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
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Hostage Updates
Today is Rom Braslavski's 21st birthday, his second birthday spent in Hamas captivity יום הולדת 21 לחטוף רום ברוסלבסקי
‘Remember my brother, pray and speak his name’ says family of 20-year old hostage in Gaza
Security guard Rom Braslavski was kidnapped from the Nova Festival on October 7th by Hamas. On a solidarity mission to London, his older brother Amit says 'It's very tough. We need him back'.
Rom Braslavski from Jerusalem was working as a security guard when he was kidnapped from the Nova Festival on October 7th. He is one of three sons to parents, Tamar and Ofir Braslavski, alongside 25-year old Amit and 12-year old Ziv. Rom turned 20 years old whilst in captivity. Last Tuesday, Amit travelled to the UK with his cousin Adam Hagag. Together they visited families, Chigwell and Hampstead Jewish communities, Hasmonean School and private homes to talk about Rom’s plight and the family crisis.
On October 7th, Rom was working as a security guard at the Nova festival when the terrorists struck.
Witnesses said that whilst Rom had several opportunities to save himself, he instead helped save others and hid dead bodies, so that Hamas could not take them.
A young woman who survived the attack and intense, follow up surgery, thanks to Rom, remembers vividly his “wide smile and words of comfort”.
At 10am when he was able to contact home, he lied to his mother so that she wouldn’t worry. He told her that he was with a policeman; that he was safe.
The next day, on October 8th, Amit trawled through the carnage of the Nova festival site searching for his brother. It was two months before the IDF was able to confirm Rom was taken alive as a hostage. None of the hostages released after October 7th say they saw him.
Rom’s parents are a divorced, two-home, low income family. Rom shares a room with Ziv in his mother’s home and the elder brothers both worked from the age of 14 years old to supplement the household income.
Amit describes his brother as “fun, and determined”, someone who “loves music, plays the drums and has a close circle of friends, his best being Ziv, his roommate of 12 years.”
He added: “My little brother and Rom are very connected. They shared a bed. They shared a room. And he hasn’t come back.”
Speaking to London supporters with his cousin Adam by his side, Amit played an old voice recording of Rom, where he can be heard speaking in Hebrew, saying that he would like to go to a hotel with all his family, go to the dining room and drink lots of Coke Zero ‘on the room’ (sic).
Translating the recording, Amit said: “He’s humble. This is the kid that wants Coke Zero on the room. This is his character. He’s not afraid to sleep outside. He’s not afraid to just jump in the sea. He loved life. He loved music. He loves chocolate Oreos. I wish he was home. I don’t want to wait much longer. I don’t know how the families survive this because it’s a very tough situation. My mother and dad are suffering. It’s very, very tough right now. So we need him back. We believe there will be a good end to this story.”
Claudia Salem,whose family hosted Amit and Adam, told Jewish News: “It’s been nine months since Rom was kidnapped into Gaza from the Nova festival. For Amit to be in my home in London, surrounded by 100 Jewish men, women and teens meant so much to him.
“We listened, we understood his pain and promised we will continue to support him by talking about Rom, donating money to financially supporting his family with their needs and to pray for his safe return. Amit is a simple young man with one wish. For his brother to be returned home, to share his bed with his 12 year old brother and see his parents live on with their lives. If anything this visit gave him strength, hope and power to keep positive. I saw the pain in his eyes and I’m so grateful that we showed up for him and his family”.
Amit asks those who wish to support his family to pray, have faith and speak the name: Rom ben Tamar Noa, to share his story and be his voice on social media.link
To offer financial support to Rom’s family, click here.
IDF says it recovered the body of hostage Itay Svirsky from Gaza
Itay Svirsky was taken captive on October 7, 2023, from his mother's house in Kibbutz Be'eri, when Hamas terrorists assaulted the community. He was declared dead on January 16, 2024. (Courtesy)
The IDF says it has recovered the body of hostage Itay Svirsky from the Gaza Strip, in a joint operation with the Shin Bet security agency.
Earlier this year, the IDF said that Svirsky had been murdered in captivity by Hamas terrorists.
Svirsky, 38, was visiting his parents in their community of Kibbutz Be’eri for the holiday weekend, when Hamas terrorists launched a massacre in the community on October 7, 2023. Svirsky was abducted and his parents were murdered during the onslaught.
During his time in Gaza, he was held alongside hostages Yossi Sharabi and Noa Argamani. Sharabi was likely inadvertently killed as a result of an IDF strike, the military said earlier this year, and Argamani was rescued in the summer.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a statement expressing his condolences to the Svirsky family and pledges to continue working to return all remaining 100 hostages.
Slain hostage’s widow: IDF probe proves military pressure kills hostages; 28 hostages have been killed due to IDF ops
Banners showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year old hostage who died in Hamas captivity in Gaza, hang in Jerusalem, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The wife of Chaim Peri says the investigation released by the army earlier today on the deaths of her husband and five other hostages in February proves that the IDF’s military pressure is killing the hostages.
The IDF probe determined that the six hostages were likely executed by their captors amid an IDF airstrike on a Hamas tunnel near where they were being held. The IDF said in its probe that it hadn’t been aware at the time that the hostages were near the tunnel targeted in the strike.
Speaking to Channel 12, Osnat Peri says “military pressure doesn’t help bring hostages home — what’s worse, it kills the hostages.
She says that 28 hostages have been killed as a result of IDF operations.
Peri expresses hope that the IDF probe will convince the government to strike a hostage deal.
Hours earlier, though, Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed that a hostage deal was increasingly possible due to the IDF’s military pressure against Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly claimed that military pressure can coax Hamas into making a deal, but this has yet to be proven true since the first hostage deal in late November. linkHaim Katz's statement military pressure is bringing a deal closer is just plain stupid and an echo of his boss. Military pressure is killing the hostages and the Hamas terrorist guards have explicit instructions from their leadership to execute hostages if/when there is IDF presence.
Qatar said resuming Gaza mediation role as Trump envoy pushes for deal by Jan. 20
Mideast point man in-waiting Steve Witkoff held talks with Netanyahu and Qatari PM, who then met Mossad chief, source says; Hamas to return to Doha for fresh round of negotiations
US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy traveled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on January 20, a source said, amid indications that Doha was resuming its role as a mediator in the talks.
