Open Wound
War Day 506
War
IDF troops on patrol in the north
“The IDF has carried out astonishing strikes against Iran and its proxies in Lebanon and Gaza, but military achievements cannot stand alone, and must be the basis for political action,” Gen (ret.) Amos Yadlin told Ynetnews. .
According to Yadlin, “Israel abandoned the hostages on October 7, and is obligated from every aspect, moral, political, and military, to return them alive. Yadlin says that “the scenes of horror to which we were exposed in the recent hostage release are further proof of this. There is currently no alternative to returning the hostages through negotiations, and only then will it be possible to design a strategy for the confrontation with Hamas until its final defeat.”
Yadlin believes that the Iranian threat is the main threat to Israel and the entire Middle East, following Iran's transformation into a nuclear brinkman, based on the belt of fire it has established around Israel.
Yadlin says that “It is absolutely forbidden for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, which would threaten Israel and could also lead to a nuclear arms race that would threaten the Middle East.
“Therefore, based on the IDF's remarkable achievements on seven fronts, it is appropriate to formulate a political strategy that will transform the IDF's impressive achievements into a political act - one that will provide Israel with stability and security, as well as provide it with guarantees for its security for many years to come.”
US Sec. of State Marco Rubio
US Sec of State Marco Rubio, visited Israel on Sunday Feb 16. According to CNN’s report on the visit, “Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to “finish the job” against Iran with the support of US President Donald Trump.
This was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio first official trip to the region since assuming the role.
Standing alongside Rubio, Netanyahu said, “Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump… I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.”
“Rubio said that there “could never be a nuclear Iran.”
Rubio also said, “It’s important to constantly point that whether we talk about Hamas or we talk about Hezbollah, we talk about violence in the West Bank, or we talk about destabilization in Syria, or we talk about any of these issues the militias in Iraq, they all have behind them one common theme, Iran,”
Meanwhile, Israel has taken delivery of a shipment of heavy bombs that former US President Joe Biden had denied Israel. Israel received the Mark 84, also called the BLU-117, a 2,000 pound unguided aircraft bomb that has been used since the Vietnam War.
The Mark 84 is the third largest bomb by weight in the US inventory and can form a crater 50 feet wide and 36ft deep and can penetrate up to 15 inches of metal or 11 feet of concrete. According to US Senator Mark Kelly, Israel used a bomb of this type in the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept 27,2024.
According to Ron Ben Yishai, writing in Ynet, “The war is not over yet. The kidnapped have not returned and the Shiite and Sunni jihadists have switched to guerrilla warfare. The IDF, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, and especially the Israeli government still have a long way to go, probably many months, in coordination with the Trump administration, until stability is achieved.”
Ben Yishai also wrote, “…they are waging a terrorist and guerrilla war that aims to undermine Israel's morale and self-confidence, and, above all, to hurt us in order to take revenge. This type of war does not require forces and infrastructure, but only a few dozen activists imbued with a desire for revenge and imbued with Islamist-jihadist motivation, and explosives that can be easily prepared in primitive home laboratories from agricultural fertilizers and hydrogen peroxide.
“The shockingly brutal murder of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and probably also of their mother Shiri, is very reminiscent of the sadistic pattern of action of ISIS murderers when they controlled a large part of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2018. The murder, which was carried out in November 2023, when the IDF's maneuver into Gaza was in its infancy, is not only a matter of revenge but a means designed to terrorize the Israeli public and especially the families of the kidnapped, and to deter and restrain the IDF.”
Gaza
Saftawi street in Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza
The Times of Israel reported that Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi calls on the international community during a press conference with Spain’s prime minister in Madrid to adopt a plan to reconstruct war-torn Gaza without displacing Palestinians.
El-Sissi calls for the “international community’s support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people — I repeat, without displacing the Palestinian people — from their land, which they cling to, and their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish.” Spain’s PM Sanchez has sided with Hamas since the outbreak of the war on Oct 7,2023.
According to Ynetnews, Gen (ret) Amos Yadlin has said The Egyptians, for their part, throughout the years since the signing of the peace agreement, have seen the Palestinian issue as a central issue, unwilling under any circumstances to absorb Palestinians from Gaza - and certainly not to do so through the Trump plan, which seeks to empty Gaza of its inhabitants.
