🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 605, 2023

🎗️Day 605 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

*4:50pm yesterday - Jerusalem, Gush Dan, Central Israel areas - ballistic missile from Yemen - successfully intercepted

Smoke trails, apparently from the interception of a Houthi missile fired from Yemen, are seen above Kibbutz Baram in northern Israel, May 2, 2025. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Hostage Updates

Until the last hostage

A book to wake up the world: Ex-hostage Eli Sharabi launches memoir of captivity and survival
In first book by a returned Israeli hostage, Sharabi recounts 491 days in Hamas captivity, mourns his wife and daughters, pleads for urgent release of those left behind

Eli Sharabi in conversation with Tzufit Granot at his book launch at ANU - The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, May 30, 2024. (Guy Gueta)

Just a few months ago, this scene would have been unimaginable: Eli Sharabi, free, and standing before a crowd at a Tel Aviv museum to launch a book about his 491 days as a hostage in Gaza.

Even now, as he speaks publicly for the first time in this kind of setting, dozens of hostages – including people he was held with – remain just a few kilometers away, still trapped underground.

“I never looked at death as an option,” Sharabi told the packed auditorium at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People. “I always chose life.”

More than 300 people gathered Thursday to mark the publication of ‘Hostage’ – the first memoir written and published by a returned Israeli captive. The event was part memorial, part tribute, and part national reckoning.

Sharabi, 52, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023 during Hamas’ onslaught. His wife Lianne and daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered that day. His brother Yossi was also kidnapped and murdered by his captors, who still hold his body.

Sharabi was held in Hamas captivity for 491 days and was released on February 8 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the US.

Eli Sharabi and singer Yuval Dayan at his book launch at ANU – The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, May 30, 2024. (Guy Gueta)

The event included a reading of Sharabi’s book by actor Uri Gavriel, a musical performance by singer Yuval Daniel – the favorite singer of his late daughters – and Sharabi’s niece, and an onstage interview led by actress Tzufit Grant.

It also served as a tribute to those who supported Sharabi and his family throughout his captivity and return.

“Hostage,” published by Sella Meir Publishing House, was written over two months and is the first memoir published by a released hostage.

“He told me two things: ask me everything, and do what is needed,” Rotem Sella, founder of the publishing house, said of his first meeting with Sharabi, 48 days after his release.

“It’s not an exposition or reflection – it’s his first-person account of what he experienced on October 7 until his release,” he said, adding that Eli’s fluent Arabic gave him a deeper understanding of the situation. “The goal is to bring the world into the Hamas tunnels and raise awareness.”

Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is paraded by Hamas gunmen before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Orders for the book have already broken records in Israeli publishing, and it is expected to be available in stores nationwide next week. The book has also been translated into English by Eylon Levy, a former government spokesperson, and Sella says an English-language edition will be published soon.

“Eli Sharabi’s raw and unfiltered memoir of captivity is a historic text, which I’m sure will become a defining classic of October 7 literature,” Levy told the Times of Israel. “Many books will be written about the dungeons of Gaza, but this will always be the first.”
“When you read this book, you see how he survived for his family, for Alon, and to help bring home the other hostages,” said Sella, referring to Alon Ohel who was held with Sharabi and remains in captivity.

Eli Sharabi was taken captive on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists while his wife Lianne and their two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed. (Courtesy)

Onstage, Sharabi’s voice remained steady as he recounted scenes from captivity; moments of terror, fleeting hope, and finally the joy of his relief on being freed mixed with despair upon discovering that his wife and daughters – whom he believed throughout his captivity to be alive – had not survived October 7.

“I’m glad I didn’t know they were dead,” he said. “Because thinking I would return to them is what kept me going.”

Throughout his time in captivity, Sharabi said he leaned heavily on ritual and faith – reciting morning blessings, repeating the Eshet Chayil blessing in honor of his mother and wife. He urged the younger hostages he was held with to resist despair.

Eli Sharabi, left, with his daughters Yahel and Noiya Sharabi, who were both killed along with their mother, Lianne Sharabi on October 7, 2023 as their father was taken hostage (Courtesy)

“In captivity, you look for anything that gives you strength,” he said. “I told the young people: this isn’t a time for ego. We are returning.”

He described the terror of IDF airstrikes, the fear of being discovered by Gazan civilians and lynched, and one of his most emotionally shattering moments: stepping into the Red Cross vehicle that would take him to safety.

