🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 503, 2023 - February 20, 2025 🎗️

   

🎗️Day 502 that 69 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

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

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

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

*

Hostage Updates 

• This is a very difficult day for all of us in Israel. We knew it would come, but despite the awareness, the reality is harsh and very sad. The only way to slightly sweeten our collective sorrow is by adopting Hamas's willingness to release all the remaining hostages in Gaza in one phase. The price is known – the difficult release of Palestinian prisoners who have killed Israelis, an end to the war, and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas will remain in Gaza, but not for long, as there are attempts to reach a unified Arab position through five Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates – all of which demand that Hamas vacate the territory for a responsible civilian Palestinian government and that Hamas surrender its weapons. The new civilian Palestinian government will receive backing and practical support through the deployment of a multinational Arab force in Gaza for a period of stabilization and the building of capabilities of a new Palestinian security force. For all this to happen, the Israeli government must cooperate with Arab countries and signal to Trump that it rejects his plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Egypt is formulating a phased rehabilitation plan for the Strip, which does not require the evacuation of all Gaza residents during the rehabilitation. There are other such plans being worked on, but first and foremost – we must achieve the release of all hostages, an end to the war, and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

  (Gershon Baskin, February 20, 2025)
  
  

• **Preparations in Israel: How the Transfer of Abducted Victims from Hamas Will Be Carried Out Tomorrow**

  

  According to the emerging transfer framework, the victims will first be handed over by Hamas to representatives of the Red Cross, who will then connect with IDF forces in the Gaza Strip. From there, the victims will be transferred directly to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification. Only after the identification process is completed and the families are notified will an official announcement be made to the public.

  Israel is preparing today (Wednesday) for the painful day ahead tomorrow, during which the bodies of four abducted victims will be transferred from Hamas back to Israeli territory. The families have already been informed that mediators have relayed to Israel the names of the victims to be returned. According to the emerging transfer framework, the victims will first be handed over by Hamas to representatives of the Red Cross, who will then immediately connect with IDF forces in the Gaza Strip.

  Once the victims are in the hands of the IDF, a military ceremony will be held with the participation of soldiers and a military rabbi. From there, the victims will be transferred directly to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification. In Israel, it is still unknown whether Hamas will stage another show of force during the transfer of the victims, as it has done during previous transfers of living abductees, but preparations are being made for this possibility as well.

  At this stage, it is unclear whether the four victims will be handed over from one location in the Gaza Strip or from several different points. Additionally, there is an expectation that the identification process at the forensic institute could take up to 48 hours. In Israel, there is no way to verify Hamas's claims regarding the circumstances of the deaths of the abductees being returned, so the examination at the forensic institute is of great importance. Once solid information is available, it will be shared with the public.

  The families who will receive their loved ones as victims will remain in their homes, accompanied and supported by IDF representatives. Only after the identification process is completed and the families are notified will an official announcement be made to the public by the IDF and Israel.

  

  **Protesters in favor of a hostage deal (Photo: Tomer Neuberg, Flash 90)**

  
  

  The Headquarters for the Return of the Hostages addressed the tragic and complex situation in which some of the families of the abductees have been living for many months, awaiting the identification of their loved ones: "The families of the abducted victims are dealing with ongoing trauma, deteriorating health and functionality, and a lack of institutional recognition. Many families remain in prolonged uncertainty, as the notification of their loved ones' deaths was sometimes based solely on intelligence information, without forensic identification, which heightens the sense of waiting and hope and makes mourning difficult. This situation has severe health and functional consequences, including physical and mental deterioration, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms, with many families unable to return to normal life. Despite their unique status, the state does not recognize these families as a distinct group, and therefore their legal status is not regulated, which harms the support they need."

  In the security establishment and the police, it is understood that the upcoming stage is expected to be emotionally charged, but they are also committed to carrying it out in the most professional manner. "We are prepared, we know how to handle this, and we are committed to providing the most accurate answers, quickly and responsibly. This is our commitment to the families and to the people of Israel," it was stated.

