🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 603, 2023

🎗️Day 603 that 58 of our hostages are still 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

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Hostage Updates

Until the last hostage

Hamas said on Saturday that the terror group demands more American guarantees before agreeing to the proposed framework for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

Jihad Taha, a spokesperson for Hamas, told the Qatari-based Al Jazeera network that the Islamist group was discussing the latest proposal "with utmost responsibility alongside other Palestinian factions."

Smoke rises from IDF strikes on Gaza (Photo: Amir Cohen / Reuters)

Israel accepted the proposal late last week as it increased its military offensive on Gaza, but Hamas had not said whether it would accept the Witkoff plan or reject it.

"We demanded serious guarantees from the Americans to end the war. Any agreement must include a complete withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. The new Witkoff document does not include any commitment of any kind to end the war, not even partially or in stages, and we have question marks about the document, which does not include sufficient or clear guarantees," Taha said.

Hamas official: Terror group to submit response to Witkoff’s Gaza proposal today

Hamas seeks stronger US guarantees to end war in fresh ceasefire proposal
A spokesperson for the terror group tells the Qatari-based outlet Al Jazeera that the new Witkoff framework does not include any commitment of any kind that the war would end
Convoy of tractors from kibbutzim arrive at Hostages Square in call for captives’ freedom
Kibbutz tractors make a shape of a hostage ribbon at a parking lot in Israel, May 31, 2025. (Yossi Yaron/Kibbutz Movement)
A convoy of tractors that set out from kibbutzim across the country arrives at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to call for the return of hostages held in Gaza ahead of the upcoming Shavuot festival.
“The struggle for the return of the hostages is a struggle for the character and spirit of the State of Israel,” Kibbutz Movement chair Lior Simcha says in a statement, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do all he can to return the 58 captives.

Gaza and the South

Hamas claims to target ‘undercover’ Israeli troops in video of Rafah IED attack
Armed men are seen before being targeted in a Hamas attack in Rafah, in a video issued by the terror group on May 30. 2025. (Screenshot: Telegram)

Hamas publishes an unusual video purporting to show its operatives detonating an explosive device against what it says are “undercover” Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
The video shows a group of armed men in civilian clothing being hit by a bomb.
Some reports from Gaza have indicated that the armed group is affiliated with Yasser Abu Shabab, a leader of a large clan in the Rafah area.
Abu Shabab claims his forces have been protecting aid convoys, while Hamas has accused him of looting the aid trucks and maintaining connections with Israel.
Israeli officials have declined to comment on Abu Shabab’s or other militias’ activities in Gaza.
Gaza aid resumes as IDF urges civilians to expel Hamas from distribution centers

Central Gaza aid center reopens as planned after Hamas disruptions and reports of an Israeli strike nearby; military drops leaflets urging residents to distance themselves from Hamas operatives hiding among civilians

Humanitarian aid operations resumed in Gaza on Thursday as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reopened its central distribution center near the Netzarim Corridor, following a day of chaos and disinformation reportedly fueled by Hamas. The center is one of two currently active in a large-scale effort to deliver food to civilians across the war-torn enclave.
Shortly after operations resumed, reports emerged of an Israeli strike near the facility, adjacent to the Netzarim Corridor. No injuries were reported, but sources said the strike appeared to be another attempt—likely by Hamas—to disrupt aid efforts. The IDF also dropped leaflets calling on civilians to evacuate northern Gaza, saying that ground operations were expanding.

Crowds of Gazans near the Netzarim Corridor distribution area, Thursday

Throughout the morning, large crowds of Gazans, including many families with children, gathered at the distribution site. According to the foundation, 14,616 food parcels were distributed across three centers on Wednesday: 4,824 in the central Rafah hub, 3,312 in another Rafah site and 6,480 at the central Gaza Strip location.

