🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 527, 2023

🎗️Day 527 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

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!
‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Purim in Israel: Levi Shamir dressed up as his father the hero Moti Shamir, who on October 7th raced to save lives when he was killed heroically near Kibbutz Re’im. We will never forget their heroism. 💔 📸 hanoch daum

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

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Hostage Updates
Report: The Proposal Presented by the Americans – and the Responses from Israel and Hamas
Al Jazeera has revealed details of the proposal by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Wittkoff, which was delivered to Hamas and Israel. The proposal includes the release of five living hostages, including Idan Alexander, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israel demanded the release of 11 living hostages and 16 bodies in exchange for the release of 120 "lifers" (prisoners serving life sentences) and 1,110 detainees from Gaza. Hamas agreed to release only one living hostage.
Last night (Friday), Al Jazeera published new details about the proposal by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Wittkoff, which was delivered to Hamas and Israel the day before. The American envoy presented a proposal that included several clauses, and both Israel and Hamas had amendments to it.
Wittkoff submitted a proposal consisting of four main points:
1. Framework for a permanent ceasefire agreement – The release of five living Israeli hostages, including Idan Alexander, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
2. After the release of the hostages, indirect negotiations would begin, lasting 50 days, aimed at achieving a permanent ceasefire and further prisoner exchanges.
3. Hamas demanded the introduction of humanitarian aid and a halt to military operations, similar to what was agreed upon in the first phase.
4. The mediators proposed completing the negotiations for phase two and reaching agreements for a permanent ceasefire and prisoner exchanges.
Hamas’s Response
According to the report, the terrorist organization submitted several amendments to Wittkoff’s proposal:
- Hamas agreed to release the kidnapped soldier Idan Alexander and four deceased hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails.
- Hamas demanded that the ceasefire take effect on the day of the release.
- Hamas demanded the opening of crossings and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip even before handing over Alexander and the four deceased hostages to Israel.
- Hamas called on the mediators to obligate Israel to implement the remaining details of phase one, including the scope of humanitarian aid, the rehabilitation of the Strip, and withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor.
- Hamas demanded that Gazans be allowed to return from abroad via the Rafah crossing without restrictions.
- The removal of checkpoints on the Salah al-Din and Netzarim routes.
- The terrorist organization demanded that the new proposal be an integral part of the January 17 agreement.
Israel’s Response
According to the report, Israel responded to Wittkoff’s proposal with its own demands:
- Israel demanded the release of 11 living hostages, including Idan Alexander, as well as 16 deceased hostages – in exchange for the release of 120 "lifers," 1,110 detainees from Gaza (arrested after October 7), and the bodies of 160 Palestinians.
- Israel requested that the period of indirect negotiations following the release of the hostages last 40 days instead of 50.
- Additionally, Israel demanded that negotiations for a continuous ceasefire be conditional on receiving proof of life from the remaining hostages.
- Israel also demanded mechanisms to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches only civilians in Gaza. Furthermore, Israel avoided discussing a military withdrawal.
The report highlights the ongoing complexity of the negotiations, with both sides presenting conflicting demands and amendments to the proposed framework.  link

Father of Hamas hostage: Netanyahu ‘abandoning Jews who are undergoing a Holocaust’
This handout photo shows Itzik Horn, whose son Eitan is held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, giving a statement to the press alongside other relatives of captives, in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2025. (Rani Graff/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
The father of Hamas hostage Eitan Horn calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal for the release of the remaining captives held by the terror group in Gaza.
“This is the 526th day that 59 hostages have been held in the hell of Gaza,” Itzik Horn says during a statement to the press alongside other hostage relatives in Tel Aviv.
“I came here today while recovering from surgery to hold up a mirror to Netanyahu. This mirror reflects the terrible results of Netanyahu’s selection method,” continues Horn, whose other son, Iair, was released from captivity during the now lapsed first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Horn adds: “The prime minister of the Jews is abandoning Jews who are undergoing a Holocaust. Netanyahu, look me in the eyes… We demand that you immediately end the war and bring back everyone all at once, and now.”
Earlier today, Iair attended a game at the stadium of his favorite soccer team, Hapoel Beersheba, where he was honored on the field before the game.

Netanyahu instructs Israeli hostage team to prepare for more talks on Witkoff proposal
PM’s office says proposal would see 11 living hostages freed immediately, as well as half the slain captives; Doha talks earlier said to be near collapse
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Israel’s hostage negotiating team on Saturday evening to prepare for further talks in Doha based on what it said was a proposal from US special envoy Steve Witkoff under which 11 living hostages would be freed immediately.
The directive was issued at the conclusion of a meeting convened by Netanyahu of top aides and security chiefs, who were briefed by the negotiating team on the state of the talks. The team returned from Doha on Friday.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the proposal put forward by Witkoff would see 11 living hostages, and half the slain captives, released “immediately.”

Ex-captive Omer Shem Tov: IDF pressure, protracted hostage deals make captivity ‘very difficult’
Freed hostage Omer Shem Tov remotely addresses a rally calling for the release of Israelis held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, March 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
In a video statement screened at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, freed captive Omer Shem Tov tells the government that it is torturing the hostages by failing to bring them all back in one fell swoop and says Hamas stood ready to execute hostages whenever the IDF approached.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but you’re simply breaking them,” he says. “You reach a place where you eat a crumb a day. It’s very, very difficult.”
“I was alone there for 450 days,” says Shem Tov. “You begin to think horrible thoughts.”
“We felt that our soul — they were just killing it, just murdering it,” he adds.
“Everyone wants to vanquish this enemy,” Shem Tov continues. “Every soldier is a hero of Israel, but still, the military pressure makes it very difficult [for the captives].”
“When I was overground, it was awful bombings,” he says. “When I went underground, there were also bombings, earthquakes and such. I heard the tanks pass over me. I heard the soldiers.”
“And they [the captors] were with their guns out… with weapons at hand, just waiting for [the troops] to come. Standing next to me.”
“And I’m sitting there on that mattress praying to God. Just praying to God.”
“That’s the place where you say to yourself, ‘okay, it’s not in my hands, there is nothing for me to do right now,’ so you sit and pray and just hope for the best,” he says.
“It’s time for the Israeli government to take matters into its own hands and decide that in one blow, we bring everyone home,” adds Shem Tov. “Not in trickles, not in 50-day deals — no. It’s time to get everyone home in a single release.”
He thanks the crowd at Hostages Square for its support and promises: “I’ll do everything so that all the hostages are back home as soon as possible.”

Slain hostage’s brother likens Netanyahu to Purim villain Haman: ‘We’ll put you on trial’
Demonstrator call for the return of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Dani Elgarat, brother of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat, says Israelis will put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “on trial for crimes against the nation of Israel.”
“Netanyahu — it’s happening,” he says to some 2,500 people at the weekly anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road outside the IDF headquarters. “What you see here today is an uprising.”
He urges heads of the private sector to join the uprising. “Shut down the malls, banks, tech sector,” he says.
“Come save the country,” Elgarat continues. “The life of the country depends on the life of the hostages.”
In the spirit of Purim, Elgarat likens the premier to Haman, who, in the Book of Esther, tries to exterminate the Jews of the Persian Empire.
As Elgarat speaks, some protesters wave groggers, noise-makers traditionally sounded each time Haman is mentioned in the scroll, to smite the Purim villain’s name.
Meirav Angrest Rahamim, aunt of captive soldier Matan Angrest, also tears into Netanyahu, accusing him of making her wounded nephew into “a third-class citizen abandoned in captivity.”
Matan Angrest is slated for return only in the ceasefire-hostage deal’s second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza and end the war against Hamas — a red line for Netanyahu’s right-wing flank, which has threatened to topple the government.
No male soldiers were released in the 42-day first phase that ended March 2, during which Hamas released 33 “humanitarian cases.”
Angrest Rahamim accuses Netanyahu and his government of “striving to start the next phase of the war, instead of the next phase of the deal that you signed.”

When Omer was released, he asked the psychologist for a hug.
After 505 days in Hamas captivity, Omer Shem Tov returned to the embrace of his family, who fought tooth and nail to bring him home. Shelly and Dana, Omer's mother and sister, shared stories he told them. "His captors showed him a picture of me and my husband and told him we looked old. He confronted them," his mother recounted.

The Shem Tov family is one of the well-known families who fought for Omer's return, their son who was abducted from the Nova party on October 7. After 505 days in Hamas captivity, he was finally released as part of a deal and is now home, celebrating with his loved ones. Shelly and Dana Shem Tov, his mother and sister, spoke on "Galit and Ilanit" about his first days as a free man and a bit about what they experienced during that time.

"Throughout Omer's captivity, I didn't go to therapy," said Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of the released hostage. "Now, suddenly, I felt a different kind of difficulty. On one hand, I told myself, 'Say thank you, how can you feel this is hard?' But on the other hand, I realized I needed to talk to someone. We were in survival mode; we didn't look at ourselves at all."

Dana, you got both a brother and parents back.
"Absolutely. As we always say, we are the Shem Tov force. We accomplished the mission of our lives, it's behind us, and Omer is home. We are a stronger and more united family than ever. I regained my brother, and he's my best friend. I thank him every morning that he's with me and this nightmare is over."