“I imagined my wife and kids running to me,” he said. “Of course, that didn’t happen.”

Even now, he said, his grief and memory are constant.

“I don’t need Memorial Day to think of them,” he said. “They’re in songs, in conversations, in memories. I know they would be proud of me.”

Sharabi was held in Hamas captivity at first alongside a Thai worker and later with fellow Israeli hostages in tunnels including Ohel, Eliya Cohen, and Or Levy. He was also held alongside Ori Danino, and Hersh Golberg-Polin, who were later murdered by their captors in August 2024.

Ohel remains in captivity, and it is for him and the remaining 57 hostages that compelled Sharabi to write the book.

“It was important to me that the story come out as quickly as possible, so that the world will understand what life is like inside captivity,” he told the Times of Israel. “Once they do, they won’t be able to remain indifferent.”

“This is an experience that no one should go through,” Sharabi added. “But people should also know that they can always choose, that in every situation – even the darkest one – you can always choose humanity.”

Paraphrasing the late Hersh Goldberg-Polin, he said: “People who have a ‘why’ can find the ‘how’ – they can survive, rise again, and build a life.” link

Emily Damari, ex-hostage with a ‘golden heart,’ proudly recalls irking her captors

Spunky survivor tells Israeli TV she kept her sexual orientation a secret from Hamas, says ‘craziest moments’ of captivity were learning her mom is alive and being picked up by Red Cross

Former hostage Emily Damari speaks to Channel 12 in a segment aired May 31, 2025. (Screen capture: Channel 12)

Former hostage Emily Damari recalled once getting in a physical altercation with a Hamas captor who shoved a fellow hostage, in an often lighthearted interview broadcast Saturday that showcased her spunk and love of soccer.

“I started speaking in Hebrew, not Arabic — ‘What are you doing?’ — and pushed him back,” she told Channel 12. “He grabbed me by the arm, and I pushed his arm away, until others separated us.”

“Would I have gotten a bullet? Fine, then I’ll die and won’t be in captivity, thank you very much,” she said. “Sucks for my family, for my friends, but I’ll be out of this nightmare.”

Damari apparently got on her captors’ nerves. “I asked them everything — how they built the tunnels, how much money they make off of them — until they had enough of it,'” she said, adding that the captors nicknamed her “Fuduli,” meaning curious in Arabic. Other nicknames included “spring, Mogli, Tarzan” and “Shajaa,” the latter being Arabic for “brave,” she said.

She also recalled keeping secret from her captors that she is gay.

“They can’t know something like that, they consider it sick,” she said. “We once asked one of them, ‘What if your brother were gay’? He said: ‘I’d murder him.'”

Speaking to Channel 12, Damari recounted “two of the craziest moments of my life”: Seeing her mother on Israeli television, nine months into captivity, the first time Damari learned her mother had survived the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023; and when the Red Cross came to bring her back from Gaza in January, as part of the then-nascent ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

Emily Damari (right) and her mother, Mandy, hold a video call with family members after her return from Hamas captivity, January 19, 2025. (IDF)

She confirmed Hebrew media reports that at the time she refused her captors’ demand that she wear a red jumper, the color of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer team, rival of her favored Maccabi Tel Aviv. Ultimately, Damari wore green.

Damari was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Terrorists who invaded Damari’s home shot and killed her dog and wounded her left hand, causing her to lose two fingers.

She was snatched in her own car alongside her good friend and neighbor Ziv Berman, who remains in captivity along with his twin brother Gali.

Damari was held with Ziv for the first 40 days of their captivity, while Gali was held elsewhere. Since her release, Damari has campaigned vigorously for the twins’ freedom.

Ziv and Gali Berman were taken captive by Hamas terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Former hostage Romi Gonen, who spent the latter 14 months of her captivity with Damari and was released alongside her, said Damari’s “super power” was “her golden heart, bless her.”

“She always put me ahead of her, even with food,” said Gonen. “It was like that when we were five girls and when we were 11 people — Emily would always eat the least so everyone would have enough food.”

Terror groups in Gaza still hold 58 captives, 35 of whom have been confirmed dead, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war. link

Qatar and Egypt ‘intensifying efforts’ to reach Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal
Qatar and Egypt announce plans to step up efforts to restart truce negotiations in Gaza, where hopes for a ceasefire are fading amid the lack of agreement between Israel and Hamas on a US proposal.
“Qatar and Egypt, in coordination with the United States, emphasize the importance of intensifying efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the negotiations,” the two mediators say in a joint statement.

