๐️Lonny's War Update- October 734 2023 - October 9, 2025 ๐️
๐️Day 734 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity๐️
Now that the deal is signed and will go into effect in the coming days, I can share the following:
From my brother Dr. Gershon Baskin, who is the initiator and architect of the Trump Proposal:October 9, 2025
A first short note on some thoughts this morning.
Gershon Baskin
This is definitely a morning for celebration. The war is ending. The killing and destruction will stop. The Israeli hostages will be coming home – the living and the deceased. For Palestinians, there will be celebrations with the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians will be able to breathe again.
First, we all have to thank President Trump and his emissary Steve Witkoff, and of course Jared Kushner, who helped to put the full court press on Israel and on Hamas. Trump and Witkoff made sure that the Qatari Prime Minister, the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, and the Turkish head of Intelligence were all together for the final push. This was a brilliant move. Trump locked Netanyahu into the agreement and the Qataris, Egyptians and Turks locked Hamas into the agreement.
There are still details that we don’t know but what is important is that this agreement is a declaration of the end of the war – not a temporary ceasefire. There are guarantees that the war will not be renewed once Hamas releases all of the hostages. We don’t know the exact details of those guarantees – I had made some suggestions to the US and Hamas negotiators, but I don’t know at this time what has been concluded. We also don’t know for sure the names of the Palestinian prisoners who will be released and what are the terms of their release.
What we should know is that this deal could have done a long time ago. Hamas agreed to all of the same terms in September 2024 in what became known as the “Three Weeks Deal” that I had received in writing and voice message in Arabic and in English. But at that point the response of the Israeli negotiators was that “the Prime Minister did not agree to end the war”. Even though the “Three Week Deal” proposal landed on the desk of President Biden, his person in charge, Bret McGurk, refused to sway from the bad deal that he was negotiating. I met with members of the American negotiating team in October 2024 and they were as frustrated as I was in their inability to convince Biden and Biden’s people to look seriously at the deal on the table. The Qataris invited me to Doha in October 2024 and I presented to them the deal that Hamas agreed to, which they were fully aware of but they said without the American adoption of the plan, nothing could be done, because the obstacle was Israel, not Hamas. That is the same message I received from the Egyptian intelligence – Hamas was ready for a deal to release all of the hostages, not to govern Gaza any longer and to end the war. But Israel was not ready. On December 26, 2024 I met with Ronen Bar in his office in the Shin Bet headquarters. In that meeting, three weeks before Trump entered the White House, I was requested not to use my back channels, because “in three weeks there will be a ceasefire deal”. Trump told Netanyahu that he wants a ceasefire before he enters the White House, and Ronen Bar knew it would happen and it did on January 19, 2025. To me it was clear that President Biden projected American weakness while President Trump projects American power. From that moment, on December 26, 2024 it was clear to me that the only way that the war would come to an end is when President Trump makes the decision that it has to end. From that time, my primary efforts were to communicated with Steve Witkoff and find a way of working a back channel between the American side and Hamas – knowing that the negotiation did not have to be directly with the Israeli side. The Israeli side would accept whatever Trump forced them to accept. In December 2024, Samer Sinijlawi heard that Witkoff would be speaking at a Bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi. He suggested that we invest the money to go there and to stakeout Witkoff in order to make first contact. We did that and we managed to speak with him, exchange cards and we gave him an article that Samer and I authored together. That investment paid off completely.
Jumping ahead – after hours of working the back channel, on September 8, 2025 Hamas received from the Qatari Prime Minister the American proposal that I assisted in drafting together with Hamas negotiators. I was on the telephone with the American side at the same hour that the Qataris were presenting to Hamas the final American proposal at 10:00 pm on September 8. I was told by the American side that Hamas planned to spend September 9 discussing the proposal and getting clarifications from the Americans, through me and the Qataris on issues such as the lines of the Israeli withdrawal, the nature of the guarantees that the war would not be renewed when Hamas releases all of the hostages. Then Israel bombed the home of Khalil al Haya and that phase of the negotiations ended. On September 10 one of the Hamas negotiators contacted me and said that the whole leadership survived the attacked and that the Qataris had instructed them to not go out and not to use their telephones at all. Hamas was convinced that the attack could not have happened without the agreement of Trump. Despite the American denials, Hamas no longer trusted that Trump and the Americans were working in good faith. The proposed American guarantees were no longer relevant. I was requested by the Americans to tell the Hamas leadership that the Americans had nothing to do with the attack and that the US and President Trump were still committed to reaching an agreement to end the war.