Steve Witkoff, the incoming envoy, met separately in late November with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source said.
The meetings signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed its role as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source said.
The Gulf country had worked alongside the US and Egypt for months on fruitless indirect talks that have not achieved a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza or the release of over 100 hostages held in the enclave. War was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists swarmed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 251.
The source added that Hamas negotiators would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha to facilitate a fresh round of talks.
“There are plans for a subsequent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to take place potentially in Doha soon, but no specific date has been set,” the source said.
Qatar had been a key mediator of the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas until it announced last month it was suspending its role until they the two parties show “willingness and seriousness” to resume talks.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry in Doha claimed the pause was still in place. The announcement appeared to contradict remarks made last week by US President Joe Biden who said Qatar along with Egypt and Turkey would be launching a new push for a hostage deal. full article
A US official says President Joe Biden’s aides are aware of contacts between Israeli and Qatari leaders and Steve Witkoff, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump as his future Mideast envoy, aimed at clinching a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza.
The aides understand that Trump’s envoy supports a Gaza deal along the lines the administration has been pursuing, the official says.
Officially, the Biden administration, rather than Witkoff, retains the US lead in efforts to revive negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden’s team has kept the Trump camp updated, but the two sides have not worked together directly, the US official says on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration does not see a need to coordinate with Witkoff because it regards his discussions with regional players as largely an effort to learn the issues rather than negotiations, the official says.
A source briefed on the meetings says Witkoff is aiming to have a deal in place by the time Trump takes office on January 20, a deadline the president-elect has mentioned himself, indicating that the incoming administration does not intend to wait until the inauguration to take charge of efforts.
Amnesty International says Israel is “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, in a new report that it calls a “wake-up call” for the international community.
The London-based rights organization says its findings are based on “dehumanizing and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials,” satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from Gazans.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard says in a statement.
The human rights group says Israel has mounted deadly attacks, demolished vital infrastructure and prevented the delivery of food, medicine and other aid in Gaza, declaring that the actions cannot not be justified by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel. Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israeli communities that day, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in a brutal outpouring of violence that included rape and other atrocities. Nearly 100 of the 251 people taken hostage by the terror group remain in captivity.
The 296-page report includes scant mention of the hostages, beyond a terse call for the unconditional release of kidnapped civilians. While the report includes several pages urging the international community put various types of pressure on Israel, Amnesty does not recommend pressuring Hamas into releasing civilians held captive in Gaza for over a year.
Israel has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.” It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice, and it has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza.
“The deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement. It accuses Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate Israel, of carrying out a genocidal massacre in the attack that triggered the war, and said it is defending itself in accordance with international law.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Israel has military objectives. But the existence of military objectives does not negate the possibility of a genocidal intent,” Callamard says at a press conference in The Hague. link
Amnesty International Israel rejects a report released by the wider Amnesty International movement that accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli organization says in a statement to the press, with some members accusing the reports’ authors of reaching a “predetermined conclusion.”
The Israeli branch of the international rights group says in a statement that it was not involved in the research, funding, or writing of the report released today, and that it “does not accept the claim that genocide has been proven to be taking place in the Gaza Strip and does not accept the operative findings of the report.”
It says that although “the scale of the killing and destruction carried out by Israel in Gaza has reached horrific proportions and must be stopped immediately,” it does not believe that the events “meet the definition of genocide as strictly laid out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
Despite rejecting the claim of genocide, Amnesty Israel nevertheless asserts that Israel’s actions in Gaza “raise suspicions of widespread and serious violations of international law and crimes against humanity,” and calls for steps to be taken that will bring an immediate end to the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel.
The statement also appears to criticize the double standard adopted by Amnesty International with regard to Israel and Hamas.
“There have been allegations that both the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7 and the Israeli attack on Gaza following the massacre were genocide or attempted genocide,” Amnesty Israel states. “It is imperative and correct to investigate these allegations and to ensure that the standard required to prove intent to commit genocide is universal and consistent for all parties, as well as in any other case in the world where similar concerns are raised.”
In a separate statement obtained by the Haaretz newspaper, several members of Amnesty Israel and Jewish members of Amnesty International go one step further and accuse the report of producing an “artificial analysis” of the situation in the Gaza Strip.
“From the outset, the report was referred to in international correspondence as the ‘genocide report,’ even when the research was still in its initial stages,” Haaretz cites the Amnesty members as saying.
“This is a strong indication of bias and also a factor that can cause additional bias: imagine how difficult it is for a researcher to work for months on a report titled ‘genocide report’ and then to have to conclude that it is ‘only’ about crimes against humanity,” they add. “Predetermined conclusions of this kind are not typical of other Amnesty International investigations.”
Accusing the report of having been “motivated by a desire to support a popular narrative among Amnesty International’s target audience,” the joint statement calls for the organization to “critically reconsider the working procedures and methodologies that led to the publication of this flawed report.”
The New Egyptian Proposal for a Hostage Deal and Israel's Flexibility on the Rafah Crossing The proposal includes a temporary ceasefire, the gradual release of live hostages and prisoners according to a formula agreed upon by both sides. A high-level security delegation is set to travel to Egypt next week. A Palestinian source told Channel 12: "We are seeing movement from Hamas regarding the Rafah crossing and prisoner releases."
The negotiations surrounding the hostage deal are shrouded in secrecy, but on Wednesday, it was revealed that the source of Israel's optimism is a new Egyptian proposal presented to the parties. The proposal suggests transferring control of the Rafah crossing to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The Egyptian plan outlines a temporary ceasefire lasting 45 to 60 days. While details remain unsettled, it appears to be a phased deal, with the first phase lasting six to eight weeks. The plan includes the gradual release of hostages, likely in smaller numbers than previous deals, along with the release of prisoners under a new arrangement to be determined by the parties. The proposal also suggests opening the Rafah crossing under PA management.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously opposed any PA involvement in Gaza, making this clause politically contentious. Additionally, Egypt proposes a significant increase in humanitarian aid, raising the daily number of trucks to approximately 350. Regarding the Nitzanim and Philadelphi routes, Egypt is expected to offer a new framework for troop deployment.
