🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 556, 2023

🎗️Day 556 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

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

*4:00pm yesterday- Gaza envelope- rockets- Kibbutz Re’im - 1 rocket launched from Khan Younis area in Gaza intercepted
6:15pm yesterday - Jerusalem and Gush Dan areas - 2 Ballistic missiles launched from Yemen - Intercepted
There are no reports of injuries or major damage. Shrapnel reportedly fell in the Hebron area in the West Bank.

Hostage Updates

Hostage Edan Alexander’s family okays publication of Hamas propaganda video

Hostage soldier Edan Alexander is seen in a propaganda video released by the Hamas terror group on April 12, 2025. (Courtesy)
The family of Edan Alexander permits the publication of a Hamas propaganda video showing signs of life from the hostage soldier who has been held by the terror group since the October 7, 2023, onslaught.
The video was released by Hamas yesterday.
“Tell me why, why am I not home with my friends, with my family?” Alexander says.
“President Trump, I really believed you would succeed in getting me out of here alive. Why did you fall for Netanyahu’s lies,” he says, in a statement almost certainly dictated by his captors in the Gaza Strip.
The three-minute-long video is not dated, though Alexander states that he has been held for 551 days, indicating it was filmed very recently.
Alexander, a US citizen, is a soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7 when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists.
It is the second video of Alexander published by Hamas. In November, Hamas released the first video of the hostage soldier.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare. Link All of the latest sign of life videos from the living hostages still being held in Hamas Hell and the hostage families all turn to Trump and not to Netanyahu or our government because they all know that Netanyahu has no interests in making a deal to get the hostages home. It is known and understand that the only person who could possibly apply the necessary pressure to force Netanyahu to make a deal is Trump. Trump will only do so if it's in his interests. We are in a horrendous situation where we are dependent on an unstable American president to see the release of the hostages and the end of the war as being in his interests in order to get him to pressure our prime minister, who should see the return of the hostages as his primary job, to agree to a deal to bring home all of the hostages even if it means ending the war.
Edan Alexander’s parents: ‘He moved alone to Israel to enlist and now Israel is leaving him alone’

Yael and Adi Alexander, the parents of hostage soldier Edan Alexander, outside the White House on July 25, 2024, in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP)
Yael and Adi Alexander, the parents of hostage Edan Alexander, put out a statement after permitting the publication of a Hamas propaganda video.
“Our son Idan left everything, his friends, the [university] studies he could have started, the comfortable life he had in the US, and us — his nuclear family, to moved alone to the Land of Israel to enlist in Golani in order to defend the country he loves and its residents,” they say.
“This was also the case on October 7 when he was left alone one base and tried to defend the communities of [the Gaza] envelope from Hamas terrorists,” Alexander’s parents continue. “Now the State of Israel is leaving him and all the hostages alone, alone in the tunnels, alone in the hands of the enemy.”
They say the video shows the hardship their son is going through, as well as “the fear, the despair.”
“Five hundred and fifty five days, already more than a year and a half, and the State of Israel and its leaders could celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom and exodus from Egypt, and our son is still there,” they say. “It’s inconceivable that our country is not doing everything to return our Idan, a young man with ethics and love for the country and people.”
They also appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, chief hostage negotiator Ron Dermer and IDF chief Eyal Zamir: “You are responsible for Idan’s security and its your responsibility to bring him back. Idan did everything for Israel, now Israel needs to everything for him.”
Zamir tells troops that returning all the hostages is ‘supreme task’ of IDF
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with (L-R) former hostage soldier Naama Levy, her brother Amit, and May Mayer, the cousin of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir spent his Passover Seder with the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit at the Mevo Dotan post in the West Bank, where he told troops that returning all the hostages is the military’s “supreme task.”
“We remember our hostages well, 59 hostages, who are still in Gaza. Bringing them back is our supreme task, and everything we are doing in Gaza is to release the hostages and defeat Hamas,” Zamir says, according to remarks published by the IDF.
Zamir brought along with him the “Freedom Haggadah” — produced by the Hostage Families Forum — presented to him by former hostage soldier Naama Levy on Friday.
Northern Command chief, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin spent his Seder night with the Kfir Brigade’s Duchifat Battalion at the Dovev post in northern Israel and with residents of Kibbutz Sasa; Southern Command chief, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor was with the Givati Brigade in Rafah; and Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth was with the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion in the Hebron area.
Hamas said willing to free a larger number of hostages under potential deal
Egyptian plan would reportedly include Cairo overseeing Hamas demilitarization, with US said to promise terror group a commitment Israel will join talks on ending war

Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza and their supporters protest outside the home of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Jerusalem on April 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Hamas is willing to release a greater number of hostages under a new truce proposal that it had previously agreed to, with the US reportedly telling the terror group it will pressure Israel into entering talks to end the war, the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel reported Sunday night.

Talks have reportedly been deadlocked over Israel’s demand that the terror group free 11 of the hostages in exchange for an extended ceasefire while Hamas has offered to release five. According to reports over the weekend, in its latest proposal Israel has expressed readiness to lower the number of hostages released.

The Al-Arabiya report, citing unnamed sources, said that the drafting of the new deal is in its final stages and that Hamas has given an initial agreement to raise the number of hostages to be freed. The report did not detail the number of hostages that would potentially be released.

If a deal is reached under the proposed draft, hostages will be released in two stages alongside agreements on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, the report said.

The report also said that while the US has told Hamas it will pressure Israel into entering talks to end the fighting, discussions on whether leaders from the terror group will be permitted to stay in Gaza have been postponed to a later time.

The Saudi outlet also said that under the potential agreement, medical reports will be provided by the terrorists on the conditions of the remaining hostages.

