🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 598, 2023 - May 26, 2025 🎗️
- Businessman mediating US-Hamas talks presents new deal, says Palestinian official
Sky News reports that Trump is set to announce a ceasefire in Gaza 'in the coming days,' with sources adding that announcement will include hostage deal
A Palestinian-American businessman serving as a key intermediary between the United States and Hamas has presented a new proposal aimed at advancing a ceasefire deal and securing the release of hostages held in Gaza, a senior Palestinian official said Monday.Bishara Bahbah, who has emerged as a discreet but influential figure in recent backchannel diplomacy, delivered the plan as part of ongoing efforts to revive stalled negotiations amid mounting regional and international pressure.Earlier, Sky News' Arab-language outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump "is expected to announce a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip within days." According to sources, the announcement would include "a deal for the release of Israeli hostages."The report comes as Israeli officials said they plan to intensify military operations in Gaza, even as hostage negotiations remain stalled and the United States urges a delay in Israel's full takeover of the coastal enclave.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a high-level security meeting Sunday evening with top defense officials amid reported tensions between the military and political leadership. The meeting came as Washington continued pressing for restraint while maintaining indirect talks with Hamas through back channels.Despite the impasse in negotiations, Israeli defense and political officials say military pressure is yielding some results—but not enough. “It’s not sufficient,” one Israeli source said, adding that further escalation of the campaign is expected.The Israel Defense Forces currently controls about 40% of the Gaza Strip and aims to expand that to 75%—an additional 35%—within two months, according to military officials.The Trump administration has asked Israel to delay its final offensive. U.S. officials continue direct, behind-the-scenes talks with Hamas, facilitated in part by Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is acting as the U.S. liaison to mediators in the region.A senior Israeli military officer said Israel is seeking a decisive outcome, arguing that Hamas cannot be allowed to retain a presence in Gaza. The official said Hamas has rebuilt its arsenal with hundreds of short-range rockets and dozens capable of reaching central Israel.The officer outlined four steps in Israel’s plan: eliminating Hamas' military wing, dismantling its governing authority, seizing and holding territory and controlling humanitarian aid to prevent Hamas from exploiting it. link.Israel rejects latest proposed hostage-ceasefire deal, senior Israeli official says
Following a Lebanese report that a new outline for a hostage and ceasefire proposal has been agreed upon in principle by Israel, a senior Israeli official says the deal has been rejected.
“The proposal received by Israel cannot be accepted by any responsible government,” says the official, without giving any further details.
A Lebanese outlet affiliated with Hezbollah reported this morning that Israel agreed in principle to a draft proposal including a ceasefire of about 70 days, during which 10 hostages – five alive and five deceased – would be released in two phases, modifying the so-called Witkoff outline, which laid out a shorter ceasefire for the release of about 10 living hostages.
“There is no genuine willingness on Hamas’s part to move forward with a deal. Israel remains committed to the Witkoff framework,” says the Israeli official.
According to the Al-Mayadeen report, the latest discussions, mediated by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah, concluded early this morning. It did not say where those talks were held or whom they involved. link This is indeed a much worse deal than even the last Witkoff proposal was. And neither of them should be acceptable. The only acceptable deal must be a final deal to bring home all the hostages at once and end the war. The only one standing in the way of making that happen is Netanyahu.
- Israel and Hamas mulling 70-day ceasefire in new US-backed hostage deal
Proposal, presented by Palestinian-American mediator Dr. Bashara Bahbah, includes the release of 10 living hostages in two phases
Hamas and Israel are reportedly weighing a proposal for a hostage deal that would include a 70-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages in two phases, according to a senior Palestinian official cited by Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese network Al-Mayadeen.The proposal was reportedly presented by Palestinian-American mediator Dr. Bashara Bahbah “in cooperation with and with the approval of” Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East. Al-Mayadeen reported that the most recent round of negotiations concluded early Monday and that “the positive elements outweighed the negative.”Hamas had initially proposed a 90-day ceasefire, while the U.S. countered with 60 days before agreeing to 70, according to the report. Further changes to the framework are possible, and all parties are now awaiting Israel’s response.A similar plan was reported Sunday by the Egyptian channel Al-Rad, which cited sources saying 10 living hostages and the remains of 16 others would be released. Under that proposal, five hostages would be released on the first day of the ceasefire and five more on day 60. The remains would be transferred on a mutually agreed schedule, allowing Hamas 60 days to locate them. Hamas has also demanded the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, whether arrested before or after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.According to the reports, Hamas proposed the 70-day truce in exchange for the phased release of five living hostages and five bodies. The deal would also permit 1,000 humanitarian aid trucks to enter Gaza daily. The draft agreement calls for a “complete ceasefire” during negotiations, with a guarantee reportedly backed by President Donald Trump. It also includes a clause for talks aimed at ending the war during the truce period.Separately, sources told Sky News Arabia that Trump is expected to announce a ceasefire in Gaza in the coming days as part of the hostage deal. These claims have not been confirmed by Israeli officials. Trump addressed the war in Gaza overnight, saying, “We want to see if we can stop it. We spoke with Israel, and we want to see if we can stop this whole situation as soon as possible.”Bahbah, a Palestinian American businessman, has been serving as a backchannel mediator between Hamas and the United States.After direct U.S.