Gaza and the South

IDF announces it has expanded Gaza Strip ground offensive
The IDF announces that it has expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip over the past day.
The announcement comes after yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir instructed the army to operate in new areas in Gaza.
“In the past day, troops expanded the ground maneuver, eliminated terrorists and destroyed many weapon depots and terror infrastructure, above and below ground,” the statement says.
Additionally, the IDF says the Israeli Air Force hit dozens of targets across Gaza in the past day, including cells of terror operatives, buildings used by terror groups, tunnels, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.

Palestinian media reports: IDF troops demolishing rear wall of European Hospital in Khan Younis

Palestinian media reports that Israeli troops advanced toward the European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis in the past day, and are currently demolishing the medical center’s rear wall.

An airstrike last month targeted a Hamas tunnel system that ran underneath the hospital, killing the terror group’s leader in Gaza Muhammad Sinwar and two other senior commanders in its military wing.

The IDF has not yet commented.

IDF says dozens of strikes hit terror sites across Gaza; Hamas authorities say 60 killed
COGAT posts video of Gazan speaking out against Hamas; army reissues evacuation warning for Rafah, Khan Younis in southern Gaza
The Israeli Air Force struck dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip throughout the weekend, including terror operatives and infrastructure used by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces said.
According to Hamas authorities in Gaza, 60 people were killed and dozens more were wounded in the strikes. The terror group’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The IDF said a drone strike on Friday in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood killed a prominent Hamas operative involved in manufacturing weapons, and in a separate incident on Friday, soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade spotted a cell of four armed operatives and eliminated them.
The paratroopers also located and destroyed several explosive devices that had been planted in their area of operations, the IDF added.
Meanwhile, rockets were launched from southern Gaza toward Israel on Saturday, setting off alarms in the border communities of Nirim and Ein Hashlosha, the military said. The rockets landed in open areas near the communities, and no injuries or damages were reported.
On Saturday evening, the IDF reissued a wide evacuation warning for the entire Rafah and Khan Younis area in the southern Strip. It called for Palestinians residing in areas marked on a map in red to evacuate westward toward the Mawasi area on the coast.
The latest order covers much of the same areas previously ordered to evacuate in March and earlier this month.

A message to Gazans

On Saturday, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issued a message to Gazans after a video posted to social media on Friday showed a Palestinian in the Strip criticizing Hamas 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,” COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian said in a Facebook post, where he attached an edited version of the social media video with subtitles. The full context of the clip was unclear.
Israel has been attempting to drive a wedge between Hamas and the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza to weaken the terror group’s hold on the Strip.
On Friday, an Israeli defense official asserted that Hamas’s rule in Gaza was slipping as a new aid distribution system ramped up activities.
However, the new system, which is being run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been criticized for not sufficiently addressing the population’s nutritional needs and for the chaos that has repeatedly erupted at its distribution points.
Palestinian media reports on Saturday said over 100 UN World Food Programme trucks loaded with flour were looted in the Khan Younis area. According to the Ynet news site, the flour was only set to be distributed on Sunday.
In video footage on social media, gunfire could be heard at the scene, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
A separate incident posted on social media appeared to show a crowd of Gazans running toward a distribution site to grab boxes of aid.
A GHF spokesperson downplayed the footage, asserting that the scene was relatively calm and that a certain level of chaos is expected at the current time, due to the hunger levels in Gaza.
According to the GHF, its contractors running the site allowed Palestinians to take boxes themselves, while helping those in need, and the hope is to soon transition to a more orderly process when desperation in Gaza dies down.
Under pressure from allies, Israel has begun allowing some humanitarian aid into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and 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 the mounting needs of an increasingly desperate population.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid and says goods need to be tightly controlled to prevent them from being hoarded by the terror group. link

