Israel at War Day 722 September 27, 2025Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeSeptember 27, 2025UpdatesU.S. envoy to Israel heads to Egypt to address Cairo-Jerusalem tensionsU.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is expected to travel to Egypt in the coming days for talks with senior officials on strains in Egyptian-Israeli relations, diplomatic sources told Haaretz.Huckabee plans to meet Egypt's foreign minister and is expected to raise Israeli threats to reconsider a multibillion-dollar natural gas deal with Cairo, the sources said. Egypt has voiced concerns that Palestinians could be expelled from Gaza into its territory, while Israeli officials have accused Cairo of boosting troop levels in the Sinai Peninsula near the Israeli border.The ambassador is also set to discuss elements of U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed plan to end the Gaza war and to press Egypt to accept the credentials of Israel's ambassador-designate, Uri Rothman. Cairo has refused to approve a new envoy since Israel's previous ambassador left her post last year.One diplomatic source said Huckabee was chosen for the mission because Washington does not trust its own ambassador in Cairo to represent Israel's interests "properly" with the Egyptian government.RECAP: Sources say Hamas has agreed in principle, but is awaiting full details, for Trump's Gaza cease-fire planHere are the latest updates on day 722 of the war:■ Protests demanding that Israel reach a hostage deal and end the war in Gaza took place across the country, amid a new plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the Israel-Hamas war.■ Hamas has agreed in principle to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, which includes the immediate release of all Israeli hostages, sources told Haaretz.■ Hamas later told representatives of Palestinian factions on Saturday that it has not yet received the full details of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources familiar with the talks.■ Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 66 people across the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning, health officials said. According to the sources, 36 of the casualties were killed in Gaza City.■ Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the IDF is "increasing the intensity of its strikes" as over 750,000 Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City and are moving towards southern Gaza.■ Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that Netanyahu has no mandate to end the war without a decisive defeat of Hamas, amid discussions on a deal.■ A top UAE official said that "the West Bank annexation issue was dropped" following the meeting between Netanyahu and the UAE Foreign Minister on Friday.■ The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council called on Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah to put their difference aside and cooperate closely as they face what he called "Israel's conspiracies."■ Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iranian State TV that a preliminary agreement to avoid 'snapback' sanctions on its nuclear program was reached with Europe, but that the U.S. opposed it "because it wants Iran to be weak."■ A demonstration against Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip drew more than 100,000 people to the streets of central Berlin on Saturday, organizers said, marking the largest Gaza rally the capital has seen to date.Egypt's FM: 'Fully committed to President Trump's vision to end war, release hostages and detainees'Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, said that Egypt is "fully committed to building on the vision by President Trump to restore stability" – ending the war, working towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, releasing Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, and releasing the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The foreign minister stated that Egypt "categorically rejects" any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians, which he said would be a "crime of ethnic cleansing." "Egypt is not and will not be a gate to liquidate the Palestinian cause," he said. "We will never, never be a partner in a new Nakba." IDF, Shin Bet say they killed Hamas militant responsible for death of Israeli officer killed in hostage rescue operation The IDF said it killed a Hamas militant responsible for killing Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, an officer in the Israeli police's special counter-terrorism unit, who was killed in an operation that rescued four hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in June 2024. "I know that for many of the soldiers, and perhaps also for many of the people of Israel, this brings them a sense of closure and justice," his widow Michal said. "But for me, there is no comfort in the fact that this Hamas militant is dead, because it does not change the reality of my life in the slightest," she added. "Amnon did not come back to life, I am still a widow, our children are still orphans." The joint operation by the military, the Shin Bet and the special counter-terrorism unit rescued hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv.United Torah Judaism leader Moshe Gafni voices support for ending war, returning hostages United Torah Judaism Chairman Moshe Gafni at the Knesset in July. Credit: Naama GrynbaumUnited Torah Judaism Chairman Moshe Gafni at the Knesset in July. Credit: Naama GrynbaumLeader of the Ashkenazi-Haredi United Torah Judaism party Moshe Gafni said that his party's stance is "to end the war and return the hostages," as internal debate surrounding a possible hostage deal to end the Gaza war grows. Freed hostage Doron Steinbrecher: 'I want to believe that everything is being done to bring them back' Captivity survivor Doron Steinbrecher speaks at a rally calling for a hostage deal and an end to the Gaza war, Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, Saturday. Credit: Itai RonCaptivity survivor Doron Steinbrecher speaks at a rally calling for a hostage deal and an end to the Gaza war, Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, Saturday. Credit: Itai RonCaptivity survivor Doron Steinbrecher, who was released in the last Gaza cease-fire, said she wants to believe releasing the hostages is Israel's top priority as she flies to the United States for a third meeting with Trump."How is this normal? I mainly want to swear. Really badly, because there's no way this is normal," she said. "I want to believe that everything is being done to bring them back, that it is a top priority."She continued, "I tried to believe it when they bombed my tunnel and had me thrown out to the streets of Gaza. I tried to believe it when I heard helicopter gunships bombing overhead. I tried to believe it when I realized there was a holiday. You want to believe it when you are not given food, you want to believe it when you are abused, you want to believe it when you see your fellow captives being released."Steinbrecher also referenced Netanyahu's speech before the UN General Assembly, which was broadcast via loudspeakers the IDF had set up inside the Gaza Strip."You want to believe it when you hear on the loudspeakers that the prime minister addresses you personally and says that he has not forgotten you, you want to believe it when you hear Trump's threats and promises over and over again. You want to believe it when you hear that Witkoff is optimistic."Follow along with Saturday's protests here September 27, 2025Israel's defense minister says 750,000 Palestinians have left Gaza City as IDF intensifies strikes Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the IDF is "increasing the intensity of its strikes" as it advances towards the "decisive phase" of the offensive on the Gaza Strip.Katz said that over 750,000 Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City and are moving towards southern Gaza. Describing the offensive, Katz mentioned towers and infrastructure used for terrorism have been destroyed, "autonomous booby-trapped vehicles are being deployed ahead of IDF forces to thwart explosives," and said that the firepower used to protect maneuvering Israeli forces "is heavy and powerful." Katz also said that IDF soldiers are taking "more and more neighborhoods and territories in Gaza." "If Hamas does not release all the hostages and disarm, Gaza will be destroyed and Hamas will be annihilated," he added. In response to the minister's post, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote that Katz is "once again busy blowing up another chance for a deal to return the hostages and end the war.""This is the way to abandon the hostages, abandon the soldiers and destroy the fundamental values of national security and resilience," the statement added. Russia's foreign minister accuses Israel of attempting 'coup d'état' to bury UN recognition of Palestinian stateRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Saturday. Credit: Charly Triballeau/AFPRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Saturday. Credit: Charly Triballeau/AFPRussia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, said that Israel is attempting "a kind of coup d'état aimed at burying UN decisions on the creation of a Palestinian state," condemning Israel's plans to annex the West Bank. Lavrov also condemned Israel's "illegal use of force" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and said its actions against Iran, Qatar, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq "threatened to blow up the entire Middle East." 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