-Hamas talks were halted—reportedly due to an Israeli leak aimed at disrupting them—senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad contacted Bahbah through Suha Arafat, the widow of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.Sources told Ynetnews that Hamas officials in both Doha and Gaza said the channel secured a U.S. commitment to pressure Israel to resume humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. link. This deal proposal is a complete disgrace and further abandonment of the hostages. There are an assumed 20 living hostages still in captivity in Gaza. This horrendous deal will see the release of 5 of them on day one and another 5 on day 60. That means that the 5 to be released on day 60 have to endure another 60 days of ultimate hell on earth, and that there are another 10 living hostages who have no time line for their release. The entire idea of phases on releases was Netanyahu's so that he could use any infraction as an excuse for breaching any deal and going back to fighting. That alone is a disgrace and abandonment of the hostages but he doesn't give a damn because it suits his personal political interests. What happens to the hostages is not even a second thought for him. The Americans are pushing proposals like this because they know that they can't get Netanyahu to end the war and bring back all the hostages. And they know why as well. People like Witkoff are not stupid. They know Netanyahu's motives and they know that without them in the picture, Netanyahu will allow all of the hostages to die and rot in Gaza because making deals does not fit his personal strategic plan. So, for Witkoff, saving every single hostage, even in stages is his personal duty because it's all he can hope for at this time. While Netanyahu has his people in place (Dermer and Fallach) to prevent any deal that would infringe on his personal strategy, Witkoff and the US administrations (Biden and now Trump) continue to do more for our hostages than our own leaders. That disgrace will follow Netanyahu for the rest of his life and into the history books to further tarnish his legacy. We will not forget this and we will not let history forget this either. The only deal that must be made is to end the war and bring home all of our hostages; the living for rehabilitation and the dead for proper burial.
**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.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית
READ THE OP-ED 'Hamas victory is fracturing the once-celebrated Israeli solidarity' IN THE WAR AND POLITICS SECTION
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*9:25am -Gaza envelope - 3 rockets launched from Gaza - one intercepted, 2 fell in open areas
Debris from intercepted Houthi missile lands in South Hebron Hills
- Ex-hostage says Hamas captors sprayed him in the face with pest spray, intentionally starved him
Released hostage Omer Wenkert speaks to the Israel Bar Association conference on May 25, 2025. (Screen capture via Walla)Freed hostage Omer Wenkert recalls the conditions of his captivity in Hamas’s tunnels worsening with the Israeli offensive on Rafah, in southern Gaza, in May 2024.
“They intentionally starved me,” he tells the Bar Association conference, adding that he was fed half a pita a day for two or three weeks.
“Around the entry to Rafah, [there was] intentional starvation, and intentional abuse,” he says. “They did things that seriously endangered my life, for fun.”
“One of them brought insect repellent, stood me up at the end of the corridor, and sprayed me in the face, with my eyes open,” Wenkert recalls, adding that his captor ensured everything the captive would touch was also sprayed.
“He also decided to hit me with an iron rod,” he adds.
I
llustrative: A Hamas tunnel in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout image published by the military on February 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)He says that around the 80th day of his captivity, he was moved from one underground corridor to another, which he describes as “a dark room with a little lamp.”
“They tried to drive me crazy — to damage my sense of time,” he says. “When they put down food for me, they told me to turn around, so they could leave. Bathing was once in 50 days, with a little bottle. Only after nine and a half months did I bathe for real.”
The tunnel he was kept in for most of his captivity was “about 90 centimeters (35 inches) wide, and about 9-10 meters (29-32 feet) long,” with a hole as a bathroom, he recalls.
“I was on a small mattress, with my back against the wall. I was there for 420 days, I think,” he says.
On June 13, 2024, his captors brought fellow hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal to the same corridor in which Wenkert was kept. They are both still held in Hamas captivity, 597 days since their abduction on October 7, 2023.
Hostages Evyatar David (left) and Guy Gilboa-Dalal speak in a Hamas propaganda video filmed at the site and time of the release ceremony in Gaza for three other captives, February 22, 2025. (Screenshot: Telegram)“My mental situation settled down [with their arrival], but it became more crowded; we split food and water, the physical conditions worsened — but the abuse stopped,” Wenkert says.