Hamas’s messages to me were that they had no faith in the Americans because Israel could not have attacked in Doha without the American agreement. On September 10 at 1:22 am Witkoff sent me the following message: “We had zero to do with this. They (the Israelis) have apologized to us. Their statement confirms this. And the President’s Truth Social post attests to it.”
During the period between the Israeli attack in Doha and September 19, I was working on ways to get back to the point where we were negotiating the end of the war, with all of the details. Hamas was in a paralysis mode and did not know what to do or how to get back to talks about ending the war.
On September 19, in the late evening Witkoff called me and said “we have a plan”. We had a long conversation and I supported what the Americans were planning and I made a few suggestions on how to get Hamas on board. I was requested to convince the Hamas leadership that Trump was serious and wants the war to end. Throughout the last months I have been in contact with 8 members of the Hamas leadership outside of Gaza. Three of them engaged with me in discussions. I did not make suggestions regarding the Israeli side because for over a year I believed that if President Trump decides that the war has to end, Trump will force Netanyahu into the agreement. That is exactly what happened.
What we don’t know still is a lot of very important information. I have been in discussions regarding all of the issues, but I was not in Sharm el Sheikh and I don’t know what has been decided and what still needs to be decided. But the most important thing at this time is the declaration by both sides that the war is over and it will not be renewed. The hostages and prisoners will be freed in the coming days. Israel will begin to withdraw.
Regarding the Hamas weapons, the discussions and proposals were that Hamas would turn over their weapons (those that have the ability to kill a number of people at the same time – not necessarily every rifle) to a new Palestinian security force, perhaps together with Egyptian support. Hamas would not surrender its weapons to Israel, but they could to a Palestinian security force. I don’t know what has been decided.
The new government in Gaza – this has to be a Palestinian government and not a neo-colonial mechanism which the Palestinians do not control. The names of independent Gazans with a public profile have been given to the Americans and also to other international and Arab players involved with the day after and the reconstruction of Gaza. The names that Samer Sinijlawi and I submitted to these important players were Gazan civil society leaders that we met with several times on zoom. They drafted a letter and signed it to President Trump that I delivered to Witkoff for the President stating that they were willing to play a role in the governance of Gaza. We don’t know how this new government will be formed and when it will take over. Hamas agreed from the outset to this kind of government, even from last year. We don’t know if Mahmoud Abbas will ask Dr. Nasser Elkidwa to play a role in the governance of Gaza – something that he has said that he is ready to do.
We don’t know which Palestinian prisoners will be freed in the deal and where they will be freed to. The option of freeing those who are considered by Israel to be the most dangerous to be deported may have been agreed to – we don’t know yet. I spent a lot of time and efforts to provide the Americans with information about Marwan Barghouthi. I sent the opinions of about 20 very important Israelis to the Americans about their opinion – most were in favor of releasing Barghouthi – but some very significant Israelis were opposed. Those who were in favor spoke about the positive role that Barghouthi could play in moving the conflict toward a renewed peace process. Those who were opposed believed that Barghouthi would not play that role.
In conclusion of these first thoughts: President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Steve Witkoff is a deal maker and without Witkoff none of this would have happened. Witkoff speaks for the President and everyone knows it. Jared Kusher’s role at this point was crucial because in the near future Ron Dermer will be working for Kushner and not for Netanyahu. Bringing Kushner to the final round of negotiations was a brilliant move to neutralize Dermer’s defined role of foiling every chance of ending the war. The Turkish head of Intelligence is very close to Witkoff and to Hamas and the Turkish intensive role was crucial in putting the pressure on Hamas to agree to the deal and not to walk away from the table.
