🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 522, 2023 - March 11, 2025 🎗️
🎗️Day 522 that 59 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!אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*
Hostage Updates
Hamas showing some ‘readiness’ to agree to long extension of ceasefire, Israeli source says
There is some “readiness” on the part of Hamas to agree to a long extension of the ceasefire without moving to the second phase of the deal with Israel, an Israeli source with knowledge of the details tells The Times of Israel.
Hamas would likely demand the release of senior terrorists being held by Israel, says the source as talks on the deal take place in Doha.
The source says that there is a “gap” between the US and Israeli delegations’ expectations from the talks in Qatar, and their decision-making abilities: While US President Donald Trump will send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, someone who can make decisions, the Israeli delegation — while relatively senior — is not empowered to make decisions. link As I have said so many times in the past, there is a lot of spin, assumptions and misinformation that gets posted as 'actual reports' and much of it is far from fact. I don't believe anything that was reported here by an Israeli source. Yes, there is a chance that Hamas could release some hostages, live or dead for an extension to the ceasefire, but it is highly unlikely that they will do that for free. The price for this would be one of a number of things, such as opening up the humanitarian aid and fuel, or a guarantee that Phase 2 will happen within 'x' time with a further guarantee that it means the war will come to an end. The US is making concerted efforts to secure the release of the soldier Edan Alexander who is also an American citizen. While it is unlikely again that Hamas would release him just as a good will gesture to the US, here, too they might consider releasing him for a price. And because he is a soldier, that price will be a big one.
Rubio says Boehler’s ‘one-off’ meeting with Hamas so far ‘hasn’t borne fruit’
US President Donald Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza was a “one-off situation” and as of now “hasn’t borne fruit,” says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so. He did so,” Rubio tells reporters en route to Saudi Arabia.
“As of now, it hasn’t borne fruit. Doesn’t mean he was wrong to try, but our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he’s doing through Qatar,” Rubio says, in reference to Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Families of hostages demand Israel resume electricity to Gaza, threaten to go to High Court
A number of relatives of hostages send a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that the government reverse a decision to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip, saying it endangers their loved ones.
In the letter, also sent to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Energy Minister Eli Cohen, the relatives say that the decision puts their loved ones in immediate danger and that a lack of electricity intensifies the spread of diseases in the Strip and worsens the conditions for the hostages.
The letter from the families says that if there is no government response, they will file a petition to the High Court. The letter does not include any specific names of signatories.
Before departing for Doha, Witkoff says ‘we need deadlines’ for deal on next phase in ceasefire
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff says a “starter” for moving forward on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is the terror group demilitarizing and leaving Gaza.
Speaking on Fox News before he flies to Qatar for talks with Israel and Hamas, Witkoff says Hamas has “no alternative” other than disarming and leaving the Gaza Strip.
“If they leave, then all things are on the table for a negotiated peace, and that’s what they’ll need to do,” he says.
“We need deadlines” for an agreement on the next phase in a deal, says Witkoff, adding that the conditions the hostages are being held in are “unacceptable” and “deplorable.”
He also praises Qatar for its mediation, saying it has been “outstanding.”
- Trump should talk to anyone, anywhere, to save our hostagesIt's not that I favor negotiating with terrorists, but if it will get our people home now, then that's what must be done
If I found myself sitting across the table from one of the top leaders of Hamas, I don’t know if I would be able to control my emotions and not try to kill him.
On Octobter 7th, when I drove from Tel Aviv to the Gaza border area, in order to save my family and their neighbors, I saw with my own eyes the cruelty, sadism, and hatred of this evil terror organization.
But if someone had told me that by sitting across the table from these monsters, and negotiating with them instead of trying to kill them, I would increase the likelihood of releasing our hostages from the dark tunnels of Gaza, I would absolutely do it, without any hesitation.
Not because I have any bit of sympathy for Hamas, but because after 17 months of war, it is time to put an end to the hostage crisis, and bring home all our people.
That’s why I felt hopeful when I read that senior members of the Trump administration were holding secret talks directly with Hamas in order to prolong the ceasefire and hostage release deal signed in January. This effort is under a politically motivated attack by certain members of the Netanyahu government. But if it succeeds in bringing back our hostages, all Israelis will be very grateful.
The United States has a long history of talking to the kind of people it usually tries to kill, when there is a chance of saving the lives of Americans caught in harm’s way. There is no reason not to try this method with regard to the hostages held in Gaza.
During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, our last prisoners of war came back home after eight months. Back then, Israel was a much smaller country, with a significantly weaker military. The fact that today, we still have hostages held by dangerous terrorists, after more than double that amount of time, is unacceptable. That’s why most Israelis believe we must prioritize the return of the hostages over all other goals, at this point in time.
With President Trump in the White House, Israel will have four years to defeat our enemies, guarantee our security needs, and reach historic peace agreements with friendly Middle Eastern countries. But our hostages do not have all this time left. They cannot wait. We must save them now, first of all, and then move on to other missions.
On October 7th, I rushed to the Gaza border area, but had to stop again and again on my way to my son’s kibbutz — in order to fight terrorists, save people I met along the way, and evacuate wounded soldiers to safety. Only at the end of that very long day, I found out that two of my son’s neighbors were kidnapped by Hamas 10 minutes before I entered the gate of the kibbutz.
Those 10 minutes have haunted me every day since October 7th. I ask myself, could I have arrived sooner?
To President Trump’s negotiators, I say: Don’t waste even a single minute. Make sure you talk to anyone, anywhere, if you believe it can save the hostages. The people of Israel support you. link
Hostage Updates
Hamas showing some ‘readiness’ to agree to long extension of ceasefire, Israeli source says
There is some “readiness” on the part of Hamas to agree to a long extension of the ceasefire without moving to the second phase of the deal with Israel, an Israeli source with knowledge of the details tells The Times of Israel.
Hamas would likely demand the release of senior terrorists being held by Israel, says the source as talks on the deal take place in Doha.
The source says that there is a “gap” between the US and Israeli delegations’ expectations from the talks in Qatar, and their decision-making abilities: While US President Donald Trump will send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, someone who can make decisions, the Israeli delegation — while relatively senior — is not empowered to make decisions. link As I have said so many times in the past, there is a lot of spin, assumptions and misinformation that gets posted as 'actual reports' and much of it is far from fact. I don't believe anything that was reported here by an Israeli source. Yes, there is a chance that Hamas could release some hostages, live or dead for an extension to the ceasefire, but it is highly unlikely that they will do that for free. The price for this would be one of a number of things, such as opening up the humanitarian aid and fuel, or a guarantee that Phase 2 will happen within 'x' time with a further guarantee that it means the war will come to an end. The US is making concerted efforts to secure the release of the soldier Edan Alexander who is also an American citizen. While it is unlikely again that Hamas would release him just as a good will gesture to the US, here, too they might consider releasing him for a price. And because he is a soldier, that price will be a big one.
Rubio says Boehler’s ‘one-off’ meeting with Hamas so far ‘hasn’t borne fruit’
US President Donald Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s direct meetings with Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza was a “one-off situation” and as of now “hasn’t borne fruit,” says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so. He did so,” Rubio tells reporters en route to Saudi Arabia.
“As of now, it hasn’t borne fruit. Doesn’t mean he was wrong to try, but our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he’s doing through Qatar,” Rubio says, in reference to Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.Families of hostages demand Israel resume electricity to Gaza, threaten to go to High Court
A number of relatives of hostages send a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that the government reverse a decision to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip, saying it endangers their loved ones.
In the letter, also sent to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Energy Minister Eli Cohen, the relatives say that the decision puts their loved ones in immediate danger and that a lack of electricity intensifies the spread of diseases in the Strip and worsens the conditions for the hostages.
The letter from the families says that if there is no government response, they will file a petition to the High Court. The letter does not include any specific names of signatories.