The Egyptian proposal seeks to bridge Hamas's demand for Israel to declare the war over and Israel's preference for a deal that does not require such a declaration, at least initially. Depending on progress, a high-level security delegation will travel to Egypt next week.
While this is not yet a breakthrough, signs suggest progress that may explain Netanyahu's statement in the Knesset, expressing hope that Israel will soon bring dozens of hostages home.
Palestinian Source: Hamas Showing Flexibility on the Rafah Crossing
A Palestinian source indicated that Hamas's willingness to hand control of the Rafah crossing to the PA signals a significant shift. Beyond the symbolic importance of the crossing, surrendering control also means forfeiting substantial financial gains. If Fatah controls the crossing, it will be more difficult for Hamas members to leave Gaza. The source also suggested Hamas might show flexibility on the prisoner release mechanism. However, everything hinges on guarantees for ending the war. Without such guarantees, the hostage deal is unlikely to be resolved. linkAlthough this is an improvement to no talks and no discussions towards getting the hostages home, this is a bad deal. Any and every deal that should be discussed and finalized as quickly as possible has to be a one shot deal - get all the hostages at once and fast. This deal means that we are leaving any number of living hostages for another 6-8 weeks and during this period of time, more hostages will die. So many are on death's door, starving, tortured, raped that every single day could be their last. The government must bring them home now and all in one single deal, no phases.
A Sober Assessment
It is very difficult to assess where we are regarding negotiations to end the war in Gaza and to bring the hostages home. In September, two Hamas leaders from the Hamas politburo, one of them a member of the Hamas negotiating team, conveyed to me that they were prepared to agree to the “Three Weeks Deal” that I proposed during which time the war would end, all 101 hostages would be returned to Israel in exchange for an agreed number and list of Palestinian prisoners who would be freed from Israeli prisons, Israel would withdraw completely from Gaza and Hamas would no longer rule Gaza – the governance of Gaza would be given to a civilian Palestinian professional technocratic council. The Israeli negotiators responded that the Israeli government and the Prime Minister refused to end the war and Hamas responded that they would not agree to any deal that did not end the war. The Qataris and the Egyptians told me that Hamas demanded a commitment and international guarantees that if they agreed to the format of the Biden-Netanyahu proposal from May, or the July version of the proposal which began the process with a 42-day ceasefire, they would agree to a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, if in stage two there were guarantees to end the war. According to the Qataris and the Egyptians, Israel refused to give those guarantees and the Israeli side added additional conditions which substantively changed the original proposal. All of this happened before Yahya Sinwar was killed.
Today, no one knows for sure that if the Hamas leadership outside of Gaza agrees to anything, the remaining Hamas leaders in Gaza have the ability or the willingness to implement the agreement. Since the killing of Sinwar, no one knows if Hamas is willing to give up governance over Gaza or to end the war. Egypt has proposed a number of new ideas, such as releasing a few hostages at the beginning of a ceasefire, mostly, I believe to determine if any agreement made by Hamas leaders outside could be implemented by the Hamas leaders inside of Gaza. The Egyptians have also tried to get Fatah and Hamas to agree to a government of consensus for Gaza which is not the Palestinian Authority and not Hamas. But the bottom line on the negotiations between Fatah and Hamas is that neither side is willing to allow the other side to rule Gaza and the Egyptian proposal is believed by both sides to empower the other side. It seems like just another attempt at failed Palestinian unity tried so many times before. The only path towards Palestinian unity will be the next time democratic elections can be held after there is stability and security within Palestine.
The Hamas leadership, as I hear from Palestinian sources, is not only scattered in different locales today, there are also division within the leadership on how to proceed. One issue of agreement among all of the Hamas leaders outside of Gaza seems to be that they all want the war to end. That seems to be the number one priority, but for Hamas, ending the war means a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. For Hamas, ending the war with Israeli forces remaining in Gaza does not end the war at all. It also provides endless targets for armed insurgents in Gaza to shoot and try to kill. The Qataris have now renewed their mediation efforts while most of the Hamas leaders have left Qatar. Many Hamas leaders have gone to Turkey, but from what I hear, they are afraid of Israeli assassinations inside of Turkey. The Qataris, according to various sources do not want all of the Hamas leaders to return to Doha. Some Hamas leaders come and go to Cairo, but the Egyptians do not want to Hamas leadership to be based there. In fact, Egypt very much wants the 160,000 Gazans who escaped to Egypt to find somewhere else to go. From what I hear from Gazans in Egypt, life in Egypt is very unsecure, living conditions are harsh, they cannot work, and they feel that for many Egyptians, they have overstayed their welcome. There are reports that Hamas leaders may find refuge in Malaysia and some reports have suggested Algeria as well. Israel tried to see if the Turkish intelligence would be willing to enter to the mediation efforts. My understanding is that they gave a negative answer to the Israeli request. So, the mediation efforts remain in Egypt and in Qatar. I visited Qatar and met with the Qataris negotiators and my impression was that they were sincere and were making real efforts to reach agreements. But both Egypt and Qatar were most frustrated by the lack of willingness of Netanyahu to end the war and without that, it seems impossible to get agreement from Hamas on the hostages.
My own mediation efforts on behalf of hostage families who requested from me to try to reach a deal with Hamas have hit a brick wall both as a result of my failure to move the “Three Weeks Deal” forward and also because I have been told by the Israeli side not to continue. I have been told that “there are a number of tracks being worked and we don’t want another one”. Hamas has no reason to negotiate with me or even to respond to me when they know that I cannot advance an agreement. My only desire is to help to end this horrific war and to bring the hostages home. The main reason why I have tried to help since the second day of the war is because over 18 years of negotiating with Hamas, I have developed contacts with eight senior Hamas leaders – all of whom are outside of Gaza today. I don’t have any contacts with the Hamas leaders in Gaza, and to the best of my knowledge all of the mediators have been dealing directly only with Hamas leaders outside of Gaza. I still firmly believe that there is no replacement for direct contact through back channels. I have proposed to the Israeli officials to authorize a direct back channel in which I would communicate with Hamas in the presence of the Israeli negotiators and I would take instructions from them and send and receive messages to Hamas in real time. This is what I did during the last five months of Gilad Shalit’s captivity in Gaza, after being in direct contact with Hamas leaders from one week after Shalit was abducted. During the years prior to October 7, I was communicating with Hamas directly and with the official Israeli team in charge of hostages and prisoners. I even was instructed to speak with Hamas from an office in the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv in the presence of the Israeli team. Over the years I have spoken to Hamas in the presence of Israeli Government Ministers, at their request, and even offered them to take the telephone – none of them ever agreed to speak directly with someone from Hamas.