Families of hostages held in Gaza and their supporters demonstrate for their release during a march to the home of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, head of the hostage negotiation team, in Jerusalem, on April 13, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Israel has been waiting for a response to its latest proposal for a ceasefire-hostage release deal after a delegation from the terror group arrived in Cairo over the weekend. The US is seeking to pressure the sides to move forward, according to reports in Israeli media outlets.

The Haaretz daily, citing Palestinian sources involved in the talks, reported Sunday night that Cairo and Doha are working with the US toward a potential additional stage of the ceasefire-hostage release deal reached in January that would also include talks to end the 18-month war.
The report also claimed Egypt has put forward a proposal under which Hamas would demilitarize under Cairo’s supervision as part of a permanent ceasefire deal.

Hamas, the report said, is lowering expectations for results in the current round of negotiations, but believes there is an opportunity to reach a ceasefire deal before mid-May, when US President Donald Trump is slated to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

Meanwhile, a report in the Ynet news site Sunday said that Israel was waiting for a response from the terror group to a proposal to release nine or 10 living hostages — including US-Israeli Edan Alexander, who was featured in a Hamas propaganda video released Saturday — slightly down from Israel’s earlier demand that 11 hostages be freed in any next stage.

The Ynet report said, without citing sources, that the US has promised Hamas that if it agrees to free more than eight hostages, it will provide the group with a commitment that Israel will enter talks aimed at ending the ongoing war.

A woman walks past a poster depicting hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv on April 6, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A Hamas official told AFP on Friday that it hoped its delegation in Cairo, headed by the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, would lead to “real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza.”

In a statement Sunday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that during a conversation between the premier and the family of hostage Eitan Mor, he stressed that efforts to free those held captive by Hamas are continuing “at this very moment.”

The Hebrew media reports echoed reporting from The Times of Israel on Friday, citing two officials familiar with the talks who said Israel had come down slightly from its earlier demand that 11 living hostages be released in order to revive the ceasefire deal, and would instead agree to the release of eight.

After meeting with Trump last week in Washington, Netanyahu agreed to soften his demands, the two officials said.

Last month, Israel demanded the release of 11 living hostages in exchange for restoring the ceasefire. Hamas said it was only willing to release five living hostages. For several weeks, both sides refused to compromise further, and the talks remained at an impasse as Israel expanded its military campaign throughout the Gaza Strip, which it resumed on March 18.

On Thursday, Israel submitted to Egyptian mediators its response to Cairo’s latest proposal, the officials told The Times of Israel, and is demanding that the living hostages be freed during the first two weeks of a 45-day ceasefire, rejecting previous Hamas demands that the releases take place periodically during the duration of the truce.

People stand amid the rubble of a destroyed building at the Jabalia camp for displaced Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on April 8, 2025. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Moreover, the Israeli proposal seeks to lower the ratio of Palestinian prisoners — including those serving life sentences — who will be released for each hostage, one of the officials said. In addition, the latest Israeli response seeks the release of 16 bodies of Israelis still held in Gaza, while offering to release the bodies of Gazans held by Israel in exchange.

Israel would also agree to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza and withdraw its troops to where they were positioned in the Strip before it resumed fighting on March 18 and recaptured swaths of the enclave.

In its response, Israel agreed to hold negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire once the truce has been restored, said the two officials.

While Israel signed onto the phased framework that went into place in January, Netanyahu has long insisted that he would not agree to a permanent ceasefire nor a full withdrawal of Israeli forces until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been fully dismantled.

Accordingly, he largely refused to even hold negotiations regarding the exact terms of phase two, which the deal stipulated were supposed to have started on February 3. Instead, he has sought to extend the first phase of the deal through proposals that would see the release of additional hostages while still allowing Israel to resume fighting against Hamas.

The premier is backed by many of his hardline coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he agrees to end the war.
However, successive polls have indicated that the government is out of step with a majority of Israelis who back ending the war started with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack in exchange for the release of all 59 remaining hostages, only 24 of whom are still believed to be alive. link No, this is not a good deal. It is a horrible deal and it on Netanyahu. The disgraced criminal Netanyahu should be making one deal and only one deal, to get all the hostages home even that it means ending the war that he wants to go on indefinitely. Hamas would make that deal in a minute but Netanyahu cares only about himself and his personal political future and has no problem letting all the hostages die.
Hamas asks for more time to respond to latest truce proposal
Hamas has asked for more time to respond to the latest hostage-truce proposal, an Egyptian source tells Reuters.

Sources say a Hamas delegation led by the group’s Gaza Chief Khalil Al-Hayya has rejected an effort to restore the previous ceasefire agreement, saying that any agreement must lead to an end to the war in Gaza.

However, Hamas has shown some flexibility over how many hostages it could free in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel should a truce be extended, but aksked for more time to consider the offer.