Before departing for Doha, Witkoff says ‘we need deadlines’ for deal on next phase in ceasefire
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff says a “starter” for moving forward on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is the terror group demilitarizing and leaving Gaza.
Speaking on Fox News before he flies to Qatar for talks with Israel and Hamas, Witkoff says Hamas has “no alternative” other than disarming and leaving the Gaza Strip.
“If they leave, then all things are on the table for a negotiated peace, and that’s what they’ll need to do,” he says.
“We need deadlines” for an agreement on the next phase in a deal, says Witkoff, adding that the conditions the hostages are being held in are “unacceptable” and “deplorable.”
He also praises Qatar for its mediation, saying it has been “outstanding.”
- Trump should talk to anyone, anywhere, to save our hostagesIt's not that I favor negotiating with terrorists, but if it will get our people home now, then that's what must be done
If I found myself sitting across the table from one of the top leaders of Hamas, I don’t know if I would be able to control my emotions and not try to kill him.
On Octobter 7th, when I drove from Tel Aviv to the Gaza border area, in order to save my family and their neighbors, I saw with my own eyes the cruelty, sadism, and hatred of this evil terror organization.
But if someone had told me that by sitting across the table from these monsters, and negotiating with them instead of trying to kill them, I would increase the likelihood of releasing our hostages from the dark tunnels of Gaza, I would absolutely do it, without any hesitation.
Not because I have any bit of sympathy for Hamas, but because after 17 months of war, it is time to put an end to the hostage crisis, and bring home all our people.
That’s why I felt hopeful when I read that senior members of the Trump administration were holding secret talks directly with Hamas in order to prolong the ceasefire and hostage release deal signed in January. This effort is under a politically motivated attack by certain members of the Netanyahu government. But if it succeeds in bringing back our hostages, all Israelis will be very grateful.
The United States has a long history of talking to the kind of people it usually tries to kill, when there is a chance of saving the lives of Americans caught in harm’s way. There is no reason not to try this method with regard to the hostages held in Gaza.
During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, our last prisoners of war came back home after eight months. Back then, Israel was a much smaller country, with a significantly weaker military. The fact that today, we still have hostages held by dangerous terrorists, after more than double that amount of time, is unacceptable. That’s why most Israelis believe we must prioritize the return of the hostages over all other goals, at this point in time.
With President Trump in the White House, Israel will have four years to defeat our enemies, guarantee our security needs, and reach historic peace agreements with friendly Middle Eastern countries. But our hostages do not have all this time left. They cannot wait. We must save them now, first of all, and then move on to other missions.
On October 7th, I rushed to the Gaza border area, but had to stop again and again on my way to my son’s kibbutz — in order to fight terrorists, save people I met along the way, and evacuate wounded soldiers to safety. Only at the end of that very long day, I found out that two of my son’s neighbors were kidnapped by Hamas 10 minutes before I entered the gate of the kibbutz.
Those 10 minutes have haunted me every day since October 7th. I ask myself, could I have arrived sooner?
To President Trump’s negotiators, I say: Don’t waste even a single minute. Make sure you talk to anyone, anywhere, if you believe it can save the hostages. The people of Israel support you. link
- Where are the million in the streets? (my first published blog in The Times of Israel)
Over the last 17 months, I, like thousands of others, have been
going every Saturday night to the Jerusalem demonstration on behalf of the hostages next to the Prime Minister’s residence. At the end of each demonstration, I am left with a great deal of anger coupled with the odd feeling of unity with everyone else who attended.Why am I angry? My anger is driven by the fact that we even have to be there to demonstrate, to push our government, our Prime Minister to act to get the hostages home, to make the hostages a priority of the war, which it wasn’t for such a long period. Even when the PM ‘appeased’ the hostage families by adding the hostages as a goal of the war, it was a distant second or third to his self-defined goals and priorities, which he called ‘total victory’.
In a normal and proper society, we shouldn’t have to be in this situation. In Israel, where we had a covenant between the people and the government and the army, we don’t leave anyone behind. The government, on October 8 should have stated unequivocally that getting the 251 hostages home, those that they abandoned, needed to be the first priority before anything else. Only after getting the hostages home, could we, the country, the army, the politicians then do everything else that was needed, to destroy the threat of this barbaric monstrous terrorist organization and never ever allow them to be a danger to our population, not only to the south but to the entire country.
Unfortunately, we all know that this was not done and the hostages, their families and all those who support them were left hanging and further abandoned and that situation has barely changed for a year and a half.
Since October 7, the Prime Minister and most of his cabinet and coalition have made concerted efforts to divert the narrative from one of total support of the hostages and their families to one of seeing them as the enemies, the collaborators of our enemies and as such, the enemy of our leadership. They have turned the hostage issue into a political issue where it never should have gone.
Fortunately, most of the population have not accepted that narrative but the small percentage of those who have, their statements, their outbursts, their verbal and physical attacks are nothing less than evil, such as telling the hostage families that their loved ones should have been killed on October 7 or that its good the women hostages are being raped, that they, the families should be sent to Gaza to be with Hamas. Yes, I have heard all of this and more and most of this evil sputter is followed up with ‘Only Bibi!’While this situation is difficult to comprehend and accept, even worse is the fact that it has been the American government (both the Biden administration and now Trump) which is the one and singular major force working and pushing to get our hostages home far more than our own government and prime minister. Since the beginning of the war, it has been painfully clear that the Americans have been doing more to get our hostages home than our own government and prime minister.
According to Channel 13 news, the father of hostage Tamir Nimrodi said it was “sad that we have to rely on foreign governments to bring our children back more than we can rely on the State of Israel.”
The mother of hostage Matan Angrest said: “We feel that the State of Israel is leaving soldiers and fallen troops behind, while there is an American commitment to bringing them back.”
Absurdly, it has been our government that has been working against getting our hostages home with one of Netanyahu’s senior ministers, the convicted criminal and former Minister of Internal ‘Insecurity’ Ben Gvir who has proudly announced on numerous occasions of how happy he is that he, personally prevented any hostage deals from coming to fruition. With him, we have our unqualified Minister of Finance/Minister in the Defense Department who has repeatedly stated that he will bring down the government if Netanyahu agrees to a hostage deal which brings with it the pulling of our troops from key locations and/or ending the war. Add to them the other ministers in their parties and in the Likud who have publicly stated that sacrificing the living hostages is necessary to prevent future hostage takings. They all choose to forget and deflect that all of the hostages were taken under their watch and are their responsibility.
So, each week, like clockwork, I am back at the demonstration on Balfour and I watch the numbers growing since I first started attending the demonstrations when there were just handfuls of people. And based on all of the polls and seeing the streets filled with people when some of the hostages did come home recently, especially when the country lined the streets all over to pay last respects to Shiri, Ariel, Kfir and Oded, I know that for every person at a demonstration, there are between 10-100 others who are at home and support the hostages and making a deal to bring them home, even if it means ending the war.
But it’s not enough. Throughout this year and a half, I have been painfully aware that our demonstrations have virtually no impact on our lame and petty politicians and so-called leaders who are more concerned with their own self-interests than the lives of the hostages. I go each week to show the families that they are not alone and their pain is our pain. I go because we now know that many of the hostages see or hear about the demonstrations and it heartens them, gives them the strength to survive another day of torture in the hell of Hamas tunnels. But these demonstrations need to move the politicians also, they need to feel and see the massive hordes of people who are demanding that everything be done, everything, not just what is convenient and beneficial to them, to get our hostages home. It’s not enough to see thousands in Jerusalem and tens of thousands in Tel Aviv. There needs to be a million people in the streets every Saturday night, in fact, every day, even shutting down the country by a million people until the government, our failed Prime Minister feel that they have no choice but to bring the hostages home or face a shutdown country.