There are reports that we are close to a deal. We have heard those reports repeatedly over the past year. I tend not to believe anything in the media about the negotiations. The parties use the media as part of the tactics of negotiations. It is difficult to be optimistic because in a very sober way, ending the war in Gaza and ensuring that this will be the last Israeli-Palestinian war is only really possible in the context of political steps towards the implementation of the two states solution. If the war ends and Gaza remains under blockade and the West Bank remains under harsh Israeli occupation and control, then we will perhaps have short break from the death and destruction but we will surely return to it sooner rather than later. We have seen very clearly that the military pressure does not rescue hostages, it kills them.
On the positive side, the two-states solution has re-emerged from this war as well as the possibilities for a regional framework for stability, security, and economic development. That is the approach that the Trump administration is likely to advance. It is also what the Saudis and the Europeans are working on. The Saudis in cooperation with the European Union and Norway have launched the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two States Solution. Some ninety countries have joined that alliance. Israel has been invited to join but has not shown up to any of the meetings – the last one on November 28 in Brussels. The idea of the Alliance is that enough talking has been done and enough declarations, now it is the responsibility of government around the world to take concrete steps that will make the two states solution real. That is a very positive change of attitude and positions by the majority of the international community.
It is quite clear that emerging from this war, we Israelis and Palestinians have a lot of work to do to bring new leaders to our people. There is no positive future for Israel if Netanyahu continues to be the Prime Minister. There is no positive future for Palestine if Abbas and Hamas remain the leaders of the Palestinian people. We need new leaders who have had enough of wars and understand that the military solutions are not solutions at all. There are only political solutions and the only real viable political solution remains the two-states solution. The failures to reach that solution until now have lots of reasons and the changing realities on the ground make it more difficult to reach it than before 30 years. That does not change the fact that both sides have the same right to the same rights. There is no one side which is superior to the other or has more rights to be here. In our reality with seven million Israeli Jews and seven million Palestinian Arabs living on the land between the River and the Sea, there is no way for both sides to have a territorial expression of their identity without dividing the land into two states. The acceptable formula has been on the basis of the 1967 lines where Jewish Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and Palestinian Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. The Old City of Jerusalem must have no exclusive sovereignty, and the solution agreed to by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Alkidwa is for the Old City of Jerusalem to be under a Trusteeship of five countries of which Israel and Palestine will be two of them.
Now we, the people of Israel and the people of Palestine must create the Israeli-Palestinian Alliance for the Implementation of the Two States solution – that is what my Palestinian partner, Samer Sinijlawi and I are doing. link
About the Author
The writer is the Middle East Director of ICO - International Communities Organization - a UK based NGO working in Conflict zones with failed peace processes. Baskin is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and her neighbors. He is also a founding member of “Kol Ezraheiha - Kol Muwanteneiha” (All of the Citizens) political party in Israel.
Gaza and the South
Troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operating in northern Gaza’s Jabalia this week located a makeshift bomb-making lab in a home, the military says.
The IDF says the troops found parts to build explosive devices, along with grenades, in the home.
Also during the operations in Jabalia in the past week, the military says the troops killed many gunmen, demolished Hamas infrastructure, and seized and destroyed numerous weapons.
Ben Gvir hoping Trump will work with Israel to encourage voluntary emigration of Gazans
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he has high hopes that US President-elect Donald Trump will work with Israel to do “big things” in the Gaza Strip when he enters the White House in January.
In an interview with the Maariv podcast, Ben Gvir says that if it were up to him, he would present Trump with “a program to encourage migration and settlements in Gaza.”
The plan, he clarifies, would be two-fold. While first and foremost, it would encourage Israelis to settle in the Gaza Strip, it would also promote the “emigration” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
“I would tell the president to join us in this endeavor,” he says, espousing what he says would be the “moral” and “logical” choice.
“It will also be good for the residents of Gaza who emigrate, voluntarily of course,” he claims. “I think it will also do us good.”
“When have we defeated our enemies?” the ultranationalist minister asks rhetorically. “It’s always been when we’ve taken territory from them. When we liberated — they call it ‘occupied’ I say we liberated — the territory, that’s always been the thing that punishes them most.”
Regarding Trump’s threat earlier this week that there would be “hell to pay” if hostages held “in the Middle East” aren’t released by the time he enters office on January 20, Ben Gvir says he believes the president-elect was ramping up pressure on Hamas, despite not mentioning the terror group by name.
“I think it makes a lot of sense,” he says. “At the end of the day, I expect that we will do things, and have the power to do things, that will expedite the return of the hostages.” linkFor so many reasons, Ben Gvir believes he has a kindred spirit coming to the White House, someone who, like him, has no compunction about violating laws, especially those that line up with their personal self interests and their delusional agendas. While Trump is planning to deport millions of illegal immigrants, Ben Gvir wants to force 'voluntary' emigration, first from Gaza and then from the West Bank. What makes it voluntary? Ben Gvir has always made it his goal to make the lives of Palestinians miserable and dangerous so they would 'choose' to immigrate for their won safety. This isn't voluntary! This is expulsion! And it is illegal in so many ways. But legality plays no role in Ben Gvir's world and he sees that Trump lives by that motto as well, therefore he believes that he wlll be able to get Trump on board with his plan, probably by equating the Palestinians with Trump's 'illegal' immigrants. Not On the one hand, Trump could fall for this falsehood. The Palestinians are neither immigrants or illegal. They have lived in this land for hundreds of years, a lot longer than many of the Jews in Israel. The other hand of Trump won't buy into it for a few simple reasons and they are the Arab Gulf countries that Trump has many personal interests in and will do a lot to maintain favor with them, in particular Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia will not stand quietly by while Ben Gvir and his racist followers try to push this illegal plan through. The war has brought back the Saudi demand for a 2 State Solution, and not just on paper. They demand a concrete plan and real action.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a Hezbollah rocket launcher that was spotted in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Zoun earlier today.