“Hamas has no problem, but it wants guarantees Israel agrees to begin the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement” leading to an end to the war, the Egyptian source said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told hostage families that Israel was working on a deal to have 10 hostages freed in exchange for extending a truce.
Hamas says will free all hostages if end to Gaza war guaranteed
A senior Hamas official says that the Palestinian terror group is prepared to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza.
Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar — two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire.
“We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,” Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, tells AFP.
However, he accuses Israel of obstructing progress toward a ceasefire.
“The issue is not the number of captives,” Nunu says, “but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war.”
“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation [Israel] to uphold the agreement,” he adds.
Reports today say that a new proposal had been put to Hamas.
Under the deal, the group would release 10 living hostages in exchange for US guarantees that Israel would enter negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.
Hostages and Missing Families Forum urges PM to reach deal for all hostages, not just 10
Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza and supporters protest for the release of hostages, outside the home of Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, in Jerusalem, on April 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Responding to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling the parents of a hostage that he is working on a deal that would see 10 live hostages freed, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urges him to reach an agreement that would see all the remaining hostages freed.
“While the families wait hopefully and would welcome the release of any hostage from Hamas captivity, we continue to call for a comprehensive deal that will return ALL hostages immediately,” the Forum says in a statement.
“Every additional day in captivity endangers the lives of those still being held by Hamas terrorists, who are subjecting them to horrific conditions including starvation, physical abuse, and confinement in darkness,” the Forum says.
“We urge the obvious, possible, and appropriate solution: end the war and return all the hostages, the living and the dead, immediately,” it says.
Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, only 24 of whom are still believed to be alive. link Netanyahu should be embarrassed beyond belief to even speak to the hostage families about a deal to release just 10 hostages, but unfortunately, he is incapable of embarrassment because he is devoid of a heart and a soul and is willing to go to the deepest depths of depravity, all to keep himself prime minister. Everyone, including all of the security heads know without a doubt that Netanyahu is the one blocking any deal to bring home all of the hostages and that his reasons for doing it have nothing to do with the security of the country, but have everything to do with his own personal interests. Hamas, once again has declared that they are fully willing to release all of the hostages if we will end the war. Yes, Hamas is a barbaric terrorist organization and the price to be paid is high but it is the necessary price to bring home the hostages and allow the nation to begin the healing process. We cannot begin to heal until all the hostages are home.
#BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!

Ex-Mossad members, paratroopers, medics join call for hostage deal even if it ends war
3 former security service leaders join wave of statements started by pilots’ letter calling to prioritize captives over fighting: ‘Every day that passes puts their lives at risk’

Demonstrators gather with placards during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of hostages held captive since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Gazan Palestinian terrorists, outside the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, on April 5, 2025. (Hazem Bader / AFP)

Former Mossad members, along with ex-IDF paratroopers, doctors and graduates of an elite military program were the latest to throw their support behind a letter signed by air force veterans and reservists, which called for the government to prioritize the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, even at the cost of ending the war.

The over-250 signatories to the Mossad letter released Sunday, which was organized by former top hostage negotiator David Meidan, included former chiefs of the security service Danny Yatom, Efraim Halevy and Tamir Pardo.

“We believe the continuation of the fighting endangers the lives of the hostages and our soldiers, and that all options to reach a deal that will bring an end to the suffering must be exhausted,” the letter stated. “We call on the government to make brave decisions and act responsibly for the security of the country and its citizens.”

The former Mossad leaders and employees expressed “full support” for the air force veterans’ letter, saying that it echoes their “deep concern for the future of the country.”

“Every day that passes puts their lives at risk, every additional moment of hesitation is a disgrace,” it added.

Meanwhile, over 1,600 former IDF paratroopers and infantry soldiers, including some still serving as reservists, signed a letter demanding the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home, even if it means ending the war, the Ynet news site reported.

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo addresses a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on March 18, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

“We, the fighters and commanders of the paratroopers and infantry units, whose flag bears the words: ‘We do not leave wounded behind on the battlefield,’ call for the return of the hostages, even at the cost of halting the fighting. This is a call to save lives,” the letter stated.

A group of some 200 reservist doctors also signed a similar letter on Sunday.

Like the other statements, it did not include a call to halt reserve service in protest of the impasse in hostage release talks.

In a newly published statement on Monday, graduates of the IDF’s prestigious Talpiot program said they too support the letter signed by air force reservists and veterans, and denounced the government’s war policy as serving “political and personal interests” rather than security needs.

“The continuation of the war does not contribute to any of its stated goals,” the letter stated, warning it will only lead to more deaths — including hostages, IDF soldiers, and innocent civilians — and the erosion of Israel’s reserve forces.

The signatories urged the public to demand action and condemn efforts to silence dissenting voices.

Talpiot is an elite IDF training program for soldiers who have demonstrated academic excellence in the sciences. The soldiers pursue academic degrees in physics, math, or computer science while serving in the IDF.

Families of hostages held in Gaza and their supporters demonstrate for their release during a march to the home of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, head of the hostage negotiation team, in Jerusalem, on April 13, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Multiple statements of support have followed the initial pilots’ letter, which prompted the military to dismiss signatories still actively serving with the claim that they were using the “Israeli Air Force brand” in a political protest.

“The continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war, and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF soldiers and innocent civilians,” read the original air force letter, which was published as an ad in several Israeli newspapers.

“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement [with the Hamas terror group] can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers,” it added. “We call on all citizens of Israel to mobilize for action.”

The letter did not call for a general refusal to serve, as had been previously reported.

After the IDF moved to dismiss all active air force reservists who signed the letter last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the decision in a statement, in which he falsely claimed that they had refused to serve.

“Refusal to serve is refusal to serve, even if it’s only hinted at in whitewashed language,” he said. “Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies in a time of war are unforgivable.”

That letter had some 1,000 signatures, but the military said that only 60 of those who signed it were active reservists. Among those, only a handful were competent pilots, while the rest have been serving in headquarters roles, according to an IDF examination of the signatories.

Netanyahu called the signatories “a group of fringe extremists who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within. They tried to do it before October 7 and Hamas interpreted the refusal calls as a weakness.”

Amid the mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plan in 2023, several groups of reservists, including in the IAF, issued statements saying they would refuse to serve if the country became a regime they no longer viewed as democratic. The IDF has said, however, that Hamas had planned the attack at least a year in advance.

