Events of the year 2025 in Israel.
The year saw a continuation of the Gaza war and the broader Middle Eastern crisis, including a failed strike on the Hamas leadership in Qatar in September. In Gaza, a truce agreement in January saw the release of 25 living Israeli hostages and a temporary ceasefire until it was broken by Israel in March. A Trump-brokered ceasefire agreement went into effect in October and saw the release of the final 20 living hostages as well as all but one hostage bodies. The Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel broke out in June after Israel launched strikes targeting the Iranian nuclear program and military figures. A conflict with the Houthis in Yemen escalated, resulting in strikes that killed several Houthi leaders in August, while Israel continued its near-daily attacks in Lebanon as part of its conflict with Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire agreement in November 2024.
Within Israel, tensions rose within the Haredi Jewish population over a decision to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the military, with many refusing draft orders. Attempts to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar led to his resignation in April, while escalated efforts to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara were rejected by the Supreme Court. A scandal broke out in November after Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi leaked a video showing the abuse of Palestinians at the Sde Teiman detention camp, resulting in her resignation and arrest.
Incumbents
President of Israel – Isaac Herzog Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu President of the Supreme Court – Yitzhak Amit Chief of General Staff – Herzi Halevi until 5 March, Eyal Zamir Government of Israel – Thirty-seventh government of Israel
Ongoing events Gaza war Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip Gaza war protests in Israel Israeli hostage deal protests
Events
January
1 January – Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant resigns from the Knesset. 5 January – The first 50 Haredi Jewish soldiers are drafted into the Hasmonean Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 6 January – Palestinian gunmen kill three Israelis and injure eight others in a mass shooting on a bus in al-Funduq, West Bank. 17 January – The Cabinet of Israel approves a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. Defense Minister Israel Katz announces that all Israeli settlers in administrative detention will be released in response to the release of Palestinian prisoners in the ceasefire deal. 19 January – The ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas comes into effect. The first three female hostages are released by Hamas and returned to Israel. Itamar Ben-Gvir resigns as Minister of National Security in protest against the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Two other members of his Otzma Yehudit party—Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu and Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf—resign from the coalition government alongside Ben-Gvir. Knesset members Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kroizer also resign from their positions. The IDF announces that the body of Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War, was recovered in an operation in Northern Gaza. 20 January – United States President Donald Trump signs an executive order lifting US sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank. 90 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. 21 January – Herzi Halevi announces his resignation as IDF chief of staff effective 6 March to take responsibility for the IDF's failure to prevent the October 7 attacks. Head of the Southern Command Yaron Finkelman also announces his resignation for the same reason. The IDF conducts drone strikes and a ground raid in Jenin in a counterterrorism operation codenamed "Iron Wall", killing at least eight Palestinians and injuring 35. The Knesset plenum passes a law criminalizing denial, trivialization, and celebration of the 7 October Hamas attack. Four people are injured in a knife attack in Tel Aviv. The attacker, a Moroccan citizen with US residency, is shot dead. 25 January – Four female IDF soldiers captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks, including Naama Levy, are released by the group as part of the ceasefire agreement. Two hundred Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. 26 January – The initial deadline for Israeli forces to leave southern Lebanon under the 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement expires and is extended to 18 February. Acting president Yitzhak Amit is elected as the permanent President of the Supreme Court after a delay of 16 months. 30 January – Three Israelis and five Thais captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks are released by the group as part of the ceasefire agreement. 110 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement.