Wenkert was released on February 22, 2025, after 505 days in Hamas captivity, as part of a hostage release, ceasefire, and prisoner release deal between Israel and the terror group that ultimately collapsed after its first phase. link
IDF: ‘Key terrorists’ targeted in strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter; 25 said killed
Screenshot of video circulating on social media that apparently shows a girl trying to escape after a strike on Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City on May 26, 2025. The IDF said it was targeting Hamas in the strike (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)The Israeli military says it carried out a strike overnight against “key terrorists” who were embedded within a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood.
According to Palestinian media, at least 25 people, including children, were killed in the strike on the Al-Jarjawi School. video of desperate rescue efforts
The IDF says that the school was being used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a command center.
“The command and control center was used by the terrorists to plan and gather intelligence in order to carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops in the area,” the military says.
The military says it took “many steps” to mitigate civilian harm, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence. link I don't buy the statemenst that the military took 'many steps' to mitigate civilian harm. I just think that rules have changed. In the past, the calculation may have been something like, if there is a high level terrorist, then it is acceptable for his family to be killed as well. Now, it seems that for killing some terrorist, 25 non combatant women, children and elderly deaths are acceptable, maybe even more. This is just my theoretical example, yet it shows what is actually happening on the ground. These deaths are not getting any press in Israel, so most of the Israeli public is not exposed to the carnage of our attacks. While it is true that there are large number of our population who don't care and killing more Gazans, for them is the right thing to do. Yet, we still do have a moral majority (I believe) who, if exposed to this, will totally disapprove, especially at this point in the war where most people are in favor of ending the war and bringing all the hostages home.
Hamas-run health authorities in the Gaza Strip say at least 20 people were killed and dozens were wounded when an Israeli strike hit a school housing displaced people a short while ago.
Medics say the dozens of casualties in the strike on the school, at Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, included women and children, although these figures could not be verified.
Some of the bodies were badly burned according to images circulating on social media, which Reuters cannot immediately verify.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Death toll in Israeli strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter reaches 36, Hamas-run authorities say- IDF says over 200 strikes carried out in Gaza over past 48 hours; terror operatives, weapons depots targeted
An Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)The Israeli Air Force carried out over 200 strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours, the military says.
The IDF says the targets included terror operatives, weapon depots, anti-tank and sniper positions, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure.
In southern Gaza, the military says troops struck a building used by Hamas as a weapons depot, an observation post, and another structure used by the terror group. Troops also directed drone strikes on several operatives spotted in buildings near the forces, the IDF says.
In northern Gaza, the IDF says a strike carried out by a fighter jet destroyed a building where members of Hamas’s Nukhba force were operating.
IDF reissues wide evacuation warning for entire Rafah, Khan Younis area in south Gaza
The IDF reissues a wide evacuation warning for the entire Rafah and Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip, ahead of a planned major ground offensive.
The military calls for Palestinians residing in areas marked on a map in red to evacuate westward toward the Mawasi area on the coast, which Israel is set to declare as a “safer zone.”
“The IDF will launch an unprecedented attack to destroy the capabilities of terror organizations [in this area],” says the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee.
He says that the evacuated area is considered “a dangerous combat zone.” The evacuation warning does not include the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals, Adraee adds.
On March 31, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for all of Rafah and the southern part of Khan Younis, and on May 19, ordered the rest of Khan Younis to also evacuate.
The latest order covers the same areas previously ordered to be evacuated.
Footage shows dozens attempting to loot humanitarian aid truck in Gaza
Media outlets in Gaza have published footage showing dozens of people attempting to loot a truck carrying humanitarian aid in downtown Gaza City.
The video shows crowds trying to unload aid from the vehicle before gunfire is heard, prompting the crowd to disperse. Whether the truck ultimately reached its intended destination or was looted remains unclear.
A similar incident was reported yesterday in Khan Younis, where, according to reports, dozens of people surrounded another aid truck and took its contents.
Yesterday, a UAE-affiliated aid organization announced that of the 24 trucks it had sent into Gaza in recent days carrying humanitarian supplies — primarily flour and baking materials — 23 were stolen and never reached their intended destinations, such as bakeries or storage warehouses in the Strip. video
- IDF says it killed Hamas navy commando who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7
A Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in a recent strike in the Gaza Strip, the military says.
The IDF says Ahmad Osama Hassan Al-Lahouni, who served in Hamas’s naval commando unit, was killed in a strike carried out jointly by the Southern Command, Israeli Air Force, Intelligence Directorate, Navy and Shin Bet.
Lahouni had infiltrated the Kerem Shalom area on October 7, according to the IDF.
- Hamas-run authorities say at least 20 killed in strikes across Gaza
Israeli military strikes killed at least 20 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local Hamas-controlled health authorities say.