  In Channel 12 News, after discussions with the families of the abductees, it was decided not to broadcast images that Hamas may release from Gaza of the victims' coffins on Thursday. Instead, only images approved by the Headquarters for the Return of the Hostages and official statements from the headquarters and Israeli officials will be aired. This is to preserve the dignity of the families and their loved ones.  link

• Slain hostages set for return tomorrow are Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Oded Lifshitz
  The Prime Minister’s Office confirms Israel has received the list of slain hostages who are set to be returned tomorrow.
  It says the four are Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz.
  Their families have been notified.
  “In this difficult time, our hearts are with the grieving families, the PMO says. “We will continue to provide reliable updates as needed and ask to refrain from spreading rumors or unofficial information.”

  
  

  Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)

  
  Oded Lifshitz. (Courtesy)
  
  

• ‘Shameful’: Bibas relative says family did not approve names being published

  

  Ofri Bibas Levy, sister of hostage Yarden Bibas, marks her captive nephew Kfir's second birthday at a rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, on January 18, 2025. Kfir's purple elephant toy sits on the podium beside her. (Paulina Patimer/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
  
  

  The sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas denies the family agreed to the Prime Minister’s Office confirming her loved ones as being on Hamas’s list of slain hostages to be returned tomorrow.

  “The list that has already declared Ariel and Kfir as fallen, which was published by the Prime Minister’s Office, supposedly with the families’ approval, was never approved by us,” Ofri Bibas, sister of Shiri’s husband Yarden, writes on Facebook.

  In its earlier statement the PMO said the families had approved the names being published.

  “For 16 months, we have been waiting for certainty that they couldn’t provide us, and now it’s being decided before they’re even here?? Before they’ve undergone identification?? Before we’ve been officially informed?”

  “The entire country has turned into casualty officers, knocking on our door,” she says. “Shameful.”
  
  
  
• IDF releases photos from military ceremony honoring four slain hostages returned by Hamas

  

  The IDF holds a ceremony in the Gaza Strip honoring the four slain Israeli hostages whose bodies are apparently in coffins returned by Hamas, February 20, 2025. The coffins are seen draped in Israeli flags. (IDF)

  
  

  Photos are released from the IDF’s ceremony in the Gaza Strip earlier this morning honoring the four slain Israeli hostages returned by Hamas.

  
  

  The ceremony was led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Karim, who read Psalm 83 as IDF troops saluted.

  
  

  The coffins believed to contain the remains of the four hostages are seen draped in Israeli flags as they are carried by officers of the Nahal Brigade into military vehicles.

  
  

  The bodies are now being brought to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in central Israel for identification.

  
  

  

  The IDF ceremony in the Gaza Strip honoring the four slain Israeli hostages returned by Hamas on February 20, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

  
  
  
• In pouring rain, dozens of people stood waiting for the convoy: "We are here for Jordan and for everyone."
  
  
  In the Gaza border area, in Karmei Gat, and in the Hostages Square, people gathered to pay their final respects to the four fallen soldiers returning home. "Closing this circle is important to us as members of Yarden's kibbutz," said his caregiver from Tzalim. A member of Nir Oz spoke about "those who rush to speak on behalf of the families": "The Bibas family has very clearly asked not to declare vengeance in their name and not to rush to eulogize. We will respect their sensitivity."
  
  
  With Israeli flags and yellow flags, dozens of members of the Nir Oz community stood in silent protest this morning (Thursday) near their temporary residence in Karmei Gat. Dozens of people also waited in the pouring rain at the edges of the Gama junction to greet the convoy carrying the fallen hostages returning from Gaza, so they could pay their final respects.
  
  A moment of silence by the Nir Oz community in Karmei Gat. 
  

  
  A convoy of flags at the Gama junction (Photo: Reuters).  
  Waiting for the convoy with the returning fallen at the Gama junction | Photo: Reuters.
  
  
  "We are in great pain because we feared this is what would come," said Ofra from Kibbutz Tzalim, where Jordan Bibas grew up and where she was his guide for many years during his childhood. "And we are also embracing this pain. Closing this circle is important to everyone—to us as members of Jordan's kibbutz, and to all those who have not yet returned. We are here for him, and for all the hostages and all the fallen."
  
  **A Silent Ceremony in Karmei Gat**  
  A moment of silence by the Nir Oz community in Karmei Gat.
  
  
  Hili Markovitz from Nir Oz stood, as she does every morning, in the Yonim Square in Kiryat Gat, for the sake of her kidnapped community members. "This is a very difficult and sad day. Just last Saturday we celebrated and rejoiced, and today the feelings are very complex. Unfortunately, this is something we have become accustomed to—since the deal in November 2023, most of the hostages who returned to us were fallen."
  