At 2:00 am all of the participants in the negotiations entered a large room with tables and chairs set up in a square. The Israeli delegation sat directly across from the Hamas delegation. This was the first time in history that official Israelis and officials from Hamas sat in the same room. The deal was signed and now we have to wait for its full implementations. And now we can begin to breathe again.
This is a report in the Hebrew press:
According to reports, the agreement will be signed officially at 12:00 noon today (Thursday), and later the government will convene to approve the agreement. The release of the living hostages is expected in one phase on Sunday, and according to the understandings, there will not be “release ceremonies” as Hamas did in the past. On Monday, the phases of the release of the fallen hostages will begin, and according to an Israeli source, the understanding is that part of them are located in places that are not under Hamas control. An American senior official: 20 hostages will be released within 72 hours after the Israeli cabinet approves the agreement. On the Al-Jazeera network it was reported: the sides have overcome all the main obstacles, and the understandings are in the final stage. In addition, the Arab media reported that the ceasefire will be complete, and that with the release of the hostages, the IDF will release terrorists and begin the withdrawal. Nukhba terrorists who participated in the massacre will not be released, Israel will withdraw to the agreed lines within 24 hours from the signing of the agreement, and Israel will remain in 53% of the territory of the Strip, until the last of the hostages is released. Egyptian sources to the Qatari Al-Arabi channel: the Rafah Crossing will be opened in both directions. It was also agreed that 600 trucks of humanitarian aid will enter Gaza daily.
Hostages Square volunteers celebrate deal announcement: ‘I hope we can close up and go home’One group preparing for the end of an era is the self-identified “Shirt Team,” a group of volunteers who have been staffing merchandise tables at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square for nearly two years. Today, as a crowd in the square awaits further news of a deal to bring home the 48 remaining hostages, a group of women behind a table selling T-shirts, pins, and other apparel is celebrating.
“Friends, Shirt Team! Two years in the fire and water!” one of the volunteers shouts. “We’ll keep doing what we need to do because the nation’s heart is really in the right place.”
Dana Felz-Russo, the lead organizer, says the apparel stations first went up in late October 2023, soon after the massacre. Volunteers set up one table with 200 shirts that someone had printed.
Now, the team has grown to 110 volunteers who staff tables that are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Felz-Russo is here 10 hours a week on average, she says. She also has three children and a full-time job at the telecommunications company Partner.
“I hope we can close up and go home,” she says to applause.
She doesn’t know what will happen to the stacks of merchandise after the last hostage comes home.
“We’ll wait and see,” she says, adding, “I think we’ll change the symbols to, ‘We returned them and now we’re living.'”
Top officials head to peace talks as Hamas submits list of prisoners it wants freed
Sides project optimism on talks’ third day; Kushner, Witkoff, Dermer, Qatari PM and Hamas brass to meet in Egypt; Hamas said to want bodies of Yahya and Muhammad Sinwar
An October 7 memorial ceremony at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv, marking two years since the massacre, October 7, 2025. (Miriam Alster/
Talks to end the war in Gaza appeared to advance on Wednesday, as top officials from all sides headed to Egypt, and Hamas submitted a list of prisoners to be released in exchange for the hostages it is holding, saying that “optimism” was prevailing.
Negotiations began on Monday in the resort town of Sharm el Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula over a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end the two-year Gaza war and release the 48 hostages held in the Strip. The plan also calls for Hamas to disarm and give up control of the territory to an international force as Israel withdraws its troops.
Israel, Hamas and the US, as well as Middle Eastern countries serving as mediators, have expressed optimism about the talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he accepted Trump’s plan. But it was unclear if longstanding sticking points, over issues such as the terror group’s disarmament and the scope of Israel’s withdrawal, could be overcome.
In a sign that the talks are progressing, the architects of Trump’s plan, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, arrived in Sharm el Sheikh on Wednesday.