As for relocating Gazans to Egypt and turning the area into a beach resort, Yadlin said, “This may be a wonderful dream, but it will not materialize, even if large sums of money are offered to the Egyptians as a means of persuasion.
Meanwhile, Ynetnews reports that the Prime Minister’s office is investigating if ‘foreign elements’ are working to sabotage Israel’s relations with Egypt. Reportedly, videos have appeared that show an IDF spokesman thanking Sisi for help in the war in Gaza. Israel says the video is an AI generated fake.
Egyptian President el-Sisi
And, following a report that el-Sisi was deliberately violating the peace agreement with Israel, World Jewish Congress president Ron Lauder met in Cairo with el-Sisi. According to a statement from the presidential office in Cairo, the conversation focused on Egypt’s efforts to promote regional peace and establish a Palestinian state. El-Sisi made it clear that he expects “all parties involved, including Israel, to act with full responsibility to ensure that the cease-fire lasts.” Lauder, for his part, praised el-Sisi for his “responsible leadership.”
According to Ynetnews, on Thursday Feb 20, 2025 IDF: fighters fired to repel suspects who approached forces in the northern Gaza Strip
An IDF spokesman said that "during the day, the IDF fired to repel a number of suspects who approached forces operating in various areas in the Gaza Strip and posed a threat to them. In the northern Gaza Strip, IDF fighters earlier today identified a number of suspects who were moving near them and fired to repel them. One of the suspects continued to advance towards the force and posed an immediate threat to them, after which additional fire was fired at him to eliminate the threat."
According to the Walla news site, a plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is being formulated by Arab countries and will be split into two phases, with the first lasting 10 years, according to an Egyptian diplomat.
The first phase will deal with reconstruction as well as the demilitarization of Gaza terror groups, according to the report.
The source is quoted as saying that weapons will be stored under European and Egyptian supervision.
Arab leaders are scheduled to gather in Saudi Arabia on Friday to counter US President Donald Trump’s plan for American control of Gaza and the expulsion of its inhabitants.
CNN reported on Saturday, Feb 22nd that, “Egypt’s state-backed Al Qahera News that Egypt is working to form a temporary committee to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.
“Meanwhile, Qatar said that Palestinians should decide who governs them in the future.
“The UAE is one of the few Arab nations that has expressed willingness to consider a role in postwar Gaza at the invitation of a reformed Palestinian Authority and with a commitment from Israel for a future Palestinian state.
It has rejected Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians.
“But Hamas has warned that it will treat anyone that takes Israel’s place in Gaza as it treats Israel, calling on regional states not to become “agents” for Israel.
According to CNN, “The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority said on Thursday it was prepared to govern Gaza after the war, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected. The PA isn’t expected to participate in the Saudi meeting on Friday.
“Hamas has sent conflicting messages on what role it sees for itself in Gaza after the war. Over the weekend, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan sent a defiant message, saying during an interview in Qatar that the group would decide for itself who will govern Gaza. But this week, Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson, said the group is not “clinging to power.”
According to CNN, “The World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations said in a joint statement Tuesday that, according to their estimates, a return of essential services alone, including health, education, as well as the clearing of rubble, would take three years.
“The full rebuilding of the devastated enclave would need 10 years and cost more than $50 billion, with housing alone estimated to cost $15 billion. The Egyptian prime minister said that his country’s plan takes those assessments into consideration.
“Meanwhile, the Egyptian government and real estate developers in the country have been eyeing a role in the rebuilding process, which could come with contracts worth billions of dollars.
“We have experience, and we have applied it (before) in Egypt,” Madbouly said in a news conference in Egypt’s new administrative capital. “The capability to rebuild the (Gaza) Strip and executing it in way that will make it better than it was before the destruction – truly three years is an acceptable timeline to do this.”
“Trump said on Wednesday that he had not yet seen the Egyptian plan.
And according to the Axios website, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is planning to restart the war in Gaza and that President Trump approves of any decision Netanyahu makes.
“He is not torn. He wants to go in. He is just so angry at what happened yesterday and he should be," Trump told Brian Kilmeade on FOX News Radio when asked about Netanyahu's plan about the war.