Yes, I know it’s much easier to be at home on Saturday night and watch TV than to get into your car, or catch a bus or a ride to get to a demonstration. It’s comfortable, especially on the cold winter nights but we must think that it’s even colder for the hostages and they don’t have the luxury of wearing winter coats or layers of clothing or to drink that hot coffee to warm their bones and body. No, they don’t have any of that. This has to be in everyone’s mind when they think that it’s not convenient to go to a demonstration. This has nothing to do with convenience. It has to do with saving lives, the lives of people we don’t know but they are us. With every breath we take, we every bite of food we eat, with every coat we put on, we need to remember that their breaths in the tunnels are difficult, that for them, a bite of pita is all they have and they don’t have the coats to put on.
We need everyone in the streets, the hostages are relying on us because they can’t rely on our government. We must be a million in the streets and we must do it NOW!
#BRING THEM HOME NOW“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!!!”
(unknown author)
Gaza and the South
- UN warns of ‘dire consequences’ for civilians after Israel cuts power to Gaza
The United Nations says Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza is “very concerning,” warning that civilians in the war-ravaged territory will face dire consequences.“Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza following its ban last week on the entry of all humanitarian assistance and other necessities of life, including fuel needed to operate generators, is very concerning,” Seif Magango, spokesman for the UN human rights office, tells AFP in an email.
“With no electricity and with fuel being blocked, Gaza’s remaining water desalination plants, healthcare facilities, and bakeries are at risk of eventually shutting down, with dire consequences for civilians.”
Magango claims that Israel has a legal obligation to ensure the provision of the necessities of life for Palestinians living under its control.
“In addition, blocking access to the necessities of life for civilians intended to pressure a party to an armed conflict through hardship imposed on the civilian population as a whole raises serious concerns of collective punishment,” he adds.
IDF says troops fired on terror operatives planting bomb in Gaza City
The IDF says it identified several terror operatives attempting to plant a bomb near troops in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood earlier today.
Troops deployed in the area opened fire on the operatives, hitting some of them, the military says.
In a separate incident, the IDF says it spotted three terror operatives trying to plant a bomb near troops in central Gaza, close to Nuseirat. An Israeli Air Force drone targeted the three.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
Palestinians say four killed in IDF strike in Gaza City
An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza, the territory’s Hamas-affiliated civil emergency service says.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Earlier, the agency said four people were killed by Israeli fire and another 14 wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
The United Nations says Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza is “very concerning,” warning that civilians in the war-ravaged territory will face dire consequences.
“Israel’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza following its ban last week on the entry of all humanitarian assistance and other necessities of life, including fuel needed to operate generators, is very concerning,” Seif Magango, spokesman for the UN human rights office, tells AFP in an email.
“With no electricity and with fuel being blocked, Gaza’s remaining water desalination plants, healthcare facilities, and bakeries are at risk of eventually shutting down, with dire consequences for civilians.”
Magango claims that Israel has a legal obligation to ensure the provision of the necessities of life for Palestinians living under its control.
“In addition, blocking access to the necessities of life for civilians intended to pressure a party to an armed conflict through hardship imposed on the civilian population as a whole raises serious concerns of collective punishment,” he adds.
IDF says troops fired on terror operatives planting bomb in Gaza City
The IDF says it identified several terror operatives attempting to plant a bomb near troops in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood earlier today.
Troops deployed in the area opened fire on the operatives, hitting some of them, the military says.
In a separate incident, the IDF says it spotted three terror operatives trying to plant a bomb near troops in central Gaza, close to Nuseirat. An Israeli Air Force drone targeted the three.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
Palestinians say four killed in IDF strike in Gaza City
An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza, the territory’s Hamas-affiliated civil emergency service says.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Earlier, the agency said four people were killed by Israeli fire and another 14 wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- ‘The last ones who can talk’: Sharaa dismisses Israeli threats against Syria
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa rejects criticism from Israel in an interview with Reuters.
Last week Defense Minister Israel Katz called Sharaa “a jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population” and earlier today Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says the regime is “pure evil.”
Syrian government control is weak in Syria’s south, where Israel has taken up a presence in the demilitarized zone and threatened to target Sharaa’s forces if they deploy.
Sharaa dismisses the Israeli threats and Katz’s comments as “nonsense.”
“They are the last ones who can talk,” he says, noting the high death toll in Israel’s 17 months of war against Hamas in Gaza.
Syrian media reports a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Daraa Governorate in the south of the country.
The strikes are reported at military sites belonging to the former Syrian regime near the towns of Jbab and Izraa.
Israeli officials have vowed to demilitarize the southern Syria area close to Israel’s border, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
IDF confirms overnight strikes in south Syria, saying it hit radar and military sites
The military confirms overnight airstrikes in southern Syria, saying the Israeli Air Force hit “radar systems and detection equipment used to build an aerial intelligence picture,” along with “headquarters and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria.” It says that “the presence of these assets in southern Syria poses a threat to the State of Israel and to IDF operations. These targets were attacked to eliminate future threats.”
- Syria Kurd forces chief says agreement with Sharaa ‘real opportunity’ to build new Syria
The head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says that an accord reached with the new leaders in Damascus is a “real opportunity to build a new Syria.”
“We are committed to building a better future that guarantees the rights of all Syrians and fulfills their aspirations for peace and dignity,” Mazloum Abdi says in a post on X.
The Syrian presidency announced earlier an agreement with the SDF to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government. link Although the Kurdish area of Syria is not the same as Israel, they have been fighting the regime for years in the civil war and have been very nervous about the new regime in Syria as their background was ISIS and therefore the Kurds were seen as an enemy of the Islamic State. The fact taht they are reaching an agreement and will be laying down arms should be seen as a guide and opportunity for us as well that the chance of a new future with Syria may be more possible than has ever been. It is my deep hope that our diplomats or security forces are opening up channels of communications to get feelers for a new and brighter future for our two countries and that the aggressive rhetoric by our Foreign and Defense Ministers are only that, rhetoric. My hope, however is tempered by the knowledge that both the Defense and Foreign Ministers are not diplomats and just petty politicians, one as lap dog for Netanyahu and the other a hawk who had dreams of replacing Netanyahu and failed in his attempts and came crawling back to him. These are not the people who make history, they are the ones who can't even identify historical moments and only look at what is good for them personally. A very sad commentary and the potential of missing an opportunity that may never come back.
Syrian president says country trying to respond to Israeli actions with ‘patience and wisdom’
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says he’s trying to respond to Israeli moves in Syria with “patience and wisdom.”
Speaking to Reuters, Sharaa rejects Israeli accusations that his new government poses a threat to Israel. Israel has occupied a buffer zone along the border and vowed to keep southern Syria demilitarized. Israeli leaders have also kept up a strident verbal campaign against Sharaa, calling him an “al-Qaeda terrorist.”
Israel has also carried out a series of strikes to destroy much of the Syrian army’s military equipment.
“We are trying to use patience and wisdom as much as possible. If there are fears, we have announced from the first moments that Syria will not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world. And if there are expansionist motives, the entire world agreed with Syria to condemn Israel’s steps in advancing on Syrian territory,” he says.
In response to Israeli accusations that his forces could carry out a cross-border attack into Israel, he said: “I mean, a delusional person can say whatever they want. Every person can imagine that he is suffering from some danger and carry out a preemptive strike and kill. But that is not justifiable.” link Another point of proof that the new regime in Syria may not be anything like that which our Defense and Foreign ministers are aligning. It will be some time until we really know who they are and what their directions are but we are definitely at an opportune time to open channels of communication with them in the hope of defining new relationships and a new future between neighbors.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa rejects criticism from Israel in an interview with Reuters.
Last week Defense Minister Israel Katz called Sharaa “a jihadist terrorist of the al-Qaeda school who is committing horrifying acts against a civilian population” and earlier today Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says the regime is “pure evil.”
Syrian government control is weak in Syria’s south, where Israel has taken up a presence in the demilitarized zone and threatened to target Sharaa’s forces if they deploy.
