๐️Lonny's War Update- October 667, 2023 - August 3, 2025 ๐️
๐️Day 667 that 50 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity๐️
‘My child is dying’: Father of hostage Rom Braslavski says he didn’t recognize his son in Islamic Jihad video
Ofer Braslavski, the father of hostage Rom Braslavski, says at the Hostages Square rally that he didn’t recognize his emaciated son in the footage released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday, and accuses the government of abandoning his son.
“Rom is a hero, and our country has abandoned him for 666 days now. Two days ago, we all saw the price of abandonment,” he says, referring to the video. “I saw my son and didn’t recognize him. My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, physically broken and mentally shattered. My child is dying.”
He demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strive for a comprehensive deal to end the war and release all the hostages.
“Enough! The partial deal strategy has failed,” he says. “While you and your government have procrastinated, my son and the rest of the hostages are paying the price.”
The footage of Rom Braslavski was released shortly before Hamas published a video of hostage Evyatar David looking severely emaciated.
Former hostage Omer Wenkert, who was held for some 250 days with David and fellow captive Guy Gilboa-Dalal, disputes the characterization of the footage of David as a “sign of life.”
“Really? How dare we call this thing a sign of life?” he says, adding that he “broke down crying” upon seeing the video.
“If there are hostages in Gaza, I can’t get out of there,” he says. “I’m captive in my own land.”
Brother of hostage Evyatar David accuses Hamas of using captives as ‘live hunger experiments’
Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, accuses Hamas of using his younger brother and the other captives as “live hunger experiments” after the terror group released footage of Evyatar looking severely emaciated.
Speaking in English before a crowd of thousands at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Ilay demands that the humanitarian aid “meant to alleviate suffering” in the Strip also reach Evyatar and the other hostages.
Ilay describes himself as “a brother and a son whose heart is being torn apart watching helplessly, as my younger brother Evyatar David and his fellow hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal slip away. They are on the absolute brink of death.”
“In their current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live,” says Ilay. “Hamas is using Evyatar in one of the most horrific and calculated campaigns imaginable… they are starving him deliberately, systematically using his agonizing suffering as a twisted tool for their depraved propaganda.”
“This is not just a violation of international law — it is an assault on every shred of basic human decency,” says Ilay. “An act so vile it scars the very soul of humanity.”
He calls on the government of Israel and world leaders, especially US President Donald Trump, to bring about the hostages’ release “by any means necessary.”
Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, speak at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, July 2, 2025. (Paulina Patiner / Hostages and Missing Families Forum)“To remain silent now is to be complicit in their slow agonizing death,” he says.
Thousands gather at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Yair Palti/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)Yeela David, Evyatar’s younger sister, addresses her brother in Hebrew: “Mom is shattered and not functioning, Dad hears your voice at night and doesn’t close his eyes, but Ilay and I are taking care of them.”
“We are so waiting for your return and to recover together with you,” she says.
Freed hostage who was in tunnel with Evyatar David: Behind that curtain are Hamas terrorists with cable TV, A/C, and plenty of stolen food
Released hostage Tal Shoham, who was held together with hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal before he was released in February, says he recognizes the Gaza tunnel in which David was filmed by Hamas in propaganda material released in the past two days.
“That is exactly the same tunnel where [released hostage] Omer [Wenkert], Evyatar, Guy and I were held,” he tells Channel 12.
Shoham, who was released with Wenkert in February, says he was “shocked to the depth of my soul” to see the condition that Evyatar is in now, as shown in the Hamas video footage. “He is broken mentally, emotionally. I can’t see any of the joy of life that he had managed to retain in his eyes now…. Really, a shell of the Evyatar I knew.”
Asked what the Hamas video doesn’t show, Shoham says that “behind the curtain they’ve put up, which is just one of the blankets we used, apparently Guy Gilboa-Dalal is standing or sitting because they don’t let them go to a different tunnel.”
“And right behind the cameraman, there’s an iron door, and a well-lit room, with air conditioners and a group of terrorists who sit and sleep there. They have cable TV. They have plenty of food — food they have stolen from the humanitarian supplies that Israel sent in for a very long time. We could see that they were well fed, that they lacked for nothing. They also bragged about having stolen it, that they had months of supplies in that tunnel and all their tunnels.”
Freed hostage Tal Shoham speaks to Channel 12 news on August 2, 2025 (Screenshot)Shoham says he lost 30 kilos during captivity. “We didn’t see that they lost even a kilo.”
Freed hostage Tal Shoham and his son Naveh on a helicopter en route to a hospital after his release, February 22, 2025 (IDF)In February, he notes, he, Wenkert, David, and Gilboa-Dalal were filmed for propaganda purposes being given plenty of food to eat, in a video that was taken shortly before he and Wenkert were freed. (David and Gilboa-Delal were taken to the ceremony at which Shoham and Wenkert were released, forced to watch it from a van parked near the stage, and filmed pleading for release.)