  **Hostages Square on the Day of the Return of the Fallen Hostages** | Photo: AP.
  
  
  Markovitz expressed anger at those who issued statements on behalf of the Bibas family, her fellow kibbutz members—"They very clearly asked not to declare vengeance in their name and not to rush to eulogize. They have been suffering for so long; they don’t need to go through this from our side as well. We will respect the complexity and sensitivity here, and wait patiently."
  
  
  

  In the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, crowds also gathered during the difficult and painful moments of the return of the four fallen hostages. Yael Adar, the mother of the fallen hostage Tamir Adar, may he rest in peace, said in the Channel 12 studio that it fills her heart to see the square full.
  
  
  "We thought it was impossible for the square to be full when people return alive and there is joy, but to be empty when the fallen return," she said. "The square is full today to express respect and forgiveness for those who have returned."  link
  
  
  
• Families of 1st-phase hostages not included in upcoming releases say they’re left in the dark

  
  

  A relative of one of the Gaza hostages who is neither on the list of slain captives slated for release Thursday nor among those expected to be freed alive on Saturday says authorities haven’t contacted them, leaving them in the dark and with grave concern about their loved ones’ fate.

  Israel and Hamas have named the four dead hostages to be released Thursday as Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, as well as Oded Lifshitz. Authorities have notified their families.

  Both sides have also said that the six live captives slated for return on Saturday are Hisham al-Sayed, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham and Omer Shem-Tov. Their families have been notified as well

  According to the ceasefire and hostage deal, the final batch of abductees included in the ongoing first phase of the deal are to be returned on Thursday next week — consisting of four dead hostages.

  The last four captives included in the first phase are Shlomo Mantzur, Itzik Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Tsahi Idan.

  While the IDF has confirmed Mantzur’s death, Israeli authorities have not made any kind of declaration about the other three.

  “Only from the media do we know that four hostages who aren’t alive are meant to return tomorrow,” Mor Elgarat, Itzik’s nephew, tells the Ynet news site.

  “They said who the six living ones are, and we are forced to conclude things,” he says. “We are given scraps. What should we be preparing for and how? What will happen and when?

  “Not speaking with your people is simply abandonment. What are they trying to do, make the fallen hostages disappear?” Mor Elgarat charges, adding that the uncertainty is “terrible and agonizing.”
  
  
• Son of Oded Lifshitz: Slain hostages ‘suffered tragic, agonizing deaths, without their families by their sides’

  

  Oded Lifshitz (Amiram Oren)

  
  

  The son of Oded Lifshitz, whose body is expected to be returned by Hamas from Gaza this morning, says the four slain hostages being handed over today “suffered tragic, agonizing deaths, without their families by their sides.”

  
  

  “This anger will stay with us forever,” Yitzhar Lifshitz tells Army Radio.

  
  

  “It’s not over for anyone today, even when the end is tragic,” he adds. “We continue to pray for the hostages and the fallen who still need to be returned.”

  
  

  Lifshitz, aged 83 at the time, was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz in Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught. His wife, Yocheved, was kidnapped separately that day and released by Hamas 16 days later.

  
  
  
• Netanyahu said to have considered attending proceedings in Israel for return of hostages’ bodies, decided not to

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered participating in the proceedings on the Israeli side of the Gaza border as the bodies of the four slain hostages are returned this morning, and security arrangements were being put in place last night to enable this, Channel 12 reports.

  Late last night, however, it was decided that he would not attend.  link Of course, Netanyahu wouldn't attend. He would look bad and the fact that he is the prime abandoner of all those who were killed and kidnapped and the entire country, I have no doubt that his PR people told him that it would only make him look bad. Netanyahu is not a leader, he is a petty politician and will never do the responsible thing if it will make him look bad. A real leader would be there to receive the bodies, no matter the personal feelings or price. Those things should never be a part of the equation of a real leader. Netanyahu is a coward who has no right to stay in his position. He is not worthy of us, the population of Israel. We are deserving of real leaders and Netanyahu doesn't come anywhere close.