Sharaa dismisses the Israeli threats and Katz’s comments as “nonsense.”
“They are the last ones who can talk,” he says, noting the high death toll in Israel’s 17 months of war against Hamas in Gaza.
Syrian media reports a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Daraa Governorate in the south of the country.
The strikes are reported at military sites belonging to the former Syrian regime near the towns of Jbab and Izraa.
Israeli officials have vowed to demilitarize the southern Syria area close to Israel’s border, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
IDF confirms overnight strikes in south Syria, saying it hit radar and military sites
The military confirms overnight airstrikes in southern Syria, saying the Israeli Air Force hit “radar systems and detection equipment used to build an aerial intelligence picture,” along with “headquarters and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria.” It says that “the presence of these assets in southern Syria poses a threat to the State of Israel and to IDF operations. These targets were attacked to eliminate future threats.”
The head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says that an accord reached with the new leaders in Damascus is a “real opportunity to build a new Syria.”
“We are committed to building a better future that guarantees the rights of all Syrians and fulfills their aspirations for peace and dignity,” Mazloum Abdi says in a post on X.
The Syrian presidency announced earlier an agreement with the SDF to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government. link Although the Kurdish area of Syria is not the same as Israel, they have been fighting the regime for years in the civil war and have been very nervous about the new regime in Syria as their background was ISIS and therefore the Kurds were seen as an enemy of the Islamic State. The fact taht they are reaching an agreement and will be laying down arms should be seen as a guide and opportunity for us as well that the chance of a new future with Syria may be more possible than has ever been. It is my deep hope that our diplomats or security forces are opening up channels of communications to get feelers for a new and brighter future for our two countries and that the aggressive rhetoric by our Foreign and Defense Ministers are only that, rhetoric. My hope, however is tempered by the knowledge that both the Defense and Foreign Ministers are not diplomats and just petty politicians, one as lap dog for Netanyahu and the other a hawk who had dreams of replacing Netanyahu and failed in his attempts and came crawling back to him. These are not the people who make history, they are the ones who can't even identify historical moments and only look at what is good for them personally. A very sad commentary and the potential of missing an opportunity that may never come back.
Syrian president says country trying to respond to Israeli actions with ‘patience and wisdom’
Speaking to Reuters, Sharaa rejects Israeli accusations that his new government poses a threat to Israel. Israel has occupied a buffer zone along the border and vowed to keep southern Syria demilitarized. Israeli leaders have also kept up a strident verbal campaign against Sharaa, calling him an “al-Qaeda terrorist.”
Israel has also carried out a series of strikes to destroy much of the Syrian army’s military equipment.
“We are trying to use patience and wisdom as much as possible. If there are fears, we have announced from the first moments that Syria will not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world. And if there are expansionist motives, the entire world agreed with Syria to condemn Israel’s steps in advancing on Syrian territory,” he says.
In response to Israeli accusations that his forces could carry out a cross-border attack into Israel, he said: “I mean, a delusional person can say whatever they want. Every person can imagine that he is suffering from some danger and carry out a preemptive strike and kill. But that is not justifiable.” link Another point of proof that the new regime in Syria may not be anything like that which our Defense and Foreign ministers are aligning. It will be some time until we really know who they are and what their directions are but we are definitely at an opportune time to open channels of communication with them in the hope of defining new relationships and a new future between neighbors.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- IDF troops kill 3 gunmen, wound 1 in West Bank raid; 10 arrested
The Israel Defense Forces says that troops operating in the northern West Bank killed three gunmen and wounded another one in an early-morning raid.
The military says that troops, working together with police special forces and Shin Bet agents, “encountered a number of armed terrorists who had barricaded themselves in a building in Jenin, and after an exchange of fire, they killed two of the terrorists and wounded another terrorist.”
In a separate incident, also in Jenin, troops from the Duvdevan unit killed a gunman who opened fire on them.
The army says 10 other gunmen were arrested including a senior leader in the Jenin area.
In addition, troops located two vehicles in Jenin that contained weapons and were intended to be used to carry out attacks and destroyed them, the army says.
There were no injuries to Israeli forces.
The raid comes amid a weekslong Israeli operation in the West Bank, dubbed the “Iron Wall.”
PA forces said to kill terror group commander in West Bank
Palestinian Authority security forces killed a senior member of the Jenin Battalion in the northern West Bank city last night, says Palestinian media.
Hamas condemned the assassination of Abdel Rahman Abu Muna this morning, calling it a “dangerous escalation” by the West Bank-based PA.
Hebrew media cites a PA spokesman who claims that Abu Muna reportedly opened fire on Palestinian security forces, who returned fire and killed him.
In December, PA forces launched a military operation against the Jenin Battalion — a local militia linked to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
The IDF began its own raids on the city in late January, announcing a large-scale operation dubbed “Iron Wall” which has since expanded to refugee camps near Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas. PA forces maintain their presence in Jenin.
Ramallah has struggled to exert control over the northern West Bank, particularly in refugee camps in and around Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
Palestinian steals vehicle and crashes into IDF base, wounding one, and is arrested after chase
A Palestinian man from Jenin who was in Israel illegally stole a vehicle and crashed it into a checkpoint outside an IDF base in central Israel before being arrested, police say.
The suspect, described by police as being in his 20s, stole a car from the Tel Aviv area and moderately wounded a man in his 20s when he crashed it into a barrier next to the Tzrifin IDF base, south of Ben Gurion Airport.
Police say that officers pursued the vehicle until the man was apprehended in Ramle, not far from the base.
According to a report in the Ynet news site, the suspect crashed through the checkpoint and drove inside the base for several minutes before returning to the checkpoint and hitting the young man. Despite this he was still not apprehended until after he had left the base.
Ynet identified the wounded Israeli as an IDF soldier, and said he was taken to a hospital for treatment. LINK This sounds very much like a criminal incident of stealing a car and not a terror attack and hasn't been reported as a terror attack. The big issue here, though is that it shows the army has learned nothing from October 7. Tzrifim is a major army base in the center of the country and a thief with a stolen car not only crashed through the base checkpoint, he wasn't stopped, apprehended or counter-attacked for the several minutes he was in the base. If he was a terrorist with an automatic weapon, he could easily have killed and wounded many soldiers inside the base before being stopped. This shows how easy it is to break into a major army base and be inside without any real issue. If this is the case with Tzrifim, I have no doubt that it is the situation with so many bases around the country. I have long said that the army doesn't learn from its mistakes. In the past, I referred to situations of soldiers dying being of foods served with nuts and the soldier was deathly allergic to nuts and soldiers being killed in training accidents too similar to previous accidents. October 7 changed all that. Already from October 8, every single base in Israel should have been fortified with multiple redundancies. We learned from October 7 that none of the fortifications are foolproof but they should be able to slow down an attack and give enough time for alarms to be sounded and all soldiers on the base to jump into action and for the entire surrounding area to be on alert and provide immediate backup on land and in the air. This, obviously hasn't happened. Many IDF investigations have been completed and released recently but none of them make recommendations of what needs to be done to prevent an October 7 again and that is the major hole in all of this.
Extremist settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in West Bank village
Israeli settler extremists attacked Palestinian residents of the southern West Bank village Hraibat a-Nabi this morning, according to Palestinian media and Israeli activists.
Around 15 assailants from a nearby outpost in the South Hebron Hills reportedly beat and pepper-sprayed Palestinians and Israeli activists who were staying in the village.
Beyond the Herd, an Israeli activist group that supports Palestinian villages targeted by settler violence, says the settlers attacked four activists, pelted their car with stones and punctured its tires with knives.
In a video shared by the group, one of the masked settlers can be seen grabbing an activist’s phone and smashing it on the ground. A camera was also reportedly stolen by the assailants.
Activists say that they called the police, but that IDF and officers called to the scene refused to intervene.