They join a roster of senior officials from the participating parties: Top Hamas leaders Taher al-Nunu and Khalil al-Hayya are in Sharm el Sheikh. Strategic Affairs Minister and Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer was also due to join the talks on Wednesday afternoon, according to an Israeli official.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, a longstanding mediator, will also take part, according to sources familiar with the matter. Another participant will be Turkish spymaster Ibrahim Kalin, pointing to a growing role for Turkey, a powerful NATO member that has close contacts with Hamas.
A vehicle passes in front of a billboard showing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)Representatives from smaller Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were also reportedly due to join the talks.
Nunu said in a statement that during today’s negotiations in Egypt, lists of “prisoners” to be released were exchanged between the sides, based on agreed criteria and numbers.
The statement appeared to refer both to lists of hostages — which Hamas refers to as “prisoners” — and of Palestinian security prisoners — including terror convicts and others serving life sentences, as well as Gazans detained amid the ongoing war.
“The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties,” Nunu said.
Hamas has been reportedly seeking the release of some of the most notorious Palestinian terrorists, whom Israel has refused to set free.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Hamas is also seeking the return of the bodies of two of its slain leaders in Gaza, brothers Yahya and Muhammad Sinwar. Yahya Sinwar was the architect of the October 7, 2023, massacre that launched the war, and was succeeded by his brother after being killed in 2024.
Terror groups in Gaza are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
The Trump plan calls for all the hostages to be released within the first 72 hours of the plan’s implementation. Link
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
"The time has come, the 'return' in October" (return and seventh or homonyms in Hebrew)
“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!!!”
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*Second Houthi drone shot down over Israel-Egypt border, IDF says
A second drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Israeli-Egyptian border a short while ago, according to the IDF.
The IDF says alerts were activated in open areas, and not in any towns, “according to protocol.”
Family of Nepali hostage Bipin Joshi publish video from shortly after October 7
The family of Bipin Joshi, a Nepali agricultural student taken hostage by Hamas, has released a video of him that was filmed shortly after he was abducted in the October 7, 2023, attack on Kibbutz Alumim.
The video, which was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces and shared with the family, is thought to have been filmed in November 2023, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of most of the remaining 48 hostages.
No sign of life has been received for Joshi since that month. In May, Israel said his fate was unknown, but the family is holding out hope.
His family said earlier today that it would publish the video to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas massacre.
In the 33-second-long video, Joshi introduces himself in English, likely at the demand of his captors.
“My name is Bipin Joshi. I am from Nepal. I am 23 years old. I came here to Israel 25 days ago. I came here for the “Learn and Earn program,” I am a student,” he says. “I work in agricultural farm[ing] in citrus and lemon farm.”
At the end of the video, Joshi looks at something off-screen, without moving his head.
In a statement released via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Joshi’s family says the video has become “an anchor of firm faith that he is still alive.”
“It is not easy for us to release it to the world,” the family says of the video, “but we are in critical and historic days. Days that will decide whether the living hostages will return to their families and the fallen for a proper burial, or whether we will continue to wallow in pain.” Video
Hamas has provided info on ‘roughly 20 living hostages,’ Israeli officials say
The 48 hostages held in Gaza: First row, from left: Rom Braslavski, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Matan Angrest, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel. Second row, from left: Eitan Mor, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Bipin Joshi. Third row, from left: Dror Or, Tamir Adar, Matan Zangauker, Bar Kupershtein, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Tamir Nimrodi, Omri Miran. Fourth row, from left: Manny Godard, Sgt. First Class Ran Gvili, Sahar Baruch, Uriel Baruch, Sonthaya Oakkharasri, Ronen Engel, Muhammad Alatrash, Guy Illouz. Fifth row, from left: Joshua Mollel, Sgt. Itay Chen, Col. Asaf Hamami, Tal Chaimi, Aryeh Zalmanovich, Inbar Heiman, Sgt. Oz Daniel, Lt. Hadar Goldin. Bottom row, from left: Yossi Sharabi, Sudthisak Rinthalak, Maj. Lior Rudaeff, Amiram Cooper, Cpt. Daniel Perez, Cpt. Omer Neutra, Eliyahu Margalit, Eitan Levy. (Combo photo by Times of Israel; pictures: CourtesyAs an agreement on the hostage-release phase of the US plan for ending the war in Gaza appears close, Hamas has provided information on “roughly 20 living hostages,” Israeli officials tell Channel 12. The report adds that the terror group says it is still searching for some of the slain hostages — Israel has confirmed the deaths of 26 of the 48 hostages — and that it is not clear that all of them can be located.
