π️Lonny's War Update- October 496, 2023 - February 13, 2025 π️
π️Day 496 that 76 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
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!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
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Hostage Updates
Family of hostage Eitan Mor say they have received sign of life
Eitan Mor, was serving as an unarmed security guard at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked (Courtesy)The family of hostage Eitan Mor says that they have received a sign of life from him.
In a statement, they write that “we pray for the return of all the hostages including our son Eitan.”
It is believed that released hostages have brought with them information and signs of life of at least 11 other hostages in recent days.
Eitan Mor, 23, was a security guard at the Nova rave music festival when he was captured.
His parents are members of the Tikva Forum of hostage families, a more hawkish group who have said that Israel should not reach a deal at any cost. However, they have softened their stance in recent days, particularly following the return of three hostages on Saturday in a severely emaciated state.- Witkoff: ‘Going to be a big problem’ unless ‘something different occurring’ on hostages by noon Saturday
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff warns that there will be “a big problem” if Hamas does not free hostages as scheduled by noon on Saturday.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization. They should not be allowed to be part of the government in Gaza. This is an unhealthy situation, they need to go,” Witkoff tells CSPAN.
“The president said all that we all need to know, which is Saturday, 12 o’clock he expects there to be something different occurring, and if it’s not there’s going to be a big problem,” he says.
Trump is a totally unpredictable but he ys also lot of bluster who threatens many things and people. Against Hamas, his toolbox is very limited. He can apply pressure to Qatar, Egypt and Netanyahu bit to Hamas, he can threaten that all heel will break loose but ehsr action can he take. He’s not going to send American boots to Gaza, nor will American fighter planes bomb Gaza. The only real thing that can be done it to give the green light to Israel to bomb and destroy every structure that Israel has left standing until now. The obvious problem is that we still have 76 hostages in Gaza, among them at least 31 assumed to still be alive. Renewed fighting and bombing jeopardizes every hostage still there (even the dead ones as the bombing can bury their bodies, never to be found) and of course, it jeopardizes every soldier sent to fight a guerrilla war. We must get our hostages home and end the war. That must be our focus and the only real goal right now in the war
- Israel said to tell Hamas hostage-ceasefire deal can continue if three captives freed on Saturday
Hamas gunmen surround(L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
Israel sends a message to Hamas through mediators Egypt and Qatar that the hostage release-ceasefire deal will continue if the terror group releases three more hostages on Saturday, Axios reports, citing a senior Israeli official.
Yesterday, a series of conflicting statements by officials and by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
Earlier this week, Hamas said it was freezing hostage releases until further notice over alleged Israeli violations of the deal.
- Report: If deal holds, Hamas expected to release 3 hostages on Saturday, not 9 or ‘all of them’Channel 12 news reports that it is expected that Hamas will release three living hostages on Saturday if the hostage-ceasefire deal holds.
The report comes after Israel put out a series of conflicting statements in recent days, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
- Hamas says it will release hostages as planned, has agreed to continue with ceasefire
Hamas announces it has agreed to continue implementing the ceasefire deal and will follow through with the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel as per the timeline outlined in the agreement.
The statement comes a day after a Hamas delegation, led by top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo for talks with mediators.
Hamas says Egyptian and Qatari mediators promised to remove obstacles preventing the continued flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera reports that mediators affirmed their commitment to implementing the humanitarian provisions of the agreement. The network broadcasts images of trucks waiting to enter Gaza, apparently carrying mobile homes and earth-moving equipment.
On Monday, Hamas threatened to delay the release of hostages scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.
- Netanyahu said to tell cabinet that no point discussing phase 2 of hostage deal at the moment
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told yesterday’s cabinet meeting that there was no point in discussing the second phase of the hostage deal at the moment, while the fate of the first phase was still up in the air.
“There is no point in discussing the second phase because it is just a hypothetical issue at the moment,” Channel 13 quoted Netanyahu as saying in leaked remarks from the closed-door meeting.
The report says the meeting did indeed not discuss the second phase, which is expected to see Hamas release all the remaining living hostages in return for an end of hostilities.
Also, during the meeting, ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Struk from the far-right Religious Zionism party demanded that if Hamas fails to release the three hostages scheduled to go free on Saturday, Israel should round up and re-arrest the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it has freed so far under the deal, Channel 12 reports.
The report says security officials balked at the demand, saying such a move was hasty and could endanger the lives of the hostages.
The proposal was rejected by the cabinet, the report says. link Like so may, this is a completely cynical statement by Netanyahu. He never really planned to discuss of negotiate phase 2. Initially, he was feeling pressure by Trump through his emmisary, Witcoff to go through we the negotiations and complete the deal which would mean ending the war. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect Trump to basically throw Gaza away with his forced transfer idea of all of the Palestinians. It was expected that Trump would put him in the postiion of having to choose Trump and ending the war or choose Smotrich and Ben Gvir and continuing the war and abandoning the hostages. Trump, with his idiotic and illegal Gaza ethnic cleansing plan gave Netanyahu everything he could have dreamed of: the possible ending of the war but with a complete Gaza takeover (by Israel or the US, it doesn't matter) with getting rid of all the local inhabitants, the Palestinians. A ridiculous plan like this gives him the security of the full backing of the extremists messianics who couldn't imagine or even dream of something like this from the American president. And this latest crisis over the hostage deal gave Netanyahu additional ammunition with the threats by Trump to let all hell break loose on Gaza if the deal is not upheld. This enables Netanyahu to take a very hard line and let the deal fall apart, if he deems it necessary and that he has been given carte blanc to utterly destroy the rest of Gaza and let the hostages perish, which is exactly what his extremist partners have been begging for. It will fully open the door for the criminal racist Ben Gvir to come back to the government and get all of his ministries back and strengthen Netayahu's failed and corrupt government. It is a loose- loose situation for all by the fundamentalists on both sides and would bring about the deaths of all the remaining living hostages.
- Crowds cheer freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami as he is released from hospital
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami is greeted by dozens of people with applause, songs and signs as he is released from hospital and arrives at the Tel Aviv neighborhood where his family is staying.
Ben Ami, 55, held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for 491 days, is released from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
Or Levy, 34, and Eli Sharabi, 55, the two other hostages who were also released from Hamas captivity on Saturday, are being cared for at Sheba Medical Center. A spokesperson says there is no information about when they might be released.
The three hostages suffered from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass and heart disorders. Family members said they endured physical and psychological abuse during their captivity.
Ben Ami and Sharabi were among 29 residents kidnapped from Be’eri. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was released in the first hostage deal in November 2023. Levy had been attending the Nova festival with his wife.
Sharabi’s wife, Lianne, and their two teenage daughters, Noiya and Yael, were killed during the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Levy’s wife Eynav was murdered by terrorists in a roadside bomb shelter.
Ben Ami will continue his rehabilitation process as an outpatient, a hospital spokesperson says.
Raz Ben Ami waves at crowds as she and her husband, Ohad Ben Ami, arrive at their temporary home in Tel Aviv, February 13, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
- Mother of released female hostage: Hamas filmed her as if she was dead
Released hostage Daniella Gilboa is seen with her parents after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
Orly Gilboa, the mother of released female soldier hostage Daniella Gilboa, says that Hamas filmed her daughter as if she was dead during her time in captivity.
“One of the captors simply came to her with a camera and said to her, ‘today we are filming you dead,” the mother says in an interview with Channel 12.
“She pleaded for her life and asked they don’t do it,” she says, describing how they covered her in powder and debris to make it look like she had been hit in an IDF airstrike.
She says that Daniella apologized for any part she could have played in her parents thinking she was dead.
“When she saw me and my husband for the first time, she apologized for how she caused us to feel this whole time,” she says.
At the time, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing claimed that “one of the enemy’s female prisoners was killed in an area that is under Zionist aggression in the northern Gaza Strip.” Alongside the statement, Hamas published a blurred picture of a body it claimed belonged to the slain hostage. While it did not identify the woman, the image quickly led to speculation that it could be Daniella Gilboa since it featured a tattoo identical to one she had.
- Signs of life received in recent days for at least 10 hostages held in Gaza
L-R from top row: Hostages Matan Angrest; Yosef Chaim Ohana; Gali Berman; middle row: Ziv Berman; Omri Miran; Alon Ohel; bottom row: Nimrod Cohen; Eliya Cohen; Elkana Bohbot; Eitan Mor. (Courtesy)
Families mostly get info from recently freed hostages; report says signs of life have come in for total of 12 captives, with remaining 2 families not going public
The families of three more hostages announced on Wednesday that they had received signs of life from their captive loved ones, bringing to 10 the total number of abductees for whom signs of life have been announced in recent days.
Only one of these 10 hostages is on the list of the 33 captives that Hamas is supposed to release in the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal. Sixteen Israeli hostages have been released since the deal took effect on January 19. In all, Hamas is holding 73 of the 251 hostages it abducted on October 7, 2023; some 30 of them are believed to be alive.
In addition to the families who have agreed for the signs of life of their loved ones to be made public, additional such signs have been received for two captives whose families have chosen not to go public with the information, Channel 12 news said Wednesday.
The Haaretz daily reported that signs of life have been received for most of the hostages whom Israel had believed were alive, adding that some of them are recent while others are relevant for some point in the past.