“Throughout the attack, police officers stood just meters away, conversing with the settlers and refusing to intervene even as the attackers fled back to the outpost,” the group writes on social media. They further claim that soldiers arrested a Palestinian resident of the village for allegedly having stolen a donkey from one of the settlers.
The Israel Defense Forces says that troops operating in the northern West Bank killed three gunmen and wounded another one in an early-morning raid.
The military says that troops, working together with police special forces and Shin Bet agents, “encountered a number of armed terrorists who had barricaded themselves in a building in Jenin, and after an exchange of fire, they killed two of the terrorists and wounded another terrorist.”
In a separate incident, also in Jenin, troops from the Duvdevan unit killed a gunman who opened fire on them.
The army says 10 other gunmen were arrested including a senior leader in the Jenin area.
In addition, troops located two vehicles in Jenin that contained weapons and were intended to be used to carry out attacks and destroyed them, the army says.
There were no injuries to Israeli forces.
The raid comes amid a weekslong Israeli operation in the West Bank, dubbed the “Iron Wall.”
PA forces said to kill terror group commander in West Bank
Palestinian Authority security forces killed a senior member of the Jenin Battalion in the northern West Bank city last night, says Palestinian media.
Hamas condemned the assassination of Abdel Rahman Abu Muna this morning, calling it a “dangerous escalation” by the West Bank-based PA.
Hebrew media cites a PA spokesman who claims that Abu Muna reportedly opened fire on Palestinian security forces, who returned fire and killed him.
In December, PA forces launched a military operation against the Jenin Battalion — a local militia linked to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
The IDF began its own raids on the city in late January, announcing a large-scale operation dubbed “Iron Wall” which has since expanded to refugee camps near Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas. PA forces maintain their presence in Jenin.
Ramallah has struggled to exert control over the northern West Bank, particularly in refugee camps in and around Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
Palestinian steals vehicle and crashes into IDF base, wounding one, and is arrested after chase
A Palestinian man from Jenin who was in Israel illegally stole a vehicle and crashed it into a checkpoint outside an IDF base in central Israel before being arrested, police say.
The suspect, described by police as being in his 20s, stole a car from the Tel Aviv area and moderately wounded a man in his 20s when he crashed it into a barrier next to the Tzrifin IDF base, south of Ben Gurion Airport.
Police say that officers pursued the vehicle until the man was apprehended in Ramle, not far from the base.
According to a report in the Ynet news site, the suspect crashed through the checkpoint and drove inside the base for several minutes before returning to the checkpoint and hitting the young man. Despite this he was still not apprehended until after he had left the base.
Ynet identified the wounded Israeli as an IDF soldier, and said he was taken to a hospital for treatment. LINK This sounds very much like a criminal incident of stealing a car and not a terror attack and hasn't been reported as a terror attack. The big issue here, though is that it shows the army has learned nothing from October 7. Tzrifim is a major army base in the center of the country and a thief with a stolen car not only crashed through the base checkpoint, he wasn't stopped, apprehended or counter-attacked for the several minutes he was in the base. If he was a terrorist with an automatic weapon, he could easily have killed and wounded many soldiers inside the base before being stopped. This shows how easy it is to break into a major army base and be inside without any real issue. If this is the case with Tzrifim, I have no doubt that it is the situation with so many bases around the country. I have long said that the army doesn't learn from its mistakes. In the past, I referred to situations of soldiers dying being of foods served with nuts and the soldier was deathly allergic to nuts and soldiers being killed in training accidents too similar to previous accidents. October 7 changed all that. Already from October 8, every single base in Israel should have been fortified with multiple redundancies. We learned from October 7 that none of the fortifications are foolproof but they should be able to slow down an attack and give enough time for alarms to be sounded and all soldiers on the base to jump into action and for the entire surrounding area to be on alert and provide immediate backup on land and in the air. This, obviously hasn't happened. Many IDF investigations have been completed and released recently but none of them make recommendations of what needs to be done to prevent an October 7 again and that is the major hole in all of this.
Extremist settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in West Bank village
Israeli settler extremists attacked Palestinian residents of the southern West Bank village Hraibat a-Nabi this morning, according to Palestinian media and Israeli activists.
Around 15 assailants from a nearby outpost in the South Hebron Hills reportedly beat and pepper-sprayed Palestinians and Israeli activists who were staying in the village.
Beyond the Herd, an Israeli activist group that supports Palestinian villages targeted by settler violence, says the settlers attacked four activists, pelted their car with stones and punctured its tires with knives.
In a video shared by the group, one of the masked settlers can be seen grabbing an activist’s phone and smashing it on the ground. A camera was also reportedly stolen by the assailants.
Activists say that they called the police, but that IDF and officers called to the scene refused to intervene.
“Throughout the attack, police officers stood just meters away, conversing with the settlers and refusing to intervene even as the attackers fled back to the outpost,” the group writes on social media. They further claim that soldiers arrested a Palestinian resident of the village for allegedly having stolen a donkey from one of the settlers.
Politics and the War (general news)
- Kibbutz Be’eri dental clinic, where 5 were murdered on Oct. 7, demolished
A dental clinic at Kibbutz Be’eri in which Hamas gunmen murdered five people on October 7, 2023, is demolished after discussion between kibbutz members.
The clinic became an ad hoc triage center during the Hamas assault as several wounded people were treated by Dr. Daniel Levi and paramedic Amit Mann.
Levi and Mann were murdered along with three members of the kibbutz security team.
The Tekuma Directorate tasked by the government with rehabilitating the Gaza border area says a building with a kindergarten and an educational innovation center will be constructed on the site and that a new community health center including a dental clinic will be built elsewhere on the kibbutz.
- The Price of Paralysis: Israel Lost Control Over the Negotiations
- Kibbutz Be’eri dental clinic, where 5 were murdered on Oct. 7, demolished
A dental clinic at Kibbutz Be’eri in which Hamas gunmen murdered five people on October 7, 2023, is demolished after discussion between kibbutz members.
The clinic became an ad hoc triage center during the Hamas assault as several wounded people were treated by Dr. Daniel Levi and paramedic Amit Mann.
Levi and Mann were murdered along with three members of the kibbutz security team.
The Tekuma Directorate tasked by the government with rehabilitating the Gaza border area says a building with a kindergarten and an educational innovation center will be constructed on the site and that a new community health center including a dental clinic will be built elsewhere on the kibbutz.
- The Price of Paralysis: Israel Lost Control Over the Negotiations
The talks to free hostages have shifted from an Israeli-controlled process to a direct American initiative with Hamas, granting the terror group a strategic victory. Instead of advancing a permanent ceasefire and a political process to replace Hamas, Netanyahu is "playing small," outsourcing decisive action to the U.S. out of fear of collapsing his coalition. A second chance is before us—we must not miss it again. • Opinion
Israel has reached a point where it has effectively lost control over the hostage deal negotiations, which have now been handed over entirely to the Americans. The U.S. is already negotiating directly with Hamas, bypassing Israel.
Theoretically, Israel should have done everything to reclaim control. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu prioritizes budget discussions and coalition stability far above the hostages and the state of the war. Thus, Netanyahu finds it convenient to leave the field to the Americans—provided they do not fully guarantee Hamas’s "Phase Two." In other words, he prefers to "play small": if successful, he’ll take credit; if it fails, blame will fall on the Americans.
When U.S. envoy Steve Whitkoff proposed Netanyahu’s plan to extend "Phase One" under his own name, it was already clear that Netanyahu’s internal political standing was too weak to make a decisive call on a permanent ceasefire, one capable of securing the release of all hostages. Whitkoff publicly advocated for extending Phase One, but behind closed doors—and without Israel’s knowledge—the real negotiation centered on a softened version of Phase Two.
The likely outcome will be a hybrid solution: an extended ceasefire paired with Israel retaining control of the security perimeter. Netanyahu will reluctantly accept this U.S.-imposed decision to avoid coalition collapse and confrontation with Trump.
