Latest News Digest of October 19, 2025

Fighting briefly resumes – possibly started by militants in the Gaza region. 

Since the ceasefire was agreed to between Israel and Gaza a little over a week ago, fighting broke out again in the region.  APNews reported that Israel’s military said that militants had fired at troops in the areas of Rafah City that were Israeli-controlled according to the agreed-upon ceasefire lines.  Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes in retaliation for Hamas militants killing two Israeli soldiers.  Aid into the territory was halted but reports from officials who want to remain anonymous indicate that aid will resume on Monday.  Health officials reported at least 36 Palestinians were killed across Gaza, including children.  In response to the fighting, President Trump said “It’s going to be handled toughly but properly. ”President Trump and his team, which included his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy, negotiated a cease fire and the return of the hostages held by Hamas, after two years of war.

Peace Negotiators, Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are interviewed on CBS’ “60 Minutes”.

Leslie Stahl interviewed President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, which aired on Sunday evening on an extended version of CBS’ “60 Minutes”.  The interview focused on getting details about what was involved in negotiating the historic ceasefire and 20-point peace plan agreement after the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.  Steve stated he was trying to correct decades of miscommunication and mistrust between the parties.  Jared focused on mutual goals of the parities, stating that “People want to live securely and freely, with economic opportunities, and make the future better for their children.”  The Qataris were acting as the go-between with Hamas. The Turks and Egyptians joined in the negotiating process to put pressure on Hamas to accept the 20-point peace plan proposed by President Trump and his team.  Leslie Stahl questioned whether Steve and Jared had conflicts of interest in the region as they are both businessmen.  Kusher replied that “We had trusted relationships with the leaders involved and if we didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal would not have occurred.”  They have been working on a master plan for the rebuilding of Gaza and for the moment they are working on de-confliction and humanitarian aid for the people.  A “board of peace” will be transparent and will be involved in awarding contracts for rebuilding the region with involvement of all of the countries of the Middle East.  Key parts of the plan include the disarmament of Hamas, creation of an international stabilization force, training a local Palestinian police force, and the formation of a new Palestinian government. Jared stated that these are very complex things but there has been a lot of thought put into it by the U.S. Government and others.  Steve is currently working on a peace deal in Ukraine and he says “doing a peace deal is infectious” and he has Iran calling him. Steve and Jared are working on a peace deal between Algeria and Morocco as well.

President Trump Responds to Reporter’s Question About the “No Kings” Protests.

Fox News reported that President Trump, while on Air Force One, responded to a question about his thoughts on the “No Kings” protests held over the weekend by saying that the protests were small, ineffective, the people seemed wacked out and not representative of our country.  He stated “I’m not a king.  I work my *** off to make America great.  I’m not a king at all.”  He also stated that since the protestors had new signs, it looks like they were made by help from George Soros.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Posts on His X Account About Destroying Another Vessel in the Caribbean.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote on X that at the direction of President Trump, a vessel affiliated with the leftist rebel group, National Liberation Army, a designated terrorist organization that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility was destroyed.  The vessel was known by U.S. intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling and was traveling along a known narco-trafficking route in international waters.  All three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel during the strike were killed.  Reuters.com reported that

Columbian President Gustavo Petro condemned the strike.  While aboard Air Force One, President Trump said he plans to raise tariffs on Columbia on Monday and to stop all payments to them.  Earlier in the day, President Trump called the Columbian President an “illegal drug dealer.”

President Trump Suggests He Will Send Troops to San Francisco.

Appearing on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures", President Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that San Francisco was one of the most beautiful cities in the world up until about 15 years ago when things started to go wrong. '"It went woke." He then suggested he could send troops in to make it great again.

Thieves Broke Into the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday Morning.

Using a crane to access a window, four masked thieves broke into the Louvre around 9:30 a.m. Sunday, just as it was opening, using power tools to shatter display cases. They were able to take priceless royal jewels that were once worn by France's queens and empresses. All of the thieves fled on scooters, dropping some of the items during their escape. No injuries were reported and the police are investigating. Last month, thieves broke into the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and made off with samples of raw gold worth about $700,000. - Reported by NBC News