🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 296, 2023 - July 28, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 296 that 115 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.

A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*3:10pm yesterday- north- hostile aircraft-Yiftach

*4:20pm yesterday- north- rockets Shtula 
*5:00pm - north- rockets Kiryat Shemona, Manara

*5:25pm yesterday-north- rockets Kiryat Shemona, Shaar Yeshuv, Beit Hillel, Kfar Szold, Margaliot, Hagoshrim, Sde Nehemiah, Manara, Amir, Shamir, Tel Hai

* 6:00pm yesterday- north -rockets Neve Ativ

*6:20 pm yesterday- north -rockets Majdal Shams

A barrage of some 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel earlier this evening, the IDF says.Most of the rockets were shot by air defenses, and no injuries were caused, according to the IDF.The IDF says that about half an hour later, another 10 rockets were fired at the Neve Ativ area, which all impacted open areas. A short while after that attack, the IDF says one rocket was fired from Lebanon at Majdal Shams, which impacted a soccer field, causing numerous casualties.

*6:30pm yesterday- north - rockets Tel Hai, Beit Hillel, Kirrat Shemona, Misgav Am, Kfar Giladi
*6:30pm yesterday- north - hostile aircraft - Ein Kinieh,Kfar Szold, Masaada, Hagoshrim, Shamir, Gonen, Sha'al
*6:45pm yesterday- north - hostile aircraft - Kiryat Shemona
*6:55pm yesterday- north - hostile aircraft Kfar Blum, Neot Mordechai, Lahavot Habashan
*12:50pm - south - Rockets Nativ Ha'asara - The IDF says the rocket struck an open area, causing no injuries.
*4:00pm - north - rockets Shtula

Hostage Updates 

• Radio interview with my brother on Israeli news in English - Hostage negotiations depend on two men: Netanyahu and Sinwar
  Gershon Baskin, the Middle East director of the UK-based NGO International Communities Organization and a former negotiator with Hamas, said that the death of Hamas leader Yeiya Sinwar would change the dynamics of the negotiations but not necessarily for the better. He told reporter Arieh O’Sullivan that a final decision was largely in the hands of one person; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. link

  
  
  

• The families of the American hostages read aloud a prayer urging Israeli leaders to “accept responsible proposals” for a ceasefire at the end of their meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, participants tell The Times of Israel.

  Earlier in the meeting, hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin‘s parents Jon and Rachel gave Netanyahu a photo that showed their son together with childhood friends Aner Shapira and Ben Zussman.

  Shapira saved the lives of ten partygoers at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, by tossing back seven grenades that Hamas terrorists hurled into a roadside shelter packed with people, including Hersh.

  The eighth grenade thrown into the shelter killed Shapira, whose great-grandfather Haim Moshe Shapiro signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

  Zussman, 22, was killed fighting in Gaza in December. Hersh’s parents told Netanyahu that Zussman and Shapira’s parents have been unable to move forward since their sons’ deaths knowing that 115 hostages are still being held in Gaza.

  The prayer that the hostage families read aloud in front of Netanyahu and Biden was written by Zussman’s father Tzvi.

  “May it be Your will, Lord our G-d and G-d of our forefathers, that You send Your light and truth to the prime minister, ministers, and advisors of the government of the State of Israel, and guide them with good counsel.

  Enlighten their eyes to accept responsible proposals placed before them in order to bring about the release of our loved ones that are hostages. Father, our King, help us to bring our captives from darkness to light, so that we all may be crowned with the crown of victory and life, and let us say: Amen.”

• ‘What are you waiting for?’ Hostage families to rally, pressing Netanyahu to reach deal

Family members of the hostages will hold a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to swiftly reach a deal to return the captives held by Hamas and warning that time to save them is running out.

Additionally, anti-government groups will hold weekly rallies across the country, joining the call for a deal to free the hostages, and calling for the removal of the current government.

Demonstrators protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli government and for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside the Kirya Base in Tel Aviv, July 20, 2024. (Itai Ron/Flash90)

“No more excuses! The hostages are not just suffering, they’re dying! Bring all 115 hostages back now,” the Hostages Families Forum said in a statement announcing the rally to be held at 8:00 p.m. at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

The Forum said in a statement that at Saturday’s rally Gal Goren, the son of Maya Goren, whose body was recovered this week in Gaza, will speak.

Maya Ahimas, the sister of Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, whose body was also recovered this week, will speak as well.  Other speakers include Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, who has been among the leading voices in the movement calling for the release of hostages. This week, Zangauker published a video showing her son being kidnapped on October 7.

Elchanan Felhimer, chairperson of the National Union of Israeli Students, is also expected to speak at the rally.

