HEADLINES
Gaza border breaches as militants approach troops
Germany to resume arms sales on ceasefire
Emirates inks $38B Boeing 777-9 order

The time is now 11:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.

At 11:00 in the morning, this is a snapshot of the Middle East in a moment of continuing tension and shifting politics. Two separate breaks of the Gaza Yellow Line were confirmed by the Israeli military today as Hamas-aligned militants crossed the border zone, with forces reporting the planting of suspicious objects near troops and in one case an armed approach toward soldiers. The IDF says it acted to neutralize the threats in both incidents, and there were no immediate reports of Israeli casualties in those exchanges.

Along Israel’s border with Egypt, the IDF says it is fighting a sophisticated smuggling pipeline built around drone capabilities. In the past month the army has downed 130 drones and seized 84 weapons, including firearms such as machine guns and assault rifles, as smugglers push payloads toward Israel on the wing of drone technology. The smuggling operation is described as large and dynamic, with estimates suggesting hundreds of operators may be involved. To counter these threats, Israel has deployed electronic warfare, drones, and an Air Traffic Control approach to the Egypt border, while Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared a “war” on drone-smuggling and pushed for new security zones and legislative changes to close gaps in licensing and policing of drones. The Border is a moving target, and officials say new methods will continue to emerge from smugglers, who adapt quickly to security measures.

In the Gaza Strip, the toll of war and the aftermath of years of fighting continue to be tallied. Palestinian health authorities say two people were killed by Israeli fire in separate incidents in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military says one man crossed into an area of Gaza under Israeli control and planted suspicious devices near troops, while another approached forces in a different area and was killed as a threat. Israel notes that these incidents occur within the framework of a ceasefire arrangement that has largely held in recent months, even as the casualties mount on the Palestinian side. The Gaza health ministry places the death toll in the ceasefire period on the rise, while Israel updates its own counts for military fatalities on its side.

On the broader diplomatic and strategic front, Germany announced it would resume a portion of arms sales to Israel, contingent on two conditions: the ceasefire holding and humanitarian aid flowing in a large-scale, well-coordinated fashion. Berlin will lift the suspension on November 24 and return to a case-by-case review of exports, maintaining a stance that supports Israel’s security needs while emphasizing the importance of a sustainable humanitarian arrangement on the ground. Berlin’s decision underscores the delicate balance Western states seek between security commitments and international humanitarian expectations, as Germany has been a staunch ally of Israel and a principal European arms supplier.

In London, six anti-Israel activists faced trial in Bristol on charges connected to an August 2024 break-in at the Elbit Systems facility. The defendants—alleged members of a protest group that has faced legal sanctions—are accused of aggravated burglary, property damage, and violent disorder in an incident that drew protests and debate over the boundaries of political expression and defense industry security.

On the security and strategic front beyond the immediate battlefield, an account from Reuters reports that a local Palestinian armed group leader was killed near Deir Al-Balah by what it described as an Israeli undercover operation. The Palestinian faction did not issue a direct threat of retaliation. The Reuters...