Under the proposed deal, Israel is to begin releasing Palestinian security prisoners once the hostage-release phase is completed. The TV report says that the understanding currently appears to be that once Hamas hands over all of the living hostages and all the slain hostages it can locate, and makes clear it is not holding any as bargaining chips, then the prisoner releases will follow.
Israel will not free Hamas Nukhba terrorists who directly participated in the October 7 massacre, the report says. But there will be some “flexibility” on the issue of the release of some heavyweight terrorists serving life terms, many of whom Israel has refused to free in past deals. The TV report anticipates that negotiations on this extremely thorny issue will continue until the very end of the talks.
Under the emerging deal, there will be ‘cosmetic changes” to the lines of the interim IDF withdrawal as drawn on a map released by the White House last week, which showed the IDF deployed in some 57% of the Gaza Strip.
An Arab diplomat and a second source briefed on the negotiations has told The Times of Israel that mediators aim for the agreement to be signed on Thursday.
According to Channel 12, Israel’s government has already begun drafting the decision proposal that will be brought to a vote.
After Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi invited US President Donald Trump to come to Egypt for a potential signing ceremony, the TV report says Trump is considering doing so. The timing, if a ceremony is held on Friday, the report notes, would coincide with the announcement of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize — an award Trump has long sought and claims he deserves. Channel 12 says it is not known whether Trump might also visit Israel.
Two senior White House officials quoted by Channel 12 are “very optimistic” that a deal is possible within days. It quotes other sources, which it specifies are not Israeli, saying Qatar is confident that there’ll be a deal by Friday, that Qatari ambassadors have started to brief their various host countries to this effect, and that hostage releases could begin at the start of next week. Link
Egypt’s Sissi touts ‘historic moment’ over Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi says “the world is witnessing a historic moment” as Israel and Hamas move to implement an agreement reached in Sharm el-Sheikh ending fighting in Gaza.
“This agreement does not only close the chapter of war; it also opens the door of hope for the peoples of the region for a future defined by justice and stability,” he says of Palestinian aspirations.
Egypt’s foreign ministry on Thursday also hails the “recent positive developments in Sharm El-Sheikh, which represent a pivotal moment of the war in Gaza,” hours after a deal was announced between Hamas and Israel.
A statement says Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will travel to Paris on Thursday for a ministerial meeting to “discuss arrangements for the situation in the Gaza Strip.”
Son of murdered hostage Amiram Cooper: ‘Too horrible to think of possibility his body won’t come home’
Rotem Cooper, son of slain hostage Amiram Cooper, who was 84 when taken captive, tells reporters that he has “distorted” feelings but hopes for a measure of “closure” following the announcement of a deal to return the 48 hostages held in Gaza, including those who have been confirmed dead by Israel.
“You don’t make any preparations, you take it one day at a time,” he says at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. “We want to get some closure. We’re not trying to forget… but we want some small closure and to focus more on building.”
His father, according to the IDF, was murdered in captivity after being taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in the group’s October 7, 2023, attack. Rotem’s mother, Nurit, was also taken captive but released weeks after the attack in a humanitarian gesture. Amiram Cooper was one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Israel expects that a number of the slain hostages’ bodies may not be found or returned. Rotem says he hasn’t made any concrete preparations and is focusing on supporting the living hostages to be released, including those from Nir Oz.