Last night (Thursday), Omer spoke publicly for the first time since his captivity at a special ceremony held in his honor in his hometown of Herzliya. He said, "Now I am free; I never lost hope for a moment," and also shared some of the difficult experiences from his time in captivity. His mother spoke about him: "He is a boy who expresses his love through words and touch. The first thing he asked the psychologist he met upon returning to Israel was if he could give her a hug. This shows how much he missed warmth and physical contact."

During his captivity, Omer was occasionally exposed to news and what was happening in Israel since October 7. However, he rarely saw his family on the screens, mostly seeing the struggle for his return, in which they did not appear. "In the early days, they filmed me and Malchi, Omer's father, holding his picture—the captors showed him that picture and teased him that we looked old. Omer confronted them and said we were just sad."  link

"They tried to suppress us. We’ll scream so we don’t fall off the agenda" | Matan Tzengauker’s sister speaks
She’s always on the frontlines of protests at the Begin Gate, unafraid to confront attackers, get injured by police horses, get arrested, and protect her mother, Einav. Natalie Tzengauker steps out of the protest tent to fight the decisive battle for her brother’s fate and the fate of the other hostages: "Those sitting in the cabinet hear us, and it scares them." In a direct appeal to Netanyahu, she says: "You lost your older brother and know the pain. My brother is alive, and you can save him."

At 18, Natalie Tzengauker met Benjamin Netanyahu for the first and last time. "It was before the 2022 elections. At school, I would argue with students and teachers, explaining that he’s the king. When he went live on Facebook, I prepared in advance and was one of the first to join, very active in the comments. He probably saw I was a big fan and added me to the live with him. I told him he has fans in Ofakim and that he should visit us. I also told him I got vaccinated against COVID, like he said to do."

When Netanyahu arrived in Ofakim, one of the cities most identified with Likud, Natalie stood in the crowd. "I took a Likud flag and a shirt, stood outside, and waited to see him. He was in a transparent truck, far from us, but I was excited to see him in real life. He was simply the king to me. Even though I grew up in the south, with rockets and a complex security reality, to me, he was Mr. Security, he protected me. In those elections, I also joined Likud, stood outside the polling station at school all day, and handed out Likud bracelets."
Natalie Tzengauker outside of Begin Gate at the IDF Headquarters. "We can do anything we have to as long as they are still there!"

Natalie says this with a half-smile, perhaps a little surprised at her own naivety, maybe missing it. "My anger started turning toward Netanyahu after the first deal fell apart. I realized he was the one not bringing them back. And now, as it seems he’s torpedoing the current deal, the one Matan is supposed to be part of, he’s the one allowing them to stay there another day, for a year and five months. I don’t understand how this is happening."

She’s long since stopped being the girl from Ofakim. Instead, she’s a lioness, the daughter of a lioness, standing alongside her mother, Einav Tzengauker, and her younger sister, Shani, fighting for the life of her brother Matan, who was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz. Though she’s always on the frontlines at the Begin Gate protests, radiating fire and brimstone, unafraid to confront, get arrested, and protect her mother at all costs, she’s rarely given interviews, certainly not in-depth ones. She feared the tears would choke her voice. But now she feels there’s no time for fear, that her brother is screaming for her, that she must make one more effort. For him.

"I know the prime minister reads this newspaper," she says, "and this is my chance to speak to him directly: You lost your older brother, you know this pain, so I’m asking you to save me from knowing what bereavement is. My older brother is alive, you’re the one who can save him, and you need to do it now."

We meet in a luxurious Tel Aviv apartment (the stay there was donated by one of the struggle’s supporters). "It’s a big change being in the center and not the south, it’s a different life," she says.

What’s the difference?
"Tel Aviv is huge, and we’re not used to these traffic jams. Matan would hate it. That’s one reason I got a motorcycle license."

Two weeks ago, Natalie slipped off that motorcycle—"as if Mom doesn’t have enough to worry about"—and the interview takes place with her leg in a cast, sitting makeup-free in pajamas on the couch at home. As a fan of fast cars and extreme sports, a Lamborghini Lego set and another of a Ducati motorcycle sit beside her. The house is filled with pictures and signs of Matan; on the wall hangs a caricature of Einav as the Statue of Liberty, and on the TV in the living room is a "souvenir" statue the family received from Hamas terrorists in Gaza upon the release of Yair Horn, a survivor of captivity.
Family happiness. From left: Matan, Natalie, Inbar, and Shani Tzengauker. "We watched all the 'Fast & Furious' movies together."

"I was abroad that week, and when I came back, it was suddenly in the middle of the house. I was in shock. It’s crazy to think this actually came from Gaza. The statue has an hourglass and a picture of Matan. It says time is running out, and it’s true, their time is really running out. It’s already run out for some of them, and that scares me. It’s a reminder of that fear, the fact that we’re in an endless loop."
Another reminder that the hostages’ time is running out—as if such a reminder were needed—came with the testimonies of those who returned. "We really wanted to get information about Matan from those who returned in the deal, to hear something about him, but it didn’t happen. The only sign of life from him was in a Hamas video in December. When he said there that he dies a thousand times a day, it shattered me. Every second he’s there is hell. And there’s no one to save him.

"The day the video came out, I watched it nonstop, just staring and crying and crying. Hearing him call me 'Tatu' again after a year and two months was overwhelming in terms of longing, but it also gave me more strength and motivation to keep fighting. The testimonies of the returnees are hard, worrying—the thought that they’re being beaten, that they’re shackled, starved, living in such a small, suffocating space, without sunlight. It all adds to the already unbearable worry. It just keeps getting harder."

Missing being a child
There’s the Natalie of the Begin Gate, and there’s the little sister Natalie, who misses her brother and worries that her leg is out of commission and she can’t fulfill her role at home. "I’m responsible for cooking, shopping, cleaning, keeping the house together… I drive Shani to treatments (the younger sister suffers from muscular dystrophy), drive Mom to meetings, whatever’s needed."

Sounds exhausting.
"Yes. I miss being a normal kid, meeting friends, studying, having a normal life. Not fighting for my brother. I also miss being anonymous. People stop me on the street, tell me Mom is amazing and so am I, sometimes they think I’m Ilana (Matan’s partner, Ilana Gritzbesky), they ask me, 'How was captivity?'"

Last week, the families at Begin Gate, led by the Tzengauker women, decided to escalate the protest: they began a "Circle the Kirya" campaign, with relatives of hostages and activists setting up dozens of tents near the base’s gates at the end of one of the largest protests there in recent months.

There’s a claim that your protests are raising Matan’s price.
"Show me proof that’s true. What am I doing that harms him? If I sit at home, it will harm him, they’ll forget him. If we don’t scream, don’t fight for them, the hostages will fall off the agenda. So let them say it raises the price, I don’t care. The only thing I know is that the protests work. Right now, we’re sleeping in tents around the Kirya, calling for everyone to be brought back in one go—it’s growing day by day, and I believe this event will keep gaining momentum.

"At first, we tried to be quiet, but it didn’t help. This whole time, they’ve tried to suppress the protests, dismantle the families’ headquarters, even leaked documents to silence us. It means they’re afraid of our power, the families and the public. Those deciding the hostages’ fate, those sitting in the cabinet, hear us, our cries. It moves them. They see people protesting and taking to the streets, and it scares them.

"We know it’s having an impact, and if we get half a million people in the streets, they’ll bring back all the hostages. I’d expect the whole country to join us, to fight for them. But everyone’s busy with their own stuff. The government is busy inciting against the families, so for most of the public, if it’s not a close friend, if it’s not your blood—it’s not interesting."

And what about the reactions you get? The threats?
"True, people sometimes react with hate. But it doesn’t faze me. I know what my mom is worth, what we as a family are worth. I don’t care what people say. And I don’t really think they’ll hurt us. When bored people come to Begin Gate and confront us physically, I confront them back. They won’t talk like that to my mom, and not about Matan either, they don’t have the right. I won’t stay silent, anyone who stands in front of me and says something, I’ll argue with them. I’m not afraid. My mom is a fighter, and so am I.

"It’s important to say, there are many people who support us, who strengthen us, and that’s what I focus on. I expected people who were 'on my side' to support me and stay with me. I didn’t think it would become something political—they took Matan without asking who he voted for."

Proud to be 'Matan’s sister'
Though Natalie has taken on the role of the older sister, for her, she’s just filling in until Matan returns and is the big brother again, as he’s always been. "We’d walk to school together in the morning, the teachers would call me 'Matan’s sister,' I was happy about it, proud. There’s a five-year age gap, so he’d help me with homework, especially math and English. After school, we’d walk home together, have lunch with Mom, play soccer or build Legos together. Mostly, we’d laugh a lot, enjoy every moment. We’re a really close-knit group, Matan and I are into cars and motorsports, we watched all the 'Fast & Furious' movies in theaters. He’s really the classic big brother."

Inbar raised her three children alone after choosing to separate from their father when Matan was in elementary school. "Mom and Matan always protect us. She takes our side, no matter what. I remember in eighth grade, I got suspended from school. There was a line for the bus, and it was super crowded, and one kid kept pushing, so I pushed him back. He got cut and bled a lot. Matan came from high school to see what happened, and they called Mom too. Without asking questions, they took my side against the teachers. They understood that kid was the one who started it."