In geopolitics, there’s no free lunch—and Israel is paying a steep price. Not only has it lost control of the negotiations, but it has also forfeited its political independence and influence over the war’s outcome. Without leveraging any diplomatic efforts during the conflict, Israel now faces a failed political result, lacking even a diplomatic "exit strategy."
Direct Talks with Hamas Trap Israel
Assuming a deal is imposed and Israel complies—finally securing the hostages’ return—the country will find itself in a searing political bind. Hamas, even if weakened, will emerge strengthened. A year-long ceasefire would allow it to rebuild and entrench itself, blocking any chance of replacing its rule. Israel is now missing its **second chance** to oust Hamas—the first came immediately after October 7 but was never discussed, and the second is slipping away as diplomatic initiative fades.
Israel cannot undermine a direct U.S. commitment to Hamas, and being sidelined in talks leaves it bound to outcomes it did not shape. Hamas, meanwhile, gains legitimacy as a key player negotiating directly with the U.S.—a strategic victory for the terror group.
Israel, clinging solely to military threats and action, is losing the broader game and being pushed off the field.
An Alternative Path
Israel could have acted differently: It could have embraced "Phase Two," transforming the existing ceasefire into a "permanent" one—with the IDF already deployed along the perimeter, posing no added risk. This, paired with adopting Egypt’s new proposal (with U.S. backing to refine it), could resolve Gaza’s crisis, including ending Hamas’s rule. Together, these steps would achieve the war’s goals and secure Israel’s interests decisively.
The decision still lies in Netanyahu’s hands. Minimal courage—without military risk—could heal the anguish of the hostages’ families and all Israelis. Accepting the Arab initiative (which faces no viable alternative) is the second necessary political move. These two decisions would justify the sacrifices of fallen soldiers and secure a victorious end to the war, with Israel emerging dominant.
Will Netanyahu act as a statesman to achieve regional gains, or cling to petty political survival and squander the opportunity before us? The coming days will tell.
Israel Ziv is a retired IDF major general. He served as Chief Infantry and Paratroopers Officer, Gaza Division Commander, and Head of the Operations Directorate. link
- A Bi-National Commission on Trust Building
This paper is a call to Israelis and Palestinians to together create a Bi-National Commission on Trust Building. This should be done at the national governmental level, but it will not be done by the people who call themselves our leaders. The people in power in Israel and Palestine seem to be quite content fostering the conflict between the two peoples and have no intention to seriously lead to the eventual peace and reconciliation that must happen. The conflict keeps them in power. We have been killing each other and denying the right of the other side for national self-determination for more than 100 years. We cannot continue to do this and because our leaders are at the root of sustaining the conflict, we the people must take action to change our course.
There are approximately 20-30% of Israelis and Palestinians who will reject any peace agreement between the two peoples, basically regardless of what the peace treaties may contain. That leaves us with a potential majority of up to 70% on both sides of the conflict that could agree and support a peace agreement. Presently we are quite far away from that potential majority of supporters of peace. Since at least the beginning of the second intifada in the end of September 2000, most Israelis and most Palestinians have claimed that they want peace, but the problem is that the other side does not. After October 7, 2023 that majority of potential supporters of peace on both sides has become even more convinced that the other side does not want peace and is not willing to make any compromise that might even indicate a willingness to imagine the possibility that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved. But everyone must realize that when this war ends, we will remain on this land in more or less equal numbers because neither side will surrender to the other. We must come to the conclusion that after more than one hundred years of killing each other, we have to turn the page and find the way to live in peace on this land.
The most basic problem is the total lack of trust between the two sides, each believing deeply that the other side does not recognize their national legitimacy or their right to have any national status anywhere on the land between the River and the Sea. But because the situation is so desperate, on the Israeli side there are those who think about unilateral steps, unilateral separation, withdrawing behind the separation barrier, but leaving the Israeli army on the other side. Alternatively, there are those who consider annexation and making Israeli control over all of the land permanent. I suggest that they should consider the lessons of the unilateral disengagement from Gaza. Unilateralism that emanates from desperation is a breeder of negative unintended consequences. In Gaza this was a failed strategy that did not bring the Israeli people security – nor will it in the West Bank. There are those on the Palestinian side who expect the international community to impose some kind of solution – Trump or the region, or someone else. This has been a failed strategy for years and has not brought the Palestinian people freedom. There are no unilateral solutions and only direct negotiations need to be the direction that must unfold, but there are many obstacles to a negotiated peace – the total mistrust between the two peoples is perhaps the most serious obstacle.
If we Israelis and Palestinians don’t come up with the way to move forward, no one can do it for us. There are those who think that nothing can be done to change the situation. They believe that the majority of the people on the other side are so indoctrinated to hate that nothing can change that. Mutual hate and mutual fear have reached new heights since October 7 and it seems that we have not yet peaked. Statements from Israeli leaders and influencers that there are no innocent Palestinians in Gaza or in the West Bank strengthen Israeli public opinion that Palestinians are enemies dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invocations to “Remember what Amalek has done to you,” referencing the total destruction of Amalek by the Israelites in the Bible. President Isaac Herzog’s statement “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware not involved. It’s absolutely not true…. and we will fight until we break their backbone,” and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant’s ‘situation update’ advising Israel is “imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly” – these are all a few of the statements that fortify the belief in the impossibility of ever living in peace.
Similarly, a statement put out by Hamas on March 8, 2025 (Gaza Now Telegram page) are the kinds of words that solidify in the minds of Palestinians that Israeli is illegitimate and it is destined to be destroyed: “Israel is not a state; it is a terrorist gang built on murder and plunder. A group of outcasts and vagrants from the West were gathered by colonial Britain and unjustly granted the land of Palestine. They established their illegitimate entity on the blood of children, women, and men, stealing homes and lands, and displacing the rightful owners into exile and refugee camps. Teach your children that this artificial entity is doomed to vanish, that the hour of liberation is approaching, and that the occupiers will return to their homelessness, just as they began. Despite all the world’s conspiracies, Palestine will return to its free people.”
The failed Oslo peace process attempted to place the issue of mutual recognition up front, but it did not succeed. While Arafat wrote to Rabin “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security”, Rabin wrote to Arafat: “the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people”. This was not parallel mutual recognition of the right to exist as a people on part of what is viewed by both sides as their homeland. Israel never recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the PLO never recognized Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people (perhaps a demand that should have never been made by Israel but once it was made and refused by the Palestinian leadership, it became a symbol of proof that the Palestinians are not prepared to make real peace with Israel).
In truth, both peoples have more than ample evidence that the other side is not willing to make peace with the other. The deepening Israeli occupation and control over the Palestinian people and their land for years, the expansion of settlements, the increased settler violence supported by the Israeli army (or not prevented by the Israeli army), the unimaginable limitations of movement of Palestinians, and more, are daily reminders to Palestinians that Israel is not at all interested in making peace with the Palestinian people. Palestinians are reminded everyday who is the enemy that has no intention of ever ending their occupation and control over their freedom. Israelis witness continued acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians and continued attacks against Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank and in Israel. Israelis witness Palestinians celebrating when Israelis are killed. Israelis see Palestinian public opinion polls that increasingly show large segments of the Palestinian public supporting the armed struggle against Israel. In fact, there is very little reason why Israelis and Palestinians should trust each other or believe that the other side is interested in living in peace.