Anat Angrest, mother of captive soldier Matan Angrest, 21, said Wednesday that she had received a fresh sign of life from her son.
“We received information that he is alive and held under harsh conditions,” Anat told Channel 12.
Matan Angrest was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from his tank unit at the Nahal Oz army base. (Courtesy)“He was kidnapped from a tank, covered in burns. He underwent severe interrogations there, we saw it on his face in the video that we decided not to publish yet,” she said, referring to a Hamas propaganda video released in September.
Angrest was on duty at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
“We heard that he is being held there in difficult conditions because he is a soldier, and we do not know what the long-term consequences of this injury are,” his mother added.
Yosef-Haim Ohana, taken captive by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)Earlier in the day, the family of Yosef-Haim Ohana, 24, said it had received a “clear” signal that he is still alive but expressed fears for his fate following the release of three Israelis over the weekend, looking emaciated and sickly after 16 months of Hamas captivity.
Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova desert rave as he and a friend attempted to provide aid to injured partygoers amid the terrorist onslaught.
“We have a clear indication that he is alive,” Ohana’s aunt Hana Mastronov told the Ynet news site Wednesday. “There are signs showing that he is alive.”
Eitan Mor, was serving as an unarmed security guard at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked (Courtesy)On Wednesday evening, the family of hostage Eitan Mor, 23, said they had received a sign of life from him.
In a statement, they wrote that “we pray for the return of all the hostages including our son Eitan.”
Mor was a security guard at the Nova rave music festival when he was captured.
His parents are members of the Tikva Forum of hostage families, a more hawkish group who have said that Israel should not reach an exchange deal and instead achieve freedom for the abductees via military pressure. However, they have softened their stance in recent days, particularly following the return of three hostages on Saturday in a severely emaciated state.
Ziv and Gali Berman were taken captive by Hamas terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)On Tuesday, the family of twins Gali and Ziv Berman, 27, said it had received signs of life from the brothers.
“We take a deep breath, but we know whose hands they are in and how much danger their lives are in,” the family said in a message to the residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, from where they were taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
No further details were given.
Omri Miran (center) from Kibbutz Nir Oz, with his wife Lishay (left) and daughter Roni; Omri was taken captive by Hamas terrorists to Gaza on October 7, 2023 (Noa Sharvit/Courtesy)
Later Tuesday, the family of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, 46, said it received a sign of life from him, via a recently released hostage.
Brothers Boaz and Nadav Miran said that the returned hostage told them he had been held with Omri until July 2024, and at that time he seemed to be physically fine. The two noted, however, that his situation may have since deteriorated in the seven months that have passed.
Miran was taken captive from Kibbutz Nahal Oz by terrorists who drove him across the border in his car. His wife Lishay Miran was left behind with their two daughters, Roni, then aged 2, and Alma, then aged 6 months.
Alon Ohel was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, from the Supernova rave. (Courtesy)On Monday, the mother of another hostage, Alon Ohel, 24, said the family had received a first sign of life from her son, revealing that he was being held in chains, starved and untreated for shrapnel in his shoulder, arm, and now partially blinded eye.
“We’ve been learning more and more details since Saturday and can no longer remain silent,” Idit Ohel told Army Radio, as her hostage son marked his 24th birthday. “The prime minister can’t say he didn’t know, can’t say he didn’t hear and wasn’t notified about the state of the hostages. Every day there is hell.”
Nimrod Cohen was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)The family of 20-year-old captive soldier Nimrod Cohen told The Times of Israel this week that a returning hostage had recently said they saw him alive eight months ago, though in poor physical and mental shape.
There hasn’t been a more recent sign of life from him.
Eliya Cohen was wounded after fleeing the Re’im-area Supernova rave on October 7, 2023, and taken captive by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)On Sunday, the mother of hostage Eliya Cohen, 27, said her son had been held with returning hostages who were chained, gagged, burned with a searing hot object, hung by the feet, and starved.
Sigi Cohen said the hostages testified that her son is being held in a tunnel, has been chained for the entire length of his captivity, gets little food or daylight, and suffers from an untreated bullet wound to the leg sustained during the Hamas onslaught.
Eliya Cohen is the only captive out of the nine who is slated to go free in the current first phase of the deal.
Elkana Bohbot, missing since October 7, 2023, when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova desert rave (Courtesy)The family of hostage Elkana Bohbot, 34, also said this week that it had recently been told by released hostage Or Levy that their loved one was alive and had been held with Levy for over a year.
Ruhama, his mother, told Israel Hayom: “We waited a long time for this sign. Right now, we know that Elkana is alive and must return. It gave us some breathing room, but we are still worried.”
Visitors at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. February 11, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)Hamas has so far released 21 hostages — civilians, female soldiers, and five Thai nationals — during the ceasefire.
Seventy-three hostages kidnapped on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier killed in 2014 was recovered from Gaza in January. link
Hostage Updates
Family of hostage Eitan Mor say they have received sign of life
Eitan Mor, was serving as an unarmed security guard at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked (Courtesy)The family of hostage Eitan Mor says that they have received a sign of life from him.
In a statement, they write that “we pray for the return of all the hostages including our son Eitan.”
It is believed that released hostages have brought with them information and signs of life of at least 11 other hostages in recent days.
Eitan Mor, 23, was a security guard at the Nova rave music festival when he was captured.
His parents are members of the Tikva Forum of hostage families, a more hawkish group who have said that Israel should not reach a deal at any cost. However, they have softened their stance in recent days, particularly following the return of three hostages on Saturday in a severely emaciated state.- Witkoff: ‘Going to be a big problem’ unless ‘something different occurring’ on hostages by noon SaturdayUS President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff warns that there will be “a big problem” if Hamas does not free hostages as scheduled by noon on Saturday.“Hamas is a terrorist organization. They should not be allowed to be part of the government in Gaza. This is an unhealthy situation, they need to go,” Witkoff tells CSPAN.“The president said all that we all need to know, which is Saturday, 12 o’clock he expects there to be something different occurring, and if it’s not there’s going to be a big problem,” he says.Trump is a totally unpredictable but he ys also lot of bluster who threatens many things and people. Against Hamas, his toolbox is very limited. He can apply pressure to Qatar, Egypt and Netanyahu bit to Hamas, he can threaten that all heel will break loose but ehsr action can he take. He’s not going to send American boots to Gaza, nor will American fighter planes bomb Gaza. The only real thing that can be done it to give the green light to Israel to bomb and destroy every structure that Israel has left standing until now. The obvious problem is that we still have 76 hostages in Gaza, among them at least 31 assumed to still be alive. Renewed fighting and bombing jeopardizes every hostage still there (even the dead ones as the bombing can bury their bodies, never to be found) and of course, it jeopardizes every soldier sent to fight a guerrilla war. We must get our hostages home and end the war. That must be our focus and the only real goal right now in the war
- Israel said to tell Hamas hostage-ceasefire deal can continue if three captives freed on SaturdayHamas gunmen surround(L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)Israel sends a message to Hamas through mediators Egypt and Qatar that the hostage release-ceasefire deal will continue if the terror group releases three more hostages on Saturday, Axios reports, citing a senior Israeli official.Yesterday, a series of conflicting statements by officials and by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.Earlier this week, Hamas said it was freezing hostage releases until further notice over alleged Israeli violations of the deal.
- Report: If deal holds, Hamas expected to release 3 hostages on Saturday, not 9 or ‘all of them’Channel 12 news reports that it is expected that Hamas will release three living hostages on Saturday if the hostage-ceasefire deal holds.The report comes after Israel put out a series of conflicting statements in recent days, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
- Hamas says it will release hostages as planned, has agreed to continue with ceasefire
Hamas announces it has agreed to continue implementing the ceasefire deal and will follow through with the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel as per the timeline outlined in the agreement.
The statement comes a day after a Hamas delegation, led by top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo for talks with mediators.
Hamas says Egyptian and Qatari mediators promised to remove obstacles preventing the continued flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera reports that mediators affirmed their commitment to implementing the humanitarian provisions of the agreement. The network broadcasts images of trucks waiting to enter Gaza, apparently carrying mobile homes and earth-moving equipment.
On Monday, Hamas threatened to delay the release of hostages scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.