At the demonstration: "I would expect an entire country to come out and fight with us, but everyone is busy with their own stuff." (Photo: Yuval Chen)

Most of the family memories are from Grandpa David’s farm, Inbar’s father: "We’d go to the farm for the weekend, take the sheep out to graze, feed the cows and horses. Matan would fix any problem. If there was an issue, like with the irrigation pipe, he’d go out on the tractor and fix it for Grandpa. I’d watch him work and learn from him. We lived in our own little bubble, a close-knit southern family.

"Matan also never really left home. Even when he moved in with Ilana in Nir Oz, he’d come back to visit all the time—for meals, to sleep, almost every Friday-Saturday. The longest he wasn’t home was the month before October 7, when Ilana flew to her family in Mexico, and he had to stay with Nuni, their dog."

On the morning of October 7, the family was at home in Ofakim. "Mom woke us up and said there were sirens all over the country, including at Matan and Ilana’s. There was a battle in the neighborhood next to us, we heard explosions and gunfire, and they sent messages to lock the houses and lower the shutters. My whole class group from school was full of videos from Telegram. Hard videos. And my fear and worry were for Matan. At first, he and Mom were on the phone, and he said everything was fine, but then he switched to WhatsApp because he heard the terrorists in the house."

The terrorists were also very close to you, were you scared?
"Honestly, we didn’t deal with it at all. Maybe we didn’t fully understand what was happening in Ofakim; to me, Matan was in the Gaza envelope, and that’s more dangerous. His last message was that he loves us, and then the connection was lost. I started crying. We called the police, Magen David Adom (MDA), asked neighbors to talk to people they knew in the army, to send forces to Nir Oz. We opened a situation room at home, and I went through all the videos on Telegram, there wasn’t one I didn’t watch, looking for Matan, Ilana, Nuni, I found nothing.

"We couldn’t eat, sleep, I realized from that moment I had to take the reins, take care of the house. For days, we waited, watched the news nonstop, and the death toll rose alongside names and pictures of missing people. We shared Matan’s picture on social media, begged for any information."
My mother's a fighter! So am I!

After eight days that felt like an eternity, a delegation of intelligence officers arrived at the Tzengauker home. "I immediately started crying," Natalie recalls—and her sister Shani (14) chimes in from the other side of the couch: "I don’t understand how you haven’t run out of tears yet."

The officers informed them that Matan and Ilana’s phones had been located in Gaza. "We understood from that that they were probably kidnapped together, and beyond that, we knew nothing. It crossed our minds that maybe only his phone was stolen. I thought he managed to hide in the kibbutz and still didn’t want to come out because of the terrorists, that he was in some bush or ditch. And if he was kidnapped, in what condition? Was he injured? Was he kidnapped as a corpse?"

When the rallies began at the Tel Aviv Museum Square, renamed Hostages Square, the Tzengauker women also went there. At least at first. "We’d drive there on Saturday nights, and it was really hard for me. People kept asking about Matan, people I didn’t know, it just made me cry more. But mostly, I felt anger, anger that no one came to protect Matan and Nir Oz and the entire envelope. I felt like I had no place to vent my anger at the square, we were just crying there and listening to singers. I didn’t find myself there. I already had two hostages—Matan and Ilana, I didn’t want to know more hostages, I didn’t have room in my heart to worry about anyone else."

In the first deal, Ilana returned home. "Mom waited for her at the hospital, and we were at home watching the broadcast. The moment I saw her being transferred to the Red Cross, I fell apart. Nuni, Matan and her dog, was with us. They found him in Nir Oz, and I was taking care of him in the meantime. I brought him with me, and we went to Kfar HaMaccabiah. We hugged and cried together, I asked her if she was okay, if anything happened to her, if they hurt her. She said she was fine and now we need to focus on bringing Matan back."

Already in the first minutes of meeting?
"Yes. She told me—'I’m already here, now we need to bring Matan.'"

I started boxing
After one of the rallies at Hostages Square, the Tzengauker women heard that some people were going to protest near the Kirya, at the Begin Gate. "It was spontaneous, we walked there with a few people and held up a sign for Matan. I felt like for the first time, I could express the anger inside me, rage that Matan still wasn’t home and that the deal fell apart. That’s when I also realized my anger was at Bibi, that I trusted him to bring Matan back, and he still hasn’t done it."

In February, after one of the protests, Einav decided they’d stay overnight near the Kirya. "Mom declared that from now on, the road to the Kirya would be called Matan’s Path, the Begin Gate would be Ofer’s Gate (Ofer Calderon), and that’s it, we’re staying until something moves. It rained, it was really cold, and people came and stayed with us to sleep there. Slowly, we grew, and more people and families joined us. We felt this was the place."

Were you surprised to discover your mom’s leadership? Her resilience?
"I wasn’t surprised at any point, even now I’m not surprised. That’s my mom, I know what she’s worth. She really didn’t want to be a public figure, but she felt the helplessness, we all feel it, so she did what she thought was right. Everything we do, every meeting, every protest, every blockage at Ayalon, it’s because we want to save Matan. The only thing that surprises me is that this is still happening. That there are still hostages in Gaza, that my brother is still in a tunnel. I thought it would be a matter of a month or two and it would be over, I didn’t imagine everything we’d go through."

What are you most looking forward to telling Matan?
"I’ll tell him I did rappelling over a bridge during the march to Jerusalem, he’ll definitely be excited about that."

How did that idea come about?

"I’m not even sure whose idea it was, but we noticed the bridge at the entrance to the city was empty, white. So we decided I’d rappel down it and spray something on it, I wrote 'Enough torpedoing.' It was the first time I did something like that, then I did it again, and we started joking that maybe I’d do a zip line from Azrieli to the Kirya, bungee jumping, I’m into extreme stuff anyway."
Ilana also loved the idea, and this week, while the interview was taking place, not far away, she rappelled down the bridge connecting Begin Gate to Azrieli, with a torch, as hundreds of people chanted: "You’re not alone, we’re with you."
At the hospital, after being injured by a police horse. "This won’t stop me" | Photo: We Are All Hostages

Natalie didn’t stop at rappelling off bridges. At the end of one protest, she was trampled by a police horse and hospitalized for three days. "It was a tough evening because all sorts of rumors started about bodies being retrieved from Gaza," she recalls. "Everything was super tense. I was holding Matan’s sign and leading a march north on Begin Road. We stopped at the Namir and Shaul Hamelech intersection, and I didn’t see the horses behind me. One of the horses knocked me to the ground, stepped on my head, and cracked my rib. I had scrapes and cuts all over my body from the road."
One of the protesters, Dr. Vladimir Tank, deputy director of the transplant department at Beilinson Hospital, who went to give Natalie medical assistance, was arrested and taken away. Natalie was rushed by ambulance to Ichilov Hospital. From there, lying in a hospital bed, she asked her mother to deliver a message in her name to the people of Israel: "Not even a police horse will stop me from protesting for Matan and the other hostages. Tomorrow, everyone goes out to protest for them."
Beyond the excruciating pain, something else made it hard for Natalie to breathe. "It was really hard for me to be sidelined. I was scared that Mom and Ilana’s worry suddenly shifted to me, when I’m supposed to be the one easing their burden to lead our fight for Matan. This wasn’t supposed to happen."
What do you mean it wasn’t supposed to happen?
"I don’t understand why they argue with us and confront us. What are we even fighting for? For our family, for our blood. For a person who was kidnapped while the country did nothing to protect him. So I think they shouldn’t interfere with what we’re doing at all, stop us, we’re allowed to do anything as long as they’re not here."
Since then, Natalie herself has been detained for questioning several times and even ordered to stay away from illegal protests. "Let’s see them keep me from protesting for Matan," she lashes out—still full of anger. "Honestly, not long ago, I found another place to vent my nerves: I started boxing. My gym is relatively close to Begin Gate, so if I feel like I need to blow off extra steam, I can pop over there."
Were there moments you lost hope?
"No, I always have hope that Matan will return. He always fought for us, protected us. So we’ll do everything, no matter how long it takes or how hard it gets."  link

Tal Shem Tov: "They marched me through Gaza, called me a 'pig,' aimed weapons at me - and I refused to kneel."
In his first interview since returning, the survivor of captivity told Fox News that he was determined not to let his captors see "fear" in his eyes, even in moments when death seemed imminent. At one point, he even mistakenly believed his wife and children had been murdered: "I imagined myself at their funeral." He also spoke about the letter regarding his family, the hunger, infections, digging tunnels, and his concern for Guy and Aviatar.
The heroism of Tal Shem, who survived 505 days in Hamas captivity: In his first interview with Fox News, the survivor described the ordeals he endured deep in the tunnels of the Gaza Strip, "with very little air to breathe and no light." In the interview, published this evening (Saturday), he spoke about a room roughly 5.5 meters in size where he stayed with three other hostages, the day of his abduction, the public march through Gaza, and the moment he felt rain for the first time after nearly a year and a half in the tunnels. Watch the interview:link to interview in English
Tal Shem waving upon arrival at the hospital after his release from captivity. "We are stronger than the other side." (Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
In the interview, he described how he was determined not to lose his humanity, even in moments when he feared he was about to die. "I am not a victim. Even if it ends, I will end it with my head held high, staring death in the eyes. They will not break me, and I will not succumb to self-pity. We are stronger than the other side," Shem said.
About the "distance" between the Gaza Strip and Kibbutz Be'eri, from where he was abducted, he said: "A half-hour drive, two different worlds. The first - unimaginable, cruel beyond all logic. And just 30 minutes from here [from the border], a world of sanity, logic, respect, and compassion."
Tal spoke about the relief he felt after nearly a year and a half in captivity, but also about the friends still there. "I can't sleep well at night when I think about them, the danger to their lives, and the situation they are in," he said about Aviatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal, who are still held captive. "I just hope they will be home soon, and that with everyone's support and the government doing the right thing, we can bring them back as quickly as possible. If possible, yesterday and not another day in captivity, underground."