The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north, and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
In Jabalia, they say local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier in the day.
Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics add.
There is no immediate comment by the Israeli military.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office says that Abu Warda’s death raised the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 220.
The armed wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad say in separate statements that fighters carried out several ambushes and attacks using bombs and anti-tank rockets against Israeli forces operating in several areas across Gaza.
- Hamas sources say group may be facing most difficult crisis since founding
Hamas is facing perhaps the most difficult crisis since its founding, amid a cash crunch and the ongoing Israeli military offensive against it, London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing sources inside and outside the terror organization.
The crisis in funds and military strength comes amid a drop in popular support, the paper says.
The terror group is finding it hard to pay salaries to its operatives and to government employees in Gaza, it says, with the former not having received pay in three months and the latter getting around NIS 900 ($250) a month.
The paper also says services tied to the Hamas government have been decimated and are largely unable to function.
Hamas sources cited by the outlet claim that though conditions are disastrous, the group will be able to slowly recover once the war ends.
- IDF aims to capture 75% of Gaza Strip in 2 months in new offensive against HamasPalestinians to be pushed into three small zones, as new aid delivery mechanism set to start Monday; military says no change to collateral damage policy in airstrikes
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it aims to occupy 75 percent of the Gaza Strip’s territory within two months as part of its new offensive against the Hamas terror group.
Israel on March 18 resumed its attacks against Hamas with a surprise wave of airstrikes, ending a two-month ceasefire. The IDF has since deployed five divisions to the Strip — amounting to tens of thousands of troops — and is poised to launch a wide-scale ground offensive aimed at defeating Hamas’s military wing and its civil rule in Gaza, should the terror group not agree to release the hostages it is holding.
When the major ground offensive is launched, the Palestinian population will be pushed into three small zones in Gaza: a new “safer zone” in the Mawasi area on the southern Strip’s coast, where Israel previously declared a “humanitarian zone”; a strip of land in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat, where the IDF has not operated with ground forces; and the center of Gaza City, to which many Palestinians returned during the ceasefire earlier this year.
According to the IDF’s current estimates, some 700,000 Palestinians are residing in the Mawasi area, 300,000-350,000 are in central Gaza, and around one million are in Gaza City.
This means that Gaza’s 2 million population will be pushed into an area amounting to just 25% of the Strip when the IDF launches its expanded ground operation.
The IDF will then capture, clear of Hamas infrastructure, raze most buildings, and hold for the foreseeable future the rest of Gaza, including all of Rafah, Khan Younis, and the towns north of Gaza City.
According to the IDF’s plans, which were seen by The Times of Israel, it should take just two months to capture 75% of Gaza from the moment the operation goes ahead. Currently, the military is in control of about 40% of the Strip’s territory.
Tents are set up as temporary shelters for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on May 25, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)Military officials have said that the IDF is shifting its focus away from trying to eliminate as many terror operatives as possible — which had been the focus from the beginning of the war — and instead is centering on capturing territory and destroying Hamas’s infrastructure.
The terror group constructed in Gaza an estimated 900 kilometers (559 miles) of tunnels, yet so far, only 25% of them have been destroyed, according to the military. The IDF has argued that its main focus has been on Hamas’s attack tunnels and those used as command centers or for weapons manufacturing — the majority of which have been destroyed — rather than the numerous tunnels that the terror group uses to move around the Strip.
The army believes that Hamas can indeed be defeated by destroying its military wing — including all of its infrastructure — along with targeting its civil rule, capturing the territory, and preventing it from controlling the humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
The inside of a Hamas weapons manufacturing tunnel, found in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout image published by the IDF on November 2, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)Defeating Hamas would enable the release of the remaining 58 hostages the terror group is holding — just 20 of whom are believed to be alive — the IDF has argued.
Still, Israeli political officials have not held any meaningful discussion on who would run Gaza “the day after” Hamas.
On Sunday, during a visit to Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the fighting against Hamas was “not an endless war.”
“We are intensifying our activity in accordance with the orderly plan. Hamas is under tremendous pressure; it has lost most of its assets and its command and control,” Zamir said during a tour of Khan Younis with Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor.
The IDF has said that the aid entering Gaza before the collapse of the ceasefire was being used by Hamas to stay in power. Much of the aid would be captured by the terror group, and it would either use the consignments of supplies itself or sell them to the population at increased prices, to pay for the salaries of its operatives and to recruit more members.
Hamas has been struggling to pay salaries in the past few months, according to the IDF, since Israel halted the entry of aid on March 2, after the first phase of the latest ceasefire and hostage release deal concluded.
A new humanitarian aid delivery mechanism is set to start operations on Monday morning, though it has come under criticism and skepticism from aid groups.