At 7:30 p.m. at the nearby Democracy Square in Tel Aviv, there will be the weekly anti-government rally calling for early elections to be held and for a hostage deal.

According to a press release from the demonstration’s organizers, protesters will congregate at 80 different locations throughout Israel.

The Organizers said Saturday’s speakers at Democracy Square will include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak; Michel Illouz, the father of Guy Illouz, who was killed on October 7 and whose body remains in Gaza; and Knesset members Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi, previously of the Labor Party and now of Yair Golan’s newly-founded party, The Democrats.

Weekly protests in Tel Aviv renewed several months after the Hamas October 7 onslaught, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 251.

It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

• The families of hostages held by Hamas rally with supporters outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv for a weekly demonstration, urging a deal to free the captives.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, speaks outside the military's headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 6, 2024. (Screen capture: Ynet, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law

“There’s a deal on the table and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is carrying out a targeted killing on it,” charges Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker was kidnapped by terrorists during the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

• Mossad chief David Barnea left this morning on a trip to Rome for talks on a potential hostage-ceasefire deal, Hebrew-language media reports.  He is set to meet with CIA director Bill Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, and Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel.

  Israel relayed a new proposal for a hostage release deal with Hamas to the White House yesterday. But sources cited by Hebrew media said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest demands could thwart the negotiations.

  Members of the negotiating team told Hebrew-language media on Friday that Netanyahu was “taking a dangerous bet on hostages’ lives” by toughening Israel’s negotiating stance.  link The absolute absurdity of this is that everyone knows that it is Netanyahu who is doing everything he can to prevent a deal for political reasons. The other absurdity is that there are 2 ministers and their parties who constantly threaten Netanyahu that they will bring down the government if he makes a deal, but the real absurdity is that there is no party who is threatening to bring down the government if he doesn't make a deal. It is not only absurd, it is horrific, disgusting and killing the hostages.

   

• Hamas Sent Ben-Gvir Videos of Hostages Being Tortured – To Ease Conditions for Terrorists in Prison

  According to the report in Britain, the terrorists in the video directly address Ben-Gvir and threaten to worsen the conditions of hostages held in the Gaza Strip • The report states that Ben-Gvir watched the video - and refused to change his policy regarding prisoners, and even decided to toughen it • Ben-Gvir in response: "Hamas did not send me any video and I refuse to cooperate with its propaganda"

  Hamas tortured Israeli hostages, filmed the abuse, and sent it to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir - as reported today (Sunday) in the British Telegraph newspaper. According to the report, the terrorist organization took this step to force Israel to ease the conditions of terrorists in Israeli prisons. In one of the videos, the terrorists directly address Ben-Gvir, threatening to worsen the conditions of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

  According to the Telegraph report, based on statements from two Israeli sources, Hamas threatened that harsher conditions for terrorist prisoners would directly affect the welfare of hostages in Gaza. The report states that Ben-Gvir watched the video - and refused to change his policy regarding prisoners, and even decided to toughen existing policy.

  Minister Ben-Gvir responded: "Hamas did not send me any video and I refuse to cooperate with Hamas propaganda: We should only speak to Hamas through gun sights." The minister added, "The Hamas terrorist organization did not look for any excuse on 10/7 to murder, rape, kidnap, and abuse living civilians and even corpses, and even murdered hostages in captivity. Hamas must be defeated, not surrendered to its demands for submission: We must permanently conquer the Gaza Strip, stop humanitarian aid, and defeat it." He emphasized, "The conditions of terrorists in prisons have indeed worsened and the summer camps have ceased, and I am proud of this - I have no intention of surrendering to Hamas's dictates."

  The report emphasized that Ben-Gvir has prioritized worsening the conditions of Palestinian prisoners since taking office in December 2022, which has led to fierce disagreements between him and the Shin Bet. Last year, Ben-Gvir said that prisons had begun to minimize "pampering Hamas terrorists" as much as possible and noted that the "summer camp" that had taken place in prison wings until then had ended. He also ordered prisons to prohibit prisoners from making pitas, while limiting hot showers to some prison wings.

  Last week, Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount and even declared his intention to change the "status quo" practiced there. "I was on the Temple Mount last week," Ben-Gvir said at the "Israel's Return to the Temple Mount" conference in the Knesset. "I prayed on the Temple Mount and we pray on the Temple Mount. I am the political echelon and the political echelon allows Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount," he declared. His speech, which took place during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington and hours before his speech to Congress, led to a clarification from Netanyahu stating: "Israel's policy to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change."