Netanyahu accused the signatories of “acting toward one goal — bringing down the government. They don’t represent the soldiers or the public.”

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, March 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military recently dismissed at least two reservist officers for refusing to serve, including Air Force combat navigator Alon Gur, who said he told his superiors that “a line was crossed” and the government was “again abandoning its citizens in broad daylight.”

According to reports, those incidents were seen by the IDF as isolated cases, but a number of senior IDF officials were reportedly concerned that refusal to serve could become a larger phenomenon among reservists.

At the height of the 2023 protests against the judicial overhaul, hundreds of IDF reservists signed declarations saying they would no longer show up for reserve duty to protest the government advancing its plans to curtail the judiciary.

However, when war erupted in Gaza with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and massacres, nearly 300,000 reservists showed up for duty, marking the largest-ever call-up of reservists in Israel’s history.

Demonstrators spark outrage with pita bread protest outside home of minister on Passover
A protest made out of pita bread outside the house of Environment Minister Idit Silman on the festival of Passover on April 14, 2025 (Idit Silman/X)
Anti-government demonstrators spark outrage when they form a sign made of pita bread outside the home of Environment Minister Idit Silman. The incident comes on the festival of Passover, when it is forbidden for observant Jews to eat leavened bread.
The demonstrators spell out the word “one pita a day,” with the pitas, a reference to the meagre rations that hostages reported receiving in Gaza.
Silman helped bring down the government of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, when she resigned as an MK, citing in part the issue of leavened goods, or hametz, in public spaces during the Passover holiday.
She later joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party where she was rewarded with a post of minister.
Silman slams the demonstrators, calling them scum.
“Passover. A street where most people are religious and traditional. These scum come to scatter pitas on the street,” she posts on X with a picture of the offending protest.
“It’s not for the sake of the hostages. It’s not for democracy. It’s not even for politics,” she says. “It’s just because they are disgusting types, who have no basic human values. No concern for others, no respect for Judaism, and no civility. Absolute nothings.”
Other ministers also condemn the incident.
“The despicable display by provocateurs the home of Minister Idit Silman deserves to be denounced and and condemned by all national leaders,” says Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of the Shas party.
“It does not represent the families of the hostages. It is a provocation that wastes food, desecrates the sanctity of Passover, and does not inspire any solidarity. The entire nation despises you,” he says.

Gaza and the South

IDF says troops destroyed 1.2 kilometer tunnel in northern Gaza

The entrance to a Hamas tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published on April 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
A 1.2-kilometer-long tunnel was recently destroyed by IDF troops during operations in the northern Gaza Strip, the military says.
The tunnel was located by the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, which is operating under the 252nd Division in north Gaza.
Soldiers of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit demolished the tunnel, which reached depths of some 20 meters below the ground, according to the IDF.
The IDF says the Northern Brigade troops also located a nearby weapons depot where some 20 explosive devices, an anti-tank launcher, and other weapons were stored.
Also, during operations in the area, the military says troops using a drone spotted a cell of terror operatives trying to plant a bomb in the ground near the forces. An Israeli Air Force drone struck and killed the operatives a short while later.  2 videos
Following the rocket fire towards Re'im: The IDF issues evacuation notices for neighborhoods in southern Khan Younis
One rocket was launched at the Gaza periphery—the fifth in the past two days—amid the expansion of ground operations in the Strip. This comes after the IDF announced the encirclement of Rafah and the complete takeover of the Philadelphi Corridor. 20 meters underground: Footage reveals the longest tunnel uncovered in northern Gaza. All updates.
The IDF today (Sunday) issued evacuation notices for neighborhoods in southern Khan Younis following rocket fire. This marks the fifth rocket launched from the Gaza Strip since yesterday morning, as IDF forces advance and expand ground operations in the area.
Over the past two days, rocket fire toward the Gaza periphery has intensified. This afternoon, sirens sounded in Re'im after a single rocket was launched and intercepted. Yesterday evening, another rocket was intercepted, and three more were shot down earlier in the afternoon.

Today, the IDF reported the destruction of a 1.2-kilometer underground route in northern Gaza, located approximately 20 meters below ground. During the operation, terrorists attempted to plant an explosive near IDF troops but were identified and struck by aircraft.
The IDF stated that over the past 48 hours, it has struck more than 90 terror targets in Gaza, including the launch site used for yesterday’s rocket attacks, weapons storage facilities, terrorist squads, and terror infrastructure.
Overnight, according to an IDF statement, forces also targeted a Hamas command-and-control center in the Daraj Tuffah area of southern Gaza, which served as a terror hub for militant activity. The compound housed explosives and other weaponry.
Earlier, the IDF announced it had struck the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City overnight. Arab media reported that the attack damaged the hospital’s emergency unit and a facility storing medical oxygen for intensive care patients.
The IDF Spokesperson stated that the hospital complex had been used by Hamas "to plan and execute terror operations against IDF forces and Israeli civilians." He added, "Precautions were taken before the strike to minimize harm to civilians and the hospital."
Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor (Photo: Google Maps)

IDF: "We have completed the encirclement of Rafah and the capture of the Philadelphi Corridor"
Meanwhile, IDF ground operations continue across the Strip. The 36th Division is operating in the Rafah area and along the Philadelphi Corridor, while the 252nd Reserve Division is active in northern Gaza, and the Gaza Division is operating in the Tel Sultan sector.
Earlier today, the IDF and Shin Bet struck a Hamas command-and-control center in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza—the second such strike within hours. According to the IDF, "numerous Hamas operatives were active in the compound at the time of the strike."