IDF rejects 'Rafah massacre' accusations: 'No shooting - Hamas spreading lies'
The IDF spokesperson addressed global reports about the killing of 30 Palestinians by military fire near the American aid distribution center in Rafah, stating that 'initial investigation shows that the IDF did not fire at civilians near or in the area of humanitarian aid distribution.' The IDF spokesperson's statement said, 'In recent hours, false publications containing serious accusations against the IDF have been circulating. Findings from an initial investigation show that the IDF did not fire at civilians near or in the humanitarian aid distribution area, and these are false reports. Hamas is doing everything in its power to prevent the success of food distribution in Gaza.' Despite Hamas claims, security camera footage from Gaza aid center shows no shooting Major outlets are quick to repeat the terror group's accusations, while the U.S.-backed foundation distributing aid says there was no such incident near its distribution center The IDF on Sunday denied that it had attacked a food line in Rafah after Hamas claimed dozens were killed in an Israeli strike. The Qatari-based Al Jazeera Network quoted sources in Gaza who said 30 people were killed and over 100 wounded in a strike near the distribution center operated by the American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The Reuters news agency also said dozens were killed, basing their report on the Palestinian news agency WAFA and Hamas-affiliated media. Other major news outlets, including the BBC, CNN, Sky News,The Washington Post, to name but a few, were quick to repeat the claim. "The IDF is currently unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site," the military said in a statement. "The matter is still under review.

GHF said there was no IDF fire in the area of the distribution center. GHF CEO John Ackery said on Saturday that there have been no fatalities or injuries in the aid distribution centers his group operates, despite rumors consistently spread. "These false reports harm the work of our teams on the ground. There had not been any cases of deaths since our distribution efforts began," he said.

The IDF said earlier that troops identified three terrorists transporting explosives they intended to use to rig an area in Khan Younis. The force opened fire and killed the terror squad. The military also said its engineering corps destroyed a 700-meter-long (765 yards) underground tunnel dug 30 meters (100 feet) below ground. link

IDF discovered Mohammed Sinwar's secret meeting after Edan Alexander's release
Sinwar is believed to have been a hardline figure in Hamas who refused any compromise in negotiations with Israel that didn't include an end to the war.

Mohammed Sinwar against backdrop of strike on the European Hospital which allegedly killed him, May 13, 2025 (illustration).

The IDF was able to target Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar based on information that Israeli intelligence gathered information that the terror leader was planning a meeting of the military wing’s leadership in an underground complex beneath Khan Yunis’s European Hospital, Walla reported on Monday.

IDF intelligence acquired a “golden piece of information” that allowed it to form an assessment of the time and place of the meeting. Shortly after, explosions shook Khan Yunis and the surrounding area.

Sinwar is believed to have been one of the most hardline and ruthless leaders in the Gaza Strip, refusing any compromise in negotiations with Israel that did not include a complete end to the Israel-Hamas War.

However, US negotiation pressure tactics forced him to back down, and the Hamas terror group released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander as a gesture to US President Donald Trump.

Sinwar’s compound is believed to have had a conference room and command center, from which the Hamas leader managed the war since his brother, Yahya, was killed by the IDF in October 2024.

Palestinians inspect the damage at the European Hospital, which was partially damaged following an Israeli airstrike that targeted Muhammed Sinwar in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 13, 2025. (credit: Hatem Khaled/Reuters)

The operation to assassinate Mohammed Sinwar was reportedly formulated six months ago but was postponed several times for various reasons.

Security officials who spoke to Walla claimed that Sinwar always operated in the shadow of senior Hamas figures who inspired him but that cruelty was part of his nature.

This was expressed in his planning of attacks and building terror infrastructure, as well as in his executing collaborators, at times with his own hands.

Not just 'Yahya's brother'

The label “Yahya’s brother,” entitled Sinwar to respect from the Hamas leadership, and he took over the role “naturally” after Yahya was killed

However, at that time, Hamas was managed by a group of five senior figures, and Sinwar’s influence was not exclusive.

“His status significantly improved after his brother’s release [in 2011],” a security official told Walla.“He was also the man for special affairs. During the war, he was involved in the hostage-taking – and in policies against Israel. He continued this after everyone else was killed. Therefore, his neutralization is a very significant event. Ultimately, he is the figure with the most experience, activity, and understanding of the other side.” link

Palestinian media reports IDF ground troops advancing in Khan Younis area, overnight airstrikes in Gaza City
Overnight, Palestinian media reported a wave of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City.
It is unclear if any casualties were caused by the strikes.
Additionally, reports in Gaza claim that Israeli ground forces are advancing in the Khan Younis area in the Strip’s south.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

US- and Israel-backed Gaza aid group says it handed out over 18,500 food boxes in 2 hours, without incident
Aid distribution this morning in southern Gaza’s Rafah passed without incident, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the US- and Israel-backed body in charge of the aid distribution, says in a statement.
In an update at 7 a.m., two hours after an distribution site in Rafah opened, GHF says it handed out “21 truckloads of food this morning, totaling 18,720 boxes.”
“Operations… were once again smooth and no security incidents occurred. Aid was distributed without incident despite ongoing acute needs in the Strip,” GHF says.
In the past week, GHF says it had distributed 5.8 million meals at three distribution sites in southern and central Gaza. But its classification of meals is based on boxes of dry food products that still require cooking equipment or community kitchens, which are very limited throughout the Strip after nearly 20 months of devastating conflict.