Hostages Evyatar David (left) and Guy Gilboa-Dalal speak in a Hamas propaganda video filmed at the site and time of the release ceremony in Gaza for three other captives, February 22, 2025. (Screenshot: Telegram)He notes that David was filmed in the latest video digging what he says he fears will be his own grave, obviously at the Hamas terrorist’s direction. “But I can see that he believes it. He really believes that [he and Guy] will end his life there.”
Hamas-held hostage Evyatar David filmed digging what he says he fears will be his own grave in a tunnel in Gaza, in a Hamas propaganda video that his family cleared for publication on August 2, 2025.Shoham says he can see that David may not be able to hold on for many more days, and implores David and Giboa-Dalal: “Hold on… I want to believe that the government will do the right thing very soon — free you, do a deal.”
He also says he hopes pressure can be exerted on Hamas “to give you food, because there’s food meters away. Do everything you can to hold on,” he urges, “so that we can hug you both at home, God-willing, soon.”
In propaganda video, hostage Evyatar David forced by Hamas to dig what he fears will be his own grave
The family of Evyatar David, who is held hostage in Gaza, permits media outlets to show the full video of the captive that Hamas published today.
The remarks made by David, who appears frail, emaciated, and speaks in a weak voice, are likely dictated to him by his captors.
“Today is July 27, at 12:00 p.m., I don’t know what I’m going to eat,” he says. “I haven’t eaten for a few days in a row.”
“I am in a very, very difficult situation, for a long time, for a few months,” he says, describing the lack of food and water, and stating that his captors are giving him what they can.
“This isn’t fiction, this is real,” he says.
He says his diet consists mainly of some lentils and beans, pointing to a calendar and noting days he has eaten, and several days in a row when he hasn’t received food.
In the middle of the video, the person behind the camera hands him a can: “This can is for two days. This whole can is for two days so that I don’t die.”
Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he says he feels, “I have been completely abandoned by you, my prime minister, who is supposed to worry about me and all the prisoners.”
Hamas labels the hostages it took as “prisoners.”
At the end of the video, David describes himself digging what he fears will be his own grave inside the tunnel, as he is filmed doing so. He states that he is feeling “weaker and weaker” by the day, and heading toward death. Video
Netanyahu says he spoke to families of Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski, ‘expressed deep shock’ over their condition
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held “extended conversations” with the families of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski this evening, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.
Netanyahu “expressed deep shock” at the harrowing videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad of the two hostages in recent days, and he “told the families that efforts to bring all our hostages home are ongoing and will continue without pause or rest.”
Addressing the video released by Hamas in which David appeared extremely emaciated in relation to allegations of widespread starvation in Gaza, Netanyahu says, “Hamas’s cruelty knows no bounds. While Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza for its residents, Hamas terrorists are deliberately starving our hostages and filming them in a cynical and malicious manner.”
“Hamas terrorists are also intentionally starving the residents of Gaza and preventing them from receiving aid — all while amplifying a false propaganda campaign against Israel,” the premier adds.
Netanyahu urges “the nations of the world” to condemn the “criminal, Nazi-like abuse by the Hamas terror organization.” link As always, every statement coming out of Netanyahu's mouth is a lie. He expresses surprise, shock at the condition of Evyatar and Rom. That is total BS. He is regularly updated by medical and security personnel and experts about what is known of the conditions of the hostages. They are not the first to be in the condition of holocaust survivors. Netanyahu knows full well that the Hamas terrorist guards treat the hostages much worse every time negotiations fail or the military pressure increases. Every single released hostages has said that numerous times. The worsening treatment is harsher and more constant torture, greater deliberate starvation, less access to the tiny amount of water they are given, worse living conditions, more verbal and physical abuse, more threatening of their lives with loaded weapons put to their heads, and more, things that we can't imagine and that the returning hostages have not shared with the public. All of this is known by Netanyahu. He cannot claim ignorance. He, of all people have the most updated information available and he and his government do not share any of this with the hostage families, much to their continued disgrace.
"He’s a Living Skeleton": The Shocking Videos of Evyatar David
666 days in captivity: Evyatar David has been held by the terrorist organization Hamas since being kidnapped from the Nova music festival • During this time, he has been kept in harsh conditions, with little food, and in an underground tunnel • In the first video released yesterday, part of which was cleared for publication today by his family, he appears thin and emaciated • In the second video, he speaks from the same tunnel – and digs a grave for himselfThe family of hostage Evyatar David, who has been held captive by Hamas for 666 days, today (Saturday) approved the release of a portion of the disturbing video published by the terrorist organization Hamas, in which he appears thin and emaciated, as well as the full second video released earlier today. “We are forced to watch our beloved son and brother Evyatar, intentionally and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton buried alive,” the family said.
