🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 642, 2023 - July 9, 2025 🎗️

 

🎗️Day 642 that 50 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

*



Hostage Updates

Until the last hostage



Netanyahu quietly leaves White House without announcement of breakthrough in Gaza talks

PM’s second sit-down with Trump in as many days ends with no public component; Witkoff delays Doha trip in sign talks not yet ripe after expressing optimism deal can be reached this week. full article

Following his statements of the last few weeks that the war in Gaza must end and the hostages brought home, once again all of our hopes were placed in Trump and they have been dashed.
We are faced with the most absurd situation Israelis have ever experienced before. We must turn to foreign governments and foreign leaders for help to bring all of our hostages home and end the war because our leadership, our prime minister is blind, deaf and totally apathetic to the calls of the majority of Israel. There is no sympathy, empathy or the touch of responsibility. All that exists is an overwhelming and pathological need to hold onto power no matter the cost.
 
Therefore, we have turned to the one person, besides his wife, who can force Netanyahu to do things, in this case, to end the war and bring home all the hostages. That person is Trump. The only real reason that Trump wants to end the war is to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His entire first term was dedicated to destroying and erasing as much of Obama's accomplishments as possible and that includes his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (which he won for words and nothing else). Since then, it has been a major focus for Trump of how he can receive this prize. He has failed on the Ukraine/Russia front and his easiest path is with our war in Gaza. It doesn't matter that he doesn't really care about the hostages or that our soldiers are being killed and maimed daily or the Gazans being killed en masse by our bombings still to this day. It is the prize. So what! If we can use that to our advantage and get him to force Netanyahu to end the war, then fine, let him get the prize. All we want is the hostages home.

We have already seen twice how Trump forced Netanyahu to do things he didn't want to do. The first was the last hostage deal which was supposed to be in 2 phases, the first to bring home 33 hostages (living and dead) and the second phase was to bring home the rest of the hostages and end the war. Netanyahu breached the agreement and refused to negotiate for Phase 2 without any immediate repercussions.
The second instance of Trump's force was following the institution of the ceasefire with Iran after they immediately breached the agreement with a missile attack. Netanyahu ordered a major retaliation and had defense minister Katz dispatch 52 jet fighters to Iran to bomb major targets. Trump 'ordered' Netanyahu to call off the attack and he did. He left 1 jet to bomb a minor target of an anti aircraft cell outside of Tehran. This was symbolic and to send a message.

So, we have seen the power that Trump has over Netanyahu. The problem, though is that Netanyahu is much smarter than Trump and has succeeded in wrapping him around his finger in every instance but one (when Trump instituted tariffs worldwide, also on Israel, and Netanyahu was summoned to the White House. Trump wanted to show Netanyahu that he had the power and brought Netanyahu only to show him that he is the boss and wouldn't reduce or eliminate the tariffs on Israel. It was a huge embarrassment to Netanyahu).

In the last weeks, Trump's statements about the war seemed unequivocable and therefore, we all pinned our hopes that he was going to lay down the law to Netanyahu. Netanyahu was fully aware of this and extremely wary. He had his people preparing for the exit of Ben Gvir from the government and even the miniscule possibility that Smotrich would follow suit in the event that he had to follow Trump's orders and end the war post haste. Netanyahu's people began meeting with some opposition leaders, in particular Benny Gantz about joining the coalition if the others bolt. After all, the most important thing to Netanyahu in the whole world is maintaining his government so he will remain prime minister. 

Along with the back room meetings and dealings, Netanyahu was also planning on how he would deal with Trump because he knows that he can't say no to him. These plans included convincing him that he would get everything he wanted, ending the war and bringing home the hostages, but he would need to rely on Netanyahu to do it in his timeframe and not as a immediate action. Netanyahu's time frame is for the initial 60 day ceasefire with getting some hostages home and then for the next phase which would include ending the war, to take at least another 60 days. This aligns perfectly with his other plans of fending off the religious Haredi parties and their army exemption demands until the Knesset goes on summer recess of 3 months and that takes us to the Jewish High Holidays in the fall when nothing really happens in the Knesset and that brings us to the end of 2025. It is at that time that Netanyahu will declare his 'total victory' in Gaza and agree to early elections in the first quarter of 2026.

His problem was on how to get Trump to go along with his timeframe but he also believed that it wasn't going to be a big problem at all.
Trump wants Netanyahu to stay prime minister and be elected again. He already did what no other US president has ever done before. He tried to interfere with the Israeli judicial system by calling for Netanyahu's trials to be cancelled because he is such a 'hero' and asset to Israel. The easiest way for Netanyahu to present to Trump his plan and get his acceptance is to show Trump that he will get everything he wants but not in the immediate. That includes ending the war, getting the hostages home, enabling Netanyahu and his cronies to push for Trump's plan of emptying Gaza from Palestinians for the "Trump Gaza" plan, and keeping his BFF Netanyahu in power, and most of all, his path to the Nobel Peach Prize. On the other hand, Netanyahu would show Trump that if he pushed for immediate results, Netanyahu's government would fall before he has the time he needs for his distancing from October 7, and to run his full election campaign (which he already started with his visit to Nir Oz and Ofakim 21 months too late), and therefore there was a good chance he would lose the elections and wouldn't remain as prime minister. These arguments alone would probably be convincing enough but Netanyahu needed to sweeten the deal to make it irresistible. And because a narcissist knows better than anyone else what a fellow narcissist needs and desires, Netanyahu produced the cherry on top by handing Trump his letter of recommendation to the Nobel Peace Prize committee for Trump to be nominated for the prize.
How could Trump refuse Netanyahu now? 