Each package is designed to sustain a family of five for one week, the foundation said. Sources familiar with the operation told Ynet that "the only thing not collapsing in Gaza are the American companies. The UN has collapsed. Hamas is being looted."
Meanwhile, IDF Arabic spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee issued a warning to residents of the Nuseirat refugee camp, located near the aid activity. In his message, Adraee accused Hamas terrorists of hiding among civilians and using civilian infrastructure, urging locals to expel them “before it’s too late.” The IDF also released new intelligence indicating ongoing Hamas terror activity in and around civilian sites in the area.
“The terrorist organization continues to cynically use the civilian population as human shields, putting their lives at direct risk,” the IDF said in a statement. “We urge residents to distance themselves from Hamas infrastructure and protect their lives.” Link
IDF: Troops destroyed over 800 weapons and bombs found during recent operations in Gaza
Weapons found by IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued by the military on May 30, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says troops have seized and destroyed over 800 weapons and explosive devices that were found during operations in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, amid a new offensive against Hamas.

Dozens of tunnel shafts were also found and demolished, the army adds. link
Palestinian media reports over 100 aid trucks loaded with flour looted in Khan Younis area
People carry sacks of flour as aid trucks are apparently looted in the Khan Younis area on May 31, 2025 (Screen grab used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Over 100 UN World Food Programme trucks loaded with flour were looted in the Khan Younis area, Palestinian media reports.

The Ynet news site reports that distribution of the flour had been set to begin tomorrow.

Gunfire can be heard in video footage. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Under pressure from allies, Israel began allowing some humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering since March 2.

Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meet mounting needs of an increasingly desperate Gazan civilian population.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, and says it needs to be tightly controlled to prevent it from helping the terror group. video
Gaza Aid Fund: 'We distributed 1.66 million food portions today in Gaza - a daily record'
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) reported that since the beginning of its humanitarian aid distribution operation, which started about five days ago, more than 3.8 million food portions have been distributed to Gaza residents. According to an official statement from the fund, today marked the operation's peak so far, with the distribution of approximately 1.66 million food portions through 30 trucks delivering about 28,800 food packages. According to GHF, the daily figures represent a five-fold increase compared to the previous day. In total, about 51,840 food boxes have been distributed since the operation began.

‘The Hamas leadership has sold you out’: COGAT shares video of Gazan blasting terror chiefs
The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issues a message to Gazans after a video posted to social media yesterday showed a Palestinian in the Strip criticizing Hamas’s leadership.
“Residents of Gaza, the Hamas leadership has sold you out. This is the same leadership that deceived you. Instead of focusing on caring for the civilian population, it abandoned its people, while senior leaders abroad indulge in luxury on airplanes, in hotels, and in restaurants,” says COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian in a Facebook post, where he attached an edited version of the social media video with subtitles. The full context of the clip is unclear.
Israel has been attempting to drive a wedge between Hamas and the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, in an effort to weaken the terror group’s rule in the Strip.
Yesterday, an Israeli defense official said Hamas’s rule in Gaza was slipping as a new aid distribution system ramped up activities. video
Hamas authorities say 60 killed in strikes on Gaza over past 24 hours
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip reports 60 killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli strikes over the previous 24 hours.

The figures have not been verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

This morning, Palestinian media reports strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis in the Strip’s south.

The IDF has not yet commented on its strikes in Gaza today.

Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria
Israel and Syria holding face-to-face meetings at border to calm tensions
Syrians represented by border governor Ahmad al-Dalati, Israel by unnamed security officials; talks are on ‘absence of war,’ not normalization, for now

An Israeli soldier on the border fence with Syria, in the northern Israeli town of Majdal Shams, on May 9, 2025. (Michael Giladi/FLash90)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said.

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its strikes on Syria.

They also build on back-channel talks via intermediaries since Islamist rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, said two Syrian and two Western sources, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the matter.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported.

On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad.

Earlier this week, Dalati was also put in charge of security in the southern province of Sweida, home to Syria’s Druze minority.

Reuters could not determine who participated on Israel’s side, though two of the sources said they were security officials.

Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory controlled by Israel.