The launcher “posed a threat to the State of Israel while violating the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military says.
Troops also demolished Hezbollah weapons found today in southern Lebanon’s Khiam, as-Sawana, and Aitaroun, the IDF says.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and acts against any threat that endangers the State of Israel,” the army adds. video
A Community in Ruins: The Aftermath of Metula’s Destruction Following the Ceasefire
In the historic northern town of Metula, the extent of the devastation caused by rocket fire from Lebanon is only now being revealed. Over 60% of households have reported severe damage. While long-time residents are determined to stay, younger families with children feel they have no reason to return: "There are no extracurricular activities, no educational frameworks, and no community here."
Metula, located at the tip of the Galilee Panhandle and surrounded on three sides by the border, was dramatically altered by the war. Last night (Tuesday), the "Central Edition" showcased shocking drone footage of entire neighborhoods destroyed by thousands of rockets and anti-tank missiles. Of Metula’s 650 households, over 400 have sustained serious damage—more than 60%. Even homes that appear intact on the outside reveal extensive internal destruction. Experts predict more damage will be uncovered as additional families return in the coming days.
Destruction of homes in Metulla
David Azulai, the council head, remains optimistic: "Metula will overcome this with or without the Israeli government." In Har Tzafiya, a neighborhood overlooking Lebanon’s villages of Khiam and Adaisseh, the scale of destruction is stark. Built on a terraced hillside, the homes were easy targets for snipers. Of the neighborhood’s 100 homes, at least 75% have suffered critical damage, many requiring complete demolition and rebuilding.
60% of the homes have been damaged or destroyed
Lebanon Street in Metula, situated on the frontline, also bore the brunt of Hezbollah’s attacks. The area is home to agricultural estates, descendants of the town's founders from 128 years ago. Meanwhile, Israel's Property Tax Authority has documented over 20,000 claims in the north since the war began, with direct damage estimated at more than 2 billion shekels.
Staying or Leaving: The Dilemma Facing Residents
Amikam Zimirli, a veteran Metula resident, said: "There’s nothing like home. Anyone staying in a hotel needs a psychologist." He insists that none of the older residents will leave, proudly stating, "Our roots run deep." However, his outlook for young families is less optimistic: "I see them leaving. If I had young children, I wouldn’t bring them here."
Levav Weinberg, another resident and father of young children, highlighted the challenges: "There’s nowhere to bring the kids—no activities or educational programs. There’s no community. I hope in the coming years, that will change."
Amid the ruins of Khiam in Lebanon, significant military infrastructure, hidden positions, and tunnels were discovered, posing a grave threat to Metula. There is fear that with the ceasefire, militants will rebuild, making life in Metula untenable.
While the government has pledged to swiftly rebuild homes in the north, the core issue remains: Metula is only meters from the border, close to villages from which Hezbollah planned to invade the Galilee. link
US intel: Hezbollah looking to rebuild after losing half of its weapons stockpiles
Recovery efforts began even before ceasefire, sources say; IDF strikes rocket launcher in Lebanese border town; Blinken asserts truce is holding, monitoring mechanism is working
Hezbollah has been significantly degraded militarily by Israel since it went to war against the Jewish state on October 8, 2023, and has lost more than half its weapons stockpiles, but the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group will likely try to rebuild its arms and forces and pose a long-term threat to Israel, the US and its regional allies, four sources briefed on updated US intelligence told Reuters Wednesday.
The evaluation came as Israel continued to hit what it said were Hezbollah forces violating a ceasefire that came into effect last week, while Washington said that the deal it helped broker was holding up.
The ceasefire is meant to put a halt to nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that began when the group, unprovoked, started firing at Israel in solidarity with allied Palestinian terror organization Hamas amid the war in Gaza. Securing the border area to enable the return of northern residents, tens of thousands of whom were displaced by the Hezbollah attacks, has been one of Israel’s declared goals of the war.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek the destruction of Israel.
US intelligence agencies assessed in recent weeks that Hezbollah, even amid Israel’s military campaign that decimated its leadership and weapons stockpile, had begun to recruit new fighters and was trying to find ways to rearm through domestic production and by smuggling materials through Syria, said a senior US official, an Israeli official and two US lawmakers briefed on the intelligence, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It’s unclear to what extent those efforts have slowed since last week when Hezbollah and Israel reached the shaky ceasefire, two of the sources said. The deal specifically prohibits Hezbollah from procuring weapons or weapons parts, or maintaining a presence in southern Lebanon.
In recent days, Israel has tried to undercut Hezbollah’s ability to rebuild its military forces, striking several Hezbollah rocket launchers in Lebanon, bombing border crossings with Syria, and blocking an Iranian aircraft suspected of ferrying weapons for the group.
On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out a drone strike against a Hezbollah rocket launcher that was spotted in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Zoun.
The launcher “posed a threat to the State of Israel while violating the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military said.
Troops also demolished Hezbollah weapons found Wednesday in southern Lebanon’s Khiam, as-Sawana and Aitaroun, the IDF said.
“The IDF is deployed in southern Lebanon and acts against any threat that endangers the State of Israel,” the army added.
US intelligence agencies assess that Hezbollah is operating with limited firepower. It has lost more than half its weapons stockpiles and thousands of fighters during the conflict with Israel, reducing the overall military capacity of Tehran and its proxies to its lowest point in decades, according to the intelligence.
But Hezbollah has not been destroyed. It still maintains thousands of short-range rockets in Lebanon and it will try to rebuild using weapons factories in neighboring countries with available transport routes, the sources said.
One of the lawmakers said Hezbollah has been “knocked back” in the short term and had its ability to conduct command and control reduced. But the lawmaker added: “This organization is designed to be disrupted.”
US officials are concerned about Hezbollah’s access to Syria, where Syrian rebels recently launched an offensive to retake government strongholds in Aleppo and Hama. Hezbollah has long used Syria as a safe haven and transport hub, taking military equipment and weapons from Iraq, through Syria and into Lebanon through the rugged border crossings.
Washington is trying to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to limit Hezbollah’s operations, enlisting other countries in the region to help, a senior US official said.