The destruction in Kibbutz Be'eri after October 7. "They pulled me out of the car, and then one of the terrorists aimed a Kalashnikov at me." (Photo: Amir Levy/Getty Images)
"I said - I will not kneel."
He described the first moments of his abduction on October 7: "They pulled me out of the car, and then one of the terrorists jumped on the roof of the car and aimed his Kalashnikov at me. I saw murder in his eyes, and he told me to kneel." Tal said he chose not to succumb to fear: "I decided there was no way I would give them the satisfaction of seeing me afraid first. No matter what happens - I expect a human standard." He recounted the moment he insisted he would not kneel. "I raised my hand and told him - I don't remember if it was in Arabic or Hebrew - that I wasn't going to... I wouldn't kneel."
The tension lasted half a minute, and then another terrorist grabbed him and took him elsewhere. "It's not my decision whether he kills me or not, but it will be on my terms," he noted. He continued to describe how Hamas terrorists threw him into the trunk of a car and drove him across the border, where a crowd had gathered. "Kids with sticks ran toward me, trying to hit me from all sides," he described.
The terrorists continued to aim their weapons at him, ready, he believed, to execute him - and kept trying to force him to kneel. "I said, 'I can't control whether they kill me or not,' and I raised my hands - but I refused to kneel. 'If you want to kill me, kill me, but you won't execute me like ISIS.'" Later, he described, the terrorists marched him through the streets in what he called a "victory parade." "They shouted, 'Soldier! Zionist pig!' as a crowd gathered around them. "I just waved and smiled, showing no fear. 'You caught me, but you won't see terror in my eyes.'"
"I sat on the floor and imagined myself at their funeral."
For the first 34 days, Tal was taken to a family home in Gaza, where he was held alone, always tied up. Although they allowed him to shower occasionally, he described harsh conditions. "For the first three days, I ate pita. Then, they stopped giving it to me. The food supply ran out. On some days, I got three spoons of avocado and three dates, or half an orange from the tree in the yard."
But the greatest torment for him was not knowing if his family was alive. "I'm 40 years old. I've never experienced such suffering in my life. The isolation, being alone with relentless thoughts - it was worse than extreme hunger," he said.
To survive, he made a bitter decision. "I had to come to terms with the fact that my family had been murdered," Tal noted. "I sat on the floor and imagined myself at their funeral. I stood before a grave - a large one for my wife, and two small ones for my children - and eulogized them. I thanked them for the time we had. I told them to carry on. I cried, but I didn't let my captors see me cry. It was the hardest thing I've ever done - to bury my family in my thoughts."
On the 34th day of his captivity, Aviatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal were brought to the house where Tal was held. Hamas terrorists tortured them daily, beat them, and denied them food while the terrorists ate in front of them. The hostages were allowed only about 300 calories a day - and as a result, Tal's weight dropped from 79 kg to 50 kg by the time of his release. They were even forbidden to speak to each other. "We couldn't move from the beds or talk. We whispered everything we said," he recounted.
Tal Shem Tov with his family at Re'im Base
"The most important thing happened - my family was safe."
On the 50th day, a turning point came - and a spark of hope. Tal received a sign of life from his wife Adi - a letter informing him that she and their children had been released from captivity, along with her mother, Shoshan. "I read it, and my hands trembled," he said. "The most important thing happened - my family was safe. I no longer had to be a father and husband protecting them. Now, I could focus on my fight, the one I know how to fight, the fight for survival."
Last June, Tal, Guy, and Aviatar were transferred to an underground tunnel with extremely harsh conditions. "It took me weeks to stop feeling like the walls were closing in on me, to adjust to the lack of oxygen," Tal recounted. The tunnel was dark, with only one dim electric light. They were given only 300 milliliters of water a day, which they had to choose whether to drink or use to wash their hands. The food offered to them was only rice, and during months of terror and deprivation, they were beaten, filmed, and subjected to random shortages of food and sleep. "Hamas didn't stop digging tunnels," Tal added, "not even for a day."
The harsh conditions caused two of the hostages to develop severe infections. "My leg turned blue, yellow, and purple from internal bleeding," he described. "They gave us blood thinners, fearing we would develop blood clots from prolonged immobility." After a long time, they received vitamin supplements for 7 days, which improved their condition, but they tasted terrible. "It tasted like dog food, but it dramatically improved our condition," he said.
The abuse continued when a new guard arrived, more violent than the previous ones. "He forced some of us to kneel like dogs and beat us," Tal recounted. "He would come in and shout that we were dirty Jews, beat us, and then 10 minutes later, he would smile and bring food." The suffering, Shem said, was not only physical but also psychological, as he had to endure Hamas' abuse while continuing to fight the harsh conditions.
"Is it raining?" he asked. The terrorist replied: "No, it's dew."
Then, at some point, good news arrived. Tal and Omer Wenkert were chosen for release as part of last month's deal. As he was led out after months in the tunnel, still blindfolded, Tal felt moisture on his face. "Is it raining?" he asked. "No," the terrorists replied, "it's dew." He recalled his previous life: "I felt the morning dew on my skin." Although he endured further humiliation on the way to his release, he maintained his pride and said, "I don't care - I'm going home."
When he returned to Israel, he was taken to Re'im Base, where his wife Adi and their children Noam and Yahal were waiting for him. "It was a dream come true, and it still feels like a dream," Tal shared. "It was hard to grasp that it was real. Emotions overwhelmed me, as if I were floating above everything."
However, while he celebrated his release from captivity, he also received tragic news about his family. 11 of his relatives were abducted or murdered on October 7. Adi's father, Avshalom Haran, as well as Liel Kipnis, her sister Shoshan, and her husband Avitar, were murdered in the kibbutz massacre. Two other relatives - Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam - were released in the first deal. Two other relatives who came from the United States - Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie - were also abducted from Nahal Oz and returned after 14 days.
And there was also joy during the difficult period. During the 505 days he spent in captivity, four new babies were born into his family. "Among us, the Jewish hostages, there was purity, there was respect. The terrorists brought upon us all the horrors they wanted, inflicted all the cruelty and pain they could, imposed their inhumanity on us - but within our space, we maintained our inner cleanliness, our humanity among ourselves. It was critical to come out of there whole."  link

Gaza and the South

IDF says troops downed drone being used to smuggle AK-47 from Egypt
The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle an assault rifle into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.
The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, before it was downed by troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion.
Troops at the scene found that the drone was an AK-47 type rifle.
In recent months there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egypt border using drones. There have also been attempts to smuggle similar contraband from Israel into Gaza using drones.

Toll reportedly rises to 9 in north Gaza airstrike; journalists said to be among dead
The death toll of an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya rises to nine, according to Palestinian media reports.
The Shehab news agency cites the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) as saying that three journalists are among the dead.
One is named by Palestinian reports as Mahmoud Isleem, a photographer who has done work for the Anadolu agency.

IDF says it struck 3 terrorists attempting to plant bombs in Netzarim Corridor
The IDF says it carried out a strike against three terror operatives who were spotted trying to plant bombs in the ground in the Netzarim Corridor area of the central Gaza Strip, close to where troops are operating.
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.
IDF shares identities of terror operatives it says were killed in northern Gaza strike

An IDF infographic details the identities of six Palestinian terror operatives the military says were killed in airstrikes in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya on March 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF details the identities of six Palestinian terror operatives it says were killed in airstrikes in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya yesterday, including a terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
According to Palestinian media, the strikes killed nine, including journalists.
The IDF says that a first strike targeted two operatives using a drone to advance attacks on troops in Gaza.
“Based on intelligence information regarding the terror activity in the area, it was determined that the drone was in constant use by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organisation, including during its use [on Saturday],” the IDF says.
A second strike was carried out against another group of operatives who collected the drone equipment, according to the military.
The IDF says the strikes killed “several terrorists, including terrorists who were operating under the guise of journalists.”
They are named by the IDF as: Mustafa Mohammed Shaaban Hamed, a Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023; Mahmoud Yahya Rashdi as-Saraj, a member of Hamas’s engineering forces; Bilal Mahmood Fuad Abu Matar, a Hamas operative operating under the guise of a photographer; Mahmoud Imad Hassan Isleem, a member of Hamas’s Zeitoun Battalion, operating under the guise of a journalist; Suheib Bassem Khaled Najar, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who was released in the recent hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas; and Mohammed Alaa Suhbi al-Jafir, a Hamas operative.