Israel’s foreign ministry and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this month, Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks.

Israeli military operations in Syria have escalated since Assad’s fall, with Jerusalem saying it will not tolerate an Islamist militant presence in southern Syria.

An Israeli army soldier closes the gate behind a Merkava main battle tank that crossed the barbed-wire fence into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights near the UN Quneitra checkpoint on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Israel has bombed what it says are military targets across the country, and Israeli ground forces have entered southwestern Syria, where they are currently stationed in a number of outposts in a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

The Jewish state has also cautioned against swift recognition of the new government in Syria, expressing deep skepticism about Sharaa, who until recently had a $10 million bounty on his head from the US.

But the strikes and the criticism have subsided in recent weeks.

On May 14, a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Sharaa in Riyadh upended decades of US Syria policy, and signaled to Israel’s government that it should work to reach understandings with Sharaa.

The regional intelligence source described Trump’s engagement with Sharaa as a pivotal part of a realignment in US policy that upset Israel’s post-Assad strategy of exploiting Syria’s fragmentation.

Tensions down in Sweida
The relative calm in May has also seen a reduction in tensions around Sweida, which saw days of bloody clashes between Druze armed factions, some of which have Israeli backing, and Sunni Muslim fighters last month.

Amid the violence, Israel had launched a series of airstrikes, including one just outside the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, which it framed as a warning over threats against the Druze, a minority group with communities in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

While the direct talks are currently focused on joint security, such as preventing conflict and reducing Israeli incursions into Syrian border villages, two of the sources said they may help pave the way for broader political understandings.

“For now, they are about peace, as in the absence of war, rather than normalization,” said the person familiar with backchannel talks.

Trump indicated after meeting Sharaa that the Syrian leader was willing to eventually normalize ties with Israel, while adding that it would take some time.

A worker mixes cement in front of a statue bearing a model of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock shrine and the Palestinian flag in the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees and their descendants in southern Damascus on May 22, 2025. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Sharaa has not commented on the statement, saying instead that he supported a return to the terms of a 1974 ceasefire agreement that created a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

Syria’s new rulers have made repeated efforts to show they pose no threat to Israel, meeting representatives of the Jewish community in Damascus and abroad and detaining two senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, which participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Additionally, Palestinian sources said on Friday that several Iran-backed Palestinian terror groups had left Syria altogether under pressure from the new regime.

A letter sent by Syria’s foreign ministry to the US State Department last month, seen by Reuters, said “we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel.”

Israel has so far treated such statements with intense suspicion, due to the new leadership’s roots.
Confirming first Syria strike in weeks, IDF says it targeted anti-ship missiles stored near Latakia
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes near the coastal Syrian city of Latakia a short while ago, saying its fighter jets targeted weapon depots used to store anti-ship missiles.
The missiles had posed a threat to “international and Israeli freedom of navigation,” the military says.
Additionally, the IDF says it struck anti-aircraft missile “components” near Latakia. It marks the first Israeli airstrike in Syria since May 3. link
Local Hezbollah rocket unit commander killed in overnight south Lebanon strike, IDF says

A Hezbollah commander was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF says.

According to the military, the strike near Deir ez-Zahrani killed Muhammad Ali Jamoul, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket unit in the Beaufort Castle area.

The IDF says Jamoul advanced numerous rocket attacks on Israel during the war, and was recently involved in attempting to restore Hezbollah infrastructure in the area.

His actions “constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military adds.
ISIS launches attacks against Syrian regime - first since Assad's fall
ISIS claimed to have carried out two attacks against Syrian security forces - the first since the overthrow of dictator Bashar Assad, after which President Ahmed al-Shra (Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) came to power, CNN reported. The jihadist terror organization claimed it killed and wounded seven of al-Jolani's regime personnel using an explosive device planted on a road in the southern Syrian province of As-Suwayda. However, a security source in the province told CNN that a 'Free Syrian Army' unit fell victim to the ambush, with one fighter killed and three wounded.