  
  
  
• Kibbutz Nir Oz residents stand in the rain for moment of silence to honor slain hostages

  

  A man stands, holding an Israeli flag featuring the yellow hostages ribbon, in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square ahead of the return of four slain Israeli hostages from Gaza, February 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

  
  

  Residents in Karmei Gat, where members of Kibbutz Nir Oz are living while their homes are being rebuilt, stand for a moment’s silence as Hamas hands over coffins apparently containing four slain hostages from the devastated Gaza border community to the Red Cross.

  
  

  They stand in the rain, holding Israeli flags and wearing yellow clothes in solidarity with the hostages.

  
  

  The four slain hostages being returned to Israel this morning have been named as Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, all kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.

  
  

  In Tel Aviv, Israelis gather alongside Israeli flags emblazoned with the yellow ribbon symbolizing the captives at Hostages Square.

  
  
• Rows of Israeli flags with yellow ribbon fly at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ahead of return of slain captives

  

  Israeli flags are displayed at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, February 20, 2025, ahead of the return by Hamas of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including Shiri Bibas and her two children (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  
  

  Rows of Israeli flags emblazoned with the yellow ribbon symbolizing hostages are set up at the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ahead of the return of the bodies of four Israeli civilians who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and killed in captivity.

  
  

  The Hostages and Missing Families Forum invites the public to gather at the square in solidarity this morning.

  
  

  Activists also invited people to gather with Israeli flags and along the route that IDF ambulances will be transporting the bodies to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for identification, to accompany “the fallen on their final journey.”

  
  

  The Public is Invited to Join in Honoring the Fallen Hostages Along Their Final Route Home

  
  

  The public is invited to come tomorrow with Israeli flags and stand along the route of the IDF convoy heading to Abu Kabir, accompanying the fallen on their final journey.

  
  

  
  
• German FM blasts ‘limitless terror of Hamas’ for staging ceremony with supposed remains of slain hostages

  By Lazar Berman

  Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock blasts Hamas for staging a ceremony with the remains of the slain hostages before handing them over.

  
  

  “Four coffins, paraded on a stage – images that are almost unbearable,” she writes on X. “The hostage families are exposed to the limitless terror of Hamas until the end.”

  
  

  Baerbock adds that the coming days are “once again torturous for the families, until they know whether they can actually say goodbye. I think of Oded’s family. And of Yarden. The next few hours will decide their whole world.”
  
  

  
  
• UN rights chief: Hamas parading of coffins said to contain hostages’ bodies violates international law

  

  Red Cross representatives receive from Hamas terrorists coffins apparently containing the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, Shiri Bibas and her two young children Kfir and Ariel, and Oded Lifshitz, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, February 20, 2025. (Reuters/Stringer)

  
  

  The UN rights chief says the parading of bodies in Gaza is abhorrent and flies in the face of international law, after Hamas handed over what it says are the bodies of four Israeli civilians — a woman and her two young sons, and an elderly man — abducted from southern Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.

  
  

  The remains were returned as part of an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal with the terror group.

  
  

  “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” Volker Turk says in a statement.
  
  

  
  
  
• ‘Together we will carry the pain’: Hostages Forum to hold ceremony in honor of slain captives returned by Hamas

  

  An Israeli soldier holds his cellphone as he walks into "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as Palestinian terror groups hand over the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

  
  

  The Hostages and Missing Families Forum invites the public to attend a ceremony in Tel Aviv to honor four slain hostages whose remains are believed to have been returned by Hamas this morning.

  
  

  Coffins said to contain the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her sons Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz are being transported to the Abu Kabir forensic institute near Tel Aviv for identification.

  
  

  

  Oded Lifshitz (left); Shiri Bibas, Kfir Bibas and Ariel Bibas (Amiram Oren/Courtesy)
  
  

  “Tonight at 19:00, following the devastating return of four hostages who were taken alive and returned to us deceased, we will gather at Hostages Square,” the forum says in a statement.

  
  

  “Together we will carry the pain and memory, and declare in a clear voice: Time has run out for the hostages who remain behind! They must be returned immediately – the living for rehabilitation, and the fallen for proper burial.”

  
  

  Yael Adar, whose son Tamir Adar was killed fighting Hamas invasion on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and body was abducted to Gaza, ⁠and Rabbi Elchanan Danino, whose son Ori Danino was kidnapped from the Nova rave that day and executed in captivity in August, will both speak at the ceremony.