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

IDF says two Hezbollah operatives killed in south Lebanon airstrike

Two Hezbollah operatives were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier today, the military says.
According to the IDF, the pair were carrying out surveillance on the border and were involved in advancing attacks on Israel from the Yater and Mays al-Jabal area.
“The terrorists’ activities constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military adds. Link

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

IDF finds weapons cache, UN vest in West Bank raid

A UNRWA vest discovered among a weapons cache by IDF troops in Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, March 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

During an anti-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank, soldiers from the Kfir Brigade discover a weapons cache in the Nur Shams refugee camp outside of Tulkarem, according to an IDF statement.
Several bags of weapons were discovered at the scene, one of which contained a vest labeled “UNRWA,” the IDF says.
Israel has long said that terrorists were using the UN agency as cover for their activities.
According to the statement, the confiscated weapons were transferred for further investigation by security forces.
The IDF states that it will continue its operations to thwart terrorism throughout the West Bank to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.

Shin Bet says it foiled Jerusalem Ramadan shooting attack

The Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police say they foiled a plot by an Arab Israeli to carry out a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
According to the joint statement, the suspect, identified as Uday Mobarsham, a resident of the village of Makr in the north, was detained in February after he purchased a homemade rifle and began training with it.
During his interrogation, he said he planned to open fire on police officers or Jewish Israelis near the Old City’s Damascus Gate.
“Foiling this attack was significant, given that we assess that if his plan had been carried out during Ramadan it could have undermined the quiet and led to a dangerous escalation in the Jerusalem area during a period of high security tensions,” a Shin Bet source says.

Politics and the War (general news)

My Hope for Palestine
There’s still a path to lasting peace. But we’ll need a new set of leaders. By Samer Sinijlawi
The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is often assumed to be impossible to solve, a matter of two national movements with irreconcilable aspirations for one tiny piece of land. It has felt like this for nearly a century, and perhaps never more so than during the past year of anger and grief.

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is often assumed to be impossible to solve, a matter of two national movements with irreconcilable aspirations for one tiny piece of land. It has felt like this for nearly a century, and perhaps never more so than during the past year of anger and grief.
But as a Palestinian who was born in Jerusalem’s Old City, who has lived through the occupation, who sat in an Israeli prison for five years, I see a way out. Even today, with the pain so fresh, I believe it’s possible for Palestinians to get our state, and for the two peoples to coexist. But to arrive there, both sides will need to radically change their thinking—and their leadership.
The future I imagine is in some ways rooted in a past I remember from my childhood in the early ’80s. In the busy streets of the Old City, you knew which community you belonged to, but everyone shared the space. As a boy, before I had any understanding of who was above whom, I knew only that everyone was bustling at the end of the week, with Jews going to synagogue, Christians heading to church, and Muslims following the sound of the muezzin to prayer. My family is Muslim, but I attended a Christian school. I never questioned how natural this layered reality was.
But then, in 1987, the First Intifada began. I was 14. All at once, I felt pulled into the conflict, drawn to what I heard on the streets and saw on television, which was a more straightforward story than what I’d known in Jerusalem—the struggle of my people, armed with stones, standing up to tanks. I wanted to throw stones as well, to feel a part of it. And so I did. And like many of my teenage friends, I was eventually arrested, and sentenced by a military judge to five years’ imprisonment.
This was the most painful moment of my life. My childhood was over. I wasn’t able to finish high school. But my experience in prison changed me in unexpected ways. It gave me a different kind of education. I was elected as a spokesperson to negotiate with the prison authorities, whether for better food or special permits for family visits. And my understanding of my enemy grew.
Out in the street, we wore keffiyehs over our faces, and they saw us only through the scope of a rifle. But now I got to know some Israelis. I could see their eyes, and they could see mine. I learned Hebrew. I learned their names. And I saw for the first time that these people, whom I had feared as my oppressors, had their own fears. They were scared of us, the Palestinians, of the violence we might cause them, of the violence we were causing them. It’s hard for my own people, oppressed as we feel by Israeli power, to appreciate this, but the fears of Israelis are real, not exaggerated or invented. The images of October 7 are seared into their minds. Especially since the massacre, they desire the sort of security that any of us would want, and they will never bargain away the safety of their families. They are not a suicidal people.
I also learned how to negotiate with Israelis. Maybe because of their own history of survival, they can be stubborn. You cannot expect to get anything through pressure tactics. Believe me, Palestinians have tried: The strategy for decades has been to use violence against Israeli civilians while beseeching the world to force Israel into making concessions. But this hasn’t worked. Trying to get the American president to use carrots and sticks with the Israelis is pointless. We need to deal with them directly. That’s the only way. And just as we have needs—dignity, rights, independence—they have needs as well, and we must find ways to reassure them of their security, to defeat their fears.
I have often thought of the conflict as having DNA. The need for security is one strand, and the other is a desire for dignity. This did not require any special education for me to learn. It comes with the reality of being a Palestinian. We live in a state of constant humiliation: at each checkpoint, every time we need to cross a border, when settlers in the West Bank attack and kill our people and burn our fields with impunity. Half of our lives seem to be spent waiting in line as an Israeli soldier stands over us with a gun. We lack freedom. We are denied basic human dignity. And this existence, to feel forever trampled on, has been ours now for at least three generations.
This is the DNA, a desire for both safety and self-determination. By acknowledging and attending to these twin desires—rather than parsing right from wrong or replaying history—people of goodwill can solve the conflict. I am part of an initiative—organized by Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, and Nasser al‑Kidwa, the former Palestinian foreign-affairs minister—to do just that. We envision a cease-fire in Gaza and a return of the hostages held by Hamas since October 7, and we have worked out the details of a two-state solution, proposing a plan for drawing borders, determining the status of Jerusalem, and rebuilding Gaza.
The contours are not hard to imagine, but many obstacles stand in the way. I see four main ones, two within our own societies and two from the outside.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government aren’t interested in making any concessions to the Palestinians. They hardly see us, and are intent on ignoring our demands indefinitely. But I don’t think they represent the majority of Israelis, who dislike Netanyahu and want his rule to end. I believe that those who protest by the tens of thousands every week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem know that the status quo is not acceptable for either people.
This is the first obstacle: Netanyahu and his reactionary, racist allies. Israelis must find a way to vote him and the extremists out. Nothing will change until Israeli leaders see the benefit of creating a Palestinian state, and do not act with such indifference to our lives and needs. But the second obstacle I see is closer to home for me, and just as crucial: the corrupt and ineffective leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
I first met Abbas as part of a Fatah youth delegation soon after the First Intifada ended. After being released from prison, in 1993, I became involved with the party, the largest faction in Palestinian politics at the time. My fellow delegates and I were in our 20s; Abbas was then in his 50s and Fatah’s second-in-command. “You are tomorrow’s leaders,” he told us. Today, Abbas is nearly 90, and we are in our 50s. Over the years, he has worked to ensure that the tomorrow he promised never arrived. He was elected president in 2005 to serve for four years. He has served for almost 20, without a single reelection. Over that period, he has compromised our democracy, our security, our economy, and our dignity.
Abbas lost the 2006 legislative elections to Hamas, and then lost Gaza to Hamas control the following year. But he could have taken the past two decades to build up the West Bank, creating transparent, accountable institutions that would represent a thriving alternative to Hamas. Because he didn’t, he allowed the extremists to fill the vacuum. As recently as 2021, Abbas canceled planned elections, this time after Fatah split into three factions. Younger, reformist Fatah leaders were ready to try to create that alternative, and might have offered a counterbalance to the extremism that led to October 7. But Abbas stood in their way.
Palestinians want change. Polls show that about 90 percent of the population wants Abbas to resign. But removing him isn’t just important for the West Bank and the possibility of negotiating with the Israelis. It’s also essential to Gaza’s “day after.” As brutal and oppressive as the Hamas regime has been, the people of Gaza don’t want to see Hamas replaced with Abbas.
Instead, Palestinian political leaders should form a unity government that includes nonpartisan national figures; Fatah reformists such as al‑Kidwa, the former security czar Mohammed Dahlan, and, with any luck, the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti; and even members of nonextremist Islamist factions like the Ra’am party, in Israel’s Parliament. This broad coalition would be responsible for reconstructing Gaza and unifying it with the West Bank. It would need the support of Arab countries and the international community—and, of course, recognition by Israel.
All of this is impossible while Netanyahu and Abbas remain in power, which is why they are the biggest internal obstacles. But there are also two external ones.
The first is obvious: Iran is the mutual enemy of both Israelis and Palestinians who want peace, as well as of all the moderate forces in the Middle East. Iran has propped up Hamas and Hezbollah, whose ideologies and actions will lead to nothing but endless war. The best way to counter Iran is for Israel to build relationships with the Emiratis and the Saudis and a reformed Palestinian Authority. But to do that, Abbas and Netanyahu need to go.
Palestinians need a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest.
The second external obstacle might seem surprising, but it’s no less important to acknowledge: the extreme sentiments in the West. I understand what has motivated the protests on American college campuses. I have grieved the death of every Gazan, and I am certainly not against peaceful demonstration. But I think that some of those who call themselves pro-Palestine and rally under the Palestinian flag are doing us real harm—and I would say the same about some of those who rally under the Israeli flag and call themselves pro-Israel.
These protests have merely hardened the positions of Hamas and Netanyahu. They apply the wrong kind of pressure: against compromise. Against seeing each other and finding ways to move closer. They alienate everyday Israelis and Palestinians. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one idea to rally behind; only one pro-Israel, pro-Palestine slogan: “Stop the war and free the hostages.” Nothing else is helpful, certainly not slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
I know how hard these obstacles will be to overcome; as a Palestinian, I am accustomed to endless heartbreak. It’s far easier to remain self-righteous, to believe that with enough yelling or missiles, things will change for the better. But they won’t, not until the two sides begin to look at each other honestly.
I have talked with many Israelis over the years, after I was elected international secretary for Fatah youth, and then as the head of Israeli relations for the party. I have become close friends with many of them, and not just with people on the left and in the center, but with those on the right as well. I’ve learned some lessons from all of this talking.
Primarily, I decided not to hate them. For a simple reason: We have killed them and they have killed us. Hate has never achieved anything for the Palestinians besides more misery. Additionally, I decided never to lecture Israelis on morality, on what to do and what not to do. I chose instead to focus on my side, on the example that I set.
That’s why I went to Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim attacked on October 7, for a condolence visit early this year. Standing in front of cameras, I condemned the acts of Hamas. I didn’t want history to document that no Palestinian spoke up against this atrocity. In Kfar Aza—a mile away from the city of Beit Hanoun, over the border in Gaza—I could see smoke, and I could hear bombs, and I knew what was happening there, but I had come only to denounce what Hamas had done in the name of Palestinians, in my name. One day, an Israeli will stand in front of us and denounce what has happened in Gaza. I don’t have to lecture them. All I can do is offer my example.
I know it’s controversial to say, but this is why I think Palestinians need to make the first move. There is more urgency for us than for the Israelis. They are suffering because of the conflict, but not as much as we are. They can wait another 75 years until it becomes necessary for them to share the land. We cannot wait another 75 hours. They have an air force; we don’t. They have tanks; we don’t. We have spent decade after decade not achieving any progress with them. As a practical person, I’ve concluded that we ought to try something else.
Palestinians need to put in place a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest. We need to make sure that the Palestinian Authority properly criminalizes violence committed by Palestinians—just as Israel must end settler violence in the West Bank and respect that the lives of Palestinians are as sacred as the lives of Israelis. Both sides in this conflict need to gain control over their violent tendencies. And then our message to the Israelis will be: more for more. If we make you feel safer, if we build institutions that clamp down on violence effectively, that build a successful economy for Palestinians, that create stability and transparency, we expect from you more dignity, freedom, and trust.
The two-state solution feels impossible at this moment, so we need to build it step-by-step, offering more for more. Then we’ll be ready for the tough decisions. This needs to start at the top, which is why I care so much about changing the leadership. People need to see how trust can form. If I were the prime minister of the future state of Palestine, I would want the Israeli prime minister to be my best friend. I would have him and his family over for dinner and let them get to know my wife and kids. Mutual trust between the top leaders will help facilitate trust among the people.
Even today, after tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the past year, I still maintain that the majority of mainstream Palestinians and mainstream Israelis want to find a way out of this.
I recently decided to pursue a master’s degree in conflict resolution at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. Every Monday, when I show up for class, I get a vivid illustration of what the future could be. When I was younger, Hebrew University seemed off-limits to Palestinians; even just walking by the campus gates felt disloyal. But these days, the student population is nearly 20 percent Arab, and there are many young women wearing hijabs.
When I look at these students, I see that many of them, Israeli and Palestinian alike, wear nearly identical pendants depicting the same territory—between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—which each side claims in its entirety for their own people. (And I bet both pendants were made in the same factory in China.) But then they go to the same classes and listen to the same professors, and sometimes a professor will assign two Israeli students and two Palestinian students to the same research group, and those students, each with their own necklace, will work together. At this moment, their differences become irrelevant; they are just trying to get their studies done. And I promise you: They do not want to throw each other into the sea.
They wear those pendants because they are confused, because their political leaders have poisoned their minds. These young people, who know how to work so well together, who know how to give and take, already know how to be neighbors. They just need leadership that will reinforce the possibility. This leadership doesn’t exist now, and that is the real enemy for both Israelis and Palestinians.
This article appears in the December 2024 print edition with the headline “How to Build a Palestinian State.”
About the Author
Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. link