The IDF has helped set up four aid distribution hubs in Gaza for the mechanism, which will be operated entirely by a private American security company, while the military provides the outer layer of security.
Three of the sites are in the Rafah area, which will serve those in Mawasi and possibly also those in central Gaza; and a fourth site is in the Netzarim Corridor area of central Gaza, for Palestinians in Gaza City or those in the northern portion of central Gaza.
A representative of a Palestinian family will come to the distribution hub and collect a five-day supply of food from the American company. The IDF expects that each hub can serve 300,000 people per week. Aid trucks carrying supplies for hospitals and flour for bakeries would continue to be sent into Gaza for the time being.
No change in collateral damage policy, IDF says
The military said Sunday that since the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip, it had struck over 2,900 targets, killing at least 800 terror operatives, among them some 50 senior officials and mid-level commanders, and over a dozen terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
The numbers refer to terror operatives whose deaths have been confirmed by name and ID number, though the military estimates that many more have been killed.
Hamas claims that over 3,785 Palestinians have been killed in that time. The figure has not been verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
People watch as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 25, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)The IDF said there have been no recent changes to its airstrike policy, including what sort of collateral damage and how many civilian casualties are permissible during operations in Gaza.
According to the IDF, there has also been no change to the amount of collateral damage in strikes in practice, and the combatant-to-civilian deaths ratio has remained relatively the same throughout the war, with two to three civilians killed for every dead Hamas terror operative.
The military said that it is working to minimize the number of civilian casualties, and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 53,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. link. It has been clear for a very long time that the people calling the shots to determine what the army does are the extremists Messianics Smotrich and Ben Gvir. This planned take over of 75% of the Strip is the first major step towards forced 'voluntary emigration' from Gaza to enable the extremist to go ahead with their plan which juxtaposes with Trump's plan to rid Gaza of the Palestinians and rebuild with only Jewish settlements. They plan on doing the same in the West Bank. By moving 2 million Palestinians into 25% of Gaza, which before the war was the most overcrowded territory in the world is to further make their lives miserable in order to push them harder and harder to 'want' to leave. This is ethnic cleansing and is a major war crime that fits into the Genocide definition of war crimes.
- Israeli officials confirm 1st Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution point to open today
Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)The first distribution point operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will begin operations in the Strip today, Israeli officials confirm to the Kan public broadcaster.
Further points are expected to open gradually, the report says.
The report that the foundation has begun operations is later confirmed by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The report comes after the foundation announced that it will begin delivering aid today.
The organization made the announcement in a statement also expressing disappointment over the sudden resignation of its CEO Jake Wood, who said it was “clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”
Israel had blocked food, fuel, medicine, and all other supplies from entering Gaza since early March, only lifting the blockade last week to allow limited numbers of aid trucks to enter, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians there.
Experts have warned of a high risk of famine, and even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.The CEO of the new Israeli and US-backed organization that was supposed to begin managing the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza in the coming days has resigned.
“I am proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza,” says Gaza Humanitarian Foundation CEO Jake Wood in a statement.
“However, it is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon,” he adds.
GHF was created earlier this year as Israel tried to advance a new mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza, while preventing its diversion from Hamas.
Israel wanted to create a small number of distribution sites in southern Gaza where pre-selected family representatives would be able to pick up a heavy box full of food for their families in a zone secured and operated by American private contractors.
While technically an American company, GHF was established in close coordination with Israeli authorities in order to manage the new aid initiative.
However, GHF still needed support and cooperation from existing humanitarian organizations as it sought to gain credibility on the ground. That backing has yet to come, though, with the UN and other international organizations in Gaza vowing not to cooperate with GHF, arguing that its aid initiative violated humanitarian principles by requiring Gazans to walk long distances in order to retrieve aid and limiting distribution to southern Gaza in what would forcibly displace the Palestinian population.
There were also questions about GHF’s funding, which has not been transparent, along with a memo it sent out to potential donors that named two individuals on its leadership who said they weren’t involved in the initiative and admitted to only being able to initially feed 60% of Gaza’s population.
Wood, a former Marine and social entrepreneur, tried to dispel concerns when he announced that Israel had agreed to GHF’s demands to allow for the establishment of additional distribution sites throughout Gaza and to restart the distribution aid through existing mechanisms last week until GHF is operational on the ground.
A senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel last week that GHF’s target date for beginning operations was this weekend, but that has not happened.
Further complicating matters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said last week that in the third stage of Israel’s aid operations, distribution will be limited to a small area in southern Gaza that is secured by the IDF — in what would go against Wood’s assertion that he would not limit distribution to one part of the Strip.
Wood says he was approached about leading GHF two months ago due to his experience in humanitarian operations and stresses that he sought to “establish it as a truly independent humanitarian entity.”
“Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering,” he adds.