  
  

  Israeli singers Omer Adam and Ivri Lider will perform at the event. ​​​​​​​

  
  
  

Gaza and the South

• Egypt’s Sissi says it is important to reconstruct Gaza without displacing Palestinians

  Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi calls on the international community during a press conference with Spain’s prime minister in Madrid to adopt a plan to reconstruct war-torn Gaza without displacing Palestinians.

  
  

  Sissi calls for the “international community’s support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people — I repeat, without displacing the Palestinian people — from their land, which they cling to, and their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish.”

  
  

  Sanchez, one of the staunchest defenders of the Palestinian cause within the European Union, agrees, saying “Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state.”

  
  

  “Their expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law and United Nations resolutions, but would also have a destabilizing effect,” he adds.
  
  
• Palestinians report several dead and wounded in Israeli drone strike in Gaza’s Rafah

  Palestinian media reports several dead and wounded in an Israeli drone strike in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.

  The IDF has not yet commented
  
  
• IDF says it struck southern Gaza to foil attempted smuggling-by-drone from Israel

  The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip several hours ago, targeting a group of suspects who took possession of a drone that was used in a smuggling attempt.

  
  

  According to the military, the drone had been identified as crossing from Israel into Gaza, in an attempt to smuggle prohibited goods.

  After the drone landed and several suspects took possession of it, the IDF carried out an airstrike against them.

  Palestinian media reported several dead and wounded in the strike.

  The IDF says it is trying to find those who operated the drone, “to bring them to justice.”

  Several such smuggling attempts have been carried out in recent weeks, with the IDF saying suspects on the Israeli side load up drones with weapons or drugs and fly them over the border into Gaza. Some of the attempts have been successful, according to the military.
  
  

• Hamas terrorist freed under ceasefire seen in Gaza’s Khan Younis at handover point

  Arab media footage shows a Hamas operative who was released by Israel in the ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza, at the location where the terror group is due to hand over the bodies of four slain hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

  
  

  Mohammed Abu Warda was serving 48 life sentences for masterminding multiple terror attacks, including a 1996 bombing on a bus in Jerusalem that killed 45 people.

  
  

  He was one of some 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners who will be freed over the current first stage of the truce deal, including hundreds serving life sentences, in exchange for the release of 25 living hostages and eight bodies.

  
  

  According to Hebrew media reports, Abu Warda was meant to be deported to Egypt under the ceasefire terms.  link This will certainly be considered a breach of the agreement and I have no doubt that Israel will do something about it. The question is when. Hopefully, our decision makers will have the patience and not make politically motivated decisions about it at this time and will wait until all the hostages are home, including those who were killed. We should not allow repercussions of a breach such as this to be at the cost of the remaining hostages. Unfortunately, this will give Netanyahu another excuse to prevent the continuation of the deal to Phase 2 that will bring the rest of the hostages home and end the war. Instead, leave it for now, put it on a list and then use whatever excuses they want to do things after all the hostages are home.

  
  

  
  
• Report: Arab states’ plan for Gaza calls for European, Egyptian supervision of terror groups’ demilitarization

  A plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip being formulated by Arab countries will be split into two phases, with the first lasting 10 years, according to an Egyptian diplomat cited by the Walla news site.

  
  

  The first phase will deal with reconstruction as well as the demilitarization of Gaza terror groups, according to the report.

  
  

  The source is quoted as saying that weapons will be stored under European and Egyptian supervision.

  
  

  Arab leaders are scheduled to gather in Saudi Arabia tomorrow to counter US President Donald Trump’s plan for American control of Gaza and the expulsion of its inhabitants.

  
  

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• IDF says drone strike in south Lebanon killed Hezbollah operative handling weapons

  The IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab earlier today, killing a Hezbollah operative.

  
  

  The operative was targeted after he was identified handling weapons, the military says.

  
  

• A day after the withdrawal, Hezbollah flags are already waving near Metula: "We are abandoned."

  Residents of Lebanon returned to their homes and raised the organization's flags without fear. Residents of the north are outraged by the images and are calling on the government to change the "policy of containment." In Lebanon, they are threatening a response to the continued Israeli presence in 5 outposts on their territory, but only after the funerals of Nasrallah and his successor, Safi al-Din, on Sunday: "This is occupation – and we have the right to respond."