Amit Agrees, Netanyahu Opposes: Reactions to Herzog's Initiative for a State Inquiry Commission
Supreme Court President Justice Isaac Amit has agreed to President Isaac Herzog's proposal that, if a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7 is established, its composition will be determined in consultation with Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who is considered conservative and is expected to soon be appointed Deputy President of the Court. This was revealed today (Saturday).
The proposal arose during the first official joint meeting of the two: "The President shared with Justice Amit that since the disaster of October 7, thousands of citizens, including many bereaved families and families of hostages who met with him, have demanded and requested a thorough investigation of the terrible tragedy through an independent and impartial inquiry."
"Supreme Court President Amit expressed his agreement to this proposal out of a desire to reach a consensual path for establishing the commission of inquiry," stated a message from Herzog's office after Shabbat, detailing the proposal for appointing the commission's members. "President Herzog emphasized to Justice Amit his full confidence in him as head of the judiciary and his support for him."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the proposal, and those close to him were quick to reject it. "The public deserves a genuine and politically unbiased commission of inquiry, whose composition represents the majority of the people and which investigates everyone—without exception," they argued, referring to the procedure by which the commission's members are appointed by the Supreme Court President—as has been customary for years. "Unfortunately, this is not what is being proposed here."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also immediately distanced himself from the initiative: "The terrible disaster and its causes will be investigated after the war only by a commission that earns the trust of the majority of the people, not one appointed by a politically motivated Supreme Court President who was appointed by force and is not worthy of trust." MK Simcha Rothman joined in, adding: "The proposal is irrelevant."
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid expressed support: "President Herzog's proposal is balanced and measured, does not harm the authority of Justice Amit, and allows for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that will earn the trust of an overwhelming majority of the Israeli public." MK Benny Gantz welcomed it: "A state commission of inquiry is an urgent need for the unity of the people and the preservation of our security."
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attacked Netanyahu's opposition: "The President initiated a balanced and appropriate compromise for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, which will be the first step on the path to rehabilitating society, security, and leadership. We must all support it. Those who reject it seek to escape any investigation, accountability, and soul-searching."
The October 7 Council responded to the initiative. "We call on the Prime Minister to bring the proposal to a vote tomorrow at the government meeting," stated the council, which represents over 1,500 bereaved families, families of hostages, survivors of captivity, and survivors of the massacre. "The people of Israel deserve answers. We must do everything to draw the necessary lessons."
The Knesset Debate, the High Court Petition, and the Government's Response
Two weeks ago, a heated debate took place in the Knesset on the matter, during which bereaved families and families of hostages were forcibly removed. During the debate, Netanyahu briefly addressed the establishment of a commission: "We demand the establishment of an objective and balanced, independent commission of inquiry, not one whose conclusions are predetermined in one shade. How can such a thing be called balanced?"
Since October 7, several petitions have been filed against the state due to its refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry. Recently, the High Court granted the government an extension until early May to submit its position on the matter, following repeated objections and after the government held its first discussion on the issue, deciding to further delay the decision by three months. link. Of course Netanyahu rejects this proposal, even though it answers many of the things that he has publicly spoken against, such as the fact that he states the President of the Supreme Court, Amit is political and therefore can't be the one to set up and appoint members to the State Commission. So, Amit removes that stumbling block by saying that a known conservative judge can be the one to set up the commission and make the appointments. That will never satisfy Netanyahu for 2 main reasons. First is that he doesn't want any independent state commission of Inquiry because he won't have any control over it. Second is that he is only willing for there to be a Knesset committee of invironment which would come under the auspices of the Knesset, most likely the speaker of the Knesset and that means that the government has full control over that commission which is exactly what Netanyahu wants. This commission would only have the authority and mandate to investigate the areas it will be told to investigate and not touch others, such as the political echelon and Netanyahu wants to pin all blame. It would also not be able to recommend bringing people to trial or making them ineligible for further public or elected positions. It would be a joke and a whitewash of all the people who need to answer for what they did, number one being Netanyahu.

The Democrats leader Yair Golan: ‘We’ll force’ Netanyahu to hold elections
The Democrats chief Yair Golan says “we’ll force” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold elections.
“Only someone who’s afraid of elections runs away from the people,” he says while speaking at an anti-government protest on Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
“We’ll force you because it’s our country,” he says to the crowd of some 500 demonstrators. “We’ll force you because it’s our home.”
The next elections are scheduled for late 2026, but Netanyahu’s critics have demanded he dissolve the government over its failure to prevent the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.
Golan tells the crowd that Israel is in the throes of an “existential fight between Zionism and messianism” and is currently ruled by a government that is “neither Zionist nor democratic.” He assails the government’s campaigns to weaken the judiciary, formalize exemptions to mandatory military service for Haredi yeshiva students, and oust the attorney general and Shin Bet chief.
“We’re here because we’re committed to an equal draft, to ending the war, to dismantling the Hamas government and bring security to the citizens of Israel,” he says.
Golan, whose party is an alliance of two left-wing parties, makes no mention of Israeli-Palestinian peace.
During his speech, some protesters chant that Netanyahu is a “traitor.”
The rally also features speeches from former deputy attorney general Dina Zilber, actor Yossi Marshak, and prominent anti-government activist Shikma Bressler.
“The country is turning into a state of Netanyahu loyalists,” says Zilber, who frequently drew the ire of Netanyahu’s allies while in office. “They’ll get the opportunities and jobs, and leave the draft orders to us.”
“Government of horrors — your time is up,” adds Zilber. “We won’t let you write the end of Israeli democracy with our blood.”
As she speaks, the crowd chants: “It won’t end until Bibi is arrested,” using the premier’s nickname.
After the speeches, prominent anti-Netanyahu activist Moshe Radman announces that anti-government rallies will return next week to Kaplan Street, where mass weekly protests against the judicial overhaul were held in 2023 before the Gaza war.
“It took us another week,” says Radman, who made the same announcement last week. He adds that on Sunday, March 23, the protest movement will travel to Jerusalem in a massive car convoy.
The rally breaks up after Radman speaks, as the speakers blare upbeat protest songs. The protesters march to the Begin Road entrance of the IDF headquarters, where they will join anti-government hostage families at their weekly protest for a hostage deal.