  Besides the Prime Minister's clarification, the minister's statement led to a wave of condemnations within the coalition. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Ben-Gvir a "pyromaniac" - and rejected his joining the war cabinet. In a statement written on X in English, Gallant clarified that "Itamar Ben-Gvir consistently tries to blow up the Middle East. I reject any idea that will harm the status quo in Jerusalem." link  I can't say it enough times, Ben Gvir is a dangerous politician and a horrible excuse for a human being. His racist, messianic ideology takes precedent over everything else, including the hostages' lives and the well being of the State. And it is Netanyahu who normalized what should have remained a political and social fringe by encouraging his election to Knesset and then appointing him to the senior ministerial role of Minister of Internal security, a criminal who has a felony police record as long as many who are sitting in prison.

Gaza 

•  The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday morning issued fresh evacuation orders to Palestinians in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, including in sections of the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone, citing intelligence that Hamas terrorists were operating in the area.

  Shortly following the orders, the IDF said a jet had targeted a Hamas command center in a school in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. Hamas said at least 31 people had been killed in the strike.

  In a statement on the evacuation orders, the military noted adjustments to the boundaries of the humanitarian zone and called on Palestinians sheltering in the area to temporarily evacuate to the adapted zone. The humanitarian zone currently stretches from the al-Mawasi area on the coast to central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. It previously included large parts of western Khan Younis.

  The IDF said the adjustment to the zone was being carried out “in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terror infrastructure” in the humanitarian zone. The IDF said there have been numerous rocket attacks from the area as well. The IDF warned that it was to “forcefully operate” against the terror group’s operatives and infrastructure in southern Khan Younis area

  In a message relayed via SMS, voice messages, phone calls, and media broadcasts, the military instructs civilians in specific areas of the humanitarian zone and other areas in southern Khan Younis to move to the humanitarian zone, warning that “remaining in the area has become dangerous.” A military source said hospitals in the area did not need to evacuate, and that the IDF had communicated this to Palestinian health officials and officials in the international community.   A Hamas command and control center embedded within a school in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah was struck by Israeli fighter jets a short while ago, the IDF said, adding that it took extensive measures to minimize civilian casualties.

  The Hamas-run media office in Gaza claimed that 31 people were killed in the attack. The figures could not be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and gunmen.

  According to the IDF, the strike killed Hamas operatives hiding within the United Nations school used as shelter for displaced Palestinians.

  The military said that the command room was used by Hamas operatives to plan and carry out attacks against IDF troops in Gaza and against Israel.

  Additionally, the IDF said the site was used to develop and store weaponry.

  To mitigate harm to civilians, the IDF said it carried out “many steps,” including using a “munition adapted to the type of strike,” aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.  “This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organization’s systematic violation of international law and exploitation of civilian structures and population as human shields for its attacks against the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.

  In recent weeks, more than 50 airstrikes have been carried out against Hamas sites embedded within schools and other sites used as shelters for civilians, according to the IDF.

  Earlier Saturday, the IDF said that dozens of targets were struck by Israeli fighter jets across the Gaza Strip over the past day.

  The targets included a rocket launching site in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, which was primed for an attack on Israel, as well as buildings used by terror groups and cells of gunmen, according to the IDF.

  The strikes come as troops continued to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis.

  In Khan Younis, the IDF said troops with the 98th Division raided several Hamas sites, including tunnels, and located numerous weapons in the previous 24 hours.

  Further south, in Rafah, troops with the 162nd Division raided more Hamas sites, and killed several cells of gunmen in close-quarters combat, according to the IDF. Full article

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• At least eleven children were killed, many of them children and more than 30 were wounded in the Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams in the northern Golan Heights this evening.

  The death toll is expected to rise, as at least three are listed in critical condition.

  The IDF assesses that the rocket that struck the soccer field where kids were playing was relatively heavy. The military is investigating why it failed to intercept the projectile.

  Top IDF brass are currently holding assessments on the attack, the deadliest by Hezbollah amid the ongoing skirmishes on the northern border, and will determine a response against the terror group.  In a statement following Hezbollah’s denial of carrying out the deadly rocket attack on Majdal Shams, the IDF says that “following assessments carried out in the IDF and the intelligence available to us, the rocket fire at Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terror group.”

  “Hezbollah is behind the launch of the rocket that hit the soccer field in Majdal Shams and caused many civilian casualties, including children, earlier this evening,” the military adds.

  The head of the Confrontation Line Forum, a grouping of northern regional council heads, tears into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government after numerous people were injured — including nine critically — in a Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams.

  “I’m furious!” Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and the forum’s chairman, says in a statement.

  “It seems that until rockets land in Caesarea, the prime minister and cabinet members will continue with the policy of ignoring the north,” he continues, referring to the coastal town where Netanyahu has a home. “I call on the government to wake up from the coma and act now.