“The president was asked in the interview whether he would prefer that Netanyahu completes the second phase of the hostage deal or resume the war and replied that he would be okay either way.
"Sometime you have to make a decision. It's a rough decision," he said.
Netanyahu has said Israel won't allow Hamas to stay in control of Gaza and committed to dismantling the organization.
North
Car of Hamas commander killed near Sidon, Lebanon
On Sunday Feb 23rd, the Times of Israel reported that the Israeli military had carried out strikes targeting Hezbollah military sites deep in Lebanon, as official Lebanese media reported three raids in the country’s east.
Also, Israel radio’s Reshet Bet’s military correspondent Carmel Menashe reported that Israel had struck Hezbollah rocket launching sites in south Lebanon. And attacked a weapons transfer to Hezbollah on the Syrian Lebanese border.
Also, according to the Times of Israel, on Saturday, Israel said it targeted a senior member of Hezbollah’s aerial unit,
According to Reuters, on Monday Feb 17, an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon's Sidon area, the Israeli military and a Hamas official said.
The Times of Israel reported that the strike came a day before Israel was scheduled to withdraw from most areas of Lebanon under the November 27 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, though it will remain in five strategic positions.
According to Reuters, “The (Israeli) military said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon and that he had recently been involved in promoting "terrorist plots" with Iranian direction and funding from Lebanese territory against Israeli citizens.
“The Israeli military has been carrying out strikes against members of Hamas, allied Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and other factions in Lebanon, in parallel with the war in Gaza.
“Those armed groups have launched rockets, drones and artillery attacks across the border into northern Israel.
“Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October.
“That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel's military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week.
The IDF has withdrawn forces from Lebanon according to the ceasefire agreement. However, Israel left outposts in five strategic locations in south Lebanon not far from the Israeli border.
As per the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese army has begun to deploy in south Lebanon.
Israel has also, according to Israel radio’s Reshet Bet military correspondent Carmela Menashe, built up a substantial IDF presense in Israeli towns and villages along the Israel border with Lebanese.
And in Syria, according to the Meir Amit Terrorism and Information Center, an Israeli air strike attacked weapons depots of the former regime near the town of Inkhil in the northern countryside of Daraa and at the Khilekhlah military airport, north of al-Suwayda. No casualties were reported
Also according to the Amit Terrorism Center a Turkish report of “questionable reliability” stated that Iranian officials, including Hossein Akbar, Iran’s former ambassador to Damascus and former senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Air Force, recently met secretly in Najaf, Iraq, with former officials of the Assad regime at a villa owned by a Shi’ite businessman, to formulate a plan to overthrow the new Syrian regime.
The report claimed they planned a military coup, the assassination of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and to destabilize the country. It was further alleged that talks were being held with Druze and Kurds, secret cells had been established, arms depots had been prepared and Hezbollah, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces and Shi’ite militias were preparing to participate in the fighting (Türkiye Gazetesi, February 11, 2025).
The Amit Center also reported that Lebanese media said that artillery and rockets fired from Syria landed in towns and Lebanese army outposts in the Hermel area in northeastern Lebanon, causing casualties (al-Nahar, February 9-10, 2025). Directed by President Aoun’s, the Lebanese army ordered its units on the northern and eastern borders to respond to fire from Syria, using “appropriate weapons.”
However, according to the Amit Center, Moayad al-Salama, commander of the western sector in Syria’s Border Security Directorate, said the security operations in the western border area were not directed against the state of Lebanon but against gangs of drug and arms smugglers operating under Hezbollah supervision.
He said that during the operation, security forces had seized farms, warehouses and factories for producing and storing hashish, Captagon and counterfeit currency, as well as large quantities of weapons and drugs destined for Lebanon. He added that they had a comprehensive plan for controlling the borders while considering existing challenges
And the Amit Center reported that the General Security Directorate in the Quneitra Governate arrested a gang smuggling illegal weapons, including Kornet anti-tank missiles and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles
Also, according to the Times of Israel, Lebanese authorities said on Monday they had extended the suspension of inbound and outbound flights to Iran indefinitely, after originally barring Iranian planes from landing in Beirut until February 18.
Authorities decided to “mandate the Minister of Public Works and Transport to extend the suspension period of flights to and from Iran,” the Lebanese presidency’s spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine told reporters after a cabinet meeting, without specifying when flights would resume.