Video from the captivity of Evyatar David
In the new video: Tal Shoham and Omer Wenkert, who were released, together with hostages Guy Gilboa Dalal and Evyatar DavidIn fact, two videos of the hostage from the same tunnel were published in the last 24 hours. The first video, part of which the family approved for publication today, was released yesterday by Hamas. In the newly released video today, Evyatar is seen saying he hasn't eaten for days. He points to a calendar and recounts what he ate each day, showing how little food he received. Later, he is forced by Hamas terrorists to dig a grave for himself.
The video also includes a photo from captivity showing Tal Shoham and Omer Wenkert, who were released in the previous deal, along with hostages Guy Gilboa Dalal and Evyatar David. Yesterday, after the video was circulated, Tal Shoham said: “Evyatar is shrunken and dying under extreme, deliberate, sadistic starvation intended for propaganda and torture.”
“He is in immediate life-threatening danger,” he added. “When I was released five months ago, Evyatar was suffering from scurvy, a severe deficiency in vitamin C. It’s a life-threatening disease and he was already on the verge of death and managed to survive it. Now his condition is worse, and he’s lost at least 15 more kilos since I was freed. I don’t know if he even has a few days left to live if the situation doesn’t change.”
“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition. Hamas is using Evyatar as a live experiment in a repulsive starvation campaign. This intentional starvation experiment on our Evyatar for the purpose of propaganda is one of the most horrifying things to happen in the world,” said the family, regarding the footage showing Evyatar struggling to stand. “Our Evyatar is being starved for Hamas’s propaganda purposes.”
In the disturbing clip the family allowed to be published, Evyatar is seen slumped inside a dimly lit tunnel. He struggles to stand on his feet, drinks a little, and counts the days without food on a handwritten calendar in Hebrew. Alongside the family's approval to publish this clip, Hamas distributed another video of Evyatar from the same tunnel in which he is seen speaking.
Documentation from the captivity of Evyatar DavidDocumentation from the captivity of Evyatar David
His family pleads for immediate action to ensure Evyatar receives proper nutrition: “The intentional starvation and torture of Evyatar, and the abuse for propaganda purposes, violates even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency. The humanitarian aid that the world, along with Israel, provides to the residents of Gaza must also reach Evyatar.”
“Israel and the international community must not remain silent or turn a blind eye to those being deliberately starved as part of Hamas’s hunger campaign. There is no limit to the cruelty. We call on the Israeli government, the people of Israel, the nations of the world, and the President of the United States to do everything to save Evyatar from death and ensure that he receives food and medical treatment urgently.”
“The Israeli and Jewish voice must echo this around the world. We call on all countries and international organizations not to stay silent – a human being is a human being – and to act quickly and decisively to save Evyatar. We call on the Israeli media to stop amplifying Hamas propaganda and to show more responsibility and sensitivity toward the condition of our children and families. We are grieving and crying. There is no end to the sorrow and cruelty we are experiencing. There is no limit to the pain Hamas is causing the hostages and the residents of Gaza.”
Evyatar’s sister, Yaela, wrote in an Instagram post: “After a night of crying over my brother, who has become a walking skeleton in the cruel dungeon of Gaza. After the rage over the injustice and cynical use by Hamas. I realized the whole world needs to see this. Hamas is not ISIS – it’s much worse. Hamas starves the hostages and the residents of Gaza, preventing them from receiving the humanitarian aid that Israel and the world are sending – all for media and propaganda purposes.”
She continued: “Never again – is now. 2025. Israelis and Jews everywhere – take Evyatar’s photo and video – now I feel this must be spread. Use every connection and every headline so the world sees and helps save the life of my brother Evyatar. You can see for yourselves – he’s a skeleton surviving. He survives because he knows in his beautiful heart that the people of Israel will save him. Evyatar must receive immediate, life-saving treatment. He must get food and medicine as soon as possible. Now.”
Evyatar David in Hamas captivity
The Story of Evyatar David
Evyatar, 25, from Kfar Saba, was kidnapped from the Re’im music festival together with his childhood friend Guy (Gilboa) Dalal. They partied together with Idan Harmati and Ron Tzarfati, who were murdered. On the morning of the attack, Evyatar told his mother over the phone that there were rocket sirens, and from then on there was no contact with him.That same day, he was seen in a Hamas Telegram video lying on the ground, terrified, with someone shining a flashlight in his face. His family said he was kidnapped without his glasses, making it very difficult for him to see and function.
Evyatar David (right) with kidnapped Guy Gilboa-Dalal (center) and the late Ron Tzarfati, murdered at the party. Archive | Photo: Courtesy of the familyLater that day, another video surfaced showing him being led with his hands tied by a terrorist who had his hands on Evyatar’s shoulders and carried a rifle in his other hand. Evyatar is a talented musician who plays acoustic and classical guitar. He is the son of Galia and Avishai, the middle brother between Ilai (26) and Yaela (18). link
Sa’ar urges counterparts not to remain silent in face of ‘sadistic abuse’ of hostages
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is initiating a special session of the UN Security Council on the issue of the Israeli hostages, after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released propaganda videos over the weekend in which hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appeared severely emaciated, the Foreign Ministry says.