• The Hezbollah drone apparently heading toward offshore gas infrastructure in Israel’s territorial waters this morning was shot down by the ship-mounted Iron Dome system, known as C-Dome.

  According to the IDF, one of the Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class corvettes intercepted the drone at a significant distance from the Karish gas field, and there was no threat to the offshore infrastructure amid the incident.

  The IDF is still investigating if the drone was laden with explosives or used by Hezbollah for surveillance.  

• My brother's post: In a logical rational reality, Hezbollah would take responsibility for the rocket that hit Majdal Shams. (They don't  - they claim it was an Iron Dome rocket). Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah would meet with the Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt and would call for 3 days of mourning all over Lebanon.  He would also announce that Hezbollah will cease all fire against Israel for a period of one week, allowing Israel to de-escalate as well.  But we do not live in a rational logical reality and we are probably facing horrific escalation that has the potential of bringing death and destruction to many more Israelis and Lebanese citizens. All of this as the tragedy of the war in Gaza continues. Israel bombed a school in Khan Yunis yesterday housing thousands of displaced Palestinians and killed more than 30 people - including many women and children. Israel yesterday also bombed and destroyed the only water reservoir in Rafah. This is complete insanity.   The war in Gaza must end. The hostages must be released. When the war in Gaza ends, the war between Hezbollah and Israel will also end. This insanity must come to an end now!!!  (Gershon Baskin, July 28, 2024)
•   Government ministers at the funeral of 10 of the 12 children killed by a Hezbollah rocket are shouted at by members of the crowd who say that they “have no shame” by attending after nine months of attacks from the Lebanon-based terror group.

  
  Mourners surround the white coffins of 10 of the 12 children killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack in Majdal Shams on July 28, 2024 (Menahem Kahana / AFP) 

  “You abandoned us for nine months and now you are here?” a man shouts at Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, to applause from the crowd.

  “You have no shame. A boy went to play football and didn’t come home,” he yells at the Likud ministers.

  Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is also yelled at by mourners: “Get him out of here! We don’t want him!”

  A number of opposition lawmakers are at the funeral, including Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Labor leader Yair Golan.

  
  (Top row, L-R) Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, 16, Iseel Nasha’at Ayoub, 12, Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15, Milad Muadad Alsha’ar, 10 (Middle row, L-R) Alma Ayman Fakher Eldin, 11, Naji Taher Alhalabi, 11, Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, 13, Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12 (Bottom row, L-R) Fajer Laith Abu Saleh, 16, Vinees Adham Alsafadi, 11 Nathem Fakher Saeb, 16, who were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams on July 27, 2024

  There are 4 children in critical condition from the attack

  
  A man stands near a damaged gate after a Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer field that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams on July 28, 2024 (Menahem Kahana / AFP)
  

  A witness to the deadly rocket attack on the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams in which 12 children and teens were killed yesterday, says it goes beyond normal understanding of what constitutes a tragedy.

  “We are taking 12 children to the cemetery in one day,” Zolan Abu Salah tells Army Radio.

  “There is sadness, there is disaster, there is tragedy, and there is what happened to us yesterday,” he says.

  The IDF has said that the rocket that struck the soccer field was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 with a warhead of over 50 kilograms of explosives.

• Two rockets were launched from Lebanon at the evacuated northern border community of Shtula a short while ago, the IDF says. One of the rockets struck a home, according to media reports. There are no reports of injuries. Hezbollah takes responsibility for the attack, as well as for earlier fire toward the Manara area.

• Hezbollah is on high alert, two security sources tell Reuters, as tensions spiral following a deadly attack by the terror group on a soccer field in northern Israel.

  The security sources says Hezbollah preemptively cleared out some key sites in both Lebanon’s south and the eastern Bekaa Valley in the event of a possible attack by Israel. Israel has said the Iran-backed terror group will “pay the price” after 12 children were killed in a rocket attack yesterday.

• The Lebanese government has asked the United States to urge restraint from Israel, Lebanon’s foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib tells Reuters, as tensions build following a Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 children in northern Israel.

  Bou Habib says the US had asked the Lebanese government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well.

West Bank and Jerusalem

•     An IDF combat soldier was lightly injured from shrapnel this morning after terrorists opened fire upon a military outpost on the outskirts of Nablus, according to reports by Israeli media outlets.  
  The terrorists likely fired on the outpost from within the city itself, according to reports. The injured soldier has since been treated at a nearby hospital while the IDF conducts a search for the instigators. 
  