Wood’s resignation marks a major blow to Israel’s effort to resume aid in Gaza on its own terms, and it’s unclear whether GHF will be able to march on.
His resignation is also likely to bury chances for GHF to be able to fundraise from countries abroad, as the reasons he gave for stepping down appeared to echo fears already voiced by the UN and international organizations already operating on the ground that were asked to cooperate with the foundation in order to ensure its success.
The American security contractors that GHF is working with already arrived in Israel earlier this month in order to enter Gaza and begin managing the distribution sites.
While Wood appeared willing to work within the strict provisions set up by Israel, his resignation statement indicated that his flexibility had reached a limit.
“I urge Israel to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms, and I urge all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion or discrimination,” he says.
“I continue to believe the only sustainable path for the long-term is for Hamas to release all hostages, for there to be a cessation of hostilities, and a pathway for peace, security, and dignity for all people in the region.”
Gaza and the South
- Israel targeted Muhammad Sinwar in rare moment when he had no hostages around him — reportTV report says Hamas chief made mistake of meeting with top commanders without his usual protective ‘hostage belt’; when Israel was sure no captives were present, it bombed
People check a bus inside a crater in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)The strike that targeted and possibly eliminated Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar in Gaza earlier this month was made possible when the terror chief made the rare mistake of moving without a defensive “hostage belt” protecting him, according to a Friday report.
Channel 12 aired new details on the massive strike on Sinwar and other top Hamas officials in a Khan Younis tunnel on May 13 that is currently believed to have killed Sinwar, the de facto commander of Hamas in Gaza, following Israel’s killing of his brother Yahya last October.
The network said Muhammad Sinwar was almost always surrounded by hostages throughout the war, as Hamas leaders realized this was a strong deterrent against Israeli assassination attempts. And indeed, Channel 12 said Israeli intelligence had long tracked Sinwar but repeatedly ruled out potential strikes on him when presented with the opportunity due to fears there were hostages in his vicinity.
“No risks are taken if there’s even a one percent chance that hostages are in the area,” a security source told the network.
The report said Sinwar became even more careful following the death of his brother in a firefight with Israeli forces, and that only a very small number of people knew his location at any time, echoing a report Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.
However, for unknown reasons, Sinwar decided on May 13 to meet with the commander of the Rafah Brigade in Hamas’s military wing, Mohammad Shabana, as well as other senior commanders, without his usual escort of hostages.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Hamas and Arab officials who said the meeting of top-ranking Hamas figures was convened to discuss their approach to talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal, among other matters.
Presented with this opportunity, the Israeli Air Force immediately began preparing for a strike, the report said, though top officers expected it would likely be called off due to fears of harming hostages.
A screenshot of an undated video released by the Israel Defense Forces on December 17, 2023, shows Hamas commander Muhammad Sinwar, right, riding in a car traveling through a tunnel under the Gaza Strip. (Screenshot: Israel Defense Forces)When ironclad intelligence arrived that no hostages were present, the IAF was given the green light, jets were scrambled, and the bombing went ahead.
The strikes targeted an underground command compound below the European Hospital. The Hamas-run health ministry reported 16 dead and over 70 wounded in the strike, though there was no immediate word if Sinwar was among the casualties.
The IDF later bombed the area several more times, in an apparent attempt to prevent anyone from approaching the tunnel and aiding the terror operatives.
According to the officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, Hamas recovered Sinwar’s body a day after the strike and temporarily buried it in another tunnel, with the intention of moving his remains to a more suitable grave once the fighting ceases.
Saudi channel Al-Hadath reported that Sinwar’s body was recovered along with the remains of 10 of his aides. Hamas has not confirmed this.
Israel has also not confirmed that Sinwar was killed, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “according to all the indications Muhammad Sinwar was eliminated.”
When ironclad intelligence arrived that no hostages were present, the IAF was given the green light, jets were scrambled, and the bombing went ahead.
The strikes targeted an underground command compound below the European Hospital. The Hamas-run health ministry reported 16 dead and over 70 wounded in the strike, though there was no immediate word if Sinwar was among the casualties.
The IDF later bombed the area several more times, in an apparent attempt to prevent anyone from approaching the tunnel and aiding the terror operatives.
According to the officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, Hamas recovered Sinwar’s body a day after the strike and temporarily buried it in another tunnel, with the intention of moving his remains to a more suitable grave once the fighting ceases.
Saudi channel Al-Hadath reported that Sinwar’s body was recovered along with the remains of 10 of his aides. Hamas has not confirmed this.
Israel has also not confirmed that Sinwar was killed, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “according to all the indications Muhammad Sinwar was eliminated.”
Following the killing of Hamas’s top military commander, Muhammad Deif, last July, Muhammad Sinwar took charge of the terror group’s military wing. Later, after Sinwar’s older brother Yahya was killed by IDF troops, he became the de facto leader of the terror group in the Strip.