The daily reality of Israelis and Palestinians impacts the lack of trust or reason to trust the other side, and all of this is reinforced by public incitement and even more so by what is taught and what it not taught in our schools, on both sides. Much has been written and researched on the issue of text books and the research has clearly pointed to the compounding problem of our education systems in fostering stereotypes, fear, and hate, and providing a basis for denying the legitimacy of the other side’s right to exist as a people and as a nation-state. In the Oslo peace process, confronting the issue of education and the people-to-people aspects of peace building were an after-thought. They were not an integral part of the negotiations, nor a key element in the plans for peace building. In reality, there is no better measure of the values of any society than what they teach their children. This is even more relevant when curricula and text books are determined at the national level. Any objective review of what we teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians will clearly demonstrate that we do not teach them that peace and mutual recognition is a possibility. We don’t teach them anything positive about the other people living on this land. We don’t enable our young people to be exposed to the culture of the other side. They don’t read literature from the other side, the don’t even learn the language of the other side and here it is worth noting that Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages which are amazingly close to each other. Teaching the other language should be the least controversial action of what I am proposing – all Israelis Jews should learn Arabic from grade one. All Palestinians should learn Hebrew from grade one. This should not even be considered as something negative.
In the future, what we teach and what we don’t teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians (the crime of omission is as serious as the crime of what we include) will be denoted as one of the primary obstacles to breaking the deadlock in relations which has sustained the conflict for too many years. Eventually there will be a renewed peace process. That process must begin with genuine mutual recognition at the national level. The right of both peoples to self-determination is not negotiable. Secondly, the peace process must begin with the agreement of both sides to serious evaluate what they teach in their schools and to commit to reform and rectify what is taught within a given time frame. Each side must evaluate their own systems. It would not be wise for each side the evaluate the other. This is a national undertaking and in order for it to be serious, and to be taken seriously, each side must commit to do it on their own. The two sides must agree on the same criteria for evaluation, but the evaluation and recommendations of change and reform must be done separately by each side on their own side but then presented to each other.
Since this will not be done by our governments in the foreseeable future, we the people must undertake this bi-national mission. We are undertaking the mission of launching this process and enlisting the top experts from both peoples to engage in the joint mission of beginning a process of building trust which will be the foundation stone of genuine peace making and peace building between the peoples of Israel and Palestine. If you are interested in taking part in this mission send a letter with your CV to: binationalcommission@gmail.com
The author is one of two founders and co-directors of the Alliance for Two States. This call is in the name of the Alliance for two States
- A Bi-National Commission on Trust Building
This paper is a call to Israelis and Palestinians to together create a Bi-National Commission on Trust Building. This should be done at the national governmental level, but it will not be done by the people who call themselves our leaders. The people in power in Israel and Palestine seem to be quite content fostering the conflict between the two peoples and have no intention to seriously lead to the eventual peace and reconciliation that must happen. The conflict keeps them in power. We have been killing each other and denying the right of the other side for national self-determination for more than 100 years. We cannot continue to do this and because our leaders are at the root of sustaining the conflict, we the people must take action to change our course.
There are approximately 20-30% of Israelis and Palestinians who will reject any peace agreement between the two peoples, basically regardless of what the peace treaties may contain. That leaves us with a potential majority of up to 70% on both sides of the conflict that could agree and support a peace agreement. Presently we are quite far away from that potential majority of supporters of peace. Since at least the beginning of the second intifada in the end of September 2000, most Israelis and most Palestinians have claimed that they want peace, but the problem is that the other side does not. After October 7, 2023 that majority of potential supporters of peace on both sides has become even more convinced that the other side does not want peace and is not willing to make any compromise that might even indicate a willingness to imagine the possibility that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved. But everyone must realize that when this war ends, we will remain on this land in more or less equal numbers because neither side will surrender to the other. We must come to the conclusion that after more than one hundred years of killing each other, we have to turn the page and find the way to live in peace on this land.
The most basic problem is the total lack of trust between the two sides, each believing deeply that the other side does not recognize their national legitimacy or their right to have any national status anywhere on the land between the River and the Sea. But because the situation is so desperate, on the Israeli side there are those who think about unilateral steps, unilateral separation, withdrawing behind the separation barrier, but leaving the Israeli army on the other side. Alternatively, there are those who consider annexation and making Israeli control over all of the land permanent. I suggest that they should consider the lessons of the unilateral disengagement from Gaza. Unilateralism that emanates from desperation is a breeder of negative unintended consequences. In Gaza this was a failed strategy that did not bring the Israeli people security – nor will it in the West Bank. There are those on the Palestinian side who expect the international community to impose some kind of solution – Trump or the region, or someone else. This has been a failed strategy for years and has not brought the Palestinian people freedom. There are no unilateral solutions and only direct negotiations need to be the direction that must unfold, but there are many obstacles to a negotiated peace – the total mistrust between the two peoples is perhaps the most serious obstacle.
If we Israelis and Palestinians don’t come up with the way to move forward, no one can do it for us. There are those who think that nothing can be done to change the situation. They believe that the majority of the people on the other side are so indoctrinated to hate that nothing can change that. Mutual hate and mutual fear have reached new heights since October 7 and it seems that we have not yet peaked. Statements from Israeli leaders and influencers that there are no innocent Palestinians in Gaza or in the West Bank strengthen Israeli public opinion that Palestinians are enemies dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invocations to “Remember what Amalek has done to you,” referencing the total destruction of Amalek by the Israelites in the Bible. President Isaac Herzog’s statement “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware not involved. It’s absolutely not true…. and we will fight until we break their backbone,” and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant’s ‘situation update’ advising Israel is “imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly” – these are all a few of the statements that fortify the belief in the impossibility of ever living in peace.
Similarly, a statement put out by Hamas on March 8, 2025 (Gaza Now Telegram page) are the kinds of words that solidify in the minds of Palestinians that Israeli is illegitimate and it is destined to be destroyed: “Israel is not a state; it is a terrorist gang built on murder and plunder. A group of outcasts and vagrants from the West were gathered by colonial Britain and unjustly granted the land of Palestine. They established their illegitimate entity on the blood of children, women, and men, stealing homes and lands, and displacing the rightful owners into exile and refugee camps. Teach your children that this artificial entity is doomed to vanish, that the hour of liberation is approaching, and that the occupiers will return to their homelessness, just as they began. Despite all the world’s conspiracies, Palestine will return to its free people.”
The failed Oslo peace process attempted to place the issue of mutual recognition up front, but it did not succeed. While Arafat wrote to Rabin “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security”, Rabin wrote to Arafat: “the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people”. This was not parallel mutual recognition of the right to exist as a people on part of what is viewed by both sides as their homeland. Israel never recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the PLO never recognized Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people (perhaps a demand that should have never been made by Israel but once it was made and refused by the Palestinian leadership, it became a symbol of proof that the Palestinians are not prepared to make real peace with Israel).
In truth, both peoples have more than ample evidence that the other side is not willing to make peace with the other. The deepening Israeli occupation and control over the Palestinian people and their land for years, the expansion of settlements, the increased settler violence supported by the Israeli army (or not prevented by the Israeli army), the unimaginable limitations of movement of Palestinians, and more, are daily reminders to Palestinians that Israel is not at all interested in making peace with the Palestinian people. Palestinians are reminded everyday who is the enemy that has no intention of ever ending their occupation and control over their freedom. Israelis witness continued acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians and continued attacks against Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank and in Israel. Israelis witness Palestinians celebrating when Israelis are killed. Israelis see Palestinian public opinion polls that increasingly show large segments of the Palestinian public supporting the armed struggle against Israel. In fact, there is very little reason why Israelis and Palestinians should trust each other or believe that the other side is interested in living in peace.
The daily reality of Israelis and Palestinians impacts the lack of trust or reason to trust the other side, and all of this is reinforced by public incitement and even more so by what is taught and what it not taught in our schools, on both sides. Much has been written and researched on the issue of text books and the research has clearly pointed to the compounding problem of our education systems in fostering stereotypes, fear, and hate, and providing a basis for denying the legitimacy of the other side’s right to exist as a people and as a nation-state. In the Oslo peace process, confronting the issue of education and the people-to-people aspects of peace building were an after-thought. They were not an integral part of the negotiations, nor a key element in the plans for peace building. In reality, there is no better measure of the values of any society than what they teach their children. This is even more relevant when curricula and text books are determined at the national level. Any objective review of what we teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians will clearly demonstrate that we do not teach them that peace and mutual recognition is a possibility. We don’t teach them anything positive about the other people living on this land. We don’t enable our young people to be exposed to the culture of the other side. They don’t read literature from the other side, the don’t even learn the language of the other side and here it is worth noting that Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages which are amazingly close to each other. Teaching the other language should be the least controversial action of what I am proposing – all Israelis Jews should learn Arabic from grade one. All Palestinians should learn Hebrew from grade one. This should not even be considered as something negative.