  

  The Israeli military carried out a drone strike a short while ago in the Balata camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian media report several casualties in the strike. The IDF says the strike took place amid an operation in Nablus, and that it will provide further details soon.

Politics and the War (general news)

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The Region and the World

•    US troops stationed in eastern Syria have returned fire after they were attacked with at least ten missiles, a UK-based war monitor reports, noting that this was the second attack in two days.

  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the American forces fired heavy artillery shells at “regime and Iranian forces” who attacked bases hosting troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition in the Deir Ezzor area near the border with Iraq as fighter jets scour the region.

  Yesterday the war monitor said that at least one rocket had landed near a base of the coalition in the Conoco gas field in Deir Ezzor province.

  Such attacks by Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq were frequent early in the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, but since then have largely halted.

  There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

  The latest attack comes after a security meeting this week between Iraqi and US officials in Washington on the future of the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq. Iran-backed groups have demanded a withdrawal.

Personal Stories

  "The faces of the hostages from the posters have become wallpaper that you can walk through"

"We are not going to stop until we win": the brothers Gil and Shai Dickman, Carmel Gat's cousins, are not ready to give up - despite the heavy prices. In a joint interview, they talk about the confrontations with the elected officials, share the disputes and difficulties among the families of the hostages - and take stock: "We had an expectation that the streets would burn, and it didn't happen. It's our personal mistake."

               "It was not easy. I knew it would come and I knew she was there," says Gil Dickman about the painful meeting with the picture of his cousin, Carmel Gat, on his way to Washington. "The airport is a place she would love to return to in order to be free again in the world, as she was before October 7." Like every Israeli who has passed through the long corridor between the terminal and the duty free and the plane in the past nine months, Gil too could not remain indifferent in front of the installation of photos of the hostages in Israel - but for him it was a picture that he hasn't stopped seeing in front of his eyes since the day Carmel was kidnapped.

"There was something exciting, but also heartbreaking, to see how many people passed by and saw this picture during all the months it was standing there," he said after landing in the US capital and before getting involved. "There is something sad about it, but it conveys the place I feel it is want to go back to it. I think the first thing she will do when she returns home is to to breath again and go from here to India, somewhere else."

"This is my first flight since the kidnapping. I didn't allow myself to leave the country all the time because I knew that the action was in Israel and at any moment something could happen that had to be responded to. Now that the prime minister is flying to the US, and he is the person who has to make the decision, I decided to fly anyway" , explained the 31-year-old Gil.

And so, a day before the Prime Minister's "Zion Wing" flight, Gil made his way outside Israel's borders for the first time since the outbreak of war - to answer for Carmel. There in Washington, he embarked on another protest action: during Netanyahu's speech to Congress, he revealed the "Seal the Deal Now" shirt, was removed from the scene - and detained by local security personnel.

After hours, Gil and the five relatives of the hostages who were detained with him were released. "Netanyahu has now spoken for 54 minutes and at no point did he commit that he was going to sign a deal that would return the hostages," he charged upon his release. "It didn't happen, and that's what needs to happen - close this deal and bring everyone home."

"The faces of the kidnapped in the posters have become wallpaper"

Gil's cousin was kidnapped from her parents' house in Kibbutz Beeri. On the same day, her sister-in-law Yarden was also kidnapped (returned in a deal that took place in November) and Carmel's mother, Kinneret, was murdered. Somewhere in captivity, Carmel has already turned 40. "The faces of the hostages from the posters have become a kind of wallpaper that you can walk through. The poster is already drying on the wall, and maybe even falling, and you won't notice. It has become part of the routine to the point that it has become normalized," he admits. in pain "People walk around with dog tags and pins, but it has become invisible."

The last time we met, when flying to the US for Netanyahu's speech to Congress was not even an idea yet, Gil and his sister Shai were excited: just a few hours earlier they had participated in a demonstration at the Hebrew University, which was the culmination of a short, one-day student strike that was announced at the height of the exam period The pressure to show solidarity with the 120 hostages who are still in Gaza. The successful protest at the university where they both study - and the great response - provided the Dickman siblings with a sigh of relief and an opportunity to allay their fears. Another enemy - perhaps even more threatening than the others - indifference.

Carmel holding Gil as a baby

"People really want the hostages at home. And they are also willing to make an effort and give of their lives to make this happen," states Shai, the 28-year-old nurse. "But at the end of the long months in which they collaborated with a variety of initiatives, they say, 'Finally they're not here yet.' People also need the feeling of success in their struggle. And we know behind the scenes, from our conversations with people in certain positions, that the public pressure surrounding the deal The first was a huge influence on its fulfillment."