West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and Terror Attacks

Saudi FM to lead delegation to Ramallah, in first-ever West Bank visit by kingdom’s top diplomat
Prince Faisal bin Farhan will become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the West Bank on Sunday, a diplomatic source tells AFP, as the Gaza war drags on and Riyadh pushes for Palestinian statehood.

The top Saudi diplomat will head a delegation to Ramallah, a Palestinian embassy source says, the first such trip since Israel captured the territory from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War.

Prince Faisal’s trip was announced as Israel vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the West Bank, after doubling down on plans to expand settlements there.

“A ministerial delegation led by the minister of foreign affairs will go to Ramallah on Sunday,” the source tells AFP.

Saudi Arabia sent a lower-level delegation to Ramallah in September 2023, its first since 1967, not long before Hamas’s October 7 attack triggered the Gaza war. link
Israel will block Saudi-led delegation of FMs from visiting West Bank — official
Israel has decided to block a delegation of Middle Eastern foreign ministers led by Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat from making a landmark visit to the West Bank on Sunday, a senior Israeli official confirms to The Times of Israel.

The foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey were slated to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday.

The senior Israeli official says the PA was planning to host a meeting aimed “at promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Saudi Arabia and France are cohosting a conference at the UN next month aimed at advancing a two-state solution, and Paris is weighing whether or not it will use the platform to recognize a Palestinian state.

“Israel will not cooperate with moves designed to harm it and its security,” the Israeli official asserts.

The move is likely to further strain Israel’s relations with regional Arab states, which have already deteriorated significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza war. link. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, and he has said too many times to count, we will forever live by the sword. These are not the words of a leader, they are the words at a coward and of a petty politician who has no idea of indicition of how to make the lives of his people and the future of the country better and more secure. Netanyahu has learned nothing from October 7 and everything that led up to it by his own hands. He spent all of his political career fighting any possibility of even sitting down at the same table with the Palestinians, weakening the Palestinian Authority and strengthening Hamas just to be able to say there is no partner for peace. He still believes that 5 million Palestinians will continue to live under a military occupation that has already gone on for almost 60 years, and that there will be quiet. He still believes that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict can be managed and doesn't need to end with a diplomatic political solution. Instead, he adopts the ideology of his most extreme messianic partners and the delusions of his buddy Trump to force the migration of over 2 million Gazans from the place they have lived (most as refugees from 1948 and 1967), resettle Gaza with Jewish settlements, creates Trump's Gazan Riviera, and that the Palestinians and the world will be fine with this ethnic cleansing, and that the problem of Gaza will magically disappear. This is so delusional and the absolute worst thing that can happen for Israel. But Netanyahu and his messianic partners don't give a damn about the repercussions that will follow, some immediately and the rest over time.
He thinks that preventing the Saudis from coming to the West Bank will make the problem go away. He still believes that he can achieve normalization with Saudi Arabia without truly dealing with settling the conflict. That may have been the case before October 7, but it all changed on that day. Saudi Arabia has returned as the strongest proponent for a 2 State Solution and normalization between Israel and most of the Arab and Muslim world. But it all hinges on a leader who is a coward, a blunderer and the one most responsible for October 7, and he shirks responsibility for it all and would rather that we continue to manage the conflict and live forever by the sword.

Arab FMs slam Israel for blocking trip to West Bank
AMMAN, Jordan — The foreign ministers of five Arab countries who had planned to visit the West Bank this weekend condemn Israel’s decision to block their plans.

The ministers condemn “Israel’s decision to ban the delegation’s visit to Ramallah (on Sunday) to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas,” the Jordanian foreign ministry says.

Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had been expected to take part alongside Turkey

Politics and the War and General News

Israel believes France won't recognize Palestinian state in upcoming summit

Officials estimate Macron won't act to enforce Palestinian state recognition in upcoming Saudi Arabia summit while U.S. opposes unilateral moves

France and Saudi Arabia are set to host an international summit in New York next month aimed at advancing a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While several countries are weighing recognition of a Palestinian state, Israeli officials believe French President Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to take that step following the conference.