- Netanyahu said to tell cabinet that no point discussing phase 2 of hostage deal at the momentPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told yesterday’s cabinet meeting that there was no point in discussing the second phase of the hostage deal at the moment, while the fate of the first phase was still up in the air.“There is no point in discussing the second phase because it is just a hypothetical issue at the moment,” Channel 13 quoted Netanyahu as saying in leaked remarks from the closed-door meeting.The report says the meeting did indeed not discuss the second phase, which is expected to see Hamas release all the remaining living hostages in return for an end of hostilities.Also, during the meeting, ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Struk from the far-right Religious Zionism party demanded that if Hamas fails to release the three hostages scheduled to go free on Saturday, Israel should round up and re-arrest the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it has freed so far under the deal, Channel 12 reports.The report says security officials balked at the demand, saying such a move was hasty and could endanger the lives of the hostages.The proposal was rejected by the cabinet, the report says. link Like so may, this is a completely cynical statement by Netanyahu. He never really planned to discuss of negotiate phase 2. Initially, he was feeling pressure by Trump through his emmisary, Witcoff to go through we the negotiations and complete the deal which would mean ending the war. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect Trump to basically throw Gaza away with his forced transfer idea of all of the Palestinians. It was expected that Trump would put him in the postiion of having to choose Trump and ending the war or choose Smotrich and Ben Gvir and continuing the war and abandoning the hostages. Trump, with his idiotic and illegal Gaza ethnic cleansing plan gave Netanyahu everything he could have dreamed of: the possible ending of the war but with a complete Gaza takeover (by Israel or the US, it doesn't matter) with getting rid of all the local inhabitants, the Palestinians. A ridiculous plan like this gives him the security of the full backing of the extremists messianics who couldn't imagine or even dream of something like this from the American president. And this latest crisis over the hostage deal gave Netanyahu additional ammunition with the threats by Trump to let all hell break loose on Gaza if the deal is not upheld. This enables Netanyahu to take a very hard line and let the deal fall apart, if he deems it necessary and that he has been given carte blanc to utterly destroy the rest of Gaza and let the hostages perish, which is exactly what his extremist partners have been begging for. It will fully open the door for the criminal racist Ben Gvir to come back to the government and get all of his ministries back and strengthen Netayahu's failed and corrupt government. It is a loose- loose situation for all by the fundamentalists on both sides and would bring about the deaths of all the remaining living hostages.
- Crowds cheer freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami as he is released from hospital
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami is greeted by dozens of people with applause, songs and signs as he is released from hospital and arrives at the Tel Aviv neighborhood where his family is staying.
Ben Ami, 55, held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for 491 days, is released from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
Or Levy, 34, and Eli Sharabi, 55, the two other hostages who were also released from Hamas captivity on Saturday, are being cared for at Sheba Medical Center. A spokesperson says there is no information about when they might be released.
The three hostages suffered from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass and heart disorders. Family members said they endured physical and psychological abuse during their captivity.Ben Ami and Sharabi were among 29 residents kidnapped from Be’eri. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was released in the first hostage deal in November 2023. Levy had been attending the Nova festival with his wife.
Sharabi’s wife, Lianne, and their two teenage daughters, Noiya and Yael, were killed during the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Levy’s wife Eynav was murdered by terrorists in a roadside bomb shelter.
Ben Ami will continue his rehabilitation process as an outpatient, a hospital spokesperson says.
Raz Ben Ami waves at crowds as she and her husband, Ohad Ben Ami, arrive at their temporary home in Tel Aviv, February 13, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90) - Mother of released female hostage: Hamas filmed her as if she was deadReleased hostage Daniella Gilboa is seen with her parents after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)Orly Gilboa, the mother of released female soldier hostage Daniella Gilboa, says that Hamas filmed her daughter as if she was dead during her time in captivity.“One of the captors simply came to her with a camera and said to her, ‘today we are filming you dead,” the mother says in an interview with Channel 12.“She pleaded for her life and asked they don’t do it,” she says, describing how they covered her in powder and debris to make it look like she had been hit in an IDF airstrike.She says that Daniella apologized for any part she could have played in her parents thinking she was dead.“When she saw me and my husband for the first time, she apologized for how she caused us to feel this whole time,” she says.At the time, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing claimed that “one of the enemy’s female prisoners was killed in an area that is under Zionist aggression in the northern Gaza Strip.” Alongside the statement, Hamas published a blurred picture of a body it claimed belonged to the slain hostage. While it did not identify the woman, the image quickly led to speculation that it could be Daniella Gilboa since it featured a tattoo identical to one she had.
- Signs of life received in recent days for at least 10 hostages held in GazaL-R from top row: Hostages Matan Angrest; Yosef Chaim Ohana; Gali Berman; middle row: Ziv Berman; Omri Miran; Alon Ohel; bottom row: Nimrod Cohen; Eliya Cohen; Elkana Bohbot; Eitan Mor. (Courtesy)
Families mostly get info from recently freed hostages; report says signs of life have come in for total of 12 captives, with remaining 2 families not going publicThe families of three more hostages announced on Wednesday that they had received signs of life from their captive loved ones, bringing to 10 the total number of abductees for whom signs of life have been announced in recent days.
Only one of these 10 hostages is on the list of the 33 captives that Hamas is supposed to release in the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal. Sixteen Israeli hostages have been released since the deal took effect on January 19. In all, Hamas is holding 73 of the 251 hostages it abducted on October 7, 2023; some 30 of them are believed to be alive.
In addition to the families who have agreed for the signs of life of their loved ones to be made public, additional such signs have been received for two captives whose families have chosen not to go public with the information, Channel 12 news said Wednesday.
The Haaretz daily reported that signs of life have been received for most of the hostages whom Israel had believed were alive, adding that some of them are recent while others are relevant for some point in the past.
Anat Angrest, mother of captive soldier Matan Angrest, 21, said Wednesday that she had received a fresh sign of life from her son.
“We received information that he is alive and held under harsh conditions,” Anat told Channel 12.
Matan Angrest was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from his tank unit at the Nahal Oz army base. (Courtesy)“He was kidnapped from a tank, covered in burns. He underwent severe interrogations there, we saw it on his face in the video that we decided not to publish yet,” she said, referring to a Hamas propaganda video released in September.
Angrest was on duty at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
“We heard that he is being held there in difficult conditions because he is a soldier, and we do not know what the long-term consequences of this injury are,” his mother added.
Yosef-Haim Ohana, taken captive by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)Earlier in the day, the family of Yosef-Haim Ohana, 24, said it had received a “clear” signal that he is still alive but expressed fears for his fate following the release of three Israelis over the weekend, looking emaciated and sickly after 16 months of Hamas captivity.
Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova desert rave as he and a friend attempted to provide aid to injured partygoers amid the terrorist onslaught.
“We have a clear indication that he is alive,” Ohana’s aunt Hana Mastronov told the Ynet news site Wednesday. “There are signs showing that he is alive.”
Eitan Mor, was serving as an unarmed security guard at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked (Courtesy)On Wednesday evening, the family of hostage Eitan Mor, 23, said they had received a sign of life from him.
In a statement, they wrote that “we pray for the return of all the hostages including our son Eitan.”
Mor was a security guard at the Nova rave music festival when he was captured.
His parents are members of the Tikva Forum of hostage families, a more hawkish group who have said that Israel should not reach an exchange deal and instead achieve freedom for the abductees via military pressure. However, they have softened their stance in recent days, particularly following the return of three hostages on Saturday in a severely emaciated state.
Ziv and Gali Berman were taken captive by Hamas terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)On Tuesday, the family of twins Gali and Ziv Berman, 27, said it had received signs of life from the brothers.
“We take a deep breath, but we know whose hands they are in and how much danger their lives are in,” the family said in a message to the residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, from where they were taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
No further details were given.
Omri Miran (center) from Kibbutz Nir Oz, with his wife Lishay (left) and daughter Roni; Omri was taken captive by Hamas terrorists to Gaza on October 7, 2023 (Noa Sharvit/Courtesy)Later Tuesday, the family of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, 46, said it received a sign of life from him, via a recently released hostage.
Brothers Boaz and Nadav Miran said that the returned hostage told them he had been held with Omri until July 2024, and at that time he seemed to be physically fine. The two noted, however, that his situation may have since deteriorated in the seven months that have passed.
Miran was taken captive from Kibbutz Nahal Oz by terrorists who drove him across the border in his car. His wife Lishay Miran was left behind with their two daughters, Roni, then aged 2, and Alma, then aged 6 months.
Alon Ohel was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, from the Supernova rave. (Courtesy)On Monday, the mother of another hostage, Alon Ohel, 24, said the family had received a first sign of life from her son, revealing that he was being held in chains, starved and untreated for shrapnel in his shoulder, arm, and now partially blinded eye.
“We’ve been learning more and more details since Saturday and can no longer remain silent,” Idit Ohel told Army Radio, as her hostage son marked his 24th birthday. “The prime minister can’t say he didn’t know, can’t say he didn’t hear and wasn’t notified about the state of the hostages. Every day there is hell.”
Nimrod Cohen was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)The family of 20-year-old captive soldier Nimrod Cohen told The Times of Israel this week that a returning hostage had recently said they saw him alive eight months ago, though in poor physical and mental shape.
There hasn’t been a more recent sign of life from him.
Eliya Cohen was wounded after fleeing the Re’im-area Supernova rave on October 7, 2023, and taken captive by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)On Sunday, the mother of hostage Eliya Cohen, 27, said her son had been held with returning hostages who were chained, gagged, burned with a searing hot object, hung by the feet, and starved.
Sigi Cohen said the hostages testified that her son is being held in a tunnel, has been chained for the entire length of his captivity, gets little food or daylight, and suffers from an untreated bullet wound to the leg sustained during the Hamas onslaught.
Eliya Cohen is the only captive out of the nine who is slated to go free in the current first phase of the deal.
Elkana Bohbot, missing since October 7, 2023, when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova desert rave (Courtesy)The family of hostage Elkana Bohbot, 34, also said this week that it had recently been told by released hostage Or Levy that their loved one was alive and had been held with Levy for over a year.
Ruhama, his mother, told Israel Hayom: “We waited a long time for this sign. Right now, we know that Elkana is alive and must return. It gave us some breathing room, but we are still worried.”
Visitors at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. February 11, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)Hamas has so far released 21 hostages — civilians, female soldiers, and five Thai nationals — during the ceasefire.