Hamas chose Jihad over Gazans- by Avi Issacharoff

Opinion: Israel estimates that the terror group is on the cusp of total collapse, but it would be a mistake to view the crisis in Gaza through Western eyes and try predict how it would act if such an event occurs
There has been quite a bit of speculation in Israel in recent days that Hamas was nearing or already on the verge of collapse.

These are totally reasonable speculations given the wealth of information coming out of the Gaza Strip, including the confirmation from the IDF and the Shin Bet that Mohammed Sinwar, head of the terror group's military wing, was killed in an Israeli strike on a tunnel in Khan Younis last month.

With him were other high-level Hamas commanders, including the head of the Rafah brigade.

Gaza residents leave northern areas after IDF calls for their evacuation
(Photo: Jehad Alshrafi / AP)

Children receive food in Gaza

The IDF has been operating deliberately and meticulously in the Southern Gaza city, clearing it of Hamas terror forces and adding to the enormous destruction there. Thousands of Hamas fighters have been killed and the terror group no longer has a command structure that would allow it to operate like a military organization.

Humanitarian aid is increasingly being distributed by Israeli-affiliated or American organizations, thereby depriving Hamas of its hold on the governing of civilians and of the ability to generate an income from the aid.

More and more Gazans were now also willing to speak out against Hamas and in the south of the Strip, the Abu-Shabab clan was in physical confrontation with Hamas forces. As Hamas loses territory under its control, chaos has begun appearing throughout the area.

To Western eyes, there is no doubt that Hamas was on the run, if not already defeated.

But it would be a mistake to evaluate the intentions or actions of Hamas using Western considerations. Since the massacre of October 7, Hamas has repeatedly shown that it chooses Jihad over pragmatism, even if it would ease matters for the population in the Strip or improve the terror group's military capabilities.

Its ambiguous response to the latest proposal for a ceasefire on Saturday, under the Witkoff framework, makes it clear that, despite the claims in Israel that Hamas was at the breaking point, that was not the case.

Hamas has shown no signs that it is willing to surrender or hand over its weapons. The anguish of the civilian population of Gaza has no impact on the terror group and the possible death of tens of thousands more Palestinians and a few thousand terrorists would be considered a fair price to pay as long as the Hamas ideology, and therefore its military character, survives.

Hamas no longer holds on to a military structure and regards the survival of small bands of operatives working sporadically as a victory. To Hamas, the achievements come from its growing legitimacy and that of the Palestinian cause in the world, while Israel is losing its own. It also wins when the Israeli society is fractured and the rift between supporters and opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grows.

Even in its response to the proposed deal, Hamas demanded changes to the pace of releasing hostages. According to a report in the Egyptian press, the 10 hostages that were to be released in the agreement would be spread over 60 days, according to the latest Hamas demand.

The terror group even added a new demand that the Rafah border crossing into Egypt be opened to allow the movement of Palestinians to and from the Strip.

Israel would not be able to accept those terms and the United States would likely also reject them, but Hamas was standing firm, proving once again that, regardless of the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Hamas would not budge for anything less than a permanent ceasefire. link

Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria

IDF spokesperson: Ceasefire with Lebanon holding, but Hezbollah still a threat
Col. (res.) Olivier Rafowicz of the IDF Spokesperson's Office for International Media says the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is holding
There is progress when it comes to dismantling Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and maintaining security on Israel’s northern border, said Col. (res.) Olivier Rafowicz of the IDF Spokesperson's Office for International Media. Speaking on ILTV’s Security Brief, Rafowicz said that the ceasefire which was signed between Israel and Lebanon six months ago is mostly holding, thanks both to a French-American mechanism to monitor it and the Lebanese army’s efforts.

“We have five points in Lebanese territory in the south to protect the border, because we will never accept again what happened before the eighth of October 2023,” the spokesperson said. He said that right now, if Israel sees even a minor threat on the border, it strikes

“Our goal is also to have all the people who have been displaced to get back to their homes, to come back to live a normal life along the border,” he said.

He added that the situation looks “much better” but that Hezbollah is “Still a problem.”