And what was the cost of all of this? For Netanyahu, nothing at all. The costs to Israel? The lives of the hostages and the lives of soldiers still in Gaza. For Netanyahu, these lives are just fodder for his War of Political Survival, nothing more. The suffering and deaths of the hostages, the deaths and maiming of more soldiers don't keep him up at night. They are the price of his need to stay prime minister because he doesn't believe that anyone else is entitled to hold that position. He like Trump believe that they alone must sit on their thrones and everyone else be damned.
And this is precisely what Netanyahu got. Instead of Trump making a bombastic announcement of a ceasefire deal, as he publicly promised multiple times, he rolled over for his BFF and gave Netanyahu all that he wanted. No announcement was made, Witkoff's impending trip to Qatar to seal the deal has been indefinitely postponed and the Israeli negotiating team is till made up of 'junior' negotiators and Netanyahu's guard dog to make sure that nothing is discussed that Netanyahu doesn't want to be brought up.
The last hostage releases of 33 hostages and the single release of Idan Alexander were all accomplished because of the US Administration. Netanyahu was just following orders. All of our hopes that Netanyahu would finally do the right thing have forever gone up in smoke and the hopes we pinned on Trump forcing Netanyahu to do the right thing have been utterly destroyed. When it appeared that Trump was losing patience with Netanyahu and wouldn't put up with Netanyahu's typical BS, our hopes rose to the highest levels with cautious feelings of optimism. But the one thing that has been consistent throughout the war is that optimism  connected to Netanyahu is something that will be bashed and leave us in the continued state of desperation.
The only thing we can cling to right now is that the talks are still going on in Qatar and that Trump does have full expectations that a deal will be reached. We don't know how long Trump will give to Netanyahu to reach that deal, but we do know that it will be a horrible deal that maintains the Netanyahu creation of phased releases while leaving many of the hostages behind in captivity without any date or estimation of when the last hostage will be brought home. All of this misery, suffering, death, destruction, hopelessness, all of it perpetrated on the altar of Netanyahu's political survival.

From a very reliable source: the last time the Hamas negotiators were asked if they agree to a deal that releases all of the hostages in one phase was in April. Of course the conditions of Hamas were: ending the war, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, releasing Palestinian prisoners, and significant increase of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials and machinery.  Hamas once again then said that they were prepared to accept a Palestinian government that they were not part of.   They know that there will be no money for reconstruction as long as they control Gaza.  April was three months ago.  The mediators must ask Hamas again now if they are still willing to release all of the hostages at once.  Before they agree to the bad deal on the table, Hamas has to be offered the deal for all of the hostages and with their conditions. Israel has to agree to this because the war must end now and all of the hostages must come home now! (Gershon Baskin, July 9, 2025)




Can Trump negotiate a peace deal in Gaza?

Cathy NewmanPresenter

We spoke to the Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin who’s in Jerusalem and Sarah Yerkes who’s in Washington.

She’s a former member of the US State Department’s policy planning team and now works on the Middle East programme at the Carnegie Endowment think tank.  UK Channel 4 News interview

 







‘Netanyahu cannot say no to Trump’ | Gershon Baskin
Video interview on Times Radio




Israeli officials claim 80-90% of Gaza deal settled, but core issue of ending war unresolved
Following Trump-Netanyahu White House dinner, officials say majority of truce terms agreed; Qatari foreign ministry says negotiations will still ‘need time’


Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting Monday evening with United States President Donald Trump, senior Israeli officials said negotiations on a hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas have settled most issues, while touting the supreme coordination between Jerusalem and Washington on Gaza, Iran, and broader regional developments. However, the core issue of bringing the war to an end is unresolved.

“On a hostage deal, we are coordinated… We hope it will lead to a breakthrough. Hamas’s response to the Qatari proposal was, in essence, no. But the gaps are small enough for us to enter talks with them, and we hoped the answer would be yes, and then it would take a few days. It can take more time, but we are working on it,” Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who took part in the White House meeting, told reporters after the dinner.

As a third round of indirect negotiations on an agreement began in Doha on Tuesday morning, a senior Israeli official told reporters that 80 to 90 percent of the deal with Hamas has already been settled. The final stage of talks could take more than a few days to conclude, the official said.


A spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that negotiations will “need time.”
“I don’t think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this,” Majed Al-Ansari told a Doha news conference. “What is happening right now is that both delegations are in Doha. We are speaking with them separately on a framework for the talks. So talks have not begun, as of yet, but we are talking to both sides over that framework.”
According to a report in the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, there has been progress made in negotiations on the clause regarding the mechanism for bringing humanitarian aid into Gaza. The report claims that Hamas is demanding that during a ceasefire aid be brought into the Strip by the United Nations, rather than the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

‘Total coordination’
Though Netanyahu was expected during his Washington visit to face intense pressure from Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to move the Gaza talks forward, Israel described complete coordination between the two sides.

“We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal,” Witkoff, who is slated to fly to Qatar this week to participate in the talks, told reporters just ahead of the dinner meeting.
Advertisement
After the dinner, a senior Israeli official asserted that Israel and the US enjoy “full trust and coordination…Total coordination.”
Mediators in the negotiations for a deal have been notified that Trump expects them to secure an agreement this week, an Arab diplomat and a second individual involved in the talks told The Times of Israel on Monday night.

A Palestinian source close to the talks told AFP Tuesday morning that “the discussions are still focused on the mechanisms for implementation, particularly the clauses related to [IDF] withdrawal and humanitarian aid.”
Negotiators in Doha also discussed the parameters of Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza during the proposed 60-day ceasefire. An Arab diplomat said Israeli officials had arrived with a map outlining their envisioned pullback. While Hamas initially demanded a return to Israeli troop positions from before the March 2 collapse of the previous truce, the diplomat said the group had shown some flexibility.

The core dispute — whether the deal would constitute a temporary pause, as Israel insists, or a permanent end to the war, as Hamas demands — remained unresolved.
While the precise criteria that Israel or the US intend for a post-war Gaza remain unclear, Israel’s endgame in the talks envisions a territory in which “there is no more Hamas,” a senior Israeli official said in Washington Tuesday morning.
Advertisement
There has to be a system [in Gaza] that manages life…I’m not sure that if we’re not there for a certain stage, that we’ll be able to pass it on to someone else.
The goal is to see “Hamas taken apart. It has to lay down its weapons. Its people have given up. The leaders have been exiled. Another force has taken over the territory and prevents the use of weapons,” the official said.
“There has to be a system there that manages life,” the official added, saying. “Maybe for a certain amount of time, it is us…I’m not sure that if we’re not there for a certain stage, that we’ll be able to pass it on to someone else.”

The official also said that Israel is convinced Trump is serious about encouraging Gazans to emigrate.
“After tonight, I am [convinced],” the official said, adding that “the plan is alive, what is needed is operational coordination, not only the aims, but how we achieve it. And that is what we discussed. The desire is there.”

On Iran
Jerusalem and Washington also see eye to eye on Iran, an Israeli official said Tuesday morning, adding that the two countries saw full cooperation even prior to Israel’s 12-day aerial campaign against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and military last month, which culminated in the US joining the offensive.

“We had diplomatic coordination before the attack, military coordination during the attack, and now once again diplomatic coordination,” the official said, speaking in English.
“We have very significant accomplishments” in Iran, the senior official added, “and we want to preserve them…I measure my words — there has never been such coordination.”