Seventy-three hostages kidnapped on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier killed in 2014 was recovered from Gaza in January. link
Gaza and the South
- Talks between Egypt and Hamas over Gaza ceasefire ‘headed toward a breakthrough’
A Palestinian man walks in front of tents set up in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A meeting between Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad and a Hamas delegation in Cairo wraps up after several hours, with “things headed toward a breakthrough,” says Al-Araby Al Jadeed, citing Egyptian sources.
The Hamas delegation is headed by deputy politburo chief Khalil al-Hayya.
Efforts by Qatar and Egypt, as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff, have resolved some of the outstanding issues, says the Qatari-owned outlet. The sources say that a list of international organizations have been approved to bring in fuel and medical equipment, but Israel has yet to give the green light to bringing in caravans and more tents.
If Israel gives its approval for the caravans tomorrow, say the sources, there is time for Hamas to announce on Friday the names of the 3 hostages to be released the next day.
- After meeting Abdullah, Trump acknowleges Arab state would prefer Gazans not displaced
Jordan’s King Abdullah, during his Oval Office meeting yesterday, said that he prefers having Palestinians remain in Gaza, while US President Donald Trump maintained that it would be best to move those Palestinians to safer areas, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says.Leavitt makes the comments at the end of her press briefing, saying Trump asked that his summary of the “wonderful” meeting be conveyed to reporters.
“The king would much prefer that the Palestinians stay in place, with the additional land to be used for new development, which would greatly create jobs at levels never seen before. But the president feels it would be much better and more majestic if these Palestinians could be moved to safer areas,” Leavitt says, reading out the statement from Trump.
“Our Arab partners in the region have been tasked with coming up with a peace plan to present to the president that is ongoing,” she adds. “The administration continues to work with our Arab partners in the region, we stand closely with our ally Israel.”
- **Secretary-General of the Arab League: If Palestinian Interests Require, Hamas Must Step Aside**
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Ahmed Aboul Gheit stated that the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip. "There is Hamas, which Israel tried to eliminate, but it failed to do so," he said. According to him, Hamas must accept the Palestinian Authority as the governing body: "This force on the ground must agree."
The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said today (Wednesday) in an interview with Al-Arabiya: "Abbas has declared that the Palestinian Authority is ready to return to the Gaza Strip and take responsibility for the area immediately after the cessation of hostilities. What is the problem? There is Hamas, which Israel tried to eliminate, but it failed to do so."
"After a war that lasted 15 months, they did not succeed, and therefore this force on the ground (Hamas) must agree with the Palestinian Authority, and there must be an international vision. If Palestinian interests require it, Hamas must step aside," added Aboul Gheit.
**The Proposal Led by Egypt to Counter Trump's Plan**
Several Arab countries, led by Egypt, have taken on a new plan proposed by the Palestinian Authority for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, with a total investment of approximately $31 billion. Based on this proposal, Gulf countries, together with Egypt, are expected to formulate a counter-proposal to President Trump's "relocation-construction" plan at the conclusion of the Arab summit scheduled to convene in Cairo on the 27th of this month.
King Abdullah, who is currently visiting the U.S. and met with the American president, agreed to accept around 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip into his country. On the other hand, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi remains firm in his position and is unwilling to accept Palestinians from Gaza into his territory at this stage.
The tension between Egypt and the U.S. is the highest it has been in three decades, according to Egyptian sources quoted in the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The sources also claimed that "the implementation of Trump's threat to cut aid to Egypt would render the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt meaningless."
Last night, Al-Arabiya reported that the visit of Egyptian President el-Sisi to Washington has been postponed until further notice. In Cairo, there is anger over statements from Israel and the U.S., and a clear message has been sent to Washington, demanding clarifications regarding Trump's statements about imposing sanctions.
According to the report, Egypt has two plans for the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing Gazans. It is claimed that Egypt has provided more than one response regarding Trump's plan for Gaza in recent days and has rejected three proposals that included displacement. link
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- IDF says Iran smuggling cash to Hezbollah on civilian planes through Beirut airport
Footage shows an Israeli airstrike in the vicinity of Beirut’s international airport, as a passenger plane is seen taxiing in the background on November 14, 2024 (Screencapture: X used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law) Iran’s IRGC Quds Force has been smuggling cash to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon via the Beirut international airport in recent weeks, the Israeli military says.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, says the cash has been smuggled to Hezbollah by the Quds Force using civilian flights. The money is being used by the terror group to rebuild itself, according to the IDF.
Adraee says the IDF is in contact with a US-led committee supervising the ceasefire and is regularly updating it with “relevant information in order to foil these transfers.”
“Despite the efforts made, we estimate that some of the money transfers were carried out successfully,” he says.
“The IDF will not allow the organization to strengthen and will use all the tools at its disposal to enforce the understandings in the ceasefire agreement, for the security of the citizens of the State of Israel,” Adraee adds. - US said to accept IDF request to remain in 5 south Lebanon posts after Feb. 18 deadlineIsrael had reportedly asked to stay for an additional 10 days; Lebanese president insists Israel stick to existing date; IDF again warns Lebanese not to return to homes in south
The United States has reportedly authorized a “long-term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon, as Israel is said to be seeking an extension to a February 18 deadline to withdraw its forces.
Under a truce deal brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah since early October.
Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period.
The initial deadline was already extended from January 26 until February 18. A Lebanese official and a foreign diplomat in Lebanon told Reuters on Wednesday that Israel has asked to remain in five posts in the south for a further 10 days, until February 28.
The Kan public broadcaster later cited senior officials in Israel’s security cabinet as saying that the US had granted Israeli troops permission to stay “in several locations” in Lebanon beyond February 18. It did not specify a new deadline.
Kan said that the IDF has begun establishing the five outposts where it would like to remain after receiving approval from Washington.
The request to remain in those five outposts came after the US rejected previous requests for the IDF to extend the deadline, Kan said.
While establishing the new outposts, IDF forces are withdrawing from nearby Shiite villages, including in southeast Lebanon and the Mount Dov area, according to Kan. full article
- IDF says Iran smuggling cash to Hezbollah on civilian planes through Beirut airportFootage shows an Israeli airstrike in the vicinity of Beirut’s international airport, as a passenger plane is seen taxiing in the background on November 14, 2024 (Screencapture: X used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)Iran’s IRGC Quds Force has been smuggling cash to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon via the Beirut international airport in recent weeks, the Israeli military says.In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, says the cash has been smuggled to Hezbollah by the Quds Force using civilian flights. The money is being used by the terror group to rebuild itself, according to the IDF.Adraee says the IDF is in contact with a US-led committee supervising the ceasefire and is regularly updating it with “relevant information in order to foil these transfers.”“Despite the efforts made, we estimate that some of the money transfers were carried out successfully,” he says.“The IDF will not allow the organization to strengthen and will use all the tools at its disposal to enforce the understandings in the ceasefire agreement, for the security of the citizens of the State of Israel,” Adraee adds.
- US said to accept IDF request to remain in 5 south Lebanon posts after Feb. 18 deadlineIsrael had reportedly asked to stay for an additional 10 days; Lebanese president insists Israel stick to existing date; IDF again warns Lebanese not to return to homes in south
The United States has reportedly authorized a “long-term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon, as Israel is said to be seeking an extension to a February 18 deadline to withdraw its forces.
Under a truce deal brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah since early October.
Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period.
The initial deadline was already extended from January 26 until February 18. A Lebanese official and a foreign diplomat in Lebanon told Reuters on Wednesday that Israel has asked to remain in five posts in the south for a further 10 days, until February 28.
The Kan public broadcaster later cited senior officials in Israel’s security cabinet as saying that the US had granted Israeli troops permission to stay “in several locations” in Lebanon beyond February 18. It did not specify a new deadline.
Kan said that the IDF has begun establishing the five outposts where it would like to remain after receiving approval from Washington.
The request to remain in those five outposts came after the US rejected previous requests for the IDF to extend the deadline, Kan said.
While establishing the new outposts, IDF forces are withdrawing from nearby Shiite villages, including in southeast Lebanon and the Mount Dov area, according to Kan. full article
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- Security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by 2 Israelis
Israeli security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by two Israeli citizens.
Police and Shin Bet agents arrested two young men, aged 18-21, from Arab Israeli towns Qalansawe and Zemer on suspicion of plotting attacks against soldiers and civilians, spokespeople for the agencies say in a joint statement.
The suspects reportedly expressed support for Hamas following the October 7 massacre and devised plans to shoot at a military facility as well as carry out a “car-ramming and shooting attack targeting IDF soldiers or civilians.”
The statement adds that one of the suspects “acquired materials to produce Molotov cocktails and conducted experiments to manufacture explosives for an attack on a bus transporting IDF soldiers.”
Police say that the Central District Attorney’s Office has filed a declaration of intent to prosecute the two men, and will indict them later today.
IDF says over 60 terror operatives killed, 210 detained amid ongoing West Bank counter-terror op
IDF troops have killed over 60 Palestinian terror operatives and detained over 210 amid an ongoing major counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank launched last month, the military says.
The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21 and the military expects it to last several more weeks.
Israeli forces have been operating in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas areas.
The IDF says that yesterday, troops of the Maglan commando unit killed three gunmen during an exchange of fire in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem. One soldier was moderately wounded in the incident.