The Region and the World
US official says strikes on Houthis to continue for days and possibly weeks
An unfolding US military campaign of strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis could last days and maybe weeks, a US official tells Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
US President Donald Trump announced the start of the operation earlier on Saturday, warning the Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping needed to stop, or “Hell will rain down upon you.”
Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, says the airstrikes won’t deter the Yemeni rebels and that they will retaliate against the US. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he adds on social media.
US strikes said to kill 31 across Yemen; Houthis vow response as Trump warns Iran
Trump says will hold Tehran accountable if US threatened; strikes represent biggest American military operation in Mideast since president took office, could last several weeks Full article

White House says ‘multiple’ Houthi leaders killed, Iran ‘on notice’
US strikes killed “multiple” Houthi leaders in Yemen, the White House says, adding that Iran was “put on notice” to stop backing the rebel group and its attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The airstrikes Saturday “actually targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out,” National Security Advisor Michael Waltz tells ABC News.
“We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough,” he says in a separate appearance on Fox News.

Air Force on high alert for Houthi missile, drone attacks on Israel
The Israeli Air Force is on heightened alert for potential missile and drone attacks by the Houthis in Yemen.
The level of alert was already raised by the IAF last week, after the Iran-backed group threatened to resume attacks on Israel.
The IAF continues to maintain readiness for potential Houthi attacks, as the US launched a major bombing campaign in Yemen last night.
Overnight, a missile was launched from Yemen, which landed in Egypt. The IDF is still investigating if the missile was aimed at Israel.
Turkey said to take in 15 exiled former Palestinian security prisoners
Some 15 exiled Palestinian prisoners recently released from Israeli prisons land in Turkey, reports the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed site, citing Egyptian sources.
The Qatari site reports that this week, Malaysia and Indonesia are both expected to receive 15 freed Palestinian prisoners as well.
The first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza saw Israel release some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including over 270 serving life terms in connection with the murders of dozens of Israelis.

Personal Stories
"Or Levi was released from captivity and told us things that truly uplifted us"

They were three childhood friends who studied together in high school, and now, in this war, they have become symbols of its bravery. Sergeant Ben Zussman fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, Aner Shapiro, who threw grenades out of the death shelter in Re'im until he was murdered, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who survived in Hamas captivity for nearly a year before being killed by his captors. Ido Solomon meets their mothers and brings new details about Hersh and the final moments of Aner, from the hostages who were with him.

The last thing Rachel, Sarit, and Shira thought was that they would ever return to the high school where their children studied and meet them at the memorial corner. Aner Shapiro, who was murdered in the shelter near Kibbutz Re'im, Ben Zussman, who was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped and murdered in Hamas captivity.

"It's sad," "They should be standing next to us," they say at the memorial corner. "I don't know any parent who would look at this and think, 'I love this,'" says Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh's mother. "It's terrible, and it's sickening for us to see this. It's just driving the knife deeper into a wound that is still bleeding, beautiful people."

"Inside, we are the worst we can be"
In the long months since October 7, their sons have become symbols of abandonment and heroism, and precisely in these days following the completion of the first phase of the hostage deal, while 59 living and dead Israelis are still held in the tunnels of Gaza, we must listen to the women who have paid the most painful price in this war.

How are you doing these days?
Sarit Zussman, Ben's mother: "The immediate answer is fine, but there are so many undercurrents that are much more complex than that."
Shira Shapiro, Aner's mother: "On a functional level, we are functioning. I am functioning, and I'm on steroids. But inside, it's the worst it can be. So it's like this dissonance—and it will accompany us, I suppose. Now it exists, and I suppose it will accompany us going forward."
Rachel: "I feel like this is the hardest question. I think we are all suffering to varying degrees, and we are all trying to figure out how to balance this new reality, and how you try to breathe when a part of you is missing."

"Many ask us, what did we take from Aner?"
Long before their sons became known in almost every household, they were their children—the eldest. Three young Jerusalemites who studied together in the same grade at the Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem.

"You know, I have this memory of the first time I met Aner," Rachel tells Shira. "He was sitting in Hersh's room, on Hersh's bed, and I walked into the room. And Hersh had been talking about Aner for a long time. He said, 'Look, this is Aner.' And I called him 'Honor' (honor in English). Which, of course, now... And I still think about it. I think about its meaning in English for me—he was the embodiment of honor. And I always felt that's what he was, honor.

"But what was so sweet was that he was a little boy, short, with blond-blond hair and stunning eyes, and when Hersh introduced me to him, he spoke to me in English because, he said, 'I know Hebrew is hard for you.' And he was around 10-11 years old, and I knew he was a special kid."
Sarit: "Aner was with us when he was young, and then Ben and Aner were a bit less in touch, and then I suddenly saw him at a bus stop, and I came home and said to Ben, 'Ben, I saw Aner, what is this? What a handsome guy?'"

Aner and Hersh grew up to be best friends. They arrived together at the Nova party and fled together when the rocket attacks began. They tried to take shelter in the small shelter near Kibbutz Re'im, only to find themselves under attack by a Hamas cell. In the car camera footage that documented those moments, you can see the grenades Aner throws out. But the eighth grenade, he didn't manage to catch.

Shira: "Many ask us, what did we take from Aner? I think it's to care about what's happening here. He cared deeply. You see it in how he lived, how he wrote, and how he chose to give his life. To care."
"I called Aner Honor in English," recounts Rachel.

"The three of them were our eldest sons"
A few minutes after Aner was killed, the terrorists entered the shelter and kidnapped five people from it: Raz Ben-Ari, Or Levy, and Eliya Cohen. Along with Alon Ohana and Hersh, who was severely injured and lost his hand. Ten months later, he was murdered along with the five hostages held with him in a narrow tunnel in Khan Younis.

Rachel: "Our three sons were our eldest sons, so they were the ones who turned us from people into mothers, into parents. And it changed our DNA, who we are, and how we navigate our life paths."
Shira: "They changed us twice... from being a mother to being a bereaved mother. Although I often refer to myself as an orphaned mother."

On October 7, Ben Zussman was a discharged soldier, a combat engineer who enlisted himself into the reserves and joined the fighting, until he fell in battle in December 2023.

He fell in battle in December 2023, Reserve Staff Sergeant Ben Zussman z"ll

"He went out to defend our beautiful land of Israel"
"Our leaders must be worthy of us," Sarit said at his funeral. "If our soldiers managed to put themselves aside and put the people at the center, our leaders should do the same. Leaders who don't understand this, leaders who walk around with arrogance, should make way for those who do know what to do."
"What they did was incredible". Sarit Zussman, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Shira Shapira

The three sons died as heroes, and I'm sure everyone, including you, wants to believe they did not die in vain. When you look at it today, at this point in time, how do you see it?
Sarit: "Wow, what a question. I am outraged by this question. How in vain? We are still in the middle of this campaign. True, we haven't reached our goals, we still have brothers and sisters in captivity, and Hamas has not been completely defeated. But still, hostages have returned home, Hamas is beginning to collapse. The fact that Ben fell doesn't change that fact—he didn't go out in vain, he went out to defend the people of Israel and our beautiful land."
Shira: "I want to tell you that, for me, I see that the things Aner did are probably still very, very relevant because I see that many people are responding to them. The vast majority, I'm sure, of the people who aren't here, people want to continue them."
Sarit: "There are so many civilian initiatives that want to take and learn from them and continue them."
Shira: "And he continues on."
Rachel: "I'm not even sure that any person who was born and lived died in vain. Even if they lived only one day. I remember at Hersh's bar mitzvah, I told him, 'The most important thing I wish for you is a life full of meaning.' And what I understood is that Hersh had a life full of meaning, and Aner and Ben had lives full of meaning because of the things we are doing now. It brings so much more meaning because they lived. So their lives will never be in vain, or lost in vain."

"I felt like I was witnessing a miracle"
In the past two months, they also watched the release of the hostages with bated breath. But beyond the general relief for the people who emerged from hell and returned home, for Rachel and Shira, it was also an opportunity to meet and hear from those who were with their sons in their final moments. Or Levy and Eliya Cohen, who were kidnapped from the shelter where they hid with Hersh and Aner, and were also held in captivity for several days with Hersh—and with Eli Sharabi.