  

  In accordance with the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, IDF forces withdrew yesterday from most of Lebanon's territory, except for five outposts along the border. This morning (Wednesday), Hezbollah flags were already documented in the village of Kila, opposite Metula, waving above the ruins left from the fighting. David Azulai, the head of the local council, who personally photographed one of the flags, expressed frustration in a conversation with N12: "The government of abandonment continues its actions in the north as well. Dozens of Hezbollah members in civilian disguise are arriving in the village – and zero response. Again, containment and containment. For the glory of the State of Israel." Meanwhile, an Israeli drone attacked Ayta al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, where a fatality was reported.

  The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, identified with Hezbollah, covered the return of civilians to the villages from which the IDF withdrew, under the headline "The Bitter Liberation." At the same time, it was reported that Hezbollah is postponing its response to the IDF's presence in the five points in southern Lebanon, at least until the funerals of the organization's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, and his intended successor, Hashem Safi al-Din, who were eliminated in Beirut. Their funerals are expected to take place on Sunday, more than four months after their elimination.

  

  Lebanese residents raised Hezbollah flags near Metula.

  Commentators identified with the organization noted that "a new stage with an unknown fate has begun," due to Israel's insistence on continuing to hold strategic positions between Naqoura and Shebaa Farms. Sources close to the organization told the Saudi channel Al-Hadath that, from their perspective, "the IDF's presence in the five points constitutes occupation and a violation of the agreement," and therefore "Hezbollah has the right to respond."

  The Lebanese presidency issued a statement after a meeting between the country's president, the parliament speaker, and the prime minister, announcing an appeal to the UN Security Council demanding action against Israel. "We will demand that the UN exert pressure on Israel to withdraw from all Lebanese territories, as the continued Israeli presence is considered an occupation with all the legal implications that entails." Despite the harsh rhetoric, Lebanese President Michel Aoun clarified that his country does not intend to open a military confrontation and that Lebanon is working with the US and France "to bring about a full Israeli withdrawal through diplomatic means."

  

  Deployment of IDF outposts | Photo: Google Maps
  
  

  The IDF clarified that the forces will remain in the five outposts until it is fully confirmed that Hezbollah is not conducting military activity south of the Litani River, as stipulated in the agreement. The Northern Command informed residents that the outposts will serve as a forward line in front of Israeli communities, to ensure their security. A political source emphasized: "Israel will remain in five strategic points, controlling the villages in southern Lebanon and our communities on the border. At the same time, we will continue to enforce the ceasefire with strength – as has been clearly demonstrated so far."  link

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

• Israel says 3 Palestinian terror operatives killed by forces in West Bank
  

  Three Palestinian terror operatives were killed by undercover Border Police officers in the Far’a camp in the northern West Bank this evening, Israeli defense officials say.

  The three operatives were involved in smuggling arms, the IDF, Shin Bet, and police say in a joint statement.

  Two other wanted Palestinians were detained in the operation.

  After the three were shot dead, troops scanned the area and located a dismantled M16 assault rifle buried in the ground and other weapons. A handgun was also found on the body of one of the three operatives, police say.

Politics and the War (general news)

• Netanyahu panned after ‘senior source’ claims security chiefs botched hostage talks
  As PM puts confidant Dermer at head of negotiating team, moves Barnea and Bar aside, ‘senior source’ lauds him for expedited hostage releases, ‘negotiations instead of concessions’
  

  A “senior source familiar with the details” released a statement on Wednesday claiming that the upcoming release of four dead hostages on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday is a direct result of changes made to Israel’s negotiating team.

  The statement drew swift condemnation, from both unnamed sources in the security establishment and elected politicians, some of whom directly attributed the statement to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who is known to make comments to the media on condition they are attributed this way.

  On Tuesday it emerged that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a longtime confidant of Netanyahu, will lead talks on phase two of the hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas, rather than Mossad chief David Barnea, who has led previous rounds.

  Phase two, per the original three-phase deal, would see Hamas return the remaining living hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.

  Netanyahu pushed aside Barnea, as well as Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and the military’s hostage talks point man, Nitzan Alon. The security chiefs have long felt that a deal could and should have been reached earlier but that political considerations in Israel hampered those efforts.

