools to operate underground.
PALESTINE
Israeli forces have begun withdrawing from several areas of the Gaza Strip, including parts of Gaza City and Khan Younis, according to Mohammad Al-Moughayyir, director of the humanitarian aid department of Gaza’s Civil Defense. The withdrawal follows the ceasefire agreement brokered with Hamas, with the Israeli army confirming “adjustments” to its operational positions overnight. Despite the pullback, fighting persists: Al-Moughayyir reported that Israeli forces targeted municipal workers in Gaza’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing one, and another civilian was killed in Khan Younis. Mahmoud Bassal, Civil Defense spokesperson, noted ongoing airstrikes and artillery fire in northern Gaza.
Turkey’s armed forces are “ready to assume any mission” in Gaza as part of a peacekeeping force, according to a Defense Ministry source. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan have both expressed Turkey’s willingness to participate in implementing the ceasefire, with Fidan stating that a team comprising the US, Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar will act as mediators between Israel and Hamas.
The US will deploy 200 troops to monitor compliance, with Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE also involved in oversight.
The UN has updated its list of companies linked to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, now totaling 158 firms, most of them Israeli. The list includes Booking.com, Motorola Solutions, and TripAdvisor, and is intended to highlight corporate responsibility in conflict zones. Israel rejects the list as legally baseless and politically motivated. Meanwhile, settlement expansion continues, with 61 new outposts established in 2025 alone, and plans for 3,400 new housing units in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to double Jewish settlements in response to international recognition of Palestinian statehood.
UKRAINE
Russian missile and drone strikes overnight caused widespread power outages across Ukraine, including in Kyiv and nine other regions (Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Odessa). The Energy Ministry reported a “significant number” of consumers left without electricity.
In Zaporizhzhia, a 7-year-old child died from injuries sustained in a Russian strike, and three others were wounded, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
MYANMAR
In northern Myanmar, schools have moved underground to protect students from airstrikes by the military junta. In Thabeikkyin, near Mandalay, students like Phyo Phyo (18) now attend classes in bunkers after a nearby school was bombed, killing 20 students and two teachers.
The junta has intensified airstrikes ahead of December elections, which rebels seek to disrupt. Analysts say the military targets civilians to spread fear and undermine resistance.
LEBANON
A UN rapporteur has classified Israel’s October 13, 2023, attack on journalists in southern Lebanon as a “war crime.” The strike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six others, including AFP’s Dylan Collins and Christina Assi. Morris Tidball-Binz, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said the attack was “premeditated, targeted, and in two stages,” violating international humanitarian law. Israel denied targeting journalists, but independent investigations identified a 120mm tank shell as the munition used. Since the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel has continued strikes in Lebanon, killing at least 103 civilians, including a father and his three children on September 21, 2025.
SOUTH SUDAN
The UN reports that over 1,800 civilians have been killed in South Sudan between January and September 2025, a 59% increase from the same period last year. The violence follows the September 11 inculpation and dismissal of former Vice President Riek Machar, whose supporters have called for armed mobilization. The UN’s human rights office documented 1,854 deaths, 1,693 injuries, 423 abductions, and 169 cases of sexual violence, warning that the country is “on the brink” of renewed civil war.
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
Nicolas Guillou, a French judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), has spoken out against US sanctions imposed on him and other ICC officials for their involvement in cases targeting Israeli and US leaders. Guillou described the sanctions as a threat to judicial independence and the rule of law, affecting everything from banking to family life.