The close ties are based on “trust that has been created gradually,” the senior official continued, not only through what has been accomplished together, but also the manner in which it was accomplished.
According to the official, Trump’s April announcement alongside Netanyahu that the US would pursue direct nuclear talks with Iran did not surprise the Israelis, as “we talked to [Trump] before.”
The official added that last month, Israel “didn’t ask for and didn’t receive a green light from Trump to attack Iran.”
“You have it wrong,” the official told Israeli press.

“There is a different relationship now,” said the official, a bond that is maintained “because there is a large public in the US that [Netanyahu] can influence, because public sentiment influences leaders. There is also a public that opposes, but there is a very strong base here, so you have strength that maybe doesn’t exist in other countries.”
“Obama wrote this in his book. Read what he wrote in his autobiography. ‘I could do whatever I wanted, just not with Israel.’ There is a reason for this,” he continued. “With Trump, it works in the opposite manner: We agree on things, we don’t have that problem. But you also don’t need to get approval. He understands that we have existential needs.”
“You have to get to know him, you have to talk to him in a small forum, to understand how unique he is, how different he is,” the official added.

Before meeting with Trump, Netanyahu sat down with Witkoff and with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. Both meetings lasted around two hours and covered “the negotiations, Gaza, and some other topics,” a senior Israeli official said.
Continuing his visit, the premier was slated to meet US Vice President JD Vance Tuesday morning, before additional meetings with US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader John Thune, Democratic Senator John Fetterman, and other senators.
The official added that if the need arises, there will be another meeting between Netanyahu and Trump.  link





Katz’s remarks about moving Gazans into ‘humanitarian’ zone is ‘hindering’ ceasefire talks

Defense Minister Israel Katz’s announcement yesterday that he had instructed the IDF to prepare to relocate the entire population of Gaza — more than 2 million people — into a so-called humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip has caused problems in the ongoing ceasefire talks in Doha, the Kan public broadcaster reports, citing Palestinian sources involved in the negotiations.

It reports that the matter is “hindering” progress, as Hamas is heavily opposed to such a measure.

Nevertheless, the sources say that progress has been made in other areas, such as how humanitarian aid would enter the strip during a ceasefire.




Lapid accuses Netanyahu of finding excuses not to reach a hostage deal


Opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of setting arbitrary red lines in order to forestall a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza.

“Netanyahu is setting up obstacles to a deal,” Lapid tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“Suddenly the Morag Corridor is the foundation stone of our existence?” Lapid says, referring to a corridor carved out by the IDF in southern Gaza amid reports that Israel is refusing to withdraw from it as part of the truce deal.

“We determined that there would be a corridor between Rafah and Khan Younis, it was an operational decision in the field. But to think that is what will seal the fate of children buried underground?” he says referring to the hostages in Hamas tunnels.

Due to disagreements over the parameters of the IDF’s withdrawal from Gaza during the 60-day Gaza truce being negotiated in Doha, Israel is slated to submit a new set of maps on Wednesday showing its proposed redeployment of troops after the previous version was rejected by Hamas, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel.

A compromise on the issue will take more time to secure, the source says, declining to elaborate further.

Family, friends of hostage Segev Kalfon hold sit-in in hometown of Dimona


Friends and family of hostage Segev Kalfon join Shift 101 in his hometown of Dimona on July 8, 2025. (Tani ya Zion-Waldoks/Shift 101)





Family, friends and supporters of hostage Segev Kalfon gather in Dimona, Kalfon’s hometown, for a Shift 101 sit-in, a first since the protest group began gathering in late 2024.

Galit Kalfon, Segev’s mother, calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently in Washington, DC, to make a responsible and moral decision regarding all the hostages.

“No one should be there; they are all humanitarian cases, and they are all suffering,” says Kalfon. “I can’t imagine some coming back and some not. Enough! We want to breathe!”

Segev, 27, was taken hostage at the Nova music festival with his friend Asaf Harush. The two tried to escape together by car but encountered armed terrorists on Route 232. Harush managed to get away, and Segev was kidnapped to Gaza.

Dimona Mayor Benny Bitton, the devoted Likud mayor of the hardscrabble desert town since 2013, speaks at the sit-in, and says he hopes that Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will bring all the hostages home “in one go.”

“We don’t want it in phases,” he says.

“I can’t imagine having the strength to decide who gets to come home and who doesn’t,” says Bitton, referring to the current working plan to bring home 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 hostages in the first stage of the ceasefire.

“I told the prime minister, ‘As your friend, I also support ending the war, but the hostages must be brought home,'” says Bitton.

Kalfon’s friends appear together at the sit-in, with one speaking for all of them.

“Something within our group of friends has broken, shattered — and only Segev can make it whole again,” says one of his friends. “We all pray every day for Segev’s return.”

Two mothers continue fight to bring home last female hostage in Gaza
Inbar Hayman was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7; in the months since, her mother Yifat and her boyfriend’s mother Nirit Alon-Levy formed a close bond, united by loss, hope, and a shared mission that ended in heartbreak
When Inbar Hayman was taken hostage during the October 7 massacre, her mother, Yifat, knew she was about to embark on a long and painful journey to bring her daughter home. What she didn’t expect was the unlikely partner who would walk that path with her from the very first moment: Nirit Alon-Levy, the mother of Noam, Inbar’s boyfriend.
The two women have faced the harrowing aftermath of the atrocities on that day, side by side, one holding onto hope with fierce optimism, the other quietly admitting that her hope has already shattered.

Yifat Hayman, Nirit Alon-Levy
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
“She’s the last woman still held captive,” Alon-Levy said, her voice steady but somber, while Yifat clings to the image of her daughter walking through the door, alive. “I imagine Inbar entering the house like she always does,” she said These two mothers, bound together by love and tragedy, represent the emotional toll of the massacre that has scarred families across Israel. Their story is one of resilience, partnership and also the different ways people cope when faced with the unbearable.
Around 9 a.m. on the morning of the Oct. 7 massacre, Noam made a phone call that would change everything. He told his parents, Nirit and Mordi, that he couldn’t reach Inbar, who had gone to work at a Nova music festival in the south.
Ad 
Nirit immediately drove from Haifa to pick Noam up, and together they began trying to piece together what had happened. Where was she? Who she was with? What was she wearing?