The military has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman.
Israeli security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by two Israeli citizens.
Police and Shin Bet agents arrested two young men, aged 18-21, from Arab Israeli towns Qalansawe and Zemer on suspicion of plotting attacks against soldiers and civilians, spokespeople for the agencies say in a joint statement.
The suspects reportedly expressed support for Hamas following the October 7 massacre and devised plans to shoot at a military facility as well as carry out a “car-ramming and shooting attack targeting IDF soldiers or civilians.”
The statement adds that one of the suspects “acquired materials to produce Molotov cocktails and conducted experiments to manufacture explosives for an attack on a bus transporting IDF soldiers.”
Police say that the Central District Attorney’s Office has filed a declaration of intent to prosecute the two men, and will indict them later today.
IDF says over 60 terror operatives killed, 210 detained amid ongoing West Bank counter-terror op
IDF troops have killed over 60 Palestinian terror operatives and detained over 210 amid an ongoing major counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank launched last month, the military says.
The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21 and the military expects it to last several more weeks.
Israeli forces have been operating in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas areas.
The IDF says that yesterday, troops of the Maglan commando unit killed three gunmen during an exchange of fire in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem. One soldier was moderately wounded in the incident.
The military has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman.
Politics and the War (general news)
- State Inquiry Commission? The Coalition's Proposals
This week, government ministers discussed how to investigate the failures that led to the massacre and chose to postpone the decision on establishing a state inquiry commission. Foreign Minister Sa’ar expressed support for establishing a state inquiry commission and suggested dividing the timeline to be investigated. Sa’ar also proposed amending the law so that not only the President of the Supreme Court could head the commission. On the other hand, some in the coalition are pushing for a political inquiry commission. These are the proposals.The government postponed the decision to establish a commission to investigate the events of October 7 by three months. Ministers who were supposed to discuss how to investigate the failures that led to the massacre criticized the Attorney General during the discussion and decided to postpone the decision. However, some proposed establishing a state inquiry commission—under certain conditions.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said during this week’s government meeting that there are three questions on the matter: "What will be investigated, who will investigate, and when will the investigation take place." Minister Sa’ar expressed support for a state inquiry commission during the meeting, stating it is "the best way to conduct an investigation into a multi-dimensional failure—policy, operational, and intelligence."
Sa’ar proposed examining a legislative amendment that would allow the government to authorize any past president or vice president of the Supreme Court to determine the composition of the commission. Currently, the government decides whether to establish a state inquiry commission, according to the Inquiry Commissions Law.
**Minister Sa’ar’s Proposal – A State Inquiry Commission "Under Conditions"**
- The government will establish a state inquiry commission.
- The policy, operational, and intelligence failures must be examined.
- Amend the law so that any past president or vice president of the Supreme Court can be authorized to head the commission.
- The government will establish a ministerial team to recommend the investigation’s mandate.
- If the investigation only includes the events of October 7 and what led to them, the commission can be established now.
- If the investigation also includes the ongoing Iron Swords war, the commission will be established after the war ends.
The government decides the subject of the investigation and the mandate given to the commission, and the commission members are appointed by the President of the Supreme Court. A state inquiry commission is headed by a sitting or retired judge (until now, a Supreme Court judge), and typically consists of three members.
In addition to the legislative change proposed by Sa’ar, which would allow any past president or vice president of the Supreme Court to determine the commission’s composition, the Foreign Minister recommended that the government establish a ministerial team to consider and recommend the investigation’s mandate, timeline, and events to be investigated. Sa’ar suggested examining the timeline from before October 7, 2023, and determining how far back the investigation should go.
"If the Iron Swords war is included in the investigation’s mandate, logic dictates that the inquiry commission should be established after the war ends," said Minister Sa’ar. "However, if the investigation only includes the events of October 7 and what led to them, it can be established now."
Besides Sa’ar, other ministers and coalition members have already expressed their support for a state inquiry commission. However, as Daphna Liel revealed the plan to thwart the state inquiry commission, some ministers who supported it have since changed their minds, and some are even promoting the establishment of a political inquiry commission.
**The Proposal to Establish a Political Inquiry Commission**
In contrast to Sa’ar’s proposal for a state inquiry commission, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, his Supreme Court candidate Dr. Rafi Biton, and Prime Minister’s political spokesperson Guy Levy have rallied to establish a political inquiry commission.
]Likud MK Ariel Kallner was chosen to advance the proposal, though he claimed it was an independent initiative. According to this proposal, the political inquiry commission would include two chairpersons and six members. If there is no agreement on them, half would be appointed by the opposition and half by the coalition. Following this week’s government meeting, Kallner said he would continue efforts to establish a political inquiry commission. link
- Analysts argue Trump’s Gaza plan derails progress toward Israeli-Saudi normalization
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in northern Gaza, January 29, 2025. (Khalil Kahlout/Flash90)
Riyadh looks to US for defense against Iran, but would face instability on its borders should Trump succeed in ousting Gazans to Saudi neighbors Jordan and Egypt, experts contend
US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza will imperil attempts to forge landmark ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel and fuel anti-American sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom, some analysts are warning.
Trump announced the plan to redevelop Gaza, and oust its more than two million residents, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday.
Netanyahu, a longtime proponent of Saudi normalization, has applauded Trump’s proposal as a solution for Gaza on the “day after” the war there, which was sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
However, Trump’s proposal has prompted a global backlash and enraged the Arab world, making it difficult for the Saudis to consider normalization.
“If this is going to be his policy, he shut the door on Saudi recognition of Israel,” James Dorsey, researcher at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told AFP.
Recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, is seen as a grand prize of Middle East diplomacy intended to calm chronic tensions in the region.
But Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and the Middle East’s largest economy, now faces the specter of instability on its borders if neighboring Jordan and Egypt suddenly house large numbers of Gaza exiles.
At the same time, Riyadh must maintain cordial relations with Washington, its longtime security guarantor and bulwark against Iran, which is also Israel’s chief adversary.
The Islamic Republic operates an “axis of resistance” network of regional terror proxies that includes Yemen’s Houthi rebels — against whom Saudi Arabia has waged a bloody war — as well as Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, all of whom are sworn to destroying Israel.
“When it comes to security, Saudi Arabia has nowhere to go but to Washington,” Dorsey said. “There’s nobody else. It’s not China. They’re not willing and they’re not able.”
“And post-Ukraine, do you want to rely on Russia?”
Quick reaction
The Saudis were engaged in tentative talks on normalization via Washington until the outbreak of the Gaza war, when they paused the negotiations and hardened their position.
They reacted with unusual speed to Trump’s proposal.
At around 4 a.m. Saudi time — about an hour after the comments — Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry posted a statement on X that “reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of… attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”
In the same statement, the Saudis rejected Netanyahu’s comment that normalization was “going to happen” and Trump’s claim that Riyadh had dropped its longtime demand that any deal include a credible pathway to a Palestinian state — repeating their insistence on this precondition, which is a red line for Netanyahu’s hard-right government.
Trump’s plan carries real risks for Riyadh, which is throwing everything at an ambitious post-oil economic makeover that relies on stability to attract business and tourism.
If Gazans are displaced to Egypt and Jordan, it “will weaken two countries essential to regional stability and particularly to Saudi security,” said Saudi researcher Aziz Alghashian.
“Trump’s plan, coupled with Netanyahu’s approach, poses major risks for Saudi Arabia. It highlights that they are not true partners for peace in Riyadh’s eyes — especially Netanyahu, who appears to want all the benefits without making concessions.”
Making normalization harder’
Trump’s declarations “will further destabilize the region and fuel anti-American sentiment, particularly in Saudi Arabia,” said Anna Jacobs, of the International Crisis Group think tank.
“He is making Saudi-Israel normalization harder, not easier.”
Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said Saudi Arabia would not agree meekly to normalization if ordered by Washington.
Prior to the Gaza war, the Saudis were negotiating for security guarantees and help in building a civilian nuclear program in return for Israeli ties.
“They are not a US vassal state and so they’re not just taking a diktat from Trump,” said Krieg. “And I think it will stand firm on their positions, willing to negotiate here and there. But the principal red lines remain.
“Nobody in Saudi Arabia has an interest in selling out Palestinian statehood. That is the last and the most important bargaining chip that the Saudis have in terms of authority and legitimacy in the Arab and Muslim world.”
But the question is how Saudi Arabia and its 39-year-old de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will proceed.
“I don’t think that the Saudis will take any major steps now,” said Krieg. “They obviously have their own levers that they can use for pressure on America, particularly in the energy sector. I don’t think the Saudis will want to use it at this point.”
- Just 138 yards too far from the Gaza border, towns are denied post-Oct. 7 state support
As their immediate neighbors receive rehabilitation funds from the national Tekuma Directorate, four communities are suffering the same effects from the war, without the support
It’s a five-minute drive from Moshav Mivtachim to Moshav Talmei Eliyahu in southern Israel.
Both are located east of Route 232 — their sole paved access road — within a cluster of seven agricultural cooperatives called the Tzohar cluster under the Eshkol Regional Authority.
Residents of the seven villages use the same public services and send their children to the same schools.
However, a series of government decisions (Hebrew link) dating back to 2004 have created an uneven playing field by allocating special aid to communities whose houses are within seven kilometers (4.35 miles) of the Gaza border.