The announcement came after Lebanon last week denied permission for two Iranian flights to land in Beirut, following allegations publicized by the Israel Defense Forces that Tehran was using civilian aircraft to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.
Israel has attacked arms shipments from Iran that attempted to land in Syria. The Lebanese government has told Iran to refrain from importing weapons into Lebanon and refused entry to Iranian planes.
Israel invaded Lebanon in September in a bid to stem the terror group’s persistent rocket fire, which had displaced some 60,000 Israeli civilians in the north of the country. Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks began, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023, a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Most of the 60,000 residents of the Israeli towns and villages in the north are expected to return to their homes on March 1st.
According to veteran military journalist Ron Ben Yishai writing in Ynet, on Thursday night Feb 20, the Israeli Air Force attacked Hezbollah's weapons smuggling infrastructure on the Syria-Lebanon border, “…which reminds us that on this front too, the enemy is working to survive and recuperate, and therefore we can assume that the day will not be far off when Hezbollah will also try to renew the guerrilla war against us.”
Funeral of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon
Also, according to Ohad Hemo, Arab Affairs reporter for Channel 12TV, Hezbollah held a huge ostentatious funeral for the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel five months ago.i
According to Hemo, this will be another way for Hezbollah to show that they are still around and players in Lebanon. Iranian officials said the turn-out shows that Hezbollah is still alive.
During the funeral Israeli jets overflew the stadium heading for targets inside Lebanon.
AP reported that Hassan Nasrallah was killed when Israel’s air force dropped more than 80 bombs on the militant group’s main operations room. His death was a major blow for the Iran-backed group that the late leader transformed into a potent force in the Middle East.
Nasrallah was the group’s leader for more than 30 years and one of its founders. He enjoyed wide influence among Iran-backed groups in the region and was widely respected in the so-called Iran-led axis of resistance that included Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian factions.
Israel’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Ynetnews last week that Israel made a big mistake not bombing a gathering of Hezbollah leaders, including Nasrallah, on Oct 11, 2023, five days after the start of the war. According to Gallant this move would have saved countless Israeli lives, stopped Hezbollah from their deadly missile attacks on Israel, and shortened the war.
Gallant said the now famous bomb-laden ‘beeper’ and ‘walkie-talkie’ attack would have taken place shortly after the Oct 11th attack on Hezbollah and eliminated many of Hezbollah’s top leadership throwing their war plans into disarray. Gallant said the government did not approve of the Oct 11th bombings. Gallant also stressed there was a vital need for a state commission of inquiry into the war. A move that the Netanyahu government has been consistently thwarting.
West Bank
IDF soldier in West Bank town of Nablus
Tensions ratcheted up in the West Bank after the Hamas terror group invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault, sparking the ongoing war.
Since then, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas. In that time, the IDF have carried out more than 100 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
Operation Iron Wall began >> According to the Times of Israel, the operation began in the terror hotbed of Jenin, which has seen dozens of raids since the Hamas October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel from Gaza, which sparked the ongoing war in that territory, as well as a renewed effort to combat terror groups in the West Bank. Israeli forces have since pushed deeper and more forcefully into several other nearby towns, including Tulkarem, Far’a and Nur Shams.
By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — allegedly the largest displacement in the territory since the Six Day War in 1967.
It comes amid an Israel Defense Forces crackdown, dubbed Operation Iron Wall on local terror groups in the West Bank, launched on January 21, days after a ceasefire agreement was reached in the Gaza Strip, and following recent activity against terror groups by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
Some reports say that up to 60,000 Palestinians have left their homes in the West Bank, the largest displacement since the 1947 War of Independence.
The Israeli army blamed terror operatives for embedding themselves in civilian infrastructure. Soldiers may be “required to operate from civilian homes for varying periods,” it said, adding that the destruction of civilian property was a violation of the military’s rules and does not conform to its values.
It said “any exceptional incidents that raise concerns regarding a deviation from these orders” are “thoroughly addressed,” without elaborating.
For Abu Dgehish, the mess was emblematic of the emotional whiplash of return. No one knows when they’ll have to flee again.
“It’s like they want us to feel that we’re never safe,” she said. ”That we have no control.”