West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and Terror Attacks

Settlers assault Palestinian brothers outside West Bank village
Israeli settlers assaulted two Palestinian brothers on the outskirts of the village of al-Mughayyir in the central West Bank, the Wafa official Palestinian news agency reports.
Ghassan and Imad Jaber were visiting relatives in al-Mughayyir and were walking outside the town when they came under attack by a group of settlers from a nearby illegal Israeli outpost and beat them, al-Mughayyir mayor Sayel Canaan told Arabic media.
The settlers held the brothers — who also have American citizenship — against their will until Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and released the pair. Both of them required medical treatment and were evacuated to a nearby hospital.

The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There are no reports of any arrests, which are highly unlikely in incidents of settler violence, even though they have been taking place on a near-daily basis across the West Bank in recent months. link Of course, there were no arrests and there never will be as long as we have this criminal government with the convicted criminal Ben Gvir as the minister of internal 'insecurity' who is in charge of the police. He gave explicit orders to the police not to investigate, not to arrest and not even to show up at criminal events of Jewish terrorists attacking Palestinians, not even when Palestinians are killed. Ben Gvir spent his career defending these Jewish terrorists in court. Now he has the power to make sure they never come anywhere near to court and therefore don't need to be defended by a lawyer.

Politics and the War and General News

10 calls to action: Free the hostages, ceasefire, and a path to peace
If the international community signed on to this list and acted swiftly to implement it all, we'd make good progress

We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages held by Hamas. This is a standalone imperative under international law and a humanitarian, moral, legal, and international responsibility of the first order. We urge the international community to impose political and economic pressure on Hamas and its allies – including Qatar, Iran, and South Africa – to secure the imminent release of the hostages.
We call for the enhancement of humanitarian aid to Gazans. Israel and the international community must work together to ensure the protected delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians. Crucially, Hamas must be prevented from hijacking and pillaging the aid – otherwise it will not reach the intended civilian population, and Hamas will simply use it to fund its war efforts, prolonging the conflict to the detriment of Palestinians and Israelis alike.
We call on the international community to ensure that Hamas is disarmed and that it plays no future role in the governance of Gaza. There is no prospect for a lasting peace if Hamas is able to maintain its tyrannical rule over Gaza. Its terrorist infrastructure – which is embedded in hospitals, schools, mosques, UNWRA offices, and homes throughout Gaza – must be totally dismantled.
We call for – in conjunction with the disarmament and dismantling of Hamas and release of the hostages – a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities. It is crucial that the peace is a lasting and sustainable one – we cannot simply return to an October 6th This requires new leadership in Gaza that is not dedicated to the destruction of Israel and genocide of its inhabitants. It will also require commitment by Israelis to developing peaceful relations with the people of Gaza, and a rejection of the radical views expressed by certain extremist members of the Israeli government. The international community must dedicate its energy towards enabling and facilitating local, regional, and global conditions that will create a pathway towards a peaceful two state solution – characterized by two democratic states for two peoples. The Palestinian people have a right for their self-determination to find expression in a democratic, rights-protecting, rule-of-law state. The Middle East does not need another terrorist authoritarian state – so we call for giving the Palestinian people moral and legal agency, and call on global democracies to work with them to develop their democracy.
In order to hasten the dismantlement of Hamas and cessation of hostilities, we call on the international community to actively support the Palestinian civilians who are bravely resisting Hamas and protesting against it. This is how the world can be truly pro-Palestinian, and will help bring an end to the conflict and the suffering of innocent Palestinians.
We call for the international community to hold Hamas and its allies accountable for the unspeakable mass atrocities it perpetrated on October 7th. These included crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts constitutive of genocide – including the mass murder of civilians, the widespread use of rape and sexual violence, torture, maiming, the abduction of hostages, and the targeting and weaponizing of families – the crime of kinocide. We call on the international community to recognize the crime of kinocide – it is not the first time that the crime has been committed, but it is the first time that those perpetrating it celebrated and glorified it as Hamas did on October 7th.
We call on the international community to hold Hamas accountable for its standing incitement to genocide. Hamas is not just a terrorist organization – it is an antisemitic, genocidal terrorist organization – not because we say so, but because Hamas has affirmed it in its founding Charter of 1988 and consistently since. Worst of all, Hamas has repeatedly proclaimed that it will commit October 7th again, and again, and again, until Israel is annihilated. Incitement to genocide is a standalone crime under the genocide convention. Hamas has never been held accountable for this crime – this culture of impunity helped precipitate October 7th, and has continued to enable Hamas’ tyrannical rule in Gaza.
We call on the international community to actively support regional peacebuilding efforts. This should involve the enhancement and expansion of the Abraham Accords – leading to more countries in the region recognizing Israel’s existence, normalizing relations with it, and the development of bilateral and multilateral economic, political, and cultural ties. Key countries that show promise for joining the Abraham Accords include Saudi Arabia, Syria, and others. Notably, Hamas launched the heinous October 7th attack in part to scuttle Saudi Arabia potentially joining the Abraham Accords – we must be clear-eyed about who in the region is pushing for peace and who seeks only more death and destruction.
We call on the international community to combat the regional and global threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies. These proxies include the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Shiite militants in Iraq. Iran and its proxies are the largest threat to peace and security in the Middle East, and the Iranian regime is the primary state sponsor of terrorism worldwide. The global nature of Iran’s threat is further demonstrated by its significant and material support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, including through the supply of deadly suicide drones. At the same time, Iran engages in horrific domestic repression – executing, torturing, wrongfully imprisoning, and otherwise repressing its own people.
We call on the international community to take action against rising hatred, division, and incitement in their own countries with respect to the conflict in the Middle East – especially the exponential and deadly rise in antisemitism. Hateful, inflammatory, and dehumanizing rhetoric serves only to expand the conflict and make peacebuilding more challenging. Antisemitism in particular is rising precipitously, and as the recent cold-blooded murders of two individuals outside a Jewish event in Washington, DC clearly demonstrates, the path from hateful rhetoric to violent action is swift and direct. Governments must act firmly to stamp out rising hatred and hostility, and must themselves ensure they do not propagate inflammatory, delegitimizing, and dehumanizing falsehoods. link