Because they are within the line, Mivtachim’s residents, like those of Yesha and Amioz, have long qualified for benefits such as property tax discounts and daycare subsidies (depending on their income). Since the 2014 Gaza war, all of Mivtachim’s homes have had protected rooms.
By contrast, in Talmei Eliyahu, Sde Nitzan, Ohad, and Tzohar, the closest homes to the Gaza fence are 7.126 kilometers (4.44 miles) away — just 138 yards too far east to be eligible. In Talmei Eliyahu, only a quarter of the houses have protected rooms.
The seven moshavim of the so-called Tzohar cluster east of southern Israel’s Route 232, which can be seen in the upper left-hand corner of the map. (Google Maps)Mivtachim is set to get millions of shekels of aid from the Tekuma (“Rebirth”) Directorate — the government agency charged with helping rehabilitate the Gaza border area following the devastating October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel in which Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, nearby Talmei Eliyahu will receive no such funds.
The seven-kilometer cut-off point was based initially on the range of the types of missiles being fired from Gaza.
But even before October 7, missiles reached Talmei Eliyahu and caused serious injuries, according to Shlomit Plotkin Ben-Zaken, who represents the Gaza border cooperatives in the Moshavim Movement, an umbrella group of cooperative villages across Israel.
When establishing the Tekuma Directorate to rebuild the communities worst affected by the invasion, the state “just took the old criteria, which was the easiest,” she said Plotkin Ben-Zaken.
Pitched battles
Off Route 232, the Tzohar cluster’s internal roads first pass Yesha, Amioz, and Mivtachim.
On October 7, Hamas terrorists fought pitched battles with locals at the junction that leads to the cluster and managed to slip into Mivtachim, where they occupied two homes.
The village had only five IDF-issued guns, one one which was locked away. Gil Avital, Lior Ben Ya’akov, Itay Nachmias, Tal Maman, and Dan Asulin from Mivtachim and Yesha’s security teams were killed in fierce gunfights.
Their bravery saved the residents of Talmei Eliyahu, where the only three members of the security team with IDF-issue weapons blocked the villlage’s main gate with their cars and guarded the community for 23 hours until a small contingent of soldiers arrived. Rockets fired from Gaza killed two Thai farmhands and injured one seriously.
In addition to those killed fighting, Mivtachim lost two people — Hen Ben Avi and Dor Nachum — who were murdered as they tried to escape from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im; three others from the cluster were killed fleeing the rave as well.
Pictures of five murdered young people from the Tzohar cluster of moshavim near the Gaza border appear on a bomb shelter at the entrance to the cluster, January 16, 2025. Hamas terrorists gunned down the five on October 7, 2023, as they tried to get home from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)The residents of the entire cluster were trapped because Hamas terrorists took over Route 232. Talmei Eliyahu’s secretary, Ronit Ben Romano, recalled taking knives from the kitchen to protect four families hiding in her safe room.
The IDF had taken guns away from Mivtachim 18 months before October 7, and from Talmei Eliyahu 10 days before, for fear that they would be stolen.
Immediately after the carnage, thousands of Thai farmhands flew home, leaving farmers throughout the area reliant on volunteers.
Farmer Eli Pereg shows volunteers how to uproot pepper vines and untangle them from the strings holding them upright, Talmei Eliyahu, November 15, 2023. (Mati Wagner/The Times of Israel)
As their immediate neighbors receive rehabilitation funds from the national Tekuma Directorate, four communities are suffering the same effects from the war, without the support
It’s a five-minute drive from Moshav Mivtachim to Moshav Talmei Eliyahu in southern Israel.
Both are located east of Route 232 — their sole paved access road — within a cluster of seven agricultural cooperatives called the Tzohar cluster under the Eshkol Regional Authority.
Residents of the seven villages use the same public services and send their children to the same schools.
However, a series of government decisions (Hebrew link) dating back to 2004 have created an uneven playing field by allocating special aid to communities whose houses are within seven kilometers (4.35 miles) of the Gaza border.
Because they are within the line, Mivtachim’s residents, like those of Yesha and Amioz, have long qualified for benefits such as property tax discounts and daycare subsidies (depending on their income). Since the 2014 Gaza war, all of Mivtachim’s homes have had protected rooms.
By contrast, in Talmei Eliyahu, Sde Nitzan, Ohad, and Tzohar, the closest homes to the Gaza fence are 7.126 kilometers (4.44 miles) away — just 138 yards too far east to be eligible. In Talmei Eliyahu, only a quarter of the houses have protected rooms.
Mivtachim is set to get millions of shekels of aid from the Tekuma (“Rebirth”) Directorate — the government agency charged with helping rehabilitate the Gaza border area following the devastating October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel in which Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, nearby Talmei Eliyahu will receive no such funds.
The seven-kilometer cut-off point was based initially on the range of the types of missiles being fired from Gaza.
But even before October 7, missiles reached Talmei Eliyahu and caused serious injuries, according to Shlomit Plotkin Ben-Zaken, who represents the Gaza border cooperatives in the Moshavim Movement, an umbrella group of cooperative villages across Israel.
When establishing the Tekuma Directorate to rebuild the communities worst affected by the invasion, the state “just took the old criteria, which was the easiest,” she said Plotkin Ben-Zaken.
Pitched battles
Off Route 232, the Tzohar cluster’s internal roads first pass Yesha, Amioz, and Mivtachim.
On October 7, Hamas terrorists fought pitched battles with locals at the junction that leads to the cluster and managed to slip into Mivtachim, where they occupied two homes.
The village had only five IDF-issued guns, one one which was locked away. Gil Avital, Lior Ben Ya’akov, Itay Nachmias, Tal Maman, and Dan Asulin from Mivtachim and Yesha’s security teams were killed in fierce gunfights.Their bravery saved the residents of Talmei Eliyahu, where the only three members of the security team with IDF-issue weapons blocked the villlage’s main gate with their cars and guarded the community for 23 hours until a small contingent of soldiers arrived. Rockets fired from Gaza killed two Thai farmhands and injured one seriously.
In addition to those killed fighting, Mivtachim lost two people — Hen Ben Avi and Dor Nachum — who were murdered as they tried to escape from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im; three others from the cluster were killed fleeing the rave as well.
The residents of the entire cluster were trapped because Hamas terrorists took over Route 232. Talmei Eliyahu’s secretary, Ronit Ben Romano, recalled taking knives from the kitchen to protect four families hiding in her safe room.
The IDF had taken guns away from Mivtachim 18 months before October 7, and from Talmei Eliyahu 10 days before, for fear that they would be stolen.
Immediately after the carnage, thousands of Thai farmhands flew home, leaving farmers throughout the area reliant on volunteers.
Expansion plans
Before October 7, both villages had ambitious expansion plans.
Talmei Eliyahu hoped to double from 60 families to 120. It will soon start marketing the plots of land it had designated for that purpose.
Mivtachim, home to 150 families, already had 92 plots ready for development, all of which had been “snapped up after three months,” according to Galil Nachum, head of the cooperative village’s committee. “We were going to start building after the High Holy Days [in 2023],” he said — right after the war began.
Four families still want to build at Mivtachim. But four have canceled, and the rest are uncommitted.
Liraz Assor stands on the plot where she and her husband plan to build a home at Moshav Mivtachim in southern Israel, January 16, 2025. Khan Younis in Gaza can be seen on the horizon. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)After residents were evacuated in the wake of the Hamas onslaught, many of the men from the area’s communities returned quickly to their farms to work and guard while their wives and children remained in temporary accommodation elsewhere.
Liraz Assor, who lives in and works for Mivtachim, and who belongs to one of the four families still committed to developing a plot there, described several cases where the men couldn’t persuade their wives to return.
“Living separately in this way has caused not a few divorces,” said Assor.
Mivtachim, Yesha, and Amioz are set to benefit from some of the NIS 14 billion ($3.9 billion) the government pledged to the Tekuma Directorate over five years to rehabilitate the city of Sderot and the 46 rural communities within seven kilometers of the Gaza Strip.
Last year, the directorate budgeted NIS 1.13 billion ($344 million) for education, health, social welfare, culture, youth, and more, according to its most recent report, covering April to September 2024. Another NIS 431 million ($115 million) was to go to agriculture, NIS 67 million ($17.8 million) to tourism, and NIS 29 million ($7.7 million) to boost the regional economy, business, and employment. A further NIS 856 million ($227 million) was earmarked to improve community security, due to be completed by the end of next month.
Farmers living within seven kilometers of the Gaza border will get state funds for new agricultural equipment such as tractors. (January 21, 2024, Liron Moldovan/Flash90)Like other farmers within the seven-kilometer range, Mivtachim’s residents will qualify for grants to replace equipment such as tractors. New zoning plans will enable them to erect facilities such as packing houses in addition to the net houses and greenhouses that characterize this cluster of moshavim.
Sixteen months after the carnage, the challenge of rebuilding communities is daunting, according to Ben Romano and Assor.
Assor is now getting paid by the state to work as a community coordinator. While this is commonly a paid position on kibbutzim, which operate as structured communities, in moshavim it has typically been filled by a volunteer.