  According to the “senior source” statement on Wednesday, “The achievement of the agreement to release six of our living hostages in one fell swoop, alongside the return of four dead hostages tomorrow, is the result of the prime minister’s decision to change the composition of the negotiating team.”
  

  “The new team changed the dynamic and led negotiations instead of concessions. It also stopped the practice of regular and biased briefings against the prime minister and the political echelon, which only caused Hamas to entrench its position and add demands,” the statement said.

  The assertion came into response from comments other members of the Israeli negotiating team earlier this week revealing that Hamas had been the side that initiated the proposal for an expedited release of the six hostages.
  A senior Israeli official and a senior Arab diplomat confirmed this account to The Times of Israel.
  

  Security officials: ‘It’s the same agreement’

  A statement carried by Ynet and attributed to “senior officials in the security establishment” blasted the statement from the “senior official,” saying: “The claim is not true. It’s a disgrace, but it’s not surprising.”
  “Everything that is happening in the deal was drawn up by the original negotiating team. The team, in advance, set up the possibility to shorten the releases at the end,” the security officials said.
  “There are two more releases, regardless: living hostages on Shabbat, and after that bodies. It’s the same agreement. The one who wanted to move everything up was Hamas, who understands that Netanyahu doesn’t want stage two, and wants to leverage the achievements of the first phase, quickly,” they added.
  
  

  Lapid: Statement an ‘utter lie’ from PM’s office

  Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also attacked the “cowardly statement and complete and utter lie” from the “senior official,” saying in a statement, “The announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office raises concerns about the stability of his judgment.”
  “This is a cowardly statement and also a complete and utter lie. Netanyahu continues to blame others for his failures, and continues to abuse the families of the hostages for political purposes,” Lapid said.
  “Everyone who works for [Netanyahu] should know that sooner or later they will be publicly sacrificed for half a headline,” he charged.
  

  “This is a matter of conscience and he’s looking for credit. He should stop hiding behind anonymous briefings and make sure to bring all the hostages home,” the opposition leader added.
  

  Gantz: PM ‘breaking us apart from within’

  National Unity Leader Benny Gantz wrote on X: “Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is an upright security man, ethical and strong, who has contributed much to the return of the hostages.
  “He bears responsibility both for the disaster on October 7, as well as for the fighting and activities that came after, and I support him and back him, as well as all the heads of the security services who have taken part in the negotiations for the return of our hostages.
  “When the prime minister attacks the heads of the security establishment time and time again, he is tearing us apart from the inside, and weakening us, amid turbulent days that require us to be as strong and united as possible in the face of our enemies,” Gantz said.
  

  Hostage families forum: ‘Stop this behavior immediately!’

  The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also issued a statement on Wednesday amid the fracas, declaring, “While officials are issuing statements against other officials, we, the families of the hostages, are losing our minds with worry for our loved ones.
  “The fate of the hostages, the living and the fallen, is on the table, and those who are supposed to be turning the world upside down to secure it are having confrontations with each other.
  “Stop this behavior immediately! We saw the exact same pictures you did. We heard the exact same testimonies from returnees that you did,” the forum said.
  

  The families demanded that by the time troops withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border on Day 50 of the agreement, “it will be clear that by the Holiday of Freedom [i.e., Passover, on April 12] all the hostages will be released from Hamas hell in Gaza.”
  

  Seventy of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
  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.
  Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday that all six remaining living hostages slated to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal will be freed Saturday, among them the two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014.   link. Again, the lies of Netanyahu and his cronies come out to laud him for his great bargaining, when it wasn't him who was the first to push for this deal. Ironically, It was Hamas who was pushed for the release of all the rest of the living hostages in Phase 1 in order to move to Phase 2 which all but guarantees the end of the war. And we can never forget that, if not for Netanyahu being the spoiler, all of the hostages would have been back home a long time ago.
  Netanyahu and his poison machine are always on the lookout for every opportunity to make him look good, mostly at the expense of others, and to take credit for anything that will make him look good and never take responsibility for his failures, which are just too many to count.