In an English-language statement on the matter, the ministry says Sa’ar expects his counterparts worldwide to “publicly express a moral and ethical stance and to exert every possible influence to end the terrible suffering of the Israeli hostages.”
“The world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation by Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” says Sa’ar, in a message accompanying the statement. Link Sa’ar has done nothing for the benefit of getting the hostages home. Since his successive bouts of hypocrisy joining the government of the person he claimed time and time again that he would never again serve in Netanyahu's government or returning the Likud (he has done both), his hypocrisy has been emphasized by his silence within the government to get the hostages home. His statements now of condemnation have nothing to do with the hostages. His entire purpose is to deflect attention from the government’s war crimes in Gaza especially about the humanitarian crisis and starvation. In all of his travels and discussions with heads of states and Foreign Ministers, all of his talk is more hot air. Never does he talk about the government or Netanyahu's responsibility to get the hostages home. All he and his renewed buddy Netanyahu can do is shed and shift responsibility and blame and never take on any themselves. Their disgraceful acts, words and behaviors are costing the hostages further suffering and death.
Saar 'urges counterparts not to remain silent' yet he and his boss remain the most silect of them all. Their words have no meaning and are worse than silent because they don't follow through with anything concrete to end the suffering, end the war and bring home our hostages.Thousands rally for hostage deal in Tel Aviv after propaganda videos released of two hostages
Thousands gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv for a weekly rally demanding a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.
Relatives of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, of whom terror groups this week published propaganda videos, are set to speak at the event, as well as former hostage Omer Wenkert.
Rallies are simultaneously occurring at junctions, cities and towns nationwide.
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ืืื ื ืฆืืื ืขื ืฉืื ืืืืืคืื ืืืืช
Neither on the deal nor on the hostages' videos – the government will discuss the Netanyahu family’s security and the dismissal of the Attorney General
On the government's agenda there is no planned discussion on the issue of the hostages, but what will be on the table? The ministers are expected to discuss expanding the scope of security for the Prime Minister and his family and advancing the move to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara
Shocking videos from the captivity of hostages in difficult condition, a diplomatic tsunami, and “Hamas’s starvation campaign” – none of these will open the government meeting on Monday. At the top of the government’s agenda is another issue – the threats to the life of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the security for him and his family.
The government meeting on Monday is expected to open with a discussion on the topic of “Enforcement of actions against serious incitement and threats to the life of the Prime Minister and his family and the need to increase security around them,” against the backdrop of the indictment filed against protest activist Tamar Gershoni, who is accused of planning an assassination of Netanyahu.
Later in the meeting, the government is also expected to discuss the dismissal of the Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and vote on a resolution for her immediate termination of service, despite the High Court of Justice process.
Despite the publication of the difficult videos of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David from captivity, in which they were seen in poor physical condition – thin, emaciated and hungry – no discussion is planned in the government meeting regarding the situation of the hostages or the contacts for a deal. Although the cabinet is expected to convene this week, an exact date has not yet been set. link
I put this on the top of this update to show exactly what this government is. It is a government so disconnected from the public, from the needs of the entire country. It is solely focused on themselves and keeping their power. That's it, nothing else! That is the disgrace of our country. They are the politicians who should have resigned in disgrace on October 8 and should never have been heard of again. They are the politicians who believe they bear no responsibility for anything, not for October 7, not for the mishandling of the war, not for the deaths of 800 more soldiers since October 7, not for the fact that 251 hostages were taken and especially not for the fact that 50 hostages are still in captivity for 667 days. They are a national disgrace, a stain on the country that has spread and grown and they don't care. They don't care that our credit rating was degraded 3 times in the last 2 years which had never happened before in our history. They don't care that people are starving in Gaza. They don't care that the war goes on to save their leader and more soldiers are killed and maimed. Nothing that pertains to the public and our future mean anything to them as long as they sit where they are and continue to milk the tax payers to the hilt to get what they want. That's the bottom line for them. This has to end and end soon. This government needs to be in the history books as the worst government of unqualified politicians that the country has ever seen as well as the government, the Prime Minister who directly brought us October 7. GONE!
I put this on the top of this update to show exactly what this government is. It is a government so disconnected from the public, from the needs of the entire country. It is solely focused on themselves and keeping their power. That's it, nothing else! That is the disgrace of our country. They are the politicians who should have resigned in disgrace on October 8 and should never have been heard of again. They are the politicians who believe they bear no responsibility for anything, not for October 7, not for the mishandling of the war, not for the deaths of 800 more soldiers since October 7, not for the fact that 251 hostages were taken and especially not for the fact that 50 hostages are still in captivity for 667 days. They are a national disgrace, a stain on the country that has spread and grown and they don't care. They don't care that our credit rating was degraded 3 times in the last 2 years which had never happened before in our history. They don't care that people are starving in Gaza. They don't care that the war goes on to save their leader and more soldiers are killed and maimed. Nothing that pertains to the public and our future mean anything to them as long as they sit where they are and continue to milk the tax payers to the hilt to get what they want. That's the bottom line for them. This has to end and end soon. This government needs to be in the history books as the worst government of unqualified politicians that the country has ever seen as well as the government, the Prime Minister who directly brought us October 7. GONE!