Ronit Ben Romano at Moshav Talmei Eliyahu, January 16, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)Ben Romano does not receive a state paycheck and voluntarily coordinates the residents of Talmei Eliyahu while the Moshav Movement tries to raise funds for a paid position. She lost four months of work at Ben Gurion University immediately after October 7, visiting and supporting evacuated residents, figuring out their needs, and dealing with state bureaucracy while looking after her family. She and two of her three children regularly see a psychologist. Because they are not recognized as victims of terror, they have to pay for the service themselves.
Much of Israel’s produce is grown in the Eshkol Region of southern Israel, often in net houses like these between the moshavim Talmei Eliayu and Ohad, close to the Gaza Strip, January 16, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)Both moshavim report economic troubles and farmers who have gone bust, but compensation, when it finally arrives, will only be available to Mivtachim.
Galil Nachum stands outside a water tank he hopes to have converted into a pub at Moshav Mivtachim near the Gaza border, southern Israel, January 16, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)Nachum said the Tekuma Directorate had promised Mivtachim NIS 16 million ($4.4 million) over five years for its physical needs. The moshav has already signed a contract to build a massive playground.
Ben Romano, who believes the aid should be given based on the harm suffered, or at least be distributed by the local authority, has tried to convince everyone from the director of the Prime Minister’s Office and several ministers to the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee of the unfairness of the situation. Everyone empathized, she said, but so far, nothing has changed.
Computer-generated illustration of the playground that will be built at Moshav Mivtachim in southern Israel. (Shaashuim and Sport)She, therefore, felt she had no choice but to petition the High Court on behalf of the four moshavim over the boundary. After securing several delays, the state was ordered to respond by March 2.
Ben Romano said she worried that the gaps in funding would affect interest in Talmei Eliayu’s new housing plots and that farmers over the seven-kilometer line would find it hard to compete with their neighbors within that line because the costs were so different. “People are clinging on with their teeth,” she added.
Amit Ifrach. (Iki Maimon)Amit Ifrach, the Moshav Movement’s secretary general and chairman of the Israel Farmers Association, said the movement was working with the Knesset, the government, and the Tekuma Directorate — as well as with donors — to ensure that all the communities located close to Gaza would get fair support. link
- Watchdog: Israel behind most reporter deaths in 2024; IDF: Many were terror operatives
Jerusalem responsible for 85 of record-setting 124 journalists killed last year, Committee to Protect Journalists claims; IDF rejects accusation, says it doesn’t target journalists
Last year was the deadliest for journalists in recent history, with at least 124 reporters killed — and Israel responsible for nearly 70 percent of that total, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed Wednesday.
Shortly after the report was released, the Israel Defense Forces responded by insisting that it does not intentionally target journalists in the Gaza Strip, while noting that many on the list are members of terror groups.
The uptick in killings, which marks a 22% increase over 2023, reflects “surging levels of international conflict, political unrest and criminality worldwide,” the CPJ said.
It was the deadliest year for reporters and media workers since CPJ began keeping records more than three decades ago, with journalists murdered across 18 different countries, it said.
A total of 85 journalists died in the Hamas-instigated Gaza war, “all at the hands of the Israeli military,” the CPJ charged, adding that 82 of them were Palestinians.
CPJ accused Israel of attempting to stifle investigations of incidents, shift blame onto journalists, and ignore its duty to hold people to account for the killings.
“The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists,” CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement.
The Israeli military rejected the report.
“The IDF takes all possible measures to minimize harm to civilians, including journalists. The IDF has never, and never will, intentionally target journalists,” the military said in response to a query by The Times of Israel.
“In light of the ongoing exchange of fire, being in an active combat zone carries risks. The IDF will continue to combat threats while making an ongoing effort to minimize harm to civilians. The IDF only directs its attacks toward military targets and militants and does not attack civilian sites or civilians, including media and journalists,” the statement continued.
“Under international humanitarian law, a member of an organized armed group [such as the military wing of Hamas], or a person directly participating in hostilities, is considered a lawful target. As it seems, many on the published list include members of the military wing of Hamas and are therefore lawful targets under international law,” the IDF added.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas following its October 2023 onslaught in which 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 taken hostage. Hamas is still holding 73 of the hostages, and its leaders have vowed to repeat the October 7 slaughter and destroy Israel.
More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed 21,000 Hamas fighters since the war began.
The number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024 is up sharply over recent years — 102 were killed in 2023, and 69 were killed in 2022, according to CPJ. The previous record high of deaths was in 2007, when 113 journalists lost their lives, almost half due to the Iraq War, said the committee.
Sudan and Pakistan recorded the second-highest number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024, with six each.
In Mexico, which has a reputation as one of the most dangerous countries for reporters, five were killed, with CPJ reporting it had found “persistent flaws” in Mexico’s mechanisms for protecting journalists.
And in Haiti, where two reporters were murdered, widespread violence and political instability have sown so much chaos that “gangs now openly claim responsibility for journalist killings,” the report said.
Palestinian journalists carry mock coffins of Palestinian journalists who were killed during the current war in Gaza during a symbolic funeral toward a United Nations office, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)Other deaths took place in countries such as Myanmar, Mozambique, India and Iraq.
“Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ’s history,” said Ginsberg.
CPJ, which has kept records on journalist killings since 1992, said that 24 of the reporters were deliberately killed because of their work in 2024.
Freelancers, the report said, were among the most vulnerable because of their lack of resources, and accounted for 43 of the killings in 2024.
The year 2025 is not looking more promising, with six journalists already killed in the first weeks of the year, CPJ said. link
Before October 7, both villages had ambitious expansion plans.
Talmei Eliyahu hoped to double from 60 families to 120. It will soon start marketing the plots of land it had designated for that purpose.
Mivtachim, home to 150 families, already had 92 plots ready for development, all of which had been “snapped up after three months,” according to Galil Nachum, head of the cooperative village’s committee. “We were going to start building after the High Holy Days [in 2023],” he said — right after the war began.
Four families still want to build at Mivtachim. But four have canceled, and the rest are uncommitted.
After residents were evacuated in the wake of the Hamas onslaught, many of the men from the area’s communities returned quickly to their farms to work and guard while their wives and children remained in temporary accommodation elsewhere.
Liraz Assor, who lives in and works for Mivtachim, and who belongs to one of the four families still committed to developing a plot there, described several cases where the men couldn’t persuade their wives to return.
“Living separately in this way has caused not a few divorces,” said Assor.
Mivtachim, Yesha, and Amioz are set to benefit from some of the NIS 14 billion ($3.9 billion) the government pledged to the Tekuma Directorate over five years to rehabilitate the city of Sderot and the 46 rural communities within seven kilometers of the Gaza Strip.
Last year, the directorate budgeted NIS 1.13 billion ($344 million) for education, health, social welfare, culture, youth, and more, according to its most recent report, covering April to September 2024. Another NIS 431 million ($115 million) was to go to agriculture, NIS 67 million ($17.8 million) to tourism, and NIS 29 million ($7.7 million) to boost the regional economy, business, and employment. A further NIS 856 million ($227 million) was earmarked to improve community security, due to be completed by the end of next month.
Like other farmers within the seven-kilometer range, Mivtachim’s residents will qualify for grants to replace equipment such as tractors. New zoning plans will enable them to erect facilities such as packing houses in addition to the net houses and greenhouses that characterize this cluster of moshavim.
Sixteen months after the carnage, the challenge of rebuilding communities is daunting, according to Ben Romano and Assor.
Assor is now getting paid by the state to work as a community coordinator. While this is commonly a paid position on kibbutzim, which operate as structured communities, in moshavim it has typically been filled by a volunteer.
Ben Romano does not receive a state paycheck and voluntarily coordinates the residents of Talmei Eliyahu while the Moshav Movement tries to raise funds for a paid position. She lost four months of work at Ben Gurion University immediately after October 7, visiting and supporting evacuated residents, figuring out their needs, and dealing with state bureaucracy while looking after her family. She and two of her three children regularly see a psychologist. Because they are not recognized as victims of terror, they have to pay for the service themselves.
Both moshavim report economic troubles and farmers who have gone bust, but compensation, when it finally arrives, will only be available to Mivtachim.
Nachum said the Tekuma Directorate had promised Mivtachim NIS 16 million ($4.4 million) over five years for its physical needs. The moshav has already signed a contract to build a massive playground.
Ben Romano, who believes the aid should be given based on the harm suffered, or at least be distributed by the local authority, has tried to convince everyone from the director of the Prime Minister’s Office and several ministers to the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee of the unfairness of the situation. Everyone empathized, she said, but so far, nothing has changed.
She, therefore, felt she had no choice but to petition the High Court on behalf of the four moshavim over the boundary. After securing several delays, the state was ordered to respond by March 2.
Ben Romano said she worried that the gaps in funding would affect interest in Talmei Eliayu’s new housing plots and that farmers over the seven-kilometer line would find it hard to compete with their neighbors within that line because the costs were so different. “People are clinging on with their teeth,” she added.
Amit Ifrach, the Moshav Movement’s secretary general and chairman of the Israel Farmers Association, said the movement was working with the Knesset, the government, and the Tekuma Directorate — as well as with donors — to ensure that all the communities located close to Gaza would get fair support. link
Jerusalem responsible for 85 of record-setting 124 journalists killed last year, Committee to Protect Journalists claims; IDF rejects accusation, says it doesn’t target journalists
Last year was the deadliest for journalists in recent history, with at least 124 reporters killed — and Israel responsible for nearly 70 percent of that total, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed Wednesday.