Inbar Hayman and her partner Noam


As fear began to settle in, they made first contact with Yifat and Chaim, Inbar’s parents, marking the beginning of a painful and uncertain chapter that would bind the two families together in their search for answers, and for hope. When the sirens began to blare and rockets fell, Yifat and Chaim, Inbar Hayman's parents, began a frantic search. After they were unable to reach hospitals, they drove from one to the other, looking for their daughter. But Inbar was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a makeshift operations center began operating at Alon-Levy’s home. “Within minutes, we received a video of Inbar,” Nirit recalled. “It had been censored by Hamas, but we knew it was her because of what she was wearing.” Yifat nodded, adding quietly, “Yes, those galaxy-print tights.” Nirit had known Inbar well. She had often visited the apartment Inbar shared with Noam and had spent time with them during family gatherings and trips to the desert. “I loved Inbar very much,” Nirit said. “Sadly, I feel like I’ve come to know her even more now, too late, and for too short a time.” Yifat echoed the sentiment. “I feel the same about Noam,” she said. “It was all too short.” Their words reflect not only the depth of personal loss but also the profound bond that has grown between two families united by love, memory, and the unbearable wait for answers. When Yifat Hayman hears Nirit Alon-Levy speak, her voice breaks. “You’ve really touched my heart,” she says. “This is the first time we’ve spoken so openly.” A swift response Even before an official hostages' headquarters was formed, the families sprang into action, printing shirts, making signs, organizing events, and raising funds. Noam was highly involved in the early days. Over time, the emotional toll became too heavy, and he began to struggle. “I worried about him so much,” Nirit said. “I still do.” As the effort grew, so did their involvement. “Noam gave countless interviews, mostly to foreign media,” she recalled. Eventually, the family pitched a tent in Tel Aviv and began sleeping there. “That was it. We moved.” Yifat offered quiet gratitude. “You did amazing work. Truly. The determination and strength you gave us when we were shattered—it was everything.” For Yifat, the shock lasted for weeks. “There was a long, hard period when you’re just trying to make sense of it. How could this happen? Inbar was there to help people.” She recalled the sleepless nights, the days without eating, the paralysis of trauma. “Eventually, we started to come out of the fog. We realized we had to act. But it came at a high cost. My health declined,” she said. “I didn’t even know she had gone to the festival. But once I heard, I knew immediately, she was there.”

Seventy days after the abduction, on a Friday at 4:45 p.m., the news came. “A doctor, a social worker, a police officer, a psychologist, army officers—ten people walked into my house,” she recalled. “I was in the kitchen. I started shouting, ‘Get out! What are you doing here?’” They told her there were new findings about Inbar’s condition. “I lost it. I don’t remember what happened after that,” she said. “Later, the doctor returned to explain her injuries. Chaim said, ‘Until I see it with my own eyes, I don’t believe it. I need certainty.’” Yifat’s voice dropped. “If I had known then what I know now, that their determination that she had died was based on videos, I wouldn’t have sat shiva,” she said, referring to the Jewish seven days of mourning. “They told us it was certain. And when they say that to you—and we were among the first to receive such news—you accept it. Now, she’s considered fallen, remotely. I don’t even know how to describe this situation.” She described haunting visions and deep confusion. “During recent rocket attacks, I felt the need to text her—warn her, tell her to stay safe. I see her, physically feel her. So, how can they say she’s dead? Give me something tangible, not abstract. Until then, there is hope. There’s no grave. She’s somewhere between heaven and earth. We even bought a burial plot, and I pray we’ll never have to use it.” After receiving the news, the family noticed photos of fallen hostages being removed from public places. “How can that be? Inbar is still there. Alive or not, she’s still alone in Gaza.” We knew our place When asked how she felt about Nirit and Mordi stepping in so early, Yifat didn’t hesitate. “We welcomed it. It took us a long time to be able to do anything ourselves.” Nirit gently added, “We always knew our place—we’re Noam’s parents, not Inbar’s. Everything was done in consultation, through endless conversations.” A final word Asked if there’s anything they’d like to say to one another, Yifat responded first. “Nirit, thank you for everything you’ve done. I don’t know how we would have even started this journey without you.” Nirit looked back at her and said quietly, “Yifat, I want you to know that we are one big family. We want to be here for you—to share, to talk, to listen. That’s why we’re here. For you.” This article reflects ongoing efforts by families of hostages and fallen victims to seek recognition, justice, and healing in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre. link


'I am haunted by what I saw in Gaza,' released US-Israeli hostage tells lawmakers
Keith Siegel appeals to members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee not to leave hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza any longer; 'they are suffering every minute,' he says after describing the horrors he witnessed and endured
Released hostage Keith Siegel, who was freed from Hamas captivity in January after being held by Hamas in Gaza for 484 days, came to the Knesset on Tuesday to speak to the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and press for a ceasefire deal that would bring the remaining 50 Israeli captives home.
The Israeli-American Siegel was abducted by Hamas terrorists from his home in Kfar Aza with his wife, Aviva, during the October 7 massacre. She was freed in the first ceasefire agreement in 2023, leaving him behind.

Keith Siegel is overcome while asking lawmakers to bring remaining hostages home
(Photo: Knesset spokesperson)

Keith Siegel pleads to lawmakers to bring remaining hostages home
(Photo: Shalev Shalom)
I came here to tell you how difficult it was there, to illustrate as much as I can, the suffering of those who are still there. They've been held captive for 641 days. words cannot describe the suffering they are enduring," Seigel said, sitting next to Lishai Miran, whose husband, Omri, was among the hostages still in the hands of Hamas. "I was held with Omri Miran," he said. "He has a wife and two little girls. Being away from them is torture enough, without the physical violence and abuse he is subjected to." Seigel described to the lawmakers in the committee the horrors he faced, including numerous threats to kill him. "I had a gun put to my head and saw other captives, men and women, who were subjected to terrible violence and threats that they were to be killed. I witnessed a woman captive who was tortured terribly. She had a sharp rod attached to her forehead and a gun to her head." He said he could not stop seeing the horrors. "Those sights haunt me to this day and are getting harder all the time. I am physically back home, but part of me is still there, in Gaza, with Omri, and with Gali and Ziv Berman. They are suffering every minute. The twins were separated by their captors, they were injured, and their father Doron is seriously ill." Sitting with Siegel in the committee was Anat Angrest, whose son, Matan, a soldier in the IDF, was also held in Gaza, suffering from injuries he sustained during the massacre. "We had to beg to go to the bathroom and we suffered violence and abuse. Matan was there in the tunnel, having a hard time breathing. To keep him alive because he was valuable to them as a soldier, they took him out. Matan fought to save my Kibbutz and we have to fight to bring him and all of the others back," Siegel said.