“There’s no intention to impose anything,” French diplomatic sources told Ynet. “The summit goes far beyond recognition. The goal is to launch an irreversible dynamic toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” All UN member states have been invited but the final list of participants remains unclear.

The initiative follows UN General Assembly resolution 79/81, passed on December 3, 2024, urging recognition of a Palestinian state. The summit aims to generate concrete steps in four areas:

1. Recognition of Palestine’s statehood as an expression of legitimate Palestinian aspirations.
2. Mutual recognition and normalization with Israel by states that haven't done so, modeled on Indonesia’s offer to recognize Israel if it recognizes Palestine.
3. Security guarantees for both sides, including a plan to fully disarm Hamas and establish postwar security mechanisms.
4. Reforming the Palestinian Authority to strengthen its legitimacy and governance—excluding any role for Hamas—even in Gaza.

France’s embassy in Israel stressed the summit’s timing amid the Gaza war, the humanitarian crisis and Jewish settler violence in the West Bank. “The two-state solution is more threatened than ever,” it said.

Israel has warned that if France recognizes a Palestinian state, it could respond by extending sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and even shutter France’s consulate in Jerusalem. “France doesn’t set its foreign policy based on threats,” a French source responded.
Asked whether France coordinated the summit with the U.S.—amid Israeli concerns that Washington may be using it as leverage—a French official said, “We’re involving the U.S. and view this as complementing American efforts to end the war and secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.”
Despite these remarks, the U.S. voiced opposition to the summit. Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Kelley told the Security Council: “The U.S. firmly rejects any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state or attempts to impose terms on Israel—this would be an unthinkable reward for Hamas’s barbaric attack that killed and kidnapped Israelis and Americans.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot warned that the violence since October 7 has placed the decades-long diplomatic framework at risk. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana responded, saying, “There’s been no 30-year Israeli consensus on a Palestinian state—quite the opposite.
“The Knesset has overwhelmingly voted against unilateral recognition and even the state’s establishment. We’re in a clash of civilizations and right now, you’re on the wrong side of history.”

The Region and the World

Barcelona ends ‘friendship agreement’ with Tel Aviv over Gaza war

Barcelona’s city council voted yesterday to cut institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with the city of Tel Aviv, citing alleged violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians.

The motion, supported by the governing Socialist party along with far-left and leftist pro-independence groups, calls for an end to all official relations with Israel “until respect for international law” and the “basic rights of the Palestinian people” are restored.

Barcelona will also suspend a 1998 friendship agreement with Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and it urged the trade fair organizer Fira de Barcelona not to host Israeli government pavilions or companies involved in the arms trade or profiting from the conflict in Gaza.

A similar recommendation was made to the Port of Barcelona.

“The suffering and death in Gaza over the past year and a half, and recent attacks by the Israeli government, make any relationship unviable,” Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni said during the council session.

It is not the first time Barcelona has moved to suspend ties with Israel. In 2023, then-mayor Ada Colau took similar steps, which were later reversed when Collboni won local elections.

While the move has little practical impact, the decision by Spain’s second-largest city — a top tourist destination and home to one of the world’s best-known football clubs — adds to a growing list of critics of Israel amid the devastating war in Gaza.

Personal Stories

Two brothers, two battles: loss and longing 600 days after October 7
Roy Chen lost his brother in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack; Yotam Cohen’s brother is still held captive; one mourns, the other waits; their paths crossed in shared grief as they fight for memory, justice and the hope of bringing every captive home
Since October 7, time seems to have split into two parts: life before and life after. Roy Chen and Yotam Cohen, two young men in their 20s, are experiencing this time in profoundly different ways. One lost his brother and is fighting to honor his memory, while the other is still desperately working to bring his brother home alive from captivity. Despite their different realities, they’ve found each other through a shared pain that words cannot fully express.
Roy Chen and Yotam Cohen