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*1:00AM - Gaza envelope - rockets from Gaza- Nirim, Ein Hashlosha - intercepted
IDF says it killed deputy commander of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion last week in Gaza
The deputy commander of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion, known in the IDF as the al-Furqan Battalion, was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military says.
The IDF says the strike on July 24 killed Salah a-Din Zaara, who served as deputy commander of the battalion in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, and previously headed the battalion’s combat support company.
Zaara was responsible for directing and advancing numerous attacks against Israel and IDF troops operating in the Strip, the military says.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Israeli Air Force struck over 130 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
The strikes come as four IDF divisions continue ground operations across Gaza. Video
The Government Knew Gaza Was Close to Famine, and Continued Walking a Tightrope – On the Way to a Historic Achievement for Hamas
Security establishment indicators illustrated growing distress at the beginning of April. And the ministers dismissed it. Then Trump warned, and later came the European Union. But it did not sink in. Netanyahu wasted time, made no decisions, and recoiled from the far right. The commission of inquiry that will eventually be established will have to examine how we walked into a diplomatic collapse. The full column – in Yedioth Ahronoth, in the weekend supplementOn March 2nd, Israel decided to halt all aid and food to the Gaza Strip. In an attempt to investigate this disastrous cabinet decision, I spoke with decision-makers, security officials, and officers, both past and present. The situation in Gaza, to remove any doubt, was already difficult even before the decision made in early March, but humanitarian mechanisms were operating and had even strengthened as a result of the ceasefire. Much aid and food entered the Strip.
Gaza residents with sacks of flour on their backs. “We knew the situation was worsening,” said a senior official
(Photo: BASHAR TALEB / AFP, BASHAR TALEB / AFP)But starting in March, Israel took three major steps: it ended the ceasefire, launched Operation Iron Swords (Merkavot Gideon) in an attempt to pressure Hamas into a hostage deal on its own terms, and decided to take practical control over the aid and food entering the Gaza Strip.
From the beginning of April, even the security establishment's own metrics began to illustrate growing distress in Gaza, and this joined the warnings from aid organizations. The general attitude toward Maj. Gen. Rassan Alian, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, was that “he's just raising red flags, but at the same time says there’s no famine yet,” as one minister told me. Another minister remarked that there was a dismissive attitude toward the IDF's assessments regarding the Strip.
“We always knew this was on the edge,” a senior official told me, “and they laughed at Rassan Alian. We knew the situation was critical.” The government did not want mass famine in Gaza, if only because it knew it would backfire on Israel. But it knew that Gaza was close to a famine situation, and continued to walk a tightrope that endangered an entire population in a humanitarian disaster. This was not done out of strategic considerations, but mainly out of political fear of Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and public opinion.
By late June and early July, the European Union was already explicitly threatening Israel with suspension of the Association Agreement – all because of the worsening situation in the Strip. This did not penetrate public discourse in Israel at all. The general feeling was that the real story was the deal; soon there would be a ceasefire and everything would open anyway.
The commission of inquiry that will one day be established will have to examine how Israel walked with open eyes into October 7th, and then walked into a humanitarian crisis in the Strip and a diplomatic collapse. The Biden administration warned Netanyahu’s government again and again. The Trump administration warned Israel at the beginning of May about the situation in Gaza. Netanyahu wasted time, made no decisions, recoiled from the far right, did flip-flops and U-turns. All the way to a historic diplomatic achievement for Hamas, a vile terrorist organization that takes great pleasure in the suffering of its own people – if only it harms Israel, Israelis, and our hostages suffering in its tunnels.
Hamas's achievement is painful and significant, but more important is the reality in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of innocents. And every child, for example, is innocent. link As I have said countless times, the only strategy that Netanyahu has ever had has been to continue as prime minister. He has never presented any strategy or strategic plans in all of his years of premiership and absolutely none in this entire war. His government which is a band of lackeys has never demanded a strategic plan because they were all shamelessly gouging themselves on state budgets. The only people who have demanded and begged for strategy have been the heads of the security organizations. All they have ever been given has been tactical goals and even those have been so poorly managed that the army has nowhere to go.
Netanyahu is a master in the game of maintaining his throne. He has an incredibly well oiled machine in many different areas, such as the Prime Minister's office, the Likud and his staunchest supporters, i.e. his cult of Bibists and they act within a minutes notice. If he were to utilize that well oiled machine for diplomatic purposes to serve the State of Israel, we would find ourselves in a very different place.