Keith Siegel pleads to lawmakers to bring remaining hostages home (Photo: Shalev Shalom) Lavi-Miran told the committee that she struggled to come to speak to them after five IDF soldiers were killed and over a dozen more wounded on Tuesday. "I heard the entire thing from my house," she said. "Had we had a ceasefire in place, we would not be mourning these five boys. We can't take any more of this, we're done." Her daughter will be four at the end of the month. "Don't let her have another birthday without her father," she begged. link



Israel and Iran



IDF official confirms for first time that Iran struck military bases during 12-day war

An Israeli military official tells Reuters that Iranian air strikes last month had hit some Israeli military sites, the first apparent public acknowledgment that such locations had been struck.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military briefing rules, says that “very few” sites had been hit and that they remained functional.

The official declines to provide further details, including identifying which military locations were affected or how severe the damage was to military infrastructure.

On Saturday, The Telegraph, citing satellite data shared by Oregon State University, reported that Iranian ballistic missiles had struck five Israeli military bases during the 12-day war last month.



Gaza and the South



Military is surrounding northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun ‘from all directions,’ IDF spokesman says

The military is surrounding Beit Hanoun “from all directions,” IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference after five troops were killed in an ambush in the northern Gaza town last night.

“Beit Hanoun is a fortified area, where dozens of terrorists still remain. There are still many underground tunnels that we must demolish,” he says.

“We will continue to attack and clear the area to remove the threat to the residents of the western Negev,” Defrin says, noting that Beit Hanoun overlooks several border towns, including Sderot, and a train line.

IDF probe: 3 bombs were remotely detonated in deadly northern Gaza ambush last night

Three explosive devices were remotely detonated in succession against troops in the deadly ambush last night in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, according to a military probe.

Five soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded in the attack, which took place around 1.5 kilometers from the Israeli border.

According to the IDF’s investigation, most troops were hurt by the first and second bombs, which were detonated within a few moments of each other. The first bomb hit several soldiers, and the troops that rushed to help them were hit by the second bomb.

As the third bomb was detonated, a cell of Hamas operatives opened fire with light arms on the Israeli troops.

The military believes the bombs, rigged up to remote detonators, were planted by the Hamas cell during the previous 24 hours.

Following the attack, the IDF dispatched Israeli Air Force drones, helicopters, and fighter jets to the area to prevent any potential attempts by Hamas to abduct the soldiers. Within an hour and a half, the incident was considered over, according to the military.

The military believes that dozens of Hamas operatives remain holed up in Beit Hanoun, mostly deep underground in the terror group’s tunnels.

The offensive in the northern Gaza town is intended to clear it of these remaining Hamas operatives, the IDF says.




IDF says it killed Hamas terrorist who led Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Magen gas station

A Hamas terrorist who led the attack on a gas station near Kibbutz Magen during the October 7 onslaught was killed in a recent airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announces.

According to the military, Taha Abu Ayadeh was a commander of a platoon in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force. He invaded Israel with his platoon on October 7, 2023, and attacked a gas station in the Magen Area.

Ayadeh was killed in a strike in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza on July 1, the IDF says.

Footage of the gas station attack was published by the South First Responders group in November 2023, showing two Israeli employees rushing to hide as Hamas terrorists opened fire and stormed the area. The pair reportedly hid in a freezer for hours before being rescued.  video




IDF says it hit more than 100 terror targets in Gaza


Over 100 terror targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including operatives, booby-trapped buildings, weapon depots, anti-tank launch posts, tunnels, and other infrastructure, the military says in a daily update.

The strikes come as five IDF divisions, made up of tens of thousands of troops, continue to operate across Gaza.

During ground operations, the IDF says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade located a cache of explosive devices hidden in a civilian building in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.

Elsewhere in the Strip, troops killed operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure in the past day, the military adds.




Gaza civil defense says 20 killed in Israeli airstrikes




A Palestinian woman, wounded in an Israeli strike near Khan Yunis, sits on the floor at the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city late on July 8, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says that 20 people, including at least six children, were killed in two Israeli airstrikes overnight in the Strip

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, who is identified by Israel as an active Hamas member, tells AFP the first hit a tent housing displaced people in Khan Yunis in the south shortly after midnight local time and the second struck a camp in the north soon afterwards.

The tolls cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

The military says it is taking steps, including the use of aerial intelligence and precision munitions, to mitigate harm to civilians, and accuses Hamas of embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, camps for the displaced and mosques.

Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria


‘Key Hamas terrorist’ targeted in Israeli drone strike in northern Lebanon, IDF says
The Israeli Air Force carried out a drone strike on a “key Hamas terrorist” in Lebanon’s northern coastal city of Tripoli a short while ago, the military says.
No further details are given.


Syria’s army rebrands for life after Assad
Launch of first new military formation since fall of Assad marks symbolic step in effort to reestablish unified armed forces loyal to President al-Sharaa; officials say new force to focus on professionalism, volunteerism and revised national doctrine
Syria’s Defense Ministry held a graduation ceremony Tuesday in Aleppo for the first class of the newly established 76th Division, part of a broader effort to rebuild the country’s military following the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
The ceremony, attended by Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and other senior officials, marked the deployment of 3,000 new soldiers. The ministry said the unit completed intensive training and demonstrated operational readiness during a military parade broadcast by state media.
The division is commanded by Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr. He and another senior officer, Muhammad Hussein al-Jasem, who leads the 62nd Division, were sanctioned by the European Union in May over their alleged involvement in the killing of Alawite civilians in western Syria. The incident occurred before the formation of the country’s new government on March 29, which replaced the transitional authority.
Following Assad’s removal, Syria’s previous military structure was dismantled. The new government has pledged to rebuild a national army, but questions remain over which groups will be included and how former regime elements will be handled. Several top officials remain under international sanctions. The new military has launched a range of public initiatives in recent months, including training programs and events for wounded veterans. In a late June interview with Al Jazeera, military spokesman Uday al-Abdallah said the new army would phase out mandatory conscription and prioritize volunteers with technical skills. The plan also includes modernized training, strengthened discipline and the development of a new military doctrine.

Former Assad loyalists are welcome to reintegrate to al-Sharaa's new Syrian army On May 17, the Defense Ministry announced that all armed factions had been formally absorbed into the newly restructured Syrian Defense Ministry. In a statement posted on social media, the ministry said it had achieved “full integration of military units into an institutional framework.” The post gave smaller armed groups a 10-day deadline to join or disband. Days later, officials reiterated that the new army would be professional, volunteer-based and loyal to the post-revolution Syrian state. Former officers who defected during the war would be offered a path back through retraining and reassignment. Revolutionary leaders would be required to complete military academy courses before receiving rank. The policy follows the government’s January declaration of victory in the Syrian revolution, which included dissolving the Assad-era army, security services and loyalist militias. However, not all armed factions have agreed to the new terms. Talks with Kurdish and Druze groups remain unresolved. Some factions continue to refuse disarmament or government integration, while remnants of the Assad regime and ISIS maintain a limited presence in parts of the country. “The old army was dismantled,” said Eyal Zisser, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University. “What we’re seeing now is a new framework based on 20,000 to 30,000 loyal recruits and former militias. They’re conducting training, but standards and equipment are still low.”