Roy Chen, the older brother of Itay Chen, described a harrowing journey filled with emotional and physical challenges. “On March 11, 2024, we received the news that Itay was no longer alive,” he recounted. “Five months of uncertainty ended with one devastating piece of news.”
The topic of captives who were killed is not often discussed publicly, but for Roy, it is an ever-present reality. “Itay was my middle brother. There were three years between us. I’m the oldest, and he was always there. We grew up in the same house, went to the same school—just at different times. On October 7, we were both in the army. I was already an officer, and he had just started his service in the armored corps, which was all he ever wanted.”
Roy described their close bond: “I miss him, and I miss what was normal. I miss the holidays, the Saturdays when he’d come home, even the little things that annoyed me about him. I miss those too.” Itay also left behind a girlfriend, with whom he had been in a relationship for over a year. Since October 7, she has enlisted in the army, and Roy’s family has embraced her as one of their own. “The way a sibling copes is very different from how a parent copes,” Roy explained. “Our parents are immersed in it constantly. As siblings, we have to juggle—supporting the family, taking care of ourselves, and continuing the fight to bring back the captives. Everything I do still revolves around this, but I also understand how important it is to take care of myself. It’s a daily struggle.”
A rally to mark 500 days, 100 days ago

Recently, Roy began working in special education as a guide for children. “There’s something healing about it,” he said. “It’s also a way to cope. I live between a shared apartment in Tel Aviv and my parents’ home in Netanya. One day I’m here, the next I’m in Jerusalem, and there are also all the flights. But one thing is clear—family is the most important thing.”
Nimrod is still captive, awaiting the miracle of release
For Yotam Cohen, every day since October 7 has been a day of struggle. His younger brother, Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier, remains in captivity. “I don’t see day 600 as any different from day 599,” Yotam said. “It’s also my birthday—my 24th. And this is not the gift I wanted. It’s a harder birthday than the last one.”
Last year, on his birthday, Yotam was on a delegation abroad and believed it would be the last time he celebrated without Nimrod. “But a year has passed, and I’m starting to forget. Forget who Nimrod is. He’s turned into a poster, a blurry face in a video, a name mentioned by returning captives. But Nimrod isn’t a story—he’s a person. He’s my brother.”
Yotam spoke about the void left by his brother in every aspect of his life. “We grew up together, played PlayStation together. His room is right next to mine. I walk past it every day—a room that’s empty. Even our shared games are still installed on the console. I’m waiting for him to come back and play them. The weekends, the laughter, even our military service—we went through it all together. And now, we’re no longer three siblings, just two.”
For Yotam, every milestone in life has become a symbol of absence. “I finished my military service, my sister Romi enlisted. And Nimrod… Nimrod isn’t part of it. He’s not in the picture. It’s tormenting.”
Yotam Cohen speaks about his brother

He shared how impossible it is to live a normal life. “I’m not thinking about a career, a relationship, or hobbies. Everything feels meaningless. There’s only one thing that matters—that he comes back. And this war has to end. It’s not helping anyone, especially not the captives. If you want to bring them back, you have to stop fighting.”
Yotam also spoke about his fear—that Nimrod won’t be part of the next release deal. “We, the loud family that’s fighting publicly, we’ll pay the price. He’ll be left until the end, just because he’s a soldier. Because they don’t want to bring everyone back.”
The connection between Roy and Yotam was born out of difficult circumstances. Two brothers, one shared pain. “We’re the same age, and so are our brothers. We found ourselves in the same place,” they said. “It’s nice to meet good people, but we wish we didn’t have to meet at all. There’s a special bond between us because we understand each other without needing many words. Our generation of siblings shares a connection that’s part friendship, part emotional, and deeply rooted in shared pain and struggle.”
600 days have passed, and the numbers don’t ease the pain. They only emphasize the time that has gone by. But despite everything, there is still hope. To return. Not just for the brothers—but for themselves as well. 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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