“My only preparations are to cancel everything on my calendar and to be here for the families, first of all for the living hostages,” he says. “First thing, let’s receive them.”
If the terror group does not return his father’s body, he says, “It’s too horrible to think about.”
He also has harsh words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We failed as a society, certainly the leadership,” he says. “The prime minister doesn’t get points because he’s bringing my father back in a body bag. He’s a person who established the state, established the kibbutz. He should not have met his end like this.”
link This has been a great fear since the beginning of the war. There are thousands of Gazans buried under the rubble of the destruction of Gaza and most of their bodies will never be recovered. The rubble will be cleared by massive bulldozers and dumped somewhere, perhaps to serve as the base of new buildings, but it is highly doubtful and nearly impossible to be able to go through that much rubble to find bodies. It is hard to believe that among the bodies buried in the rubble of the buildings and the tunnels that some of those bodies are not of hostages.
Amiram Cooper was taken captive by Hamas terrorists to Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
In addition to the bodies buried under the rubble, Hamas buried bodies in a number of areas but only a small number of the terrorists knew the exact locations of the bodies. Israel has killed many of those who knew. There is a good chance that some of those terrorists have been killed throughout the war.
There is a very high probability that some of the hostages' bodies will never be found and those families will never be able to reach a closure.Cabinet to vote on Gaza deal at 6 p.m.; hostage release timeline still unclear
The cabinet will meet at 6 p.m. to discuss a plan to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, a government statement says.
“Agenda – Plan for the release of all Israeli hostages,” an announcement posted on the government website reads.
A security Cabinet meeting to discuss the agreement has been scheduled for an hour beforehand.
An Israeli source quoted by Reuters says all 20 living hostages will be freed on Sunday or Monday, amid ongoing fog over when the actual release will take place.
Reports indicate that the deal being signed between Israel and Hamas calls for them to be freed within 72 hours of the agreement kicking into effect, expected to happen once the cabinet votes.
Kibbutz Be’eri: ‘We are excited, but also vigilant. We will not let up until the last hostage is home’
Ofer Gitai, community manager at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest hit communities on October 7, cautiously welcomes the announcement of a deal.
“We are extremely excited, but also vigilant, and will not let up until the last hostage has returned to Israel,” he says.
Hamas terrorists murdered 102 kibbutz residents on October 7, 2023, and abducted 30. The organization is still holding the bodies of Yossi Sharabi, Manny Godard, Sahar Baruch, and Dror Or.
“It’s a day of mixed emotions,” Gitai says. “Alongside the huge joy and anticipation of the return of the kidnapped to the bosom of their families, there is deep sadness for the loved ones whose lives were cruelly cut short.”
He adds that the “very possibility of mourning together, on our land, is comforting and provides an opening for the first step on the long road to rehabilitation after two unbearably difficult years.”
Godard’s family issues a statement thanking US President Donald Trump.
“After two years of hell, an entire country has awakened to a morning of hope.
“We pray that all the living hostages return to us on their feet, and that the deceased hostages, including our father, Manny Godard, will soon be reunited with us for a proper burial on the soil of this country,” the statement goes on.
It adds, “We want to thank each of the families of the fallen, who lost the one they loved the most. Your sons gave their lives at this very moment. We want to hug you and remind you what heroes they are. We will be forever grateful.”
Manny Godard (Courtesy)“The prayers of an entire country are on the way to fulfilment, and the wound that has been bleeding for more than two years will finally begin a long process of healing,” says Aviad Friedman, head of the Tekuma Directorate, tasked with rehabilitating the Gaza border communities.
“We embrace the families warmly and promise to continue working for the restoration of life in the Tekuma region, with faith, commitment, and love,” he goes on.
He adds, “Since the first day of the Tekuma Directorate’s operation, the absence of the hostages has accompanied us on every step we have taken. When they are home, we will be able to see a true process of rebirth. The return home of the living to life, and of our fallen to be buried on our land, strengthens us all and reminds us what we are fighting for — the right to live here in security and hope. We will continue to work shoulder to shoulder with the authorities and communities of the region to realize our shared vision of rebirth and doubling the number of its residents.”