• **Even Before the Ground Maneuver: The Operational Incident That Nearly Led to the Death of Several Observers in Hamas Captivity**

The IDF bombed a tunnel where the observers had been held just days earlier—and declared it destroyed. A month later, Hamas terrorists returned the observers to the same tunnel. Released hostages recounted undergoing harsh interrogations about their military past and being subjected to intense questioning to determine whether they had family ties to senior Israeli officials.
The IDF bombed a tunnel where the abducted observers had been held just a few days prior: An incident reported last night (Tuesday) on Channel 12 News describes how IDF airstrikes in the Gaza Strip endangered the lives of the abducted observers. 
The incident occurred during the first weeks of the war, even before the IDF began its ground maneuver in Gaza. Hamas moved several observers who had been held in a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip—and transferred them to a structure above ground. Days later, the Israeli Air Force bombed the tunnel in question—and it was declared destroyed by the IDF.
However, in addition to the danger posed to the observers by the bombing of the tunnel where they had been held just a short time earlier, it turns out that about a month later, Hamas managed to restore the tunnel—and the observers were returned to it.
In addition, we reported that released hostages recounted undergoing harsh interrogations about their military past and possible family ties to senior Israeli officials. Hostages who returned from captivity said they were extensively questioned by Hamas about their military background. They also underwent intense interrogations aimed at determining whether they had family connections to senior Israeli officials. Only after Hamas was convinced that no such connections existed did the interrogations and questioning stop. link

 

The Region and the World

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Personal Stories

Sharon Aloni-Cunio 

Age 34

Sharon was released along with her 3-year-old daughters after 52 days in Hamas captivity. Her husband, David, remains in Gaza, as does his brother, Ariel.  

"Every day was like Russian roulette. We didn’t know if they would kill us just because they felt like it or because they were backed into a corner."

Yocheved Lifshitz, Age 85

Released after 17 days in Hamas captivity. Her husband, Oded, 83, is still in Gaza.  

"I barely slept, I had trouble with the food. In the last four days, I fell ill, and they were afraid I would cause an epidemic in the tunnels there. Every day is critical because of the conditions, and the living conditions there are very harsh. The oxygen in the tunnels is running out. The fear of the war is that they will take revenge on our hostages—'Let me die with the Philistines,' that's what they will do."

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

Child of Mine

Shiri Artzi

Author and Scriptwriter.

The day the footage of the female Israel Defense Forces field observers’ abduction was released, I was unable to warn my daughter about watching it. She is almost thirteen and a half. I was still at work when she went to the mall with her girlfriends, and when she returned, she did not utter a word for three hours. She looked terrible. Her face was pale, practically gray. She did not raise her eyes. Various scenarios were racing through my mind, and when I asked repeatedly: “What’s wrong?” she refused to answer, mumbling the least convincing “nothing” in the world. Finally, during the evening, she suddenly blurted out: “I saw the footage.” My heart sank and my knees buckled. Oh, how I wanted to protect her from this, but I failed. She stood there in front of me, her words blazing, her eyes weeping. “How can this be? How can they possibly still be there? In what world? Tell me, Mom? How can it be?” I did not know what to say. “Where did you see it? I asked, as if it mattered. “On Instagram. Does it matter?” No, daughter of mine, it does not matter. The problem is not that you saw it, the problem is that it happened. The problem is that they are still there. The problem is that this inferno has been going on for an eternity. “They are only young girls!” she shouted, “They could be my Scout troop leaders. They could be my sisters.” She fell silent and did not say: “They could be me,” but we both thought that, without words. She was crying, her eyes open wide, and I was unable to breathe. I tried to caress her, but she shook me off like a wounded animal as she cried out: “There are people there who are the same age as grandpa and grandma, and there’s a baby there! And every person there is someone’s parent or child or brother or sister. How come they are still there?? How come they have not been brought back, explain it to me, Mom.”

“My child,” I whisper to her, “I don’t understand it myself,” and she says to me, sobbing: “I don’t want to live in such a world,” and I want to say: “Neither do I,” but I don’t. Because I’m her mother and it is my job to mediate for her a world in which living is possible, to convince her that there is some order that can be trusted, there is some sense, there are people to rely on.

“My child,” I embrace her, “We will do everything we can to keep you safe,” and she looks at me with her wise, torn gaze and asks: “And what if that’s not enough?” and I lose the few words and the little air that I still have, and hold her tight and cry with her, helpless, scared and no less infuriated, with a single word rising to the surface of my heart - [we have been] abandoned.

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

IPS - Israel Prison System

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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