People near the site of an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)Israeli officials have described Muhammad Sinwar as obstinate concerning negotiations for the release of hostages, and as an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire deal.
The younger Sinwar was also wanted for terrorist actions against Israel and has been active in Hamas for decades.
He was jailed by Israel in the 1990s for nine months and spent an additional three years in a Palestinian Authority prison in Ramallah, from which he escaped in 2000. In 2006, Sinwar was part of the Hamas cell that abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He also previously commanded Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade.
Most of Hamas’s leadership has been eliminated by Israel during the ongoing war, which was sparked when the terror group stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
On Thursday, Palestinian media reported that Zakaria Sinwar, brother of Yahya and Muhammad Sinwar, succumbed to wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday night.
Zakaria, a lecturer at the Islamic University in Gaza, was initially said to have been killed in the strike, but media reports later said he had been critically injured. link
- Turkish media says Ankara to establish military bases in Syria to fight Islamic State
Turkey will establish military bases in Syria and assist the new government in establishing security forces, Turkish media reports.
Turkey will establish air, naval and ground force bases in Syria in order to fight against the Islamic State group, Syrian security sources tell the Turkiye Gazetesi and ODATV channel.
The reports come days after Israel and Turkey were said to have reached an agreement in principle aimed at preventing any unwanted incidents between both countries’ militaries operating in Syria.
- Settlers said to raid Palestinian village for 2nd time in 3 days, wounding locals
Israeli settlers have raided the Palestinian village of Bruqin in the northern West Bank, torching several vehicles and homes, resulting in injuries to a number of residents, according to the Al Arabiya news outlet.
Bruqin has been targeted several times by settlers since one of its residents carried out a shooting attack that killed Israeli Tzeela Gez as she headed to the hospital to give birth earlier this month.
Residents tell Al Arabiya that the IDF arrived at the scene as settlers were carrying out their latest attack but did not intervene or carry out any arrests.
A Palestinian elderly woman from the village of Burqin was injured and is receiving first aid after Israeli settlers tried to burn her and her family alive. She was rescued just moments before the flames engulfed their home.The IDF has not immediately commented on the overnight attack.Eight Palestinians were reportedly wounded in a similar raid of Bruqin on Thursday. Then too, no arrests were made by Israeli authorities. videos
A photo shows Israeli settlers and Israeli army soldiers together after carrying out a pogrom in the village of Burqin in the West Bank—setting several homes on fire, injuring children and the elderly, and terrorizing the entire village.
- Smotrich says government improving Israel’s security, diplomatic situation since Oct. 7
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the government is significantly improving the country’s security and standing in the Middle East after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
“We are responsible for the huge disaster of October 7,” the Ynet news site quotes him telling a real estate conference organized by Mishpacha, a Haredi weekly magazine.
“We are greatly improving the security, diplomatic, and geopolitical situation of the State of Israel after decades of conceptual errors of the security forces,” he adds.
- Hamas victory is fracturing the once-celebrated Israeli solidarity
Opinion: Military accomplishments against Hamas and Hezbollah have blinded Israeli society to a much more troublesome development - the loss of compassion, and national unity in the name of opposing or worshipping Netanyahu
Could this war leave us questioning the essence of who we are? Militarily, we’ve recovered. Hezbollah has been restrained, Hamas has been struck hard and Gaza lies in devastation. The very people who celebrated the atrocities of October 7 are now fighting for survival, desperate for food and shelter.Yet, in a deeper sense, it feels as though the ground beneath us has shifted. The power of Hamas was not just in its weapons or its destruction—it was in its ability to shake our identity, to fracture the values that once held us together.Yahya Sinwar, his brother Mohammed, and much of Hamas’ leadership are gone, eliminated in targeted strikes. But the echoes of their actions remain, reverberating in the way we treat one another during this crisis. Families of hostages find themselves under attack—not from our enemies but from within—for daring to demand an end to the war, for not offering enough deference to political leaders. These attacks raise an unsettling truth: perhaps Hamas succeeded in hitting us where it hurts most—our sense of unity, our shared responsibility for one another. The spirit of "all of Israel is responsible for one another" now feels hollow, replaced by a fractured reality where solidarity is conditional and selective. The shift is glaring. A loud minority, though not the majority, has reframed the hostage crisis as a personal tragedy rather than a national one. They’ve redefined loyalty—not to the country or its values but to the prime minister. Gratitude toward him has become the twisted yardstick by which we measure the worth of hostages and their families.And then there’s the prime minister himself, a man presiding over the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. His decision to nominate a Shin Bet head reportedly opposed to hostage deals sends a chilling message: "This is an eternal war." To Hamas, these moves signal victory—not on the battlefield but in the erosion of our moral foundation.The appointment of David Zini wasn’t about national security. It wasn’t about Israel’s best interests. It was a calculated political move, designed to appease the prime minister’s core supporters in the face of humanitarian aid going to Gaza. It was