Palestinian sources say over 900 have been killed since the start of war and the Israeli sources say 48 Israelis people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Netanyahu with IDF officers in the West Bank
Meanwhile, on Feb 21st Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Tulkarem and said the IDF will expand the ongoing counter-terror operation.
IDF tanks enter West Bank near Jenin
Israel radio’s Reshet Bet reported that IDF tanks have entered the West Bank for the first time since the Intifada in 2002.
Arab media reports Israel imposes 48-hour curfew on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin as the military operation spreads to futher villages; IDF says a number of tanks positioned for defensive purposes only
Also, the radio reported that Israel’s Defense Minister Chaim Katz has said that the IDF should stay in the West Bank refugee camps for a year. Katz said that the IDF is clearing the camps of the ‘nests of terror.’ He also said that the the 40,000 residents would not be allowed to return to those camps.
And Ynetnews reported on Sunday Feb 23rd that the Shin Bet and the police have exposed an arms smuggling network from the Jordanian border to Israeli territory and from there to Judea and Samaria, in which 34 pistols and 4 long weapons were seized.
The prosecution filed indictments against ten people involved, residents of the Negev and Judea and Samaria. According to the indictment, the defendants imported a huge quantity of weapons through the Israel-Jordanian border.
The defendants were also charged with arms trafficking, carrying and transporting weapons and possession of weapons, damaging IDF property, aiding in illegal exit from the country, drug offenses, and more.
Hostages
IDF soldiers salute bodies of four hostages
Israel TV was filled with the events of the hostage return. On Thursday Feb 20th, cameras first photographed the hand over of 4 caskets and a brief IDF ceremony while the caskets were covered in Israeli flags.
The caskets were to have contained the bodies of Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two children Ariel 4 and Kfir 1. The fourth casket was to have contained the remains of Oded Lifshitz, 84.
Shiri Bibas' husband Yarden was also taken hostage with the family. He was released alive earlier this month.
They were all captured on Oct 7, 2023 when thousands of Hamas terrorists broke through the security fence separating Gaza and Israel and invaded the towns, kibbutzim and moshavim along the border murdering over 1200 people, injuring 2900 and taking 251 hostage.
Lifshitz was a retired journalist and peace activist who helped found the Kibbutz Nir Oz. He volunteered with Road to Recovery, an Israeli organization of volunteers who drive Palestinians to hospital appointments in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His wife, Yocheved, 85, was also taken hostage and freed after about two weeks.
The Mujahideen Brigades, a small Palestinian militant faction in Gaza, said it held Shiri and her children alive in Gaza and that they were killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war in late November 2023. Hamas says Lifshitz was also killed in an Israeli strike while he was held hostage in Gaza. The IDF refuted the claims and was later proven correct.
Shiri Bibas with sons Ariel (left) and Kfir (right)
Argentinian President Javier Milei posted a photo of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, in the Argentinian press. He will also, according to Argentinian media, declare a national day of morning for the slain family, whose bodies were returned by Hamas. The Bibas family has dual Israeli-Argentinian citizenship.
Then cameras followed the convoy of vehicles holding the caskets from Gaza to the Abu Kabir forensic lab, a journey that took over an hour.
Israelis greeting convoy carrying remains of hostages
Israelis from around the country gathered along the route with flags to pay their respects. Police stationed along the route saluted as the vans drove by.
According to Ynetnews, opposition leader Yair Lapid Opposition leader Yair Lapid shared a photo of the four coffins of the deceased hostages, writing that "the heart cannot contain the pain."
All were taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Hamas says they were killed in Israeli strikes during the Gaza war.
However, shortly after the delivery of the remains to Abu Kabir, the country was shocked to discover that one of the caskets was of a Palestinian woman not Shiri Bibas.
Army spokesman Adm. Daniel Hagari told the Israeli media that the forensic evidence showed that the Bibas children were not shot but murdered with bare hands. He also demanded that the remains of Shiri Bibas be returned immediately.
According to Ynetnews, the UN slammed Hamas for the “abhorrent display of the hostage remains.”
US President Donald Trump called Hamas’ handling of the hostages bodies and the killing of the two Bibas family children while in captivity “barbaric,” according to the Axios website.
