Israel bolsters military presence over the holidays

Israel bolsters military presence over the holidays
Above, Israeli military vehicles deploy at Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on Sept. 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 22 September 2025
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Israel bolsters military presence over the holidays

Israel bolsters military presence over the holidays
  • Combat soldiers still in training would be providing support and be alert for ‘defensive and offensive tasks’ throughout the holiday period
  • Holiday period begins on September 22 with the Jewish New Year and lasts until around mid-October

The Israeli military said on Monday that it had reinforced air, land and naval forces across the country during the upcoming holiday period following a “multi-front assessment.”
Combat soldiers who were still in training would be providing support and be alert for “defensive and offensive tasks” throughout the holiday period, which begins on September 22 with the Jewish New Year and lasts until around mid-October.
The military declined to comment when asked if it was a preemptive measure or in response to a specific threat. Earlier this year, Israeli media reported that the military had ended its long-standing practice of granting unit-wide leave during holidays.
The decision followed a military investigation that found Hamas took advantage of the reduced troop presence along the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, during a Jewish holiday, to launch its attack, according to media reports.


Survivors from Sudan’s El-Fasher recount escape

Survivors from Sudan’s El-Fasher recount escape
Updated 6 sec ago
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Survivors from Sudan’s El-Fasher recount escape

Survivors from Sudan’s El-Fasher recount escape
  • As many as 200,000 people may still be trapped inside the city, according to estimates of the city’s population toward the end of the siege

TAWILA, Sudan: At a clinic in Sudan’s North Darfur where dozens of bony children lie on cots and men with bandaged wounds await surgery, patients described a desperate escape from the city of El-Fasher as it was captured last week by a paramilitary force.

They are among up to 10,000 people who arrived in the town of Tawila after fleeing the capture of nearby El-Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces, and are now being treated at the clinic run by international aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres.

In addition to those who reached Tawila, more than 60,000 others are believed to have escaped El-Fasher, according to the International Organization for Migration, though their whereabouts are unclear. As many as 200,000 people may still be trapped inside the city, according to estimates of the city’s population toward the end of the siege. 

The dire conditions inside El-Fasher were described by two patients at the MSF clinic, in accounts obtained by a local journalist who has previously provided verified material for Reuters.

One, who gave her name as Fatuma, said she was entrusted with the care of three children orphaned when their parents and brother had been killed by a drone strike as they fetched a meal.

Fatuma took the children out of the city on a donkey cart with other injured people just before El-Fasher fell, but came across RSF soldiers on the road. 

“They made us lay the baby on the ground and made all of us get down on the ground, and took everything we had,” she said. She was eventually able to bring the baby to the MSF clinic.

A second patient, Abdallah, said he had escaped El-Fasher amidst intense shelling and gunfire on the day of the takeover.

“People left in chaos, carrying children, some in wheelbarrows, some on donkey carts, some on their feet,” he said. “No one walking around was untouched, everyone was injured.” Abdallah, awaiting surgery in the MSF clinic after being shot multiple times, said he saw what he estimated to be more than 1,000 bodies on the road.