Daily update post:
So, according to the hostage release deal, for Hamas to get an extension of the break in fighting, it would have to pass to Israel a list of at least 10 hostages it would release on that day until 7 in the morning at the latest, or by that point, the deal would be considered over and the IDF would resume fighting. Yesterday's list was passed to Israel at 6:40 in the morning, and was problematic (more on this later in the post), but Israel accepted the list, and the break continued. This morning, Hamas didn't pass a list (at least not one that sticks to the deal, naming at least 10 living women and kids), and on top of that, it fired rockets at Israeli civilians again, at 5:45 in the morning, over an hour before the break would be over. This is a part of what we mean when we tell you that Hamas has broken every ceasefire ever.
Regarding the terrorist attack in Jerusalem yesterday, the 24 years old woman who was murdered, Livia Dikman, was an only daughter, and pregnant with her first child. I want you to understand that there are entire families that Hamas has erased in the past, on Oct 7, and continues to do so since that massacre, too. A 38 years old man called Yuval Doron Kastelman died of his wounds, raising the number of civilians murdered in this terrorist attack to 4, 5 if you count the unborn baby (and I personally don't see a reason not to. That's another life that was taken). Hamas has officially taken responsibility for this attack. Reminder, that this was while the break in fighting was still on. This is another part of why we point out that Hamas has broken every ceasefire ever.
This is Yuval:
I mentioned there was an issue with the list passed by Hamas to Israel yesterday. The number of hostages on it was 8. The day before, Hamas released 12 people, 2 of which were elderly women with a Russian citizenship, that Hamas said it was releasing outside of the hostage deal, as a tribute to Putin, thanking him for his support of Hamas. They insisted that these two Israelis be released separately, that they be released to Russian representatives, not to Israeli ones (making the arrival of these two elderly women to an Israeli hospital longer), and the Kremlin released an announcement thanking Hamas for the gesture... a day later, suddenly Hamas said that these two actually do count as a part of the deal, meaning that Israel must release convicted terrorists in exchange for these two women's freedom, and because the day before Hamas let 12 hostages go instead of 10, they claimed that on the following day it was enough that they released just 8. This is after they originally were only offering 5 living hostages and 3 bodies, a list that Israel rejected, and insisted on getting living hostages, or the deal would be considered broken, and the fighting would resume. After Hamas switched to 8 living hostages at the last minute, Israel relented on the two women, counted them as a part of the deal, and released 6 convicted terrorists for them. But according to one journalist, the deal specifically said that Hamas would only get one additional day without fighting if it released at least 10 hostages on that day. So whether as a tribute to Putin or not, the list of 8 hostages was another violation of the deal, which Israel was willing to "swallow" in order to get those 8 hostages released.
The IDF has published a map to help Gazans evacuate the area designated for fighting. Reports say many are already following it.
There was an explosion in Yemen the other day, reportedly someone attacked a warehouse with weapons, belonging to the Houthis, the same Iran-funded terrorist organization that has declared war on Israel alongside Hamas, and has been firing at the southern Israeli city of Eilat, and attacking Israeli ships (or ships claimed to be Israeli).
This is Mia Shem as seen in a vid released by Hamas, where she was made to say that she was getting good medical treatment:
Mia's hand was badly injured when she was attacked and kidnapped by Hamas. She was in need of an operation. After her release, she recounted that the man who operated her arm was a vet. Because I guess to Hamas, Jews are animals? Like several other hostages, she will need further medical treatment, in the hope that the damage caused by Hamas can be reversed, or at least minimized.
These are 17 years old Or Yaakov, and his brother Yagil, who was 12 years old at the time of his kidnapping (he turned 13 in captivity).
Yesterday, their uncle revealed that Hamas terrorists drugged these boys every time they were moved from one location to another, and that they were also physically branded. Before being placed on the motorcycle used to move them between locations, their legs were shoved up against the scorching metal of the exhaust pipe, causing a burn that would help them be identified in case they escaped. If you're Jewish, there's a good chance that at this point, you're thinking about how the Nazis branded Jews with the number tattoos.
This is 17 years old Mia Leimberg.
Anti-Israel activists used her image, being freed from Hamas captivity with her dog, to claim that this shows how well the Israeli hostages were treated. It turns out that during her abduction, Mia wouldn't let go of her dog, after she had seen other dogs being shot by Hamas. The dog stayed so quiet and motionless in Mia's arms, that the terrorists thought it was a doll. When they discovered the truth in Gaza, they wanted to take the dog away from her, but Mia wouldn't let them. The terrorists made it clear they were not going to waste food on a dog, so for over 50 days in captivity, Mia shared the little food she got from Hamas with her dog, and they both had to survive on what wasn't enough food for one human. This image isn't a testament to Hamas' humanity. It's a testament to Mia's.
This is 29 years old Shani Goren.
She was released yesterday. Earlier, 12 years old Eitan Yahalomi was freed, and he mentioned that, when he wasn't kept in isolation, he was with Shani, who chose to pass on some of the small food portion she got with him. And yes, it reminded me of countless testimonies from the Holocaust, of people recounting how even at the worst of times, they shared food with each other, in accordance with humane Jewish values, helping each other survive rather than focusing on just their own survival.
Israeli police has opened an investigative case for each released hostage, with their testimonies, and evidence regarding them, as a part of building the legal case against Hamas, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
I wanna address the attempt to create a false equivalence between Hamas' brutality towards the Israeli hostages, and how Israel treats Palestinian prisoners. For the record, Israel CAN'T physically abuse its prisoners, as was claimed, because they're constantly supervised. Unlike the Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails regularly get visits from the International Red Cross, from their lawyers, from family members, from social workers, from public defenders, if they're teenagers, then from juvenile court judges, too. There's a whole system put in place to make sure their rights are preserved. And of course, they can always sue Israel for wrongdoing.
But specifically, what happened the other day is that one of the released convicted terrorists couldn't just thank his luck that he got to walk away without serving the full sentence for his crimes, he decided to vilify Israel by claiming both his hands were broken while he was still in prison (middle pic).
He gave countless interviews with both his hands bandaged. Trouble for him is that there's footage of him on the day of his release, not only without bandages and looking fine, he's actually using his hands quite freely.
But in the visuals of him leaving Ofer prison and being transferred to a Red Cross vehicle, Nazzal is seen using one his hands to hold onto the railing as he boarded the van. He is also seen placing his hand in his pocket.
Before Hamas broke and ended the hostage deal, its leader in Gaza, the man considered the mastermind behind the massacre, Yahya Sinwar, gave his first statement since Oct 7. He said clearly that the massacre was just a dress rehearsal. If you want Israel to stop the war without Hamas' complete and total surrender, while that terrorist organization can still make good on its threats, that is what you are consenting to.
Since the release of the hostages, and probably at least partly based on info provided by them, several of the kidnapped hostages have been declared murdered. Among them is Aviv, the husband of my colleague Liat, who was herself released just the other day.
(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)