Shortly after the report was released, the Israel Defense Forces responded by insisting that it does not intentionally target journalists in the Gaza Strip, while noting that many on the list are members of terror groups.
The uptick in killings, which marks a 22% increase over 2023, reflects “surging levels of international conflict, political unrest and criminality worldwide,” the CPJ said.
It was the deadliest year for reporters and media workers since CPJ began keeping records more than three decades ago, with journalists murdered across 18 different countries, it said.
A total of 85 journalists died in the Hamas-instigated Gaza war, “all at the hands of the Israeli military,” the CPJ charged, adding that 82 of them were Palestinians.
CPJ accused Israel of attempting to stifle investigations of incidents, shift blame onto journalists, and ignore its duty to hold people to account for the killings.
“The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists,” CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement.
The Israeli military rejected the report.
“The IDF takes all possible measures to minimize harm to civilians, including journalists. The IDF has never, and never will, intentionally target journalists,” the military said in response to a query by The Times of Israel.
“In light of the ongoing exchange of fire, being in an active combat zone carries risks. The IDF will continue to combat threats while making an ongoing effort to minimize harm to civilians. The IDF only directs its attacks toward military targets and militants and does not attack civilian sites or civilians, including media and journalists,” the statement continued.
“Under international humanitarian law, a member of an organized armed group [such as the military wing of Hamas], or a person directly participating in hostilities, is considered a lawful target. As it seems, many on the published list include members of the military wing of Hamas and are therefore lawful targets under international law,” the IDF added.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas following its October 2023 onslaught in which 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 taken hostage. Hamas is still holding 73 of the hostages, and its leaders have vowed to repeat the October 7 slaughter and destroy Israel.
More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed 21,000 Hamas fighters since the war began.
The number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024 is up sharply over recent years — 102 were killed in 2023, and 69 were killed in 2022, according to CPJ. The previous record high of deaths was in 2007, when 113 journalists lost their lives, almost half due to the Iraq War, said the committee.
Sudan and Pakistan recorded the second-highest number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024, with six each.
In Mexico, which has a reputation as one of the most dangerous countries for reporters, five were killed, with CPJ reporting it had found “persistent flaws” in Mexico’s mechanisms for protecting journalists.
And in Haiti, where two reporters were murdered, widespread violence and political instability have sown so much chaos that “gangs now openly claim responsibility for journalist killings,” the report said.
Other deaths took place in countries such as Myanmar, Mozambique, India and Iraq.
“Today is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in CPJ’s history,” said Ginsberg.
CPJ, which has kept records on journalist killings since 1992, said that 24 of the reporters were deliberately killed because of their work in 2024.
Freelancers, the report said, were among the most vulnerable because of their lack of resources, and accounted for 43 of the killings in 2024.
The year 2025 is not looking more promising, with six journalists already killed in the first weeks of the year, CPJ said. link
- The Region and the World
-
Personal Stories
**Maya Regev** 
**Age 21**
**Released After 50 Days in Hamas Captivity** "Every day there was like hell, an insane amount of fear. Zero sleep at night."**Wichian Temthong**
(A Thai citizen released from captivity, from "The Main Edition")
"In the first two weeks, I suffered from a migraine and looked like a mad person. I talked to myself and paced back and forth until the Hamas terrorists told me to stop... At some point, the terrorists came with cameras and recorded the hostages. They filmed a video on the tenth day, I remember that... It seemed like they told one of the hostages what to say in the video, and then he spoke a little. He almost cried, I’m not sure what they were talking about."
**Wichian Temthong** (A Thai citizen released from captivity, from "The Main Edition")
Margalit Mozes
**Released After 49 Days in Hamas Captivity** **Age 77** "At night, I use a breathing device, and I took it with me so I could sleep. But the other one there got angry at me and took the device away from me, and then... It was a very difficult moment because I told him that was my oxygen. I spoke to him in Arabic, and he understood perfectly, but he didn’t care. For 49 days, I didn’t sleep."
**Released After 50 Days in Hamas Captivity**
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
A Letter to an Unknown Hostage
Amal Asaad
Brigadier General.
We do not know each other and possibly never will.
You were abducted on October 7th, and since then I have not heard from
you or about you or seen you. I just hope you are still alive.
We were always taught that in the State of Israel, we do not abandon
the dead, wounded or captured on the battlefield. We are all responsible
for one another.
For nine months, you and your friends are languishing somewhere in
the subterranean of the Gaza Strip, just a few minutes' drive from the
border, and light years away from your return.
Like me, you probably did not believe Israel would abandon its citizens.
Could you imagine that you had a price, that you became part of a deal?
Did you know that there are "quality" prisoners? That your life is not
worth enough for their release? While others are of "lesser quality" and the debate is - how many? Did you know that your return is a political
issue? Yes, political. There are politicians who gain from your non-return,
at the price of your life. They were the same who were supposed to guard
your safety dearly and guarantee your return at any price. Yes, any price.
The Prime Minister who was in charge of your well-being and safety (and
who has not yet resigned, in case you were wondering), is not interested
in bringing you back alive, especially not "for a high price," although
it can be said to his credit that when the cameras are on, he wears the
hostage pin.
The same Prime Minister who was responsible for your safety and failed -
he is now turning his back on you, leaving you to languish in the
Hamas tunnels.
Know that one who betrays once will betray again.
The Prime Minister who, when signing the Nation-State Bill, betrayed me
and the entire Druze community, betrayed 20% of the citizens of Israel -
he will betray you and the remaining 120 other hostages for the sake of
securing his job.
I won't burden you with the names of the government members who
explicitly say that your life is not worth the price, and if you are wondering
about the rest of the government members? Well here, my friend, you
are also in for bitter disappointment.
Some of them wear the tag engraved with the words "Our hearts are in
Gaza." Well, I agree with that at least – all of them really have no hearts.
I am sorry to disappoint you. For this government, killing Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar is a mission more important than getting you back. They've
even invented a name for it: Total Victory. The picture of victory will
be Sinwar's head, even if you come back in a box.
And yet, I want you to know that your family and the families of other
hostages, the brave mothers, the beautiful people of Israel, those who
were brought up on the phrase "we are responsible for one another,"
are fighting with all their might to bring you home. Your pictures were
hung all over the country. Roads were blocked, people climbed into
cages, went up to the border to call out your name, hoping you would
hear them. These people are trying to exert pressure on the government,
in any way possible, to release you. Now.
Know that your friends, the heroic fighters left their homes, and some
of them have sadly given their lives trying to save you.
But the government ministers, some of them pretentious enough to call
themselves people of faith, refuse to return you "for a high price," although
there is no higher commandment than the redemption of captives.
These are people that value their chair over your life and that of the
other hostages.
A Letter to an Unknown Hostage
Amal Asaad
Brigadier General.
We do not know each other and possibly never will.
You were abducted on October 7th, and since then I have not heard from you or about you or seen you. I just hope you are still alive.
We were always taught that in the State of Israel, we do not abandon the dead, wounded or captured on the battlefield. We are all responsible for one another.
For nine months, you and your friends are languishing somewhere in the subterranean of the Gaza Strip, just a few minutes' drive from the border, and light years away from your return.
Like me, you probably did not believe Israel would abandon its citizens. Could you imagine that you had a price, that you became part of a deal?
Did you know that there are "quality" prisoners? That your life is not worth enough for their release? While others are of "lesser quality" and the debate is - how many? Did you know that your return is a political issue? Yes, political. There are politicians who gain from your non-return, at the price of your life. They were the same who were supposed to guard your safety dearly and guarantee your return at any price. Yes, any price.
The Prime Minister who was in charge of your well-being and safety (and who has not yet resigned, in case you were wondering), is not interested in bringing you back alive, especially not "for a high price," although it can be said to his credit that when the cameras are on, he wears the hostage pin.
The same Prime Minister who was responsible for your safety and failed - he is now turning his back on you, leaving you to languish in the Hamas tunnels.
Know that one who betrays once will betray again.
The Prime Minister who, when signing the Nation-State Bill, betrayed me and the entire Druze community, betrayed 20% of the citizens of Israel - he will betray you and the remaining 120 other hostages for the sake of securing his job.
I won't burden you with the names of the government members who explicitly say that your life is not worth the price, and if you are wondering about the rest of the government members? Well here, my friend, you are also in for bitter disappointment.
Some of them wear the tag engraved with the words "Our hearts are in Gaza." Well, I agree with that at least – all of them really have no hearts.
I am sorry to disappoint you. For this government, killing Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar is a mission more important than getting you back. They've even invented a name for it: Total Victory. The picture of victory will be Sinwar's head, even if you come back in a box.
And yet, I want you to know that your family and the families of other hostages, the brave mothers, the beautiful people of Israel, those who were brought up on the phrase "we are responsible for one another," are fighting with all their might to bring you home. Your pictures were hung all over the country. Roads were blocked, people climbed into cages, went up to the border to call out your name, hoping you would hear them. These people are trying to exert pressure on the government, in any way possible, to release you. Now.
Know that your friends, the heroic fighters left their homes, and some of them have sadly given their lives trying to save you.
But the government ministers, some of them pretentious enough to call themselves people of faith, refuse to return you "for a high price," although there is no higher commandment than the redemption of captives.
These are people that value their chair over your life and that of the other hostages.
Acronyms and Glossary
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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