IDF: Rafah fully encircled
Yesterday, the IDF announced it had completed the encirclement of Rafah and secured the Philadelphi Corridor, effectively splitting southern Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis. The military had not previously operated across the entire area, and assessments indicate that tunnels remain active there.
According to the IDF, the expanded ground operations have resulted in the elimination of dozens of terrorists and the destruction of terror infrastructure. "The IDF will continue to solidify control over key routes and conduct operations to neutralize terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area," the military stated.  link
IDF says more than 90 targets struck in Gaza over past two days
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo issued on April 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Over 90 targets were struck in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, the military says.
Among the targets was a Hamas command center in the area of the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah. The IDF says the site included a weapons depot used to store explosives that Hamas operatives used in attacks on troops.
The other targets included a rocket launching site used to fire a projectile at southern Israel last night, weapon depots, cells of operatives, and other Hamas infrastructure, the military says.
The strikes come as troops continue ground operations in Gaza.
The 36th Division destroyed weapons and other Hamas infrastructure and directed strikes on Hamas operatives in the Morag Corridor area, the IDF says.
The IDF says the Gaza Division located additional weapons and infrastructure and killed operatives in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood.
In northern Gaza, the military says the 252nd Division destroyed additional Hamas infrastructure, including tunnel shafts and buildings used by the terror group, and killed several operatives trying to plant a bomb.
IDF says strike on car in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah targeted Hamas sniper
Earlier today, the IDF says it carried out an airstrike on a car in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, killing a Hamas operative.
The strike had targeted Ubayd Allah Na’im al-Hadhud Musa, who the military identifies as the deputy commander of a Hamas sniper cell.
According to Palestinian media, seven people were killed in the strike.
The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using “precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
IDF issues evacuation warning for Khan Younis area after latest Gaza rocket fire
Following rocket fire from the southern Gaza Strip at the Re’im area near the border, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Khan Younis area.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.
One rocket fired at Re’im was intercepted, according to the military. Over the past day, five rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel.
Katz: IDF will intensify Gaza ops if Hamas refuses ‘to return to framework of a hostage release’
Defense Minister Israel Katz again warns Hamas that if it refuses to agree to a hostage deal, the IDF’s offensive in Gaza will intensify.
“Hundreds of thousands of [Palestinian] residents have already evacuated and tens of percent of Gaza’s territory has become part of Israel’s security areas,” Katz says in a statement, referring to the IDF’s buffer zone on the Gaza border.
“The main goal is to exert heavy pressure on Hamas for it to return to the framework of a hostage release. As long as Hamas persists in its refusal, the IDF activity will intensify,” he adds. link Katz, as the mouthpiece of his boss tries to get us to believe what we know is a lie. Hamas will not change their demands to end the war and will not capitulate due to increased military pressure. Their demands for releasing all the hostages have not changed one iota since the beginning of the war and will not change even if they are on their dying breath. When Gilad Schalit was in Hamas captivity, their demand at the beginning of his captivity was exactly the same as the deal that was finally made when he was released 5 years and 4 months later. Netanyahu knows this as he is the same prime minister who finally agreed to the Schalit deal. The bottom line is that Netanyahu doesn't want to end the war and will sacrifice all of the hostages.
Military says it hit over 35 targets in Gaza strikes
Palestinians gather around a large crater following an Israeli strike in the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Over 35 targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.
The IDF says the targets included a weapons manufacturing site in central Gaza and a primed rocket launching site.
In northern Gaza, troops of the 252nd Division directed an airstrike on a cell of operatives planning to ambush the forces, the IDF says.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, troops of the Gaza Division located and demolished a Hamas tunnel. The IDF says the tunnel, in Rafah’s Shaboura camp, was hundreds of meters long and some 20 meters deep. It was used as a meeting point for Hamas operatives and connected to other underground passages, the military adds.
Nearby, the IDF says the Gaza Division troops located a cache of weapons Hamas had hidden in a former school.
In the Morag Corridor area, between Rafah and Khan Younis, the military says the 36th Division found a cache of weapons and several tunnel shafts.

Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria

Powerful armed faction in southern Syria to integrate into government forces
A powerful armed faction in southern Syria led by defected military officer Ahmed al-Awda announces that it is dissolving itself and integrating into the government’s armed forces.
“We, members, soldiers and officers of what was previously known as the Eighth Brigade, officially announce the dissolution of this formation and handing over all its military and human capacities to the defense ministry,” says Colonel Mohamed al-Hourani in a statement.

West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and Terror Attacks

EU to boost financial support for Palestinian Authority
The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East tells Reuters in an interview.
Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, says the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.

Politics and the War and General News

Telling victims’ stories, artist turns Nova’s killing fields into a healing memorial

Teaming up with victims’ families and KKL-JNF, Amir Chodorov is working around the clock to commemorate the lives of each of the hundreds of people slaughtered there on October 7

The stories of those who hid in a dumpster and were ultimately murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re'im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2025, photographed on March 25, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

A remote parking lot near Kibbutz Re’im on the Gaza border in southern Israel would normally be an unlikely destination for some 7,000 Israeli and overseas visitors a day.

But as the scene of the most extensive slaughter carried out by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and one of the few sites related to that day that are open to the public, it has become a magnet for pilgrimage and the most visited location in Israel.

This is where thousands of people, mainly young adults, gathered for the Supernova music festival to welcome the dawn on that fateful Saturday morning.

What was meant to be a celebration quickly turned into a nightmare as Hamas terrorists invaded, under a rain of missiles, spraying revelers with gunfire and raping many before murdering them.