Irwin Cotler is the international chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, and has been involved in Israeli-Arab peace-building for almost 50 years.
Noah Lew is special advisor to Irwin Cotler and a director of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.

And what if Hamas doesn’t blink?
Netanyahu has plunged Israel into a high-risk, morally alarming game of chicken with Gaza’s ultra-cynical terrorists

Clockwise from top left: A Palestinian sits over the contents of a food package distributed by a US-backed foundation in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. (AFP); Relatives of Israeli hostages and supporters protest for their release at the beach in Tel Aviv, marking 600 days of the hostages’ captivity, May 28, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a Jerusalem Day state ceremony at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem, May 26, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90); IDF troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in the northern Gaza Strip in a handout photo published on May 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Six hundred days after Hamas invaded southern Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and abducting 251, the Netanyahu government has embarked upon what amounts to a deadly game of chicken with Gaza’s would-be Israel-destroying terrorist leadership and gunmen — a high-risk strategy in the course of which Israel is losing most of its remaining allies and increasingly becoming a pariah state.

The IDF at the start of this week told military reporters, including The Times of Israel’s, that its latest Gaza military offensive aims to secure full control of 75% of the Gaza Strip within the next two months. (It currently claims to control some 40%.)

As it cements its hold in those areas, the IDF said, it is destroying Hamas’s infrastructure — notably including the hundreds of miles of still-intact tunnels — and razing most of the buildings, essentially rendering three-quarters of the Strip uninhabitable. In contrast to its previous ground operations, including at the start of the war launched after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, the IDF said it does not intend to withdraw its forces from the captured areas for the foreseeable future.

A Times of Israel illustration showing areas of the Gaza Strip under IDF evacuation orders as of May 28, 2025, and the approximate locations of planned civilian areas in Gaza City, central Gaza, and the Mawasi area in the Strip’s south. (Times of Israel)

As for the two million Gazans, they are being ordered to evacuate to three areas — southern Gaza’s coastal Mawasi area, to where some 700,000 Gazans are already displaced, a coastal strip in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat, and central and coastal areas of Gaza City in the north of the Strip. The IDF does not intend to send ground forces into the Mawasi area and the other relatively safe zones, but does not rule out limited operations even in those areas against Hamas targets.
While the newly declared details mark a shift in priorities — from relentless strikes on Hamas operatives to the capture of territory and destruction of infrastructure — air raids and other strikes on key Hamas figures are continuing. The IDF has indicated that it operates according to a formula for how many noncombatants, including the families of Hamas targets, it risks killing in such strikes, based on the legal principle of proportionality, but has not been prepared to disclose those calculations.