Shai adds and recalls: "Ministers, Knesset members and people in decision-making positions were kind of a question mark as to whether it was right to go for it. The clear statement of the citizens of the State of Israel, that we want the hostages at home and we are ready to pay a price, had significance in accepting this deal." Her brother Gil hastens to add: "Tzachi Hanegbi told us exactly this at the meeting - if there are polls that the people of Israel are ready to stop the war in order to return the hostages, this is what will happen."

Carmel Gat's cousins Gil and Shai

The sign of Carmel's mother's murder and Carmel's abduction

"We are not going to stop until we win"

The student strike, the demonstrations and other activities that were held are all part of Hasamba's activities, a new organization of which the Dickmans are two of the most prominent. But if the original members of Hasamba were a figment of the imagination of the late Yigal Musinzon, this Hasamba is very real and includes some of the most prominent of the youth among the families of the hostages, in the near future, they promise, we will all discover what they have to give.

The house which stands empty since the abduction

"Hasamba were young people who acted against the British mandate for the freedom of Israel. 76 years after the victory, we too are fighting for the freedom of our brothers and sisters against those who refuse to release them. And we don't intend to stop until we win either," Gil proudly declares . Shay explains: "Young people are the future generation of this country, they are now studying to work in the professions that will keep this country on its feet, and we increasingly hear people saying, 'Come on, how Can I build a house here in a country where people are kidnapped and not returned home?'"

Before our meeting, the "Netanyahu deal" - the last proposal on the table - came up for heated public discussion: the brothers are convinced that a very large majority of the public supports the deal. Also among the chosen ones, by the way. According to them, in a non-binding survey they conducted at the Mishkan, they were able to locate 82 MKs who expressed their support in principle for the deal. In the people, they are convinced, the scope of support is even wider.

They are tasked with awakening these "dormant" support cells, and all that remains is to put the business together. This is the mission that Hasamba Model 2024 has accepted. However, in the meantime, reality keeps changing - between joy and tragedy. The joy over the heroic rescue operation in which our forces rescued Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv from captivity was mixed with sadness over the announcement days before on the death in captivity of four other hostages: Haim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Koper and Nadav Poplwell. This week, the names of Alex Danzig and Yagev Buchstab, who will not return alive from Hamas captivity - and five more bodies of hostages found in Khan Yunis, were added to the painful list. Because their death was determined.

While under attack on October 7, Carmel read a book to her niece. This is the house she was abducted from

"There are families in a state of despair"

Amidst the upheavals, Shai first of all carries with her the tragedy. "I walked around with a sense of loss. You come to a funeral and you hear what kind of people they were. And in general, the word 'were' is hard to roll off her tongue. A week after that there is a rescue and people return home alive: you look at what motivates people, and in my feeling the loss and the loss is something that people You can close it in this box that cannot contain it, and put it aside and go on with life. But the hope and the ability to bring people back alive, the hope in the end, is what motivates us to act."

"It raises a deeper question whether this fight should be of families or of citizens," Shai says. And her brother adds: "Even within the families there are those who are in a situation where there is no choice. There are people in a situation of despair and it is not always easy to motivate them to really take action, and I do not blame anyone. It is not always easy to act with the families. Among the public there are fewer excuses."

"When Elad Katzir was murdered in captivity, we expected the streets to burn, and that didn't happen. It was our personal mistake, and on a personal level, I feel it on my skin for anyone who was murdered there. This is a person we could have saved," Gil declares and expands: "We also felt it on Itai Savirsky and the late Yossi Sharabi, and we feel it about the other murdered people in captivity, and we will feel it even more in the coming weeks."

After Gil landed in the US, I asked him about that statement about the "miss" and the streets that didn't burn, and he replied: "We are now in make-or-break. If this trip will result in a signature that will bring back the hostages, then we need the street to help us make it happen with a lot of support. And if this opportunity is missed again - and now it is clear that the opportunity is in Israel's hands - we will need the streets to help us show that it will not be accepted and it cannot be, that this opportunity must not be missed. I really feel that this is the last chance and that this is part of what we want to convey by flying here. This opportunity is too significant for us to have more misses like Yagev and Alex."

"They will hug you to take a picture"

The conversation with the siblings who are in the struggle every day takes the place of philosophical reflection about despair and hope and everything in between. "The organization 'We are all kidnapped' that operates near the Kirya on the Begin road," comments Gil. "They took the despair and turned it into rage. And rage is important, but it's probably not enough, and it eventually normalizes. I think that if you don't take that rage and don't make another move with it and turn it into something empowering, hopeful, you don't complete the The whole move."