Photos and video show panicked crowds running for their lives, cars riddled with bullets, and a road strewn with dead bodies.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, 344 civilians who attended the Nova party and 34 security personnel were killed amid the attack, which, according to testimonies, included sexual crimes and other brutal acts. The terrorists abducted another 44 to the Gaza Strip, several of whom were killed in captivity. Others were killed after seeking shelter elsewhere.

Family members visit the site of the Nova music festival massacre, six months after, in Re’im forest, near the Israeli-Gaza border, April 7, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Even before knowing the fate of their loved ones, shattered families began erecting makeshift memorials on the site soon after the massacre.

Now, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Tel Aviv-based artist Amir Chodorov and support from the bereaved families and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund, the ad hoc memorial is being transformed into a moving and dignified tribute to the victims, so many of whom represented Israel’s best, Chodorov told The Times of Israel.

Amir Chodorov with part of his collage in the background, at the Nova festival site near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel, February 28, 2025. (Ora Setter)

Chodorov, 68, spent 25 years in the Israel Air Force, finishing as a colonel overseeing all the IAF’s operational units.

After a stint in business, he decided to follow a lifelong fascination with photography and Michelangelo’s frescoes, studying in Rome and developing a signature style of large creations that use Renaissance principles.

His life-changing pivot to memorializing the Nova festival victims came on December 31, 2023, when a chance meeting in Tel Aviv with Sigalit Shemer, whose son Ron was murdered there, prompted him to volunteer to create a collage with the faces of all of the fallen, a number he puts at 420 and growing.

The collage, erected on what was the festival dance floor, was completed in early 2024, on the same day the KKL-JNF planted a memorial forest with one tree for each victim. Chodorov is designing plaques to be placed beside each sapling.

Meeting the families and hearing their stories pushed Chodorov to get fully involved. He designed a plan for a large memorial site and has since completed 1,300 works out of roughly 4,000 planned. These range from plaques for each victim to installations that explain what happened at particular points along a memorial trail.

Israelis visit a memorial bearing portraits of people taken hostage or killed in the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival on October 7 at the site of the festival near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel on April 10, 2024. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Chodorov said that the number 420 is still subject to change. Days ago, he learned that a soldier, Avi Hovalashvilli, had died fighting on the site. As more information comes to light, he expects to add more names.

Throughout, he has worked closely with the families, particularly with Meir Zohar, whose daughter Bar Zohar, 23, was shot dead while fleeing the party, and with Yaniv Maimon, who manages the southern region for the KKL-JNF, which owns the 240-dunam (60-acre) plot.

Key to the project was the KKL-JNF’s decision to declare the parcel an official memorial site. It is paying for the infrastructure, memorial grove, plaques and a maintenance team.

Chodorov has spent NIS 1.7 million ($460,000) of his own money on the project. Relatives of the victims have raised NIS 1.1 million ($297,000) so far to reimburse him for raw materials and pay those who work for him.

“Even if I invest half a million, it’s the best deal of my life,” he said.

As yet, there is no state memorial for the victims of October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered some 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip.

One of many upgraded plaques commemorating 420 mainly young adults murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2025, photographed on March 10, 2025. (Amir Chodorov)

“That KKL decided to take responsibility and ownership of the story was huge. It’s good for the parents to know that a responsible body has taken charge. They are incredible people,” Chodorov said.

Chodorov submits each project for KKL-JNF approval.

He then “drills” into each person’s story, “as if they were my children.”

He has watched some 5,000 video clips and has lost count of the number of photographs he’s viewed.

A reconstructed ‘little bar’ on the ‘Mushroom site’ of the Supernova festival, which tells the stories of some of those murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2025, photographed on February 11, 2025. (Amir Chodorov).

He said he was particularly moved to discover that over 30 young people were shot dead after staying to help others.

Today, the site is strewn with pictures of the victims attached to poles, some festooned with ad hoc art, and others with only the victims’ names and ages.

Chodorov is gradually replacing the makeshift signs with standardized plaques printed on both sides telling the victims’ stories in Hebrew and English.

Visitors to the site follow a memorial trail past the spot where a police command and control booth stood and another where an ambulance was hit by an RPG, killing 18 partygoers hiding inside. The trail continues toward a yellow dumpster, one of two on October 7, where people hid under garbage before being found and slaughtered, and passes by a beverage stand, dubbed the “small bar,” where 19 people lost their lives.

A structure by Amir Chodorov on the site of the command and control center that operated at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2025, photographed on March 25, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

A “main stage” memorial is also under construction. Chodorov hopes it will serve as a focal point for memorial ceremonies. Artist Sara’le Lior, whose late son Matan provided the festival’s amplification, electrical infrastructure, and lighting, is creating art for the structure, which will commemorate all the DJs and event staff who were murdered there.

At the site of the police control booth, Chodorov has built a metal structure onto which he is gradually installing plaques with the stories of the 20 police officers who were killed at the site and the nearby Re’im Junction.

The destroyed interior of an ambulance where 18 people hid and were murdered on October 7, 2023, at the Supernova medic station. (Hadas Kuznits)

“Only four of them had combat jobs,” he said. “Yet they all sacrificed themselves to protect young people they didn’t even know, operating with the highest values.”

While all the stories are heart-wrenching, he found those about the ambulance and dumpster particularly shocking.

“The terrorists shot an RPG at the ambulance and 18 people sheltering inside were burned alive. Nothing was left of them,” Chodorov said. “After the massacre, body parts were collected quickly for burial. When video clips revealed that unaccounted-for individuals were also in the ambulance, they dug up the graves and found tissue remnants of others.”

Inside the dumpster where 14 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during the Supernova festival, near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, photographed on March 25, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

Chodorov was alerted to the dumpster story by Yoram Yehudai, whose son Ron Yehudai was murdered there. Fourteen people spent over five hours hiding under the trash before being slaughtered.