Reuters reported on Monday that the US and the United Arab Emirates have discussed possibly lifting sanctions on Assad if he peels himself away from Iran and cuts off weapons routes to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah officials have said the group will continue to function as a “resistance” against Israel, but its secretary general Naim Qassem has not brought up the group’s weapons in recent speeches, including after the ceasefire was reached. Sources in Lebanon say Hezbollah’s priority is rebuilding homes for its constituency after Israeli strikes destroyed swaths of Lebanon’s south and the southern suburbs of Beirut where the group embedded its headquarters and stored weapons. The US National Security Council and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence declined to comment on the updated US intelligence.
Training challenges
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that Hezbollah had not been weakened by Israel’s killing of many of its leaders since January and by its ground assault against the group since early October. He said Hezbollah had been able to reorganize and fight back effectively.
However, US intelligence indicates that Israel has taken out thousands of Hezbollah’s missiles in Lebanon, pushing cadres of its fighters back from the border with Israel, the sources told Reuters.
While tracking the exact number of Hezbollah fighters remains a challenge, the intelligence notes that the group will likely face significant training challenges for years to come, the sources said.
US officials say Hezbollah’s breakdown points to a growing gap in Iran’s military capacity and raises doubts about its ability to use its proxies to attack Israel and its other adversaries in the short term. Iran also backs Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip and the Houthi terror group in Yemen.
In the past, had Israel considered bombing Iran, it faced the prospect of Hezbollah in Lebanon reciprocating, said a second US official, but with Hezbollah weakened, Israel can attack Iran directly without the same threat to its north.
In Gaza, US intelligence indicates Hamas can only sustain small, guerrilla-style tactics after having lost at least half of its fighters in the war that began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza. full article
France will be represented in the Lebanon ceasefire oversight mechanism by Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin, the French Foreign Ministry announces. He will be joined by 10 military and civilian personnel from the French Foreign Ministry and Armed Forces Ministry.
“The supervision mechanism will operate in close coordination with the Lebanese Army, the IDF, and UNIFIL to ensure the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon,” says the Quai d’Orsay. “At the same time, the mechanism will cooperate with the Military Technical Committee for Support to Lebanon with the aim of strengthening the Lebanese Army and assisting its deployment in the south of the country.”
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
Politics and the War (general news)
IDF said to warn dozens of soldiers against travel abroad over war crimes claims Military finds anti-Israel groups filed complaints against some 30 troops who served in Gaza Strip; officials concerned images posted to social media could be used as evidence
The Israel Defense Forces warned some 30 soldiers and officers who fought in the Gaza Strip to avoid traveling abroad after anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian groups filed complaints against them for alleged war crimes, according to a Wednesday report.
In eight cases, soldiers who did travel abroad were immediately told to return over fears they would be arrested or questioned by the country they were visiting, the Ynet news site reported. The soldiers were visiting Cyprus, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.
The IDF does not bar soldiers from traveling abroad, but it does conduct a “risk assessment” for troops who served in Gaza before approving their request, the report said.
IDF reservists who fought in Gaza are being advised to first check with the Foreign Ministry regarding the level of danger in any country they wish to visit.
Officials are concerned that aside from local legal actions, some senior officers could face prosecution at the International Criminal Court, which last month issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 taken as hostages to Gaza.
The declared goal of Israel’s military response is to destroy Hamas, ensure that no similar attack happens again, and recover the hostages, of whom 97 remain in captivity, though dozens are thought to have been killed.
IDF sources told Ynet that there was a concern that individual processes against lower-ranking soldiers and officers traveling abroad could be based on the ruling of the Hague court and on evidence gathered from social media or media reports.
Soldiers have been identified from videos and images they posted online that were taken during their service in Gaza, even though from the start of the ground operation in the Strip the IDF instructed troops not to publish such images amid concerns the material could be used against them in war crimes proceedings.
Anti-Israel activists are carefully monitoring the social media accounts of soldiers who have posted such material in case they also publish images from trips abroad, at which point the activists plan to file local charges against them, Ynet reported.
Soldiers who are planning to travel abroad are being advised to not post any images that give away their location.
IDF legal experts have assessed that the ICC will not go after lower-ranking officers and soldiers who were carrying out the orders of the political leadership, the report said. In addition, the ICC is not likely to involve itself due to the principle of “complementarity,” under which a democratic country such as Israel is trusted to prosecute criminal activity though its own judicial system.
However, officials are concerned that senior commanders such as the IDF’s northern and southern command chiefs, or IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, could be targeted by the ICC, the report said, though no such moves have yet been seen.
Israel will give full support via its local diplomatic offices to any soldier who is arrested or detained for questioning, or who feels threatened by activists while abroad, IDF sources said.
The threat of legal action against soldiers could increase as the fighting in Gaza dwindles and access to the Strip is granted to humanitarian groups and foreign media. With that in mind, an inter-ministerial team has been put together, led by the justice and foreign ministries along with the international law department of the IDF.
The team, which includes representation from the Shin Bet security service and the Mossad intelligence agency, makes assessments based on where a soldier served and the chances of them being arrested or detained in each country.
A key factor in the assessment is which countries say they will uphold the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, IDF sources told Ynet.
In addition, Israel has hired the services of local attorneys in dozens of countries around the world to keep an eye on legislation on their own turf relating to Israel and the war. The attorneys have also been asked to watch out for legal action against Israeli officials or members of the military and will defend such figures if necessary.
The sheer volume of available material that could be used against soldiers was highlighted Tuesday by the Washington Post, which published an in-depth investigation into videos posted by Israeli soldiers during 14 months of war that showed actions and behavior that could violate both IDF orders and international law.
“Videos and photographs have repeatedly shown [IDF] forces demolishing entire buildings, including homes and schools, as well as looting and torching them,” said the report. “Other visuals have Israeli soldiers posing next to dead bodies and calling for the extermination and expulsion of Palestinians.”
The outlet said it reviewed and verified 120 photos and videos from among the thousands posted to social media by IDF soldiers, “a vast cache that gives a rare and troubling view of how some elements of the Israeli military have conducted themselves” throughout the war.
The Post also interviewed IDF reservists who said they felt there was a sense of revenge motivating many of their comrades in Gaza.
Some of the videos made light of the destruction of civilian homes, which military necessity could justify in a range of scenarios in urban combat. Other videos showed reservists filming Palestinian corpses in footage meant to be humorous or vengeful.