February
1 February – Three Israelis captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks are released by the group as part of the ceasefire agreement. 183 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. Prime Minister Netanyahu appoints retired Major General Eyal Zamir as IDF chief of staff. 4 February – Two soldiers and a Palestinian gunman are killed and eight soldiers are injured, two seriously, in a shooting at the Tayasir checkpoint in the West Bank. 5 February – Foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar announces Israel's withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council over perceived discrimination against Israel. A woman in Eilat dies from hypothermia during a winter storm that swept across Israel. 6 February – US president Donald Trump imposes sanctions against the International Criminal Court in part over its issuance of an arrest warrant against Netanyahu over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. 8 February – 183 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. Three Israelis captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks are released by the group as part of the ceasefire agreement. 13 February – Yitzhak Amit is sworn in as President of the Supreme Court in a ceremony boycotted by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana. 15 February – 369 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. Three Israelis captured by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the 7 October attacks are released by both groups as part of the ceasefire agreement. 16 February – An American shipment of 1,800 Mark 84 2,000-lb bombs arrives in the Port of Ashdod. The IDF completes its probes into the 7 October attacks and announces that its findings will presented starting the following week. 18 February – The IDF withdraws from all but five positions in southern Lebanon under the 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement which expires the same day. 19 February – A 70-year-old Jewish woman is injured in an axe attack in the Old City of Jerusalem after being mistaken as a Christian. The perpetrator is later arrested in northern Israel. 20 February – Hamas returns the bodies of Kfir and Ariel Bibas and Oded Lifshitz, who were captured during the 7 October attacks but later died in captivity, as part of the ceasefire agreement. A fourth body, which Hamas claimed was Shiri Bibas, is later found to have been misidentified as a hostage. Hamas subsequently says that Shiri's remains had been mixed with those of other victims following an Israeli airstrike and that it will examine allegations over Shiri's remains, while asking Israel to return the body, which it identifies as a Palestinian woman. The Knesset passes a law imposing an entry ban into Israel for people who deny the Holocaust and the 7 October attacks, as well as those who support legal punishment against Israelis over actions committed during IDF service. Three buses explode and two explosive devices are found by authorities in a suspected militant attack in Bat Yam. No casualties are reported. 21 February – Hamas says that it had handed over the remains of Shiri Bibas, which are subsequently identified by forensic experts. 22 February – Four Israelis captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks and two others held in captivity after entering the Gaza Strip on their own in 2014 and 2015 are released by the group as part of the ceasefire agreement. They are the final living hostages held by Hamas to be released in the first phase of the deal. 24 February – MEPs Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan are denied entry to Israel as part of an EU-Palestine delegation, with Israeli authorities citing Hassan's support for anti-Israel boycotts. 25 February – The IDF launches airstrikes on military installations outside Damascus and in Daraa Governorate in southern Syria, killing at least two people. 27 February – Hamas returns the bodies of four hostages captured during the 7 October attacks but later died in captivity, as part of the ceasefire agreement. More than 600 Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement. A combined vehicle ramming and stabbing attack in Pardes Hanna-Karkur injures 13 people, including a teenage girl who died six days later. The attacker is shot and killed by police. The IDF releases its internal report into the October 7 attacks. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara orders a criminal investigation into alleged links between Prime Minister's Office officials and Qatar.
March 2 March – Israel blocks all humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip after Hamas refuses to temporarily extend the first phase of the ceasefire. No Other Land, a documentary directed by two Israeli and two Palestinian filmmakers about Israeli demolitions in Masafer Yatta, West Bank, wins an Oscar for Best Documentary at the 97th Academy Awards. 3 March – A stabbing spree by a mentally ill German-Israeli Druze assailant at the Haifa Bay central bus station kills one person and injures four others with the attacker shot and killed by a bus station security guard and an armed passerby. The victim was identified as Hassan Karim Dahamsheh, a 70-year-old resident of Kafr Kanna, Galilee. Israel assumes presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, with Dani Dayan being appointed as chairman. 5 March – Eyal Zamir is officially appointed as the 24th Chief of the General Staff, succeeding Herzi Halevi. 11 March – Opposition MKs Gilad Kariv, Karine Elharrar, and Yoav Segalovitz file an unprecedented 71,023 reservations to a proposed judicial reform bill. The Yemeni Houthis announce that they will continue their attacks against Israeli ships in response to Israel's ban of aid to Gaza. Four captives taken by Israel during its war against Hezbollah are released and repatriated to Lebanon. 13 March – The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory accuses Israel of committing genocidal acts by destroying health facilities and of using sexual violence as a strategy of war during the Gaza war, which Israel denies. The IDF carries out an airstrike on the home of PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah in Damascus, killing one person. A fifth Lebanese captive taken by Israel during its war against Hezbollah is released and repatriated. Foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar announces that Israel sent 10,000 humanitarian aid packages to the Druze community in southern Syria in recent weeks. 14 March – A group of 60 Syrian Druze clerics enter Israel to make pilgrimage to Nabi Shu'ayb, marking the first time Druze figures crossed into Israel from Syria since 1948. 18 March – Israel conducts extensive strikes across Gaza after accusing Hamas of rejecting hostage deal proposals from mediators, killing at least 400 people. In the largest purchase of an Israeli technology company, Alphabet Inc. reaches a deal to buy cloud security company Wiz, Inc. for $32 billion USD.