Netanyahu's actions in this government have been led by his fear of Smotrich and Ben Gvir leaving the coalition and putting his throne at risk, so he either doesn't act to appease them or acts in the worst ways to appease them. He is an autocrat with a major fear complex and the combination is killing the State of Israel. Since he is the single decision maker and has the sole veto, the humanitarian crisis with its follow up of starvation is all on him. There have been many people who have worked closely with him say that nothing happens in the PMO that he doesn't know about. This follows into everything that he claims he didn't know about. Those are all lies. Although, we haven't yet heard him say that he didn't know how bad the situation was in Gaza for the refugees, we should all expect that to come out of his mouth or the mouth of one of his 'unnamed officials' from the PMO. He knew and knows exactly what is happening in Gaza. Not only has he allowed it to happen, he has allowed it to worsen daily and only because he sees the major damage it is doing to him, not to Israel, has he given order to improve the situation. That is what he is all about. Only when things have to do with his personal and political survival does he act. He is the worst prime minister we have ever had and he is the most dangerous person in Israel today.Some 1,000 Israeli artists sign petition slamming ‘horrific events in Gaza,’ call for return of hostages
Around 1,000 Israeli artists sign a petition calling on the government to end the war in Gaza in exchange for the return of the hostages held by terrorists.
The artists express opposition to “the horrific events in the Gaza Strip, especially the killing of children and innocent people, the starvation, the expulsion of the population, and the senseless destruction of Gaza’s cities.”
The petition calls on decision-makers as well as those carrying out orders to cease actions that amount to “war crimes” and not to forsake humane values.
Among the signatories are singers Gidi Gov and Riki Gal, bassist Avishai Cohen, and actress Keren Mor.
Six more Gazans die of starvation, Hamas-run ministry says
CAIRO, Egypt — Six more people died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Health Ministry says.
The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry says.
Gaza hospital officials, witnesses say 23 killed seeking aid near GHF sites by Israeli fire
Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food in the Gaza Strip, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who describe facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites.
Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a food distribution point, describes coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, looking around and seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.
“I couldn’t stop and help them because of the bullets,” he says.
Southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital says it had received bodies from near multiple distribution sites, including eight from Teina, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private US- and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.
The hospital also received one body from Shakoush, an area hundreds of meters (yards) north of a different GHF site in Rafah. Another nine were also killed by troops near the Morag corridor, who were awaiting trucks entering Gaza through an Israeli border crossing, it says.
Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, tell The Associated Press the shootings occurred on the route to the distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They say they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward the troops.
Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials describe a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire in the morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to reach GHF’s fourth and northernmost distribution point.
“Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot,” says Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.
At least five people were killed and 27 wounded at GHF’s site near Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital says.
The figures cannot be independently verified, and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The IDF has in the past said troops have fired toward crowds of Palestinians approaching their positions near aid sites, but it claims casualty figures are exaggerated, without providing its own.
IDF says it recently destroyed 300-meter-long Hamas tunnel in south Gaza
A 300-meter-long Hamas tunnel was demolished during recent operations of the 179th Reserve Armored Brigade in the southern Gaza Strip, the military says. video
The IDF says the brigade, with combat engineering forces and the Israeli Air Force, destroyed hundreds of other terror infrastructures in the area in the past two months, including booby-trapped buildings, observation, and sniper posts.
Numerous weapons, including rockets and rocket launchers, RPGs, and assault rifles, were also located, the army adds. video
IDF says soldiers questioned suspected dealers, seized arms in Syria overnight
IDF soldiers questioned several suspected arms dealers and seized weapons during an overnight raid in southern Syria, the military says.
Troops of the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade and field interrogators of the Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 operated in the town of Hader, just across the border.
The IDF says several suspected arms dealers were questioned, which, along with prior intelligence, led the troops to four sites in the area where weapons were being stored.
The soldiers raided the sites and seized the weapons.
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”
Gaza and the South
One Palestinian killed, seven wounded in settler attack near Nablus
Palestinian media outlets report that one Palestinian was killed and seven others were wounded by gunfire during a settler attack near Aqraba, a village in the northern West Bank, close to Nablus.
Footage circulated on social media shows Israeli soldiers arriving at the scene.
It remains unclear whether the shooting was carried out by settlers or by the army.