Syria's new national symbol


Zisser added that the current leadership may avoid some of Assad’s past strategic mistakes. “Bashar spent massive sums on anti-aircraft systems aimed at Israel, but that didn’t help against the domestic insurgency,” he said. “The new leadership appears to be more focused on ground forces than expensive technology.”
As part of its rebranding efforts, Syria’s Defense Ministry launched official social media accounts in January. The ministry also introduced a new national emblem featuring three stars from the national flag, an eagle, 14 feathers symbolizing each province and a five-feather tail representing the country’s geographic regions. The emblem was unveiled during a state ceremony followed by nationwide celebrations. link


Hamas commander Mehran Mustafa Bajur killed in northern Lebanon drone strike, IDF says
The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon’s northern coastal city of Tripoli earlier today killed Mehran Mustafa Bajur, a prominent Hamas commander, the military says.
According to the IDF, Bajur in recent years advanced numerous attacks on Israel. During the war, he led rocket attacks from Lebanon on Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, and other Israeli cities, the IDF says.
“Bajur served as one of Hamas’s key commanders in Lebanon, and as part of his role, he spent years establishing Hamas’s military capabilities in Lebanon,” the IDF says in a statement.
“Additionally, he was one of the leaders responsible for the terror organizations’ force-buildup efforts, and facilitated the purchasing of weapons through his connections with other terrorist organizations in the area,” the statement adds.
The IDF says his killing is a “significant blow” to the Gaza-based terror group’s activities in Lebanon.



IDF says it killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon strike
A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon last night, the IDF announces.
The strike in the town of Babliyeh, south of Sidon, killed Hussein Ali Muzhir, who the IDF says was the commander of Hezbollah’s firepower in the Zahrani River area, under the terror group’s Badr regional division.
“As part of his role, Hussein advanced numerous [rocket] fire attacks toward the State of Israel and IDF troops. Additionally, recently he was involved in attempts to restore the artillery capabilities of the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon,” the military says in a statement.
The IDF says his actions “constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”


IDF says troops raided, destroyed several Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon
The Israeli military carried out several raids in southern Lebanon recently, locating and destroying Hezbollah weapon depots and other infrastructure, the IDF says.
In one of the special operations in the Jabal Blat area, soldiers of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade located a Hezbollah compound that included a weapons depot and firing positions. The military says the troops demolished the site.
In another raid, the IDF says reservists of the Oded Brigade located weapons hidden in a forested area near Labbouneh, including a multiple rocket launcher, a machine gun, and dozens of explosive devices. The weapons were also destroyed.
In the same area, the soldiers also located an underground site used by Hezbollah to store weapons, and it was demolished by combat engineers, the IDF says.
Since a November 2024 ceasefire, the IDF has remained deployed to five strategic posts inside southern Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire have been frequent, but IDF ground operations beyond the areas of the five posts have been much rarer.

West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and Terror Attacks


IDF carries out raids after Palestinians torch cars near West Bank settlement
Following a nighttime incident in which suspects from the West Bank village of Zurif threw stones and set vehicles on fire near the settlement of Bat Ayin, IDF troops and the West Bank district police launched a brigade-level operation in the village, the military says.
Two suspects were arrested and dozens of locations were searched. According to the IDF, an investigation has been launched and efforts to locate additional perpetrators and secure the area are ongoing.
Recent weeks have seen dozens of similar incidents of violence carried out by settlers against Palestinians, with the IDF doing little to stop it.  Link Nothing like true double standards. This government does absolutely nothing about the Jewish terrorism against Palestinians, never arresting, charging or bringing them to trial even for murder, but makes sure that any acts against these same extremist settlers by Palestinians are immediately acted on with an entire brigade. HYPOCRITES!

Politics and the War and General News



• Report provides legal framework to prosecute sexual violence during Oct. 7 Hamas massacre

  A new report providing the first legal framework for prosecuting Hamas terrorists for the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war during the October 7, 2023, massacre is being presented by the Dinah Project to First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

  The report confirms that Hamas systematically used rape and sexual violence as tools of war during the October 7 massacres and is the first to present a legal roadmap for identifying and pursuing justice for the use of sexual violence as a weapon of warfare, which constitutes a crime against humanity.

  The gathering of primarily women notably includes former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky, who has publicly spoken about being sexually assaulted by her captors in Gaza.

  “This report tells the truth as it is — shocking, painful, but necessary. On behalf of all those who were harmed, we are committed to continuing the fight until their cries are heard everywhere and justice is done,” says First Lady Michal Herzog.

  “We carry here a universal message: that sexual violence cannot be accepted as a tool of war,” she says, drawing attention to the plight of the remaining 50 hostages, including Inbar Hayman, the single female captive who is believed to be dead.

  The research was conducted by the Dinah Project, an initiative formed following October 7, which works to achieve recognition and justice for survivors of sexual violence in conflict zones, and spent a year and a half consolidating all available evidence and reports on sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 and subsequently against hostages.

  “Sexual violence in conflict is a weapon. It is not random, not targeted only at individuals, and not without intent from above. It is time for the international community to treat it as such,” says Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a legal expert at Bar-Ilan University, who co-authored the report alongside retired Judge Nava Ben-Or, and Col. (res.) Adv. Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, former Chief Military Prosecutor of the IDF.

  Full report detailing Hamas sexual violence on Oct. 7 released: 'Used it as a weapon'
  "Project Dina," which reveals a harsh picture of sexual violence by Hamas terrorists during the massacre and in captivity - which was a systematic, deliberate and premeditated weapon - has been published in full for the first time. The report includes dozens of testimonies and evidence of rape, sexual assault and intentional mutilation - across 84 pages - based on testimonies from a Nova festival rape survivor, 15 captivity survivors and 17 eyewitnesses or those who heard about the attacks. The report states that sexual violence occurred in at least six different locations: Nova festival, Route 232, Nahal Oz base and the kibbutzim of Reim, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. Additionally, the report notes that hostages also underwent sexual assaults during captivity. The authors wrote: "Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon in war."