The Post published the videos without hiding the soldiers’ faces. Many of the social media accounts identified in the report were no longer accessible to the public on Wednesday.
Israeli military ethicist Asa Kasher called such posts by soldiers “a breakdown of not just military discipline, but a break in understanding what it takes to represent the IDF and Israel.”
Videos published by the Post showed soldiers praising the demolition of buildings while threatening the same fate for all of Gaza. Others showed soldiers vandalizing private property and possessions in Palestinian homes, pictures of taunting graffiti, or soldiers horsing around amid the destruction of civilian areas. Other videos and photos showed soldiers playing with women’s underwear they found in Gazan homes, a phenomenon that has been reported on in the past. Some also extolled the idea of Israel reestablishing settlements in Gaza that it dismantled when it unilaterally pulled out in 2005.
Soldiers who spoke to the Post described how troops would set fire to buildings after they had finished using them for military operations, a practice that has been reported before and that the IDF has said is sometimes needed to destroy infrastructure used by terrorists.
The IDF said in a statement to the Post that it destroys “Hamas infrastructure and other military targets using approved and appropriate means.”
However, it conceded that “the burning of buildings without a military necessity is contrary to the IDF orders and the values of the IDF” and said that “allegations of conduct that do not fall within IDF approved directives and protocols will be reviewed.”
Some soldiers contacted by the Post about the content they had posted defended their actions or disagreed that troops had humiliated Palestinians.
Shimon Zuckerman, who posted videos of building demolitions, said he was told by the army to stop publishing such footage.
But he told the Post, “I took these videos to raise the morale of the people at home, and I don’t regret it for a moment.”
Elishav Libman, a soldier whose brother was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival near Gaza on October 7, 2023, and who has posted videos and images of graffiti from Gaza, told the Post, “Ultimately, my target audience is the citizens of Israel. I know what gives our citizens strength.”
Legal experts who were shown videos by the Post said that the footage amounted to evidence of possible humanitarian law violations.
The IDF said disciplinary talks have been held with some of the soldiers involved in incidents that “deviated from IDF values and principles and contradicted regulations.” It also said that if criminal conduct is involved, the military police are called in.
In February, IDF chief Halevi sent a missive to troops instructing them that the army is “not on a killing spree,” not acting out of revenge, and not carrying out genocide in the Gaza Strip.
“We act like human beings and, unlike our enemy, maintain our humanity. We must be careful not to use force where it is not required, to distinguish between a terrorist and those who are not, not to take anything that is not ours — a souvenir or weapons — and not to film revenge videos,” Halevi said.
The same month, the IDF’s top lawyer, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, issued a warning to commanders against illegal actions by troops in the Gaza Strip.
The comments came weeks after The New York Times published its own article, “What Israeli Soldiers’ Videos Reveal: Cheering Destruction and Mocking Gazans,” which showed photos and videos of Israeli soldiers making derogatory comments about Palestinians, vandalizing civilian property and smiling for the cameras while driving bulldozers and using explosives. linkAs I wrote after the issuing of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant by the ICC, that this would be the tip of the iceberg. Due to Netanyahu's continued negligence and self interests, but refusing the initiate a State Commission of Inquiry which would have canceled the ICC investigations and coming warrants, Netanyahu has turned us into a pariah nation and the 2 warrants would only be the beginning to be followed by warrants or challenges to the General Staff, then other senior and junior officers and finally soldiers who served in Gaza. Because this war has been the most photographed and videoed in history and the posts by the soldiers themselves are so rampant, all the evidence is online making it easy to determine what was done and by whom.
Ex-Shin Bet head: PM once asked me to wiretap ministers for fear of leaks; PM’s office slams ‘fabricated affair,’ ‘coup attempt’
Former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen alleges that while he was at the helm of the security agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had once asked him to monitor government ministers and defense officials to ensure that they were not leaking information from a particularly sensitive security meeting.
He tells Kan Radio that Netanyahu “was afraid” that a “sensitive issue” discussed in the meeting would be leaked, and as such, instructed the Shin Bet to wiretap any participants.
“If someone leaks it, we will deal with it,” he recalls the premier telling him at the time.
Cohen served as the head of the Shin Bet from May 2011 until May 2016.
He posits that due to his ongoing corruption trial, Netanyahu has overseen “a systematic destruction of the most important national institutions in the country.
“They’re attacking the Supreme Court, they are coming out against the attorney general — Netanyahu has said there is an eighth front [in the war],” he says.
The Prime Minister’s Office in response accuses Cohen of “trying to create another fabricated ‘affair'” but does not deny that Netanyahu asked the former security chief to wiretap government ministers.
“The prime minister sought to protect a vital state secret, accepted the recommendations of the legal system, acted according to the law, and did not violate anyone’s rights,” the PMO says.
“Contrary to Cohen’s words, the real threat to Israel’s democracy is not from elected officials but from elements in the enforcement authorities who refuse to accept the voters’ decision and are trying to carry out a coup d’état through unchecked political investigations that would be unacceptable in any democracy,” the PMO charges.
In a succinct statement of his own, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says: “There is no doubt as to who is telling the truth. Yoram Cohen or Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The Region and the World
The crew of Panama-flagged cargo ship MV ISA STAR have been rescued in the Red Sea after sending a distress signal, the EU’s Aspides naval mission says.
“All crew members aboard the MV ISA STAR have been rescued and will be transported to Djibouti, the nearest safe port of call,” Aspides says in a statement posted on Facebook.
The vessel had reported flooding in the engine room and the master requested assistance, it says, as its crew of 20 were forced to abandon it.
One maritime security source told Reuters that the ship experienced engine problems and another source said that it had reported an internal explosion. Details on the current condition of the vessel are not immediately available.
The ship was about 100 nautical miles off the port of Hodeidah, Yemen, when it called for assistance, the sources say.
Personal Stories
Hamas killed my parents 8 months ago. US and world leaders, help us bring them home.
For 83 excruciating days, we kept hope that my parents were among the living hostages.
Iris Weinstein-Haggai
Opinion contributor
Eight months – more than 250 days – and the international community has watched Hamas hold my parents' remains hostage while terrorism wins.