The IDF has yet to issue a statement. Video this has become a daily occurrence that the settler terrorists are violently attacking and killing Palestinians with total impunity with this extremist government all but officially granting them the ability and power to go about rampaging and killing Palestinians at will. There are terror attacks and the government's full compliance therefore makes them just as guilty of terrorism. The countries of the world don't know which crimes this government does are worse, the unabated daily terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank or the unabated international war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza. What is clear to the people who are willing to look at what is happening on all fronts with open eyes and total objectivity, is that war crimes are occurring non stop on both of these fronts and the government only exacerbates the crimes with more of the same crimes and enabling and encouraging others such as the settler terrorists to continue and commit more terrorist acts every day. When was the last time we heard anyone from this criminal government speak out about the rampaging and killing going on in the West Bank? When was the last time we heard from anyone in this criminal government anything about the humanitarian crisis and starvation and deaths in Gaza except to deny it or to claim that it is all exaggerated? The answer to both is "NEVER". When atrocities are committed against us, we are the first to yell and scream and call out "Never Again". It is the worst thing in the world to hear the rest of the world calling out to us, 'STOP! NEVER AGAIN!' with us being the perpetrators of the evil and committing crimes of genocide that were created after the horrors our people went through in the Holocaust. How could we have a government that is guilty of these crimes perpetrating them in our names and we were silent?
Katz promises Israel will strengthen hold over Jerusalem, including Temple Mount
It is amazing how much dribble can come out of one man's mouth. Katz doesn't seize making the stupidest and provocative statements that he hopes will curry favor with his boss. Although, because he is such a yes man, it is not 100% known if this is coming from his mouth but actually are Netanyahu's words. In either case, the statement is provocative and can only add the most flammable materials to a flame that is threatening Israel world wide. For this failed government, the idea of diplomatic advocacy/hasbara seem to be a foreign inclination and action for them. They can only do and say that put us in the crosshairs of virtually every country, including the countries that have always been our most fervent allies. It even seems to be that they are doing this on purpose, maybe the ministers have a contest of who can be the most provocative and make Israel the most enemies. I can't think of any other reason that they would continue to do this on a non stop basis besides the fact that they are all failures in governing.
On Temple Mount, Ben Gvir calls for Gaza takeover, ‘voluntary emigration’ of Palestinians
As I wrote above, this government is a government that has no idea how to govern and they all seem to have a contest going on who can make the most provocative statements and make the most amount of enemies to Israel.
Ben Gvir is a different story altogether. He has spent his life being a provocateur, to make the wildest statements in order to cause the most upheaval and make everyone understand that he is truly the most extreme of the extreme. This is a person (and I use this term loosely) who is a racist, misogynist, dictator wannabe, a terrorists, an enabler of terrorism and a convicted criminal for belonging to and supporter of a terror organization. The biggest problem is that he believes all of the extremist rhetoric we hear coming from his mouth. He wants more violence against Palestinians, protestors of anything he is against, and all people who hold different views from him. He is an anti-democrat yet uses the term that things are anti democratic when decisions are made by the Supreme Court or the Attorney General that go against his extremist views and actions. He is known within the government as the pyromaniac. He has no qualms about setting international fires and doesn't give a damn about implications to Israel for his words and actions. This is a person who belongs behind bars, not as the minister of police and prisons.
The "Recognition Awards Hamas Lie"
Gershon Baskin - August 2, 2025Recognition of the State of Palestine by countries that have supported the two-states solution for years but only recognized one of them is not a reward for Hamas or for terrorism. It is a correction of a policy of duplicity and places action where only (empty) words were uttered until now. Whoever makes that claim the recognition of the State of Palestine rewards Hamas is clearly not interested in Israeli-Palestinian peace. It is not surprising that this claim is being made by right-wing Israelis, including illegal settlers, and right wing politicians from around the world.
Let’s set the record straight - Hamas have never supported the two-states solution. Hamas was officially launched after Yasser Arafat declared Independence of the State of Palestine and recognized Israel on November 15, 1988. Hamas opposed then any kind of recognition of Israel as it does until today. Recognition of the State of Palestine is an affirmation that the horrific war in Gaza must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war and that from the traumas and horrors of the past 22 months, peace must emerge.
There are 7 million Israeli Jews and 7 million Palestinian Arabs living on the land of Israel/Palestine between the River and the Sea. They have been fighting, dying, willing to kill for a territorial expression of their identity. The way to resolve the conflict and make peace is for both peoples to have the right to self-determination and the moral and historic obligation of the international community is to recognize the national rights of both peoples on the Land. If 192 Member States of the United Nations recognize the State of Palestine, but Israel does not, the occupation and the conflict will continue. But that does not relieve the Member States of the UN from its responsibility and obligation to recognize both states now: the State of Israel and the State of Palestine.
If you believe in Israeli-Palestinian peace then you understand that only the two-states solution can resolve the conflict. So recognition of the State of Palestine now is a recognition and support to those who want to live in peace in Israel and Palestine.
From the River to the Sea On Two States We Agree!
Ex-IDF chief slams PM’s ‘unforgivable failures,’ as opposition leaders express horror over footage of emaciated hostages
Members of the opposition accuse the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning the hostages and ignoring their suffering, in statements expressing outrage over the emaciated state of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David in the latest Islamic Jihad and Hamas propaganda videos.