Chodorov bought one of the dumpsters from the owner and resolved to bring the dead back to life by letting them tell their stories through transcripts of terrified WhatsApp messages they sent to family and friends while hiding. The messages abruptly end at 11:47 a.m. as the gunmen closed in.

“They be

gged for their lives and nobody came to save them,” Chodorov said. “I felt I was telling the story of all the people alone in their protected rooms along the Gaza border.”

A plaque commemorating sisters Hodaya and Tair David, who were murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova festival near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2025, photographed on March 25, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

Those who were killed fleeing outside of the compound are memorialized — sometimes in groups — on large plaques in a section of mature woodland, where many of the revelers camped.

Helping him with the metal frames and other heavy work are two bereaved men, Yochai Rivlin, whose two brothers, Gideon “Gigi” Rivlin, 18, and Staff Sgt. Aviad Rivlin, 23, were killed, and Jojo Rabia, who lost two sons, Yuval Rabia, 33, and Noam Rabia, 30. Yuval’s fiancee Noy Zafraani, 27, was also murdered.

Righthand men: Amir Chodorov (left) poses with Yochai Rivlin (center) and Jojo Rabia, at the Nova festival site near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, January 28, 2025. (Amir Chodorov)

The memorial project has “turned and torn my life in all directions,” Chodorov said. He sometimes thinks about how his two grown sons, one of whom is a career soldier, could have been in the collage as well.

But Chodorov’s distress is nothing compared to the bereaved whose pain he hopes the memorial will help soothe.

“There are parents who haven’t visited the site yet, mothers who haven’t managed to get out of bed,” the artist said.

“Helpless psychiatrists have turned to me and asked if I can visit people and tell them about the memorial in the hope it might stop them from ending their lives,” he went on. “You can’t cope with an event like this. I get sent horrific video clips. I don’t sleep the same, I’m wrecked. I never dreamed the project would reach such proportions, but now, with so many visitors, I have a responsibility.”

“What helps me is to think about what happened to the families due to the commemoration. At the beginning, nobody wanted to look at the Nova party. Now, their loved ones are in the most visited site in the country,” he said.

Karine Journo was one of the young people killed in the ambulance. She

had gone to the festival with a broken leg in a boot, which hampered any escape. Hers was the first plaque that Chodorov put up.

The memorial to Karine Journo close to the location of the ambulance in which she hid and was killed at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy, Inbal Journo)

“The whole site developed from that plaque,” said Karine’s mother, Inbal. “I would go there at least twice weekly to tell Karine’s story. I told Amir I wanted people to hear her story even when I wasn’t there.”

Chodorov also erected the collage and a large picture of Karine in the Journos’ yard in central Mazkeret Batya, which backs onto a main road. This is one of dozens of memorials he has created for Nova families throughout Israel.

“Karine went to the party with a broken leg and she was burned in the ambulance,” Journo related. “All that was left were three teeth. That’s what we buried.”

“I always call Amir my torch. In all the darkness, he was the light that lit up my way,” she said.

Chodorov travels to the Re’im site four times a week, spending the rest of his time in his Ramat Gan studio.

On the days he is onsite, he arrives at 6 a.m. When the buses arrive, he follows four or five groups around to listen and learn from their comments.

He conducts site tours, voluntarily, for anyone who asks, and has briefed tour guides after families complained many were ill-informed.

A public bomb shelter in which Israelis were murdered during the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, on a road near the Gaza border, January 6, 2024. (Flash90)

He estimates he’ll need another year’s work at the site. Discussions are being held on bringing in seven bomb shelters from the main road nearby, Route 232, also known as the “road of death,” and using them to tell the stories of the young people murdered inside while fleeing the massacre.

Those who perished at the party were people with “values, excellence, prizewinners, fighters,” he said. “They were the best of the best.” link

The Region and the World

US says it will sign nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudis, no mention of tying deal to Israel normalization
The United States and Saudi Arabia will sign a preliminary agreement to cooperate over the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright tells reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Wright, who had met with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier in the day, says Riyadh and Washington were on “a pathway” to reaching an agreement to work together to develop a Saudi civil nuclear program.
Wright did not mention a wider arrangement with the kingdom, which the previous administration of US president Joe Biden had been seeking, and included a civil nuclear agreement and security guarantees in the hopes it would lead to normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Wright, on his first visit to the kingdom as secretary as part of tour of energy-producing Gulf states, says further details over a memorandum detailing the energy cooperation between Riyadh and Washington would come later this year.
“For a US partnership and involvement in nuclear here, there will definitely be a 123 agreement … there’s lots of ways to structure a deal that will accomplish both the Saudi objectives and the American objectives,” he says.
The so-called 123 agreement with Riyadh refers to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and is required to permit the US government and American companies to work with entities in the kingdom to develop a civil nuclear industry.
Saudi authorities have not agreed to the requirements under the act, Wright says. It specifies nine non-proliferation criteria a state must meet to keep it from using the technology to develop nuclear arms or transfer sensitive materials to others.
Progress on the discussions had previously been difficult because Saudi Arabia did not want to sign a deal that would rule out the possibility of enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel – both potential paths to a bomb.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has long said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would follow suit, a stance that has fueled deep concern among arms control advocates and some US lawmakers over a possible US-Saudi civil nuclear deal. link Along with this agreement, Saudi Arabia and the US want a mutual defense agreement, NATO-like that the US administration had conditioned on normalization with Israel. However, Saudi Arabia conditioned any real movement to normalization with Israel must be coupled with a real plan for a 2 State Solution to end the Israel/Palestinian conflict, not just lip service statements. And the one person preventing this is the same person preventing a hostage agreement, Binyamin Netanyahu. Everything he does, every decision he makes has one priority, himself, not the good of the country and certainly not the lives of the hostages. Netanyahu is the most dangerous person in Israel today and will go down in history as the worst prime minister in our history.