  Ilana Gritzewsky on Hamas Sexual Violence Report: 'They touched me, I was surrounded by terrorists'
  Ilana Gritzewsky, a hostage survivor and partner of kidnapped Matan Tzangauker, spoke at the release of the "Dina Project" report, which documents Hamas sexual violence on October 7, 2023. At President Isaac Herzog's residence, Gritzewsky said: "I remember guns pointed at me. I remember hands that weren't mine touching me. I remember screaming - then darkness. When I woke up I was half-naked, surrounded by terrorists. They beat me, touched me."Hamas systematically used sexual violence during and after Oct. 7, report shows Nearly two years after the October 7 massacre, Dinah Project exposes systematic sexual violence by Hamas terrorists used deliberately as a weapon of war against civilians and hostages | Warning: Graphic content Nearly two years after the October 7, 2023 massacre, the full report of the Dinah Project is published for the first time, revealing a harrowing and systematic pattern of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists during the attack and in captivity. The 84-page document is based on dozens of testimonies and evidence of rape, sexual assault and deliberate mutilation.
  The report relies on testimony from a rape survivor at the Nova Festival, 15 released hostages, 17 eyewitnesses or listeners to attacks, 27 rescue workers and extensive visual documentation. Sexual violence occurred in at least six locations: the Nova Festival site, Highway 232, Nahal Oz base and the kibbutzim of Re’im, Nir Oz and Kfar Aza. It also documents sexual assaults against hostages during captivity.

  

  
  

  The report states that “the vast majority of those sexually assaulted were among the 1,166 victims who were silenced forever.” It adds that “many survivors may be too traumatized to recount their experiences.” The authors warn that additional testimonies may emerge over time.

  Clear patterns of sexual violence emerge from the findings, including victims found partially or fully naked with their hands tied, sometimes to trees or poles; evidence of gang rape followed by executions; and severe genital violence. Sexual abuse also continued in captivity — released hostages reported forced nudity, physical and verbal sexual harassment, sexual attacks and threats of forced marriage.

  At least 15 sexual assaults are detailed in the report, including four cases of gang rape. The project does not gather direct testimony but compiles open-source intelligence, reports received by the team and other information, analyzing and categorizing it by evidentiary value. Firsthand sexual assault testimonies mainly come from released hostages who spoke publicly in interviews. The report lists at least 16 severe sexual assault incidents: an attempted rape of a woman at the Nova Festival and 15 sexual assaults testified to by released captives. Among these were minors who reported physical and verbal sexual harassment, being left naked and sexually assaulted. At least six female survivors testified to threats of rape and forced marriage during captivity. One released captive, Keith Siegel, told the American program "60 Minutes" that Hamas terrorists shaved men’s hair—including their private parts—in an attempt, the report says, “to strip victims of their sexual and gender identity.” Seventeen witnesses to attacks described at least 15 distinct sexual assault incidents, including four gang rapes and three cases of severe genital violence. These occurred mainly at the Nova Festival, Nahal Oz base and Highway 232. In most cases, victims were killed immediately after assault; in some, rape occurred post-mortem. Additional evidence was collected from first responders to massacre sites — rescue teams, paramedics, ZAKA volunteers and civilians — including photographs and videos. Their testimonies describe about 30 cases of sexual violence on murdered victims, many found partially or fully naked with gunshot wounds to genital areas and other brutal injuries.

  

  At the Nova Festival site, rescuers found “dozens of naked women’s bodies, many bleeding from genital wounds caused by gunfire,” according to the report. Staff from the nearby Shura camp who handled bodies also reported genital burns on victims. Some victims were found with objects inserted into their intimate areas before being murdered. At least three such cases were documented: a woman at Kibbutz Be’eri with a large metal object inside her vagina; a man found bound and naked with a metal object in his groin area; and another man found murdered with a metal object inserted into his rectum. The report stresses these incidents occurred in multiple locations over a short time frame, indicating a repeated, deliberate practice—not isolated horrors. Among the survivors is Amit Sosna, who recounted being sexually assaulted under threat of a weapon, beaten, chained by the ankle and forced to report her menstrual cycle to captors. She described how her captor held a pot of boiling water and later gave her hot water to pour on herself in the shower. Maya Regev, another survivor, told the New York Times how terrorists tore off her clothes and abused her wounded leg while mocking her. “Hamas terrorists tore my clothes off,” she said. “They took away my identity and my name. The guard told me every day that if the IDF came to rescue me, he would shoot me immediately and wouldn’t die alone.”

  

  Maya Regev (Photo: Ziv Koren)

  
  

  Ron Prager, a survivor from the Nova Festival, described hearing screams from bushes: “A group of girls, a trio, I think they were trying to run to their car but ran into terrorists above. They shouted, ‘Please, please, we beg you, we didn’t do anything,’ and then we heard four shots and total silence.” Shortly after, he heard more girls shouting, “They’re raping me, help me, help me.” He said, “You hide, powerless, you just can’t do anything. Nothing. We have no weapons, we’re helpless, hiding amid all this hell.” Other survivors reported similar incidents; the report estimates at least four gang rapes took place, possibly more. The report’s authors—Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari of Bar-Ilan University’s Rokman Center for Women’s Advancement, retired District Judge Nava Ben-Or and Lt. Col. (res.) Adv. Sharon Zaggi-Penchas, former chief military prosecutor of the IDF—emphasize the importance of international recognition of sexual violence as a weapon of war. “Our goal is to show how to bring leaders and perpetrators to justice, even when direct testimony against each individual is lacking,” said Halperin-Kaddari. “We state clearly: sexual violence in conflict is a weapon. It’s not random, not aimed only at individuals and not done without higher-level intent. It’s time the international community treats it as such.” The use of sexual violence by Hamas terrorists has been documented in previous reports, including one by UN envoy Pramila Patten six months after October 7, and was central to the ICC’s arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, based on testimonies of abuse against hostages, mostly women. This current report aims to establish a legal evidentiary basis to prosecute Hamas terrorists for the sexual violence committed. The authors stress that criminal liability should extend not only to direct perpetrators but to all participants in the attack, including those who contributed, knew or could have known of the crimes. At the report’s unveiling at the President’s Residence, released captive Ilana Gritzewsky thanked Michal Herzog, wife of President Isaac Herzog: “Thank you for listening to these painful words, thank you for not burying your head in the sand. War crimes—I never thought I’d have to tell such stories, especially war crimes against me and so many women, children and men.”