This time of year is filled with opportunities to express gratitude and love for parents – with Mother's Day in May, Father’s Day in June, and the United Nations-proclaimed Global Day of Parents on June 1. These holidays are about acknowledging the hard work and sacrifices parents make for their families, but for me and my three siblings, they are now accompanied by unfathomable tragedy.
My parents – two of the eight Americans held hostage in Gaza – were on their morning walk through the Kibbutz Nir Oz fields on Oct. 7 when hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed the area and dragged my parents to Gaza.
For over 80 excruciating days, we kept hope that they were among the living hostages. That was until Israeli intelligence and the FBI confirmed my worst fear: The terrorists had brutally murdered my mother, 70-year-old Judy Weinstein, and my father, 72-year-old Gad Haggai. They now hold their bodies captive as bargaining chips and a sick trophy to commemorate the death and destruction they wrought.
Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai enjoy homemade coffee before their morning walk in Kibbutz Nir Oz in an updated photo.
Before their attack, my kibbutz was a quiet place full of families actively working toward peace. Now, more than a quarter of its residents have been murdered or taken hostage. More than half of the homes were burned to the ground, some with families still inside.
Today, my kibbutz is vacant – the ones who survived the massacre are now a community of refugees with no stability, no future to plan, searching for a place to call home again.
More than eight months since Oct. 7, and not a single international aid organization has visited the hostages. The International Committee of the Red Cross has not provided any proof of life, medicine or care. It took the U.N. Security Council more than seven months to call a meeting for the hostages. Women’s organizations have stayed silent, even after new video footage showed Hamas torturing seven female hostages.
The fate of Hamas hostages can change every second
As we passed the 200-day mark, an 18-country coalition led by the United States issued a joint statement on April 25 demanding the immediate release of all hostages. It was one of the most powerful responses to the hostage crisis since Oct. 7.
This is momentum, and the international community cannot let it go unharnessed. We need to use it to get our loved ones home and to work toward peace in the region. As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Egypt last week, the regional governments must “press Hamas to say yes.”
Iris Weinstein-Haggai with her parents, Judy Weinstein and Gad haggai, on their morning walk in Kibbutz Nir Oz
This crisis is not political. It is a global humanitarian issue, a global threat. The reality is that no one can guarantee Oct. 7 won't happen again. As a matter of fact, it seems closer than ever.
Dozens of Americans were slaughtered on Oct 7. It can happen anywhere in the world, and tragically, Americans have experienced that firsthand.
Hamas is connected with the Iranian regime, and while I can’t thank the Biden administration enough for all that it’s doing, it is time for the United States to push all G7 leaders to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, cut off their income, pass sanctions on them and their allies, and continue to lead to a terror-free world.
Time has run out; the fate of the hostages can change every second. It’s been too long. Let me and my siblings mourn the loss of our parents. Please, to all of the world leaders, give us the chance to heal and live the life they wanted for us. Bring them home. link
Iris Weinstein-Haggai is the daughter of 70-year-old Judy Weinstein and 72-year-old Gad Haggai, who were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
Patchwork Quilt
Prof. Gur Alroey
Historian.
Israeli society is a stunning and colorful quilt, the source of Israel's strength and security, and its economic and social prosperity over the past 76 years. From its inception, Israeli society experienced disputes, tensions and controversies, however it always kept the quilt whole, recognizing its importance. But when Benjamin Netanyahu entered Israeli politics, and in particular after his election as Prime Minister in 1996, he began to unravel the quilt’s seams, one after another. He has torn Israeli society apart, polarized it and incited hatred between the different colorful patches for the sake of his own political survival. The peak of this incitement is the abandonment of our hostages in the Gaza tunnels, and turning them into a political issue.
A direct line can be traced between Netanyahu's toxic whisper in the ear of an elderly Rabbi, claiming that "the leftists have forgotten what it means to be a Jew", and his abandonment of the residents of the Gaza Envelope who were abducted from their homes on October 7th. Abandoning the hostages is a mark of Cain that Netanyahu will carry for the rest of his life; Israel’s Prime Minister turned his back on a Jewish tradition that ascribes utmost importance to saving Jews in captivity and setting them free.
As is his wont, Netanyahu is also denying the Zionist ethos and the Israel Defense Forces spirit that asserts that no wounded or captive soldier should be left behind on the battlefield. In the War of Independence, our hostages were brought back from Jordanian captivity; this was also the case when Uri Ilan's body and the surviving members of his unit were returned to Israel as part of a prisoner exchange deal; or when Shlomo Ben Elkana sought and found the remains of Avshalom Fineberg, a Nili hero; it happened to the hostages of the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War and the First and Second Lebanon Wars; and to soldiers who were captured by terrorist organizations and released following negotiations with the heads of these organizations. Sadly, it was not the case with Ron Arad, who was abandoned by generations of Israeli governments, or for the kidnapped bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. These cases have remained indelible stains in the history of Israel.
David Ben Gurion asserted that there would be no Unknown Soldier Monument in Israel; that the State of Israel was and is committed to finding every soldier. Following his moral statement, the IDF Missing Soldiers Unit was established, sparing no time or effort in finding IDF missing soldiers, from 1948 to this day. Every investigator in this unit is well aware of the fact that a missing soldier robs the peace of mind of his family, making it impossible for them to rehabilitate their lives following the disaster that befell them. Following October 7th, we have all lost our peace of mind, as well as any confidence in our safety.
It is the ethical and moral responsibility of Israel’s prime minister to bring the living hostages back to their families, and the dead hostages to final rest in their homeland. We are all hostage families. It is a national rather than a personal struggle.
The hostages' faces, smiling at us from their photographs throughout Israel, bear witness to the beautiful quilt that portrays Israeli society. Abandoning them in Hamas captivity rips apart the last seam of our solidarity, denying us the right to our existence as a society and as a nation.
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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🎗️Day 260 that 120 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!!!” There is no victory until all of the hostages are home! אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית
🎗️Day 361 that 101 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
🎗️Day 239 that 125 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!!!” There is no victory until all of the hostages are home! אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית
Destruction of homes in Metulla
60% of the homes have been damaged or destroyed
Iris Weinstein-Haggai with her parents, Judy Weinstein and Gad haggai, on their morning walk in Kibbutz Nir Oz
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