In the future, what we teach and what we don’t teach the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians (the crime of omission is as serious as the crime of what we include) will be denoted as one of the primary obstacles to breaking the deadlock in relations which has sustained the conflict for too many years. Eventually there will be a renewed peace process. That process must begin with genuine mutual recognition at the national level. The right of both peoples to self-determination is not negotiable. Secondly, the peace process must begin with the agreement of both sides to serious evaluate what they teach in their schools and to commit to reform and rectify what is taught within a given time frame. Each side must evaluate their own systems. It would not be wise for each side the evaluate the other. This is a national undertaking and in order for it to be serious, and to be taken seriously, each side must commit to do it on their own. The two sides must agree on the same criteria for evaluation, but the evaluation and recommendations of change and reform must be done separately by each side on their own side but then presented to each other.
Since this will not be done by our governments in the foreseeable future, we the people must undertake this bi-national mission. We are undertaking the mission of launching this process and enlisting the top experts from both peoples to engage in the joint mission of beginning a process of building trust which will be the foundation stone of genuine peace making and peace building between the peoples of Israel and Palestine. If you are interested in taking part in this mission send a letter with your CV to: binationalcommission@gmail.com
The author is one of two founders and co-directors of the Alliance for Two States. This call is in the name of the Alliance for two States
- Court slaps sweeping gag order on probe of ties between Qatar and top aides in Netanyahu’s office
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issues a sweeping gag order on the investigation being conducted by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit into alleged ties between Qatar and officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The gag order, in effect for 30 days, includes publishing any details of the investigation including actions such as the questioning of suspects and the findings of such interrogations.
The court also stipulates that details cannot be published on social media in addition to the press, and that Israeli media cannot quote any details of the investigation published by foreign media, cannot direct media consumers to such reports, or even allude in any way to the details of the investigation.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered an investigation last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar.”
This followed revelations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who has been charged with harming national security in a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF documents, worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories. link This is, indeed a sweeping gag order. Even the military censorship doesn't go so far. In those cases, as soon as something is published in the foreign press, it becomes fair game for the Israeli press. In this case, any mention of it anywhere is forbidden. I hope that we will find out why it is so encompassing.
The Region and the World- LSE refuses to cancel launch of Hamas ‘propaganda’ book
The London School of Economics is refusing to cancel the planned launch of a book that has been accused of providing a platform for the Hamas terror group, the UK’s The Times reports.About 100 members of the Jewish community took part in a protest at the university last night where a talk was taking place by authors Helena Cobban and Rami George Khouri on their book “Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters.”
Last week Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely sent a letter to the school saying that “there can be no place for platforming Hamas propaganda.”
At the talk, Cobban argued that Hamas, which actively calls for the destruction of Israel and has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks, had been “systematically misrepresented” in history, the Times reported.
The book also says that the group has been subjected to “intense vilification” that had intensified since the October 7 attacks, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel and took another 251 hostages.
In her letter, Hotovely said she was “deeply concerned that the event is providing a platform for propaganda — a terror organization proscribed under United Kingdom law.
“I worry that promoting such a book, which sympathizes with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, will only serve to grow support for a brutal terror organization among your students and beyond.”
The university said the book launch could go ahead, citing its commitment to “free speech and freedom of expression.” link This is the epitome of being Anti-Israel and perhaps Antisemitic as well. The authors claim that Hamas has by "systematically misrepresented'. This is utter purposeful blindness, stupidity and/or evil. There is no misrepresentation of Hamas. They are a murderous and barbaric terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews around the world. This is part of their declared mission and nothing can be or should be considered a misrepresentation of that.
Personal Stories
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issues a sweeping gag order on the investigation being conducted by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit into alleged ties between Qatar and officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The gag order, in effect for 30 days, includes publishing any details of the investigation including actions such as the questioning of suspects and the findings of such interrogations.
The court also stipulates that details cannot be published on social media in addition to the press, and that Israeli media cannot quote any details of the investigation published by foreign media, cannot direct media consumers to such reports, or even allude in any way to the details of the investigation.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered an investigation last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar.”
This followed revelations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who has been charged with harming national security in a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF documents, worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories. link This is, indeed a sweeping gag order. Even the military censorship doesn't go so far. In those cases, as soon as something is published in the foreign press, it becomes fair game for the Israeli press. In this case, any mention of it anywhere is forbidden. I hope that we will find out why it is so encompassing.
About 100 members of the Jewish community took part in a protest at the university last night where a talk was taking place by authors Helena Cobban and Rami George Khouri on their book “Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters.”
Last week Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely sent a letter to the school saying that “there can be no place for platforming Hamas propaganda.”
At the talk, Cobban argued that Hamas, which actively calls for the destruction of Israel and has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks, had been “systematically misrepresented” in history, the Times reported.
The book also says that the group has been subjected to “intense vilification” that had intensified since the October 7 attacks, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel and took another 251 hostages.
In her letter, Hotovely said she was “deeply concerned that the event is providing a platform for propaganda — a terror organization proscribed under United Kingdom law.
“I worry that promoting such a book, which sympathizes with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, will only serve to grow support for a brutal terror organization among your students and beyond.”
The university said the book launch could go ahead, citing its commitment to “free speech and freedom of expression.” link This is the epitome of being Anti-Israel and perhaps Antisemitic as well. The authors claim that Hamas has by "systematically misrepresented'. This is utter purposeful blindness, stupidity and/or evil. There is no misrepresentation of Hamas. They are a murderous and barbaric terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews around the world. This is part of their declared mission and nothing can be or should be considered a misrepresentation of that.
Testimonies from Captivity by Returned Hostages
Agam BergerAge 20
An IDF observer who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base. Released after 482 days in Hamas captivity.
"They said that all of Judaism is a lie, but they prefer someone who believes in God over someone who doesn’t. There’s no other option for them. I observed Yom Kippur, Ta’anit Esther, and Tisha B’Av. I asked God for a sign, and then by chance the date of the 2nd of Av appeared on TV, and from there we counted until Tisha B’Av."
Arbel YehudAge 29
Kidnapped with her partner Ariel Cunio from Nir Oz. Released after 482 days in Hamas captivity. Her partner Ariel is still there.
"I held on for 482 days without seeing or hearing any Israelis, from the moment I was separated from my partner Ariel three hours after being kidnapped until I met Gadi (Moses, on the day of her release). You can imagine some of the horrors I went through during my captivity after all of you saw the day of my release."Karina ArievAge 20
An IDF observer kidnapped from the Nahal Oz outpost. Released after 477 days in Hamas captivity.
"The days there were a nightmare. There were truly times when I told myself: That’s it, you’re never getting out of there. But then I saw the people who took to the streets for us, I was exposed to your enormous support and the struggle, and that’s what saved me, that’s what kept me going and gave me the hope to continue fighting with the strong belief that I would return home. That’s why I’m here and want to tell you: We can’t stop, it’s still not over."Liri ElbergAge 20
An IDF observer kidnapped from the Nahal Oz outpost. Released after 477 days in Hamas captivity.
"At a certain point, I asked them to make a video, I wanted my family to have a sign of life. I told them that my dad is strong and that people listen to him, and they actually filmed me... At a certain point, the terrorists wanted to take me down to the tunnels, but I refused. I told them I wasn’t willing. I couldn’t stand the silence and the loneliness there."
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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