  

  Ilana Gritzewsky (Photo: Dana Kopel)

  
  

  Gritzewsky recalled the horrific day: “On Saturday, 7/10, I was at home in Kibbutz Nir Oz with my partner, Matan. Suddenly—noise, explosions, screams, then a door breaking down.” “They kidnapped us. I remember guns aimed at me. I remember hands that weren’t mine touching me. I remember screaming—and then darkness,” she said. “When I woke, I was half-naked, surrounded by terrorists. They beat me, touched me. I didn’t know what happened to my body in those lost minutes, but my soul already knew: nothing would ever be the same.” She described “hell in captivity—hunger, thirst, loneliness, physical and mental abuse. My body ached, my bones broke. But the humiliation, fear, feeling like someone else’s property—that pain never leaves. I was released after 55 days but I am not really free. True freedom exists only when no one has to endure what I did. Only when we are believed. Only when we don’t stay silent.”

  “Today—almost two years later—people still ask if it really happened. If I was really raped, burned, murdered, kidnapped. If women were really harmed. If men were harmed. I say yes. It happened, and it is still happening. There are still hostages. Among them are men, a woman and my Matan. I don’t know what they are doing to him there, but I know what they did to me. I know exactly what they are capable of. I wake every morning afraid he’s going through what I went through. And there is nothing harder than that knowledge. I am here today for every woman who still can’t speak, for the men who were harmed and choke in silence, for those murdered whose voices will never be heard again, and for my Matan and the other 49 hostages still held in Gaza by those who harmed me,” she said. “I call on the president’s wife, the prime minister and the cabinet—don’t miss the opportunity to bring the hostages home. We are committed to bringing them all back. Sign the deal. End the war.” link

The Region and the World



• Greek ship sinks off Yemen after Houthi attack, crew being rescued from water

  The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C has sunk after a Houthi attack off Yemen, four maritime security sources tell Reuters, and efforts to rescue the crew were under way.

  Some of the crew were in lifejackets in the water and at least five people have been rescued so far, two of the sources say.

Personal Stories

"She was Jewish enough for the terrorists": The struggle of the religionless for dignified burial
Olga Plachti, mother of Alina who was murdered at Nova, was forced to bury her daughter in a separate plot due to being religionless • A bill by MK Chili Tropper is set to be submitted with the intent of correcting the injustice, but in the coalition they say there is no halachic possibility for this and that they will vote against it • Attorney Ohad Weigler, organization “ITIM”: “Detachment of coalition members”

Since the outbreak of the war, the issue of the burial of Israelis defined as “religionless” has come to the headlines, primarily around the story of Alina Plachti from Beit She’an who was murdered at the Nova party, and the four members of the Kaptsisher family from the South who were murdered near Sderot, whose burial “beyond the fence” stirred public outrage.
Tomorrow, the bill of MK Chili Tropper will come up for a preliminary reading vote. This comes after last week, Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur said at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation that there is no halachic way to permit this. Under the leadership of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, it was decided that the coalition would oppose the law.
Despite the sharp public protest that broke out after October 7 over the burial of murdered religionless individuals in separate plots outside the fences of cemeteries — and despite a precedent-setting halachic ruling that allowed the burial of IDF soldiers without religion in Jewish cemeteries — it seems that the bill intended to correct the injustice is about to fall. The reason for this — the opposition of the ultra-Orthodox and religious Knesset members, who claim that halacha does not permit burying religionless individuals in a Jewish cemetery.
Olga Plachti, whose daughter fled from the Nova party and was burned in an ambulance, said:
“The heart breaks again and again. After her death, Alina had to be buried in dishonor beyond the fence. I do not wish for any family to face this kind of insensitivity.”
Rabbi Ido Fechter, who led the memorial service at Alina’s grave, suggested to the family to hold a religious ceremony in which they would ask forgiveness and pardon for the injustice done to the family, and the family agreed.
Despite numerous appeals on the matter and even a discussion held in the Immigration and Absorption Committee, the Chief Rabbinate refuses even to discuss this question. Because of this, religionless civilians who are killed in acts of hostility — due to being part of the Jewish people — are forced to be buried in separate and remote plots, which often also suffer from neglect.
Following the protest, MKs Moshe Saada and Ze’ev Elkin (when he was still an opposition member of Knesset) decided to submit a bill to regulate the issue and allow victims of acts of hostility to be buried alongside Jews, in accordance with halacha.
In 2020, a comprehensive staff work by the IDF concluded, in which the Military Rabbinate determined that it is possible to bury an IDF soldier without religion in the same plot and the same row as a Jewish fallen soldier. That is, a state rabbinate in the State of Israel approved the model — and all that is required is to expand the model also to victims of acts of hostility.
Now, more than a year after the bill was submitted without any progress, MK Chili Tropper is working to advance the law, and it is expected to come up for a preliminary vote. But despite promises by MKs Saada and Elkin, the law is expected to fail because of opposition from ultra-Orthodox Knesset members who claim there is no halachic approval to bury religionless individuals in a Jewish cemetery.
Attorney Ohad Weigler, head of the Public Policy Department at the ITIM organization, accused:
“The opposition of coalition members shows cowardice and deep detachment from reality in the last year and a half. 550,000 citizens who live together with us and are not recognized as Jews according to halacha deserve at the very least recognition in their death as being an inseparable part of us.”
Weigler noted that:
“Some of the people murdered in acts of hostility are citizens who served in the IDF, some of them as combat soldiers, and were an inseparable part of life in Israel. Great halachic authorities have already ruled that it is permissible to bury religionless individuals who were killed in acts of hostility next to Jews — but the righteous Knesset members from the coalition choose to be stringent at the expense of grieving families. This injustice must be corrected.”
MK Chili Tropper, who is promoting the bill, said:
“Terrorists who murder or Iranian missiles do not distinguish between who is Jewish and who is not. Anyone who lives in this country chose to live together, and he also deserves, Heaven forbid, to be buried together if murdered just because he chose to live here.”
Tropper also said:
“Those who, supposedly in the name of halacha, seek to bury separately and far away those who were murdered because they chose to live in the country — stain the way of Judaism and desecrate God’s name. There is a halachic solution to the decision to bury everyone together. There are rabbis who permitted it and there are Knesset members from the coalition who supported it in the past. Now all that remains is to stand against political pressure and spare pain and insult from those who have lost their most precious loved ones.”
“My daughter was Jewish enough in the eyes of the terrorists — but not for the Knesset members,” said Olga.  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
Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0 
Twitter - @LonnyB58 
Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social
My blogs in The Times of Israel my blogs
Substack - https://lonnyb.substack.com/