Rachel: "It was unbelievable in the good sense. Honestly, we had the privilege of meeting and talking with Or, and he is such a beautiful person, and a strong person. And he shared with us many things that gave us a completely new perspective and information, and also comfort that we didn't have, and it helped us. And on the other hand, it's also, of course, confusing to process that it will never be Hersh coming home like this."
Shira: "I think this was one of the most emotional moments since October 7. As soon as he was released, he said he wanted to meet us. And we came, and when I saw him, I just said the blessing of 'Shehecheyanu.' I can't even describe how much excitement I felt at that moment, and we hugged him. And you feel like you're hugging... a skeleton.

"But then you sit with him, and you see the strength of this person. I felt like I was witnessing a miracle. I've never been at the splitting of the Red Sea or seen an open miracle before my eyes like when I saw him. I was so excited. He is so amazing. And he told us things that truly uplifted us."
"He gave us comfort." Or Levy after his release in Hostages Square.

Something new you didn't know before?
Shira: "He told us what happened after Aner fell, gave his life, I don't know... They said, 'Our shield is gone, our shield is gone.' And they understood that now there was no one to throw the grenades, and they had to continue.

"Aner told them, 'If I get injured or I miss, then continue after me.' And Or said that because Aner said, 'Eyes on the ground and don't miss,' and told them what to do, and he saw what Aner was doing, he just had the strength, and he also threw the grenade.

"He told us, 'I'm a desk guy, I've never seen a grenade in my life, and I just threw the grenade because Aner not only saved me when he did it, he also gave me the strength to do it.'"

Held together in Hamas captivity
When Eli Sharabi was interviewed on Uvda, we learned that Hersh, despite his young age, was the one who found a way to strengthen the other hostages, in part through the phrase, 'When there is a why, you can always find the how,' which was central to the book by Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. And it turns out Rachel had heard this story earlier, in a meeting with Or.

Rachel: "At some point, there were seven of them held together, and Hersh repeated this phrase to each of them. And each of them tried to figure out, what is my 'why'? Or what is my 'what.' And for Or, it was his son. For each of them, it was something different. When Hersh was taken from that tunnel, for the rest of the time they were together, Eliya, Or, Alon, and Eli, they repeated this every day for the next 440 days. They would say it every day until the day he (Or) was released. So it was an amazing thing to hear."

Did you know this was something Hersh carried with him, this phrase, this philosophy?
"Hersh always read, he was an avid reader. Mostly philosophy. And the Holocaust, in particular, really fascinated him. I don't remember us ever talking about it. He read it at some point, and it left a deep impression on him, so when he was in a situation where what they were going through was a kind of Holocaust, and what they are still going through at this moment, as we sit in this library, right at this moment. Still a kind of Holocaust. And he said that Hersh was the one who told them who Aner was. They didn't know who he was.

"He said they realized they were together in the shelter, and they were together in the truck, and Or said to Hersh, 'Who was that hero? Who was that amazing soldier?' And Hersh said, 'That was Aner Shapiro, that's who I was with at the party.' So it was really an amazing moment, that they all talked about this man. This young man. For weeks and weeks and weeks—and finally, he had a name.

"In so many ways, Or gave us an indescribable gift. He is the last living person who hugged Hersh. Because when he said that when they realized who they were, that they were together in the truck, he said they jumped on each other and hugged. And when I hugged Or, it was Hersh's last whisper. And it was a gift."
She heard from Or Levy about her son. Hersh Goldberg-Polin z"l and Rachel, his mother

"It's a tactic meant to divide us"
Since October 7, the three of them have been trying, each in their own way, to fight for repair and healing. For Sarit and Shira, it's mostly behind-the-scenes work. And in Rachel's case, also active participation in the struggle for the release of the hostages.

Can you understand how the issue of the hostages has become a political issue?
Rachel: "I think it's so obvious that this is not a political issue. When someone turns it into a political issue, then you know for sure that it's a tactic meant to divide us."
Sarit: "Returning our brothers and sisters—this is not something that politics can be tied to. It's in the values of our Judaism, it's in the values of our humanism. It's the most basic thing here. Anyone who has had a family member or close friend kidnapped, the most basic thing is to try to fix that."
Shira: "I can't relate to anything related to questions about leadership or politics. I chose to dedicate myself... I work for the state, I work for the public, I can read a text by Aner exactly about this," she says and reads:

"Don't let the flames of hatred blur what is clear. There are differences and there are hard disagreements, but not something that justifies burning entire communities. This categorization is just a means of controlling us. Don't let the haters control the shaping of our consciousness, they really don't."

"Think about it," says Shira.

"The mission is to repair"
When you see the treatment that families of hostages receive in the Knesset, how do you explain it?
Rachel: "I felt like I was being asked, while being stabbed, not to scream, because my screams make people feel uncomfortable. And I asked someone in a position of power, at some point, when will I be allowed to scream while being raped? And I think it makes people uncomfortable. So I don't justify it. But I try to find meaning in it. Because I think that as a human response, sometimes we all... when you see something terrible, you cover your eyes or block your ears. We don't want to hear it. It hurts too much. And I wonder if some of this behavior is their response to seeing such tangible suffering, chilling pain, and existential anxiety."
Sarit: "The question is whether leaders have the privilege to cover their eyes and ears."
Rachel: "They shouldn't have that privilege. But we forget that these leaders are just like us, and they are only human. They don't have a cape, and they're not superheroes."
Sarit: "I expect our leadership to be worthy of the Israeli spirit, of this wonderful people, and of what has happened here since October 7. I don't always see that. We're not there yet."
Rachel: "I think we are in a period that is confusing and painful. But we just got 33 of our people back—we must continue. The place we are in right now is a very complex place, and anyone who tries to pretend otherwise is pretending."
Sarit: "I think the bad situation was October 7. It was bad, period. And now, the mission is to repair. It's something we talk about, but is it a bad deal? What happened then was very bad, and now bringing our brothers and sisters back here is good."
Rachel: "True."
Sarit: "There is one enemy and one bad thing that happened, and we are here fixing it. Aner tried to fix it with his hands, Hersh fixed it with his words and his steadfastness, and Ben left the house to try to fix this thing. And all of us, this is what we need to do, to fix what was, and the aspiration is truly for good."  link

Testimonies from Captivity by Returned Hostages

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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Lonny's Ramblings

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 527, 2023 - March 16, 2025 🎗️

🎗️Day 527 that 59 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!

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

*

Gaza and the South

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

The Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police say they foiled a plot by an Arab Israeli to carry out a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

According to the joint statement, the suspect, identified as Uday Mobarsham, a resident of the village of Makr in the north, was detained in February after he purchased a homemade rifle and began training with it.

During his interrogation, he said he planned to open fire on police officers or Jewish Israelis near the Old City’s Damascus Gate.

“Foiling this attack was significant, given that we assess that if his plan had been carried out during Ramadan it could have undermined the quiet and led to a dangerous escalation in the Jerusalem area during a period of high security tensions,” a Shin Bet source says.

Politics and the War (general news)

The contours are not hard to imagine, but many obstacles stand in the way. I see four main ones, two within our own societies and two from the outside.

All of this is impossible while Netanyahu and Abbas remain in power, which is why they are the biggest internal obstacles. But there are also two external ones.

Palestinians need a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest.

Even today, after tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the past year, I still maintain that the majority of mainstream Palestinians and mainstream Israelis want to find a way out of this.

This article appears in the December 2024 print edition with the headline “How to Build a Palestinian State.”

About the Author

Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. link

The Knesset Debate, the High Court Petition, and the Government's Response

Testimonies from Captivity by Returned Hostages

Acronyms and Glossary

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

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

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

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

Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58
Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social

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🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 260, 2023 - June 22, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 361, 2023 - October 1, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 239, 2023 - June 1, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 527, 2023 - March 16, 2025 🎗️

🎗️Day 527 that 59 of our hostages in Hamas captivity**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

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

*

Gaza and the South

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

The Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police say they foiled a plot by an Arab Israeli to carry out a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

According to the joint statement, the suspect, identified as Uday Mobarsham, a resident of the village of Makr in the north, was detained in February after he purchased a homemade rifle and began training with it.

During his interrogation, he said he planned to open fire on police officers or Jewish Israelis near the Old City’s Damascus Gate.

“Foiling this attack was significant, given that we assess that if his plan had been carried out during Ramadan it could have undermined the quiet and led to a dangerous escalation in the Jerusalem area during a period of high security tensions,” a Shin Bet source says.

Politics and the War (general news)

The contours are not hard to imagine, but many obstacles stand in the way. I see four main ones, two within our own societies and two from the outside.

All of this is impossible while Netanyahu and Abbas remain in power, which is why they are the biggest internal obstacles. But there are also two external ones.

Palestinians need a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest.

Even today, after tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the past year, I still maintain that the majority of mainstream Palestinians and mainstream Israelis want to find a way out of this.

This article appears in the December 2024 print edition with the headline “How to Build a Palestinian State.”

About the Author

Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. link

**The Knesset Debate, the High Court Petition, and the Government's Response**

Testimonies from Captivity by Returned Hostages

Acronyms and Glossary

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

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

Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0 Twitter - @LonnyB58 Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 260, 2023 - June 22, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 361, 2023 - October 1, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 239, 2023 - June 1, 2024 🎗️

🎗️Day 527 that 59 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!
‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

The Knesset Debate, the High Court Petition, and the Government's Response

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

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58
Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social