Personal Stories

"My freedom is an illusion—my body is here, but my soul is with them."

Even as they drink water and breathe air, they cannot stop remembering captivity and those left behind. The painful memories haunt them, yet they refuse to forget the moments they held onto their identity, even under the harshest conditions. Over 550 days since October 7, with 59 hostages still in Gaza—11 freed captives share their pain, their homecoming, and their memories of the brothers and sisters left behind. **From captivity to freedom? A special project.**

Last Passover, some were still in Gaza—in tunnels or hidden rooms, fearing each moment might be their last. Others were already home, waiting for their loved ones, trying to reclaim the lives they had before October 7. But even after tasting freedom, their exodus from Gaza remains incomplete: 59 hostages are still held in the Strip—without liberty. Eleven freed captives share how their lives have changed, the moments they will never forget—and what this holiday means to them now.

Everyday moments that will never look the same after captivity: "Every simple moment I experience now will never feel the same after captivity: eating and drinking what I want, when I want, showering, dressing, hugging, kissing. Anything that involves even a shred of independence—something completely denied to me in captivity—will never look the same."

Moments when the thought of hostages still in Gaza won’t leave me:

"Almost every moment of joy, born from freedom, is shadowed by the thought of those still in Gaza—when I eat something delicious to my fill, when I hug my loved ones, when I try on clothes, when I step out of the shower, when I sleep in a comfortable bed under a soft, clean-smelling blanket."

A moment of spiritual victory I had in captivity:

*"It was when we made Kiddush every Friday and sang ‘Shir HaMaalot,’ ‘Lecha Dodi,’ and ‘Eshet Chayil’ with all our strength. When we fasted on Yom Kippur. When we held onto our unity and Jewish identity."

Can you truly feel free while hostages remain in Gaza?

"No. I know some of them personally—I spent 24 hours a day with them for nearly a year. Physically, I’m here, but half of me is still there, in the tunnels, feeling their pain, waiting for them to be freed. Only then will I truly be free."

### **Has Passover taken on new meaning since captivity?**

*"Absolutely. The holiday of freedom held special meaning in captivity—we hoped a deal would come then. Just as our ancestors moved from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, we prayed that this holiday would be our liberation too."*

---

### **Ohed Ben Ami**

**Everyday moments:** *"Nothing is the same. From the simplest act—turning on the tap to drink water—to the crushing awareness that not all the hostages are home."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"Every minute of every day, I remember them. They must come home now—their time ran out long ago."*

**A moment of victory:** *"Meeting Ohed in Gaza after four days in captivity."*

**True freedom?** *"There is no real freedom until every hostage is home and this war ends."*

**Passover now:** *"It’s the holiday of freedom—but how can we celebrate when hostages have none?"*

### **Raz Ben Ami**

**Everyday moments:** *"Every ordinary moment feels like a gift now—drinking when thirsty, eating fresh food, showering in warm water. But each joy is laced with pain because Matan and the others are still there."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"They are with me in every breath I take. Their suffering is my suffering."*

**A moment of victory:** *"Holding onto memories, love, and faith—things my captors could never take."*

**True freedom?** *"My freedom is a lie. How can I be free when Matan is there? My body is here, but my soul is with them."*

**Passover now:** *"This year, Passover is not a story of redemption—it’s a scream that our freedom is incomplete."*

### **Ilana Gritzewsky**

Elia Cohen

**Everyday moments:** *"Seeing the sky. Sending a text and knowing it arrives instantly. Complaining about traffic—because it means I’m alive, free, with ordinary problems."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"Every time I allow myself joy, I ask: What about them?"*

**A moment of victory:** *"The fact that I’m here, speaking—that’s my victory. They tried to take everything, but they couldn’t take me from myself."*

**True freedom?** *"I walk the streets, but I’m not truly free. I won’t be until the last hostage returns."*

**Passover now:** *"Freedom isn’t just about leaving slavery—it’s about bringing everyone home."*

### **Aviva Siegel**

**Everyday moments:** *"No joy remains—not even in reunions with family and friends."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"Every time I put food in my mouth."*

**A moment of victory:** *"Facing a Hamas captor who threatened to shoot me—and not feeling fear."*

**True freedom?** *"No. The word ‘freedom’ only brings me dark thoughts now."*

**Passover now:** *"How can we call it the ‘holiday of freedom’ when our people are still enslaved?"*

Chen Goldstein-Almog

**Everyday moments:** *"Life is unrecognizable. My home is gone. The feeling of abandonment on October 7 lingers."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"My neighbors’ sons are still there. There’s no moment I forget."*

**A moment of victory:** *"Hearing news of potential deals on a smuggled radio—hope in the darkness."*

**True freedom?** *"Not while hostages remain. This Passover, like the last, is not the same."*

Yaffa Adar

**Everyday moments:** *"Every small thing—morning coffee, grocery shopping—is different now. I try to find light in the ordinary."*

**Thoughts of those still in Gaza:** *"My grandson Tamir is still there. His face is by my TV. I stare into his eyes and ache."*

**A moment of victory:** *"Singing Andrea Bocelli in my head—the one thing they couldn’t steal."*

**True freedom?** *"None of us are free until they all return."*

**Passover now:** *"Freedom should be a given. Now it’s a fight—one we must win."*

"As long as one hostage remains—none of us are free." link

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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