"People were excited to hear that Almog Meir Jan had seen pictures of him in captivity being waved in demonstrations. He realized that someone cared about him and you'll see how meaningful and how hopeful it suddenly is," demonstrates Gil. "It's something that reveals to the whole world how it works - one day, when maybe something happens to you and you need the help of the big people who make decisions, if they look down on you, or roll their eyes or hug you to take a picture with you, or they make politics and use you for their benefit."

And when Gil talks about "hugging to take a picture", it's hard not to remember the incident in November between him and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The elder Dikman then arrived at a hearing dealing with a bill for the death penalty for terrorists , and literally begged the MKs to remove the explosive issue from the agenda on such sensitive days. Minister Ben Gvir approached Dickman at one point and hugged him in a bear hug, against his request - which was immortalized in the photo that caused an echo.

"She didn't look me in the eye"

The main arena in which the Dickmans and their partners have operated so far has been the Knesset, and many painful conflicts have been recorded along the way: the families of the hostages have been dividing the work among themselves for many months and are scattered among the discussions of the various committees in order to make their voices heard and gain the attention of the elected officials, including their constituents. This activity seems to have exhausted itself. But the Dickman siblings, as two who became particularly prominent in the Knesset Building during this period, are full of impressions and feelings.

"It's not even agreeing with us and voting with us, we first of all ask for empathy in general, 'Hey, look, I'm a human being like you,'" explains Gil. "Maybe if you were in my situation you would feel the same way I do. Let's think together about how we act to promote their return home." Shei declares: "The first thing that struck me when I arrived at the Knesset was the powerlessness. I reached the 120 public representatives who are the decision-makers in my country. And their reaction? 'Wow, I'm not in my control, there's nothing I can do. I'm waiting for you to finish and move on with the discussion About the very small issue I was assigned to talk about.' Mine. I was very surprised by that." 

"The second thing is the separation, which Gil helped me to notice: when I spoke in front of Zvi Sukkot and also Limor Son Har-Malech and she said to me, 'You know, if this was my daughter, I would do exactly the same as you, and I would pay any price,' and she said that in the section of 'It's not my daughter, it's your cousin.' ".

"When I sat with members of the Knesset and ministers one on one, the feelings I got were different," Shay declares. "I'm really looking forward to sitting down with Son Har-Malech and hearing how she expresses herself in a one-on-one situation, because when we spoke then in the Knesset, she didn't look me in the eye. She didn't succeed." And such a meeting, in private, did take place a few days after our interview. "She was attentive to my family story and showed that the pain of the hostages' families touches her heart," Dickman updated later. "Nevertheless, she repeated her opinion as she expressed it in the committee - she opposes the release of terrorists even if it means that we will not return the hostages. According to her, our leaders are weak, and if we release terrorists, the leadership she calls 'lax' will not know how to take care of the security of the citizens" The day after'".

The first incident with Son Har-Malech, which Shai painfully mentioned, occurred about a month and a half ago during one of Dickman's visits, this time to the Knesset committee. So she came to speak before the committee - and a dialogue developed between her and Son Har-Malech, who was sitting next to her. "It's hard for me to say this, but you are holding them (the hostages) hostage in order to continue fighting," Dickman told her. The Knesset member appeared stressed and nervous in the recording from that meeting - and at one point turned her head while Dickman was speaking, in a move that was perceived as disrespect and evoked echoes.

"Force politics with all your might"

In the time that passed between the forced hug from Itamar Ben Gvir and the confrontation with Son Har-Malech, one can see a development in a certain direction, even if symbolic - an evolution of distorted empathy, if you will. Because if in the case of the meeting between Ben Gvir and Gil Dickman in November it was still a hug - meaning an expression of affection and identification, even if only for the purposes of public relations - in the case of the meeting between his sister Shai and Son Har-Malech six months later, the Knesset member was busy rolling her eyes and pointing her head towards the other. Even fake empathy was gone.

"That eye roll was totally there in November as well," Gil declares. "Also in my personal meeting with Ben Gvir. Before this happened, I met him in the corridor and there was a conversation of 30 seconds. During which I gave a summary of what happened next for 300 minutes. I begged him not to bring up the issue of the death penalty law for terrorists. He looked at me, He caressed my cheek and said: I'll bring it up anyway."

"In both cases, in a very blatant way, we did not receive this empathy back, but the opposite - something that is anti, that is almost disparaging, and even exploits a little. This is true in my case and maybe also in Shai's case - they took this very human thing and imposed politics on it with all their might. This is something that was revealed following our public activity in the Knesset," adds Gil. "And this doesn't just happen to us. Avigdori also had MK Yitzhak Pindros, who yelled at him 'come on, come on' and Esther Buchstab, to whom Pindros tells her: 'You want to do politics at our expense again.' Unfair, inappropriate, and undeserving treatment for people from those 'sweethearts' in the Knesset."