also a convenient distraction from Netanyahu’s ongoing trial. These decisions aren’t about accountability or leadership. They are about survival—his, not ours.But the cracks in our society go deeper. Today, any voice that dares to question the morality of killing innocent civilians in Gaza is silenced with accusations of treason. Politicians and social media voices hint at unspeakable acts, with some even suggesting genocide as a solution. We must confront this head-on. Thousands of innocent people have died in Gaza—children, women, the elderly. Acknowledging this doesn’t betray Israel; it honors the moral foundation we claim to stand on.Once, we held ourselves to this standard. Truth mattered, even when it was uncomfortable. Today, that commitment feels lost, replaced by a singular question: does this truth serve Netanyahu?And then there’s the concept of responsibility—a word that once carried immense weight in Israeli society. Every soldier learns its meaning in basic training: a commander is accountable for his soldiers, for their victories and, most of all, for their failures. Yet Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in our history, has twisted the very idea of responsibility. How can a leader who once called Hamas "an asset" now deny accountability for the events of October 7? How can he claim ignorance about Qatari funds flowing to Hamas when these policies were enacted under his watch?In a way, Hamas has achieved something Arab armies never could in 75 years. They’ve fractured our moral compass and eroded the unity that once defined us. But their so-called "victory" is neither complete nor permanent. The majority of Israelis still feel a profound sense of responsibility—for the hostages and their families, for the fallen and their loved ones. This majority rejects the divisive rhetoric of a leadership that spreads hatred and conspiracy theories, and calls for indiscriminate violence. They understand that a leader who once called Hamas "an asset" and enabled its growth cannot continue to lead this nation. This war has tested us in ways we never imagined. It has exposed the worst in us—the cracks in our unity, the erosion of our values. But it has also revealed the resilience of the majority, the Israelis who refuse to abandon their humanity. They are the ones who will carry this country forward, ensuring that Hamas’ fleeting "victory" is nothing more than an illusion. link
- Ministers back bill to form special tribunal for trying Oct. 7 terrorists, but difficulties remain
Government ministers decide to give their backing to a bill that would establish a special tribunal for putting on trial terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, atrocities and for charging them with acts of genocide against the Jewish people.
The bill is co-sponsored by coalition MK Simcha Rothman, head of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and by MK Yuli Malinowsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party. It is approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, meaning the legislation will be backed by the coalition when it comes to the Knesset for its preliminary reading.
Israel captured hundreds of the Hamas-led terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacres, but has yet to issue indictments against them due to the complications of trying such large numbers of people and the difficulties involved in trying them under regular criminal procedures.
The new legislation would therefore establish a special tribunal, composed of 15 judges in total, which would hear cases in panels of three or five judges, depending on the type of indictment filed.
Crucially, the bill enables the tribunal to “deviate” from the accepted legal processes and evidentiary standards in Israel’s regular courts, to effectively try the large numbers of terrorists suspected of involvement in the atrocities.
Israel’s Law for Preventing and Punishing Genocide from 1950 provides for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of violating its provisions.
Hebrew media has reported that the Attorney General’s Office opposes the legislation, saying it contravenes foundational principles of criminal law in Israel, and could harm the international legitimacy of legal processes that state prosecutors have already taken and will take against the October 7 perpetrators.
- The Region and the World
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced that his country will recognize a Palestinian state, according to local media.
Speaking at a political event in Mosta today, Abela indicated that the move will take place during next month’s French-Saudi conference promoting a two-state solution at the United Nations headquarters in New York, according to the English daily Times of Malta.
Malta hosts a Palestinian ambassador and voted in April of last year for full Palestinian UN membership at the Security Council, but has yet to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
- Spanish FM proposes international sanctions on Israel to stop war in Gaza
The international community should look to sanction Israel to stop the war in Gaza, Spain’s foreign minister says, ahead of a Madrid meeting of European and Arab nations today to urge a halt to its offensive.
Madrid will host 20 countries as well as international organizations on Sunday with the aim of “stopping this war, which no longer has any goal,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares tells France Info radio.
Humanitarian aid must enter Gaza “massively, unimpeded, neutrally, so that it is not Israel who decides who can eat and who cannot,” he says.
A previous such gathering in Madrid last year brought together countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as European nations such as Ireland and Norway that have recognized a Palestinian state.
Sunday’s meeting, which also includes representatives from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, will promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
After the European Union decided this week to review its cooperation deal with Israel, Albares says, “We must consider sanctions, we must do everything, consider everything to stop this war.”
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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