“As chief of staff, I never imagined that there would come a day when we would see pictures of Jews dying and there would be no savior,” says Former IDF chief of staff and ex-National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ‘October 7’ cabinet ministers are responsible for an unforgivable failure, and for the failed management of the war that brought us to this point,” he charges, demanding that they immediately make the “Jewish, ethical, moral decision to immediate sign a hostage deal — a comprehensive one, even at the cost of a permanent ceasefire.”
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid notes that on the agenda for the upcoming weekly cabinet meeting is, “for the seven-thousandth time: a discussion about threats to the prime minister’s life.”
Absent from the agenda, however, is any discussion on the hostages or about negotiations for their release.
“I obviously condemn any threat to the prime minister’s life, but he is the most secure person in Israel,” says Lapid. “I suggest replacing this topic with a discussion about the far more real threats to the life of Evyatar David.”
In a video from a demonstration on Begin Road, in Tel Aviv, The Democrats chair Yair Golan urges the public to take to the streets in protest as a way to “save our brothers and sisters” from captivity in Gaza.
“You saw the terrible photos of Rom and Evyatar, we must release them. They have no time,” says the left-wing leader.
He says the public must stage a “giant, powerful protest, every day, all day” until they and all the hostages are released.
“Don’t give up. We will save our brothers and sisters. We will bring everyone home,” he vows. link On Sunday, the corrupt government will be discussing in its weekly cabinet meeting these 2 agenda items: the protection of the Netanyahu family and the firing of the attorney general. There is no agenda item about the videos released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad of 2 hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, how they are suffering and starving, how they appear no different than holocaust survivors of the camps 70 years ago, and certainly no agenda items about a deal and how to end the war. These agenda items don't seem to be that important to this failed government that only does things that are good for their parochial issues. I don't know anymore what it would take for them to truly look at what is going on around them, to see the suffering of the families, to see that our country cannot move on until all the hostages are home: the living for rehabilitation and the dead for proper burial in our land. I question if they have an inkling about the things that are most important to the overwhelming population, but then I answer myself that they just don't care. They don't feel that they are beholden to anyone in Israel or abroad. They refuse to take even a shred of responsibility for October 7, they take no responsibility that there are still hostages in captivity or for the fact that 251 people were kidnapped on their watch. What should have been an arena of government ministers and Knesset members resigning in mass. They are above the people, above all laws and codes, moral and ethical. They are nothing but shells of politicians who long ago forgot that they are there to serve the people of Israel, not themselves. They forgot but we will not, never!
Israel’s answer to video of emaciated hostage must be ‘total destruction’ of Hamas, Smotrich declares
I won't dignify the words of this piece of shit by posting the article here, only the headline. Since the beginning of the war, there have been 2 messianic ministers who have clearly stated publicly too many times to count that their messianic extremist quests are far more important than the lives of the hostages and the soldiers being killed and maimed in Gaza. The only important things for them are to get rid of all the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and at a later time, get rid of the Arab citizens of Israel (21% of our population). They want a state of Israel with its occupied territories annexed, to be completely Jewish with not a single Arab on the same soil that they walk on. Smotrich continues to use the hostages' suffering and killings as an excuse to further his messianic goals, so the more they suffer, the more that are killed, the more outrage he can publicly express and demand that the Palestinians pay the price. He is no different than the disgusting PR that the Hamas terrorists use. They, too don't care about their people being killed. The more killed, the better their publicity against Israel. They and Smotrich are the same coin, just the opposite sides. Both of them are vile in their hypocrisy and lack of caring for anyone but themselves and their messianic and fundamentalist religious fervor and extremism.
And if anyone wants to say the comparison is not fair because Hamas perpetrates atrocities on Jews, the comparison is more than fair as Smotrich finances and supports the Settler Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and fully supports the expulsion through 'voluntary emigration' of all Palestinians from Gaza. There is no difference in their extremism and both should never darken the paths of peace loving people on both sides.- Israel key hostage negotiator says war in Gaza is genocide and makes bombshell hostage claimWARNING DISTRESSING IMAGES: Israeli peace negotiator Gershon Baskin said Hamas would have stopped war and released the hostages at the beginning and warned strikes would endanger them
Interview with Dr. Gershon Baskin on The Mirror
Most of latest suicides among IDF troops due to war-related trauma, army probe said to find
Most recent suicides among IDF soldiers stemmed from war-related trauma, including prolonged exposure to combat zones, witnessing horrific scenes, and the loss of friends, according to findings from internal military probes published by Kan news.
“Most of the suicides resulted from the complex reality created by the war. War has consequences,” a senior military official tells Kan.
In response, the military says it is drawing systemic conclusions, improving commander training, and enhancing distress signal detection. Additionally, the number of mental health officers has been increased by 200 for active-duty soldiers and by 600 for reservists.
At least 17 soldiers have died by suicide so far in 2025, according to figures published by Haaretz. Officials reportedly fear the phenomenon could grow if the psychological toll is not adequately addressed.
- The Region and the World
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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