"And it's not like all Knesset members are like that," Gil hurries to clarify. "There are other members of the Knesset, including those from Ben Gvir's party, with whom there is dialogue and space for discussion and who, first of all, feel empathy. And they do get involved to help. For example MK Yitzhak Kreuzer from Ben Gvir's party, he is one of the people who from the first moment got involved to help us , in what really needs to be helped. Not just pretending he's helping, not just speaking in committees and saying how important it is to him, when there are cameras, but actually being on the phone for hours on end with family members of hostages and making sure they're okay."

"Our Cool Cousin"

Eliyahu Gat was part of the elite group that in 1946 moved from Gedera to Nakhabir, which later became Kibbutz Beeri. Later he left the kibbutz, met Ruth, and later returned with her to the kibbutz - and together the two gave birth to four children: Eshel, Avner, Iris and Segalit. The Gat family was one of the leaders in Beeri. In 1984, the firstborn of the grandchildren, Carmel - Eshel's daughter - was born. Later, her younger brothers were born and more grandchildren were added to the family, including Gil and Shay - Iris's children.

They were already born in the city. "Very Tel Aviv kids", as the brothers define themselves. And yet their childhood passed under the auspices of the family's kibbutz mythology. Beyond holidays, family meals and visits to grandfather and uncles in the kibbutz, Carmel was always there. Not only the firstborn, but also "grandfather Eliyahu's favorite granddaughter", as Gil makes sure to point out. For them she was a kind of big sister that they both probably lacked.

Now that she is there in the darkness of Gaza they talk about her with shining eyes. "She's the cool cousin in the sense that she grew up in a kibbutz, but not because she's in a kibbutz she's cool," says Gil. "But precisely because of her experiences in Tel Aviv. Because she lives in Shapira before everyone else and because she likes the coolest, most unique and unusual music and is like a kind of Tel Aviv hipster, and this is something I identified with as my little cousin. Everyone sees her as an inspiration in a different direction ".

"She is one of those people who paints the situation," Shay says. "With us, when there is a family meal, first of all we would all come to Eshel and Kinneret, set the table with Kinneret, arrange the chairs. Then at five o'clock, 'too late', Carmel comes down. First of all, she will drink her coffee, with oat milk that Kinneret went out earlier to get for her. She rode a bicycle especially to bring it to Carmel so that she can have it when she comes to visit the kibbutz. Let's say that when Carmel gets tired of the Pesach songs, then she will get up and open the mat on the grass. As soon as she gets up from the table, maybe you can continue to sing With Kinneret, but it's not the same anymore."

"When I was 10 years old and I received from Carmel her collection of candles and bath salts,  girl's stuff, it was the most exciting thing ever," continues Shay. "Because actually after Carmel there is Alon, Or and Gil. And I'm the next daughter in line. When you grow up, the differences become less significant. But Carmel, for me, is still someone I can come to, get good advice, and I also have this connection with her in the therapeutic personality that she is. Carmel She really is, in every inch of her limbs, a therapeutic personality. She is the kind who listens. She will look you in the eyes and all her attention will be devoted to you, with the utmost patience, with the utmost attention.""I remember a super-meaningful conversation with her outside of Grandpa Eliyahu's house. I told her about my dilemma. I was in the transition between studying psychology and medicine and I poured my heart out to her, as is always so easy to do. Her ability to listen and accommodate, and also the way she talks about her profession, about Occupational therapy, I was just considering doing a conversion, I'm still waiting for conversations with her."

"This may actually also be what she did on October 7th and what she does with hostages she was in captivity with. On October 7th itself, Carmel was with her niece, Gefen, in the safe room along with her parents and together with her brother Alon and his wife Yardan. Gefen was then 3 and a half years old and in this situation of distress and helplessness, Carmel pulled a book from the shelf and read it to Gefen. In this place she created a safe space for her, a space of control and ability. It's just taking someone, seeing their plight, their need to give them what they need now and the relevant support."

"They talk about how accommodating she is and how patient she is. But at the same time she is also a very, very, very critical and independent person in his perception," says Gil. "I can hear her in my mind's ears cackling about all kinds of things. Just in a kind of nervousness like that, as a way of expressing her displeasure at certain things that are happening. I personally very much identify with that, it's something we both have in common. She is a conscious person. Which makes me think, what She's thinking about what's happening in Israel, I guess her eyes are rolling endlessly. If she doesn't see, maybe she's thinking, 'Where are they?' And I'm sure she's not thinking about a rescue operation." link 

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

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