A wounded Palestinian child, the only surviving child of doctor Alaa al-Najjar, lies in a hospital bed at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli airstrike on May 23, 2025, allegedly hit their home. Al-Najjar lost 9 of her 10 children in the attack, which occurred shortly after she had left for work. (Hani Alshaer / Anadolu via Reuters)

It is also often proving disinclined to comment in detail on the circumstances even of specific strikes with globally resonant consequences — a stance that, given Israel’s near-invisible civilian public advocacy, means the world gets a Hamas-driven narrative and, broadly, no Israeli narrative at all.
The IDF has to date provided no substantive detail and only briefly confirmed, for example, that it carried out a strike in the Khan Younis area where nine children of two Gaza doctors were allegedly killed last Friday, saying it was probing the incident, stressing that the area was supposed to have been evacuated weeks ago, and noting that it had been targeting suspects in a specific building.

IDF troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in the northern Gaza Strip in a handout photo published on May 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The goal of the intensified military campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated, is to advance the achievement of what are now the four declared goals that will constitute his promised “total victory” and enable the end of the war: destroy Hamas, secure the release of all the hostages, ensure that Gaza can never again constitute a threat to Israel and, as specified by the prime minister last week, implement US President Donald Trump’s “correct” and “revolutionary” plan for the relocation of Gazans outside the Strip.
Asked by the military reporters this week what, in the IDF’s operational planning, is to become of the two million Gazans being forcibly displaced to the three relatively safe zones of the Strip, the IDF briefers had no answer.

It was, indeed, Donald Trump who proposed what he initially described as the forced relocation of all non-Hamas Gazans, but Trump is now publicly impatient with the ongoing war and increasingly publicly concerned for the well-being of Gaza’s civilians. Many Gazans have indicated a willingness to leave, but no country has yet come forward to take them in en masse.
As things stand, Israel will have displaced Gaza’s entire population and taken over the areas where it used to live, amid a rising tide of domestic and international criticism, hoping that Hamas will feel sufficiently pressured as to free some or all of the hostages without a declared pledge by Netanyahu to end the war. The IDF fervently wishes that this will prove the case — in no small part because of the challenge of maintaining an open-ended hold on three-quarters of the Gaza Strip, when reservists are under unprecedented strain and there are multiple challenges on other fronts.

Relatives of Israeli hostages and supporters demonstrate for their release on the beach in Tel Aviv, marking 600 days of the hostages’ captivity, May 28, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Hamas knows all this. Gaza’s ultra-cynical terrorist masters know that Trump is impatient. That Israel is increasingly isolated — diplomatically, economically, physically (especially since the Houthis hit Ben Gurion Airport), and in global public opinion. That even Germany, that most supportive of Israel’s allies given its special, terrible history, is now openly branding Israel’s current military operations unjustifiable.
Hamas knows, too, that Israel is itself riven, over the hostage-release strategy, over the inequality of the military burden under a government perpetuating ultra-Orthodox refusal to serve, and over the coalition’s far-right calls to permanently occupy and resettle the Strip — the overt long-term goal of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, without whose parties Netanyahu has no government.

A Palestinian sits over the contents of a food package from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

And, of course, Hamas knows that Israel is riven over the moral implications of this phase of the conflict — the Jewish state forcing an entire populace from their homes, first pushing Gazans into deep hunger and now reluctantly struggling to supply aid.
Far from blinking, the fear is that Hamas, which cares nothing for Gazans and for the ruin it has brought down upon the Strip, is laughing. link

The Region and the World

Saudi FM: Israel’s barring of delegation to West bank shows ‘extremism and rejection of peace’

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud says the government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”

His statements come during a joint press conference with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain in Amman.

On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday in the Palestinian Authority’s capital of Ramallah to go ahead.

Blasting Israel after West Bank ban, Saudi FM says PA ‘is the rational party in this equation’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier today participated virtually in a meeting of Middle Eastern ministers organized by Saudi Arabia, after Israel barred the senior officials from entering the West Bank to attend the scheduled gathering in Ramallah.
The ministerial meeting focused on efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan says during a press conference afterwards.
Participants also discussed ongoing efforts to reform the PA, with Prince Faisal hailing Abbas for them.
“The Palestinian Authority continues to fulfill its duties and responsibilities toward the Palestinian people,” says the Saudi diplomat.
“It is the rational party in this equation, facing a party that does not want any solutions,” he adds, blasting Israel’s current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Personal Stories

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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