Hamas official says Israel to withdraw from all Gaza cities tomorrow, paving way for hostage release
Hamas official Osama Hamdan tells the Qatari Al-Araby TV channel that Israel will pull out militarily from all populated areas in Gaza — including Khan Younis, Rafah, and Gaza City. He says the withdrawal will take place tomorrow, since the release of hostages requires arrangements on the ground and freer movement for Hamas operatives, meaning Israel must retreat first.
Hamdan, who is in Qatar and did not attend talks in Egypt, confirms reports that under the ceasefire agreement, 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazan prisoners detained during the war will be released.
The interview appears to be the first public appearance by a senior Hamas official since the deal was reached overnight.
He refuses to say whether senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front leader Ahmad Sa’adat will be among those released, noting only that Hamas submitted the list to the Israeli side according to the seniority and prominence of the prisoners.
He stresses that the agreement will only come into effect once it is approved by the Israeli government. He also says that starting Sunday, 400 aid trucks will enter Gaza every day.
Gaza ceasefire will begin tonight once government approves deal, PMO says
The Gaza ceasefire will begin this evening after the government officially ratifies the agreement, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.
This comes after several Hebrew-language news outlets reported that the ceasefire had gone into effect with the signing of the agreement, which was slated to have taken place in Egypt at noon, citing a Reuters report sourced to Egyptian state media .
The government is scheduled to vote on the measure at 6 p.m.
Aid entering Gaza nearly doubled Wednesday, army says
Nearly 510 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza yesterday through Israel’s crossings with the Strip, almost twice the daily average, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities (COGAT) says.
According to COGAT, over 300 trucks’ worth of aid were also collected by the United Nations and other international organizations from the Gaza side of the crossings yesterday to be distributed.
“This high volume of aid that entered followed the holidays in which the crossings were closed from the Israeli side,” COGAT says.
The UN has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day in order to properly feed the Strip’s roughly two million people amid the war.
Two soldiers hurt in overnight Gaza attack
Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured after their vehicle was hit by an explosive device during operations in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, the military says.
The troops were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the army adds.
The incident took place as a deal to end the war in Gaza was announced.
IDF seen firing on Palestinians trying to head back to Gaza City
Palestinian media reports that the IDF has deployed tanks to the Rashid coastal road to prevent Palestinians from returning to Gaza City and the Strip’s north, with a ceasefire yet to take effect.
Footage shows the tanks firing shells near a crowd of Palestinians gathering in the area.
Earlier, the IDF warned Palestinians that returning to Gaza City is still “extremely dangerous,” despite Israel and Hamas reaching a deal for troops to pull out of Gazan cities and for fighting to halt.
The IDF is preparing to pull back forces in Gaza once the ceasefire takes effect, likely this evening after the government officially ratifies the agreement.
Hamas: Palestinian Authority has halted payments to 7 senior operatives imprisoned in Israel
The Palestinian Authority has halted payments to the families of seven Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners held in Israel, Hamas’s Prisoners Ministry said recently, identifying the seven prisoners by name.
The Hamas statement does not specify when the PA halted the payments to their families.
Among those named are Abbas al-Sayed, who planned the 2002 Park Hotel bombing during the Second Intifada; Jamal Abu al-Hija, a senior Hamas figure in the West Bank; and Bilal Barghouti, a Hamas operative who planned the 2003 Sbarro restaurant bombing. All are serving multiple life sentences. Al-Sayed’s name has recently surfaced in reports as one of the prisoners Hamas is demanding be released in a hostage exchange deal.
The Hamas announcement is consistent with The Times of Israel’s reporting from last month, which revealed that the PA has completed the establishment of a new welfare program and finished phasing out a previous system that critics claimed incentivized terror attacks against Israelis. Link
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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
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/
Twitter - @LonnyB58
My blogs in The Times of Israel my blogs
Substack - https://lonnyb.substack.com/
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
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