On Friday another casket was delivered unexpectedly to the IDF in Gaza. Forensic evidence showed that the remains were that of Shiri Bibas, 32, mother of Ariel and Kfir.
Then came the anxiety of the release of the next six hostages that took place Saturday afternoon.
Tal Shoham (in red) Averi Megistu (black hoodie)
On Saturday, the 7th release of hostages took place. This time 6 hostages were released. First, Tal Shoham,39, was taken on stage. with Averi Mengistu, 37. On stage Tal Shoham was told to wave at the crowd.
Eliya Cohen (left) Omer Shem-Tov (center) Omer Wenkert (right)
Later in the morning, Omer Wenkert,23, Omer Shem Tov,22, Eliya Cohen,27, were paraded on stage in a cynical circus attended by thousands of Gazans. Each held Hamas-issued certificates. Omer Shem Tov, was told to throw kisses at the crowd and even plant a kiss on the forehead of one of his masked armed captors. Reportedly, the video clip went viral.
Hisham al-Sayed with Red Cross worker leaving Gaza
Only Hisham al-Sayed. 37, an Israeli Moslem Bedouin, was released without a crowd watching. He was told that was because he was a Moslem.
Of the six hostages, Omer Wenkert, who suffers from colitis, reportedly lost over 40 pounds. Another suffered from celiac disease. Two others, Averi Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, had been in captivity for over a decade. Both were mentally challenged.
Averi Mengistu, an Ethiopian Jew, wandered into Gaza and was taken captive and held for a decade. Upon his release he appeared bewildered. The other, Hisham al-Sayed, an Israeli Arab Bedouin Moslem, has serious psychological problems and according to his father went into Gaza during the captivity of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held in Gaza for 5 years, in order to free the captive soldier. His father worried that Hisham had been brainwashed and could become a liability.
Israel is to complete phase I of the ceasefire with Gaza and release the remaining hostages still alive and bodies of the dead, then enter phase II that requires the IDF to completely withdraw from Gaza.
According to experts, Hamas wants desperately to reach Phase II in order to retake control of Gaza from the IDF. Some observers say that Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu would prefer to go back to war then implement phase II.
Ynet’s military correspondent Ron Ben Yishai wrote, “… it is very possible that Hamas intentionally did not return the Bibas mother, despite this being a blatant violation of the terms of the deal. It is possible that Hamas was misled by the jihadist gang that kidnapped the mother and her children and knowingly gave Hamas the body of an unknown Gazan woman, but this does not absolve Hamas of responsibility and Israel cannot ignore the failure to return the Bibas songs to Israel, alive or dead.
The Times of Israel reports that “Since the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal came into effect on January 19, Hamas has released 19 Israeli civilians and female soldiers, along with five Thai nationals.”
According to Yaron Avraham, Channel 12TVs political correspondent, four more hostages are left to be released in the final exchange of Phase I scheduled for next Thursday Feb 27th.
(Top) Tzachi Idan, Ohad Yahalom, (Bottom) Itzik Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur
Four more hostages are to be turned over to the IDF. According to the Ynetnews, all are considered dead, Shlomo Mantzur, They are Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Tsahi Idan .
This will complete Phase I of the ceasefire agreement. So far Avraham says that 59 hostages who remain in Gaza. Of them 24 are believed to still be alive.
Israel was set to release 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for the four bodies and six live hostages. Among the prisoners were at least three, according to Channel 12TVs Arab Affairs correspondent Ohad Hemo who were vicious terrorists responsible for multiple attacks and countless Israeli deaths and could be slotted directly into the Hamas hierarchy to replace those killed by the IDF in the war.
According to the Times of Israel, terrorists who were freed from Israeli prisons in the cease-fire agreement were present at the Hamas "ceremony" to release the bodies of dead Israeli hostages.
Sitting in the front row of the cynical show was Mohamed Abu Warda, who was released three weeks ago. Warda, who was freed earlier in cease-fire deal, was responsible for 1996 Jerusalem bus bombing which killed 44 people and was serving 48 life sentences
Ynetnews called this one of the most difficult days since the war began
However, after what PM Netanyahu called the “humiliation” of the released hostages who, against a prior agreement, were paraded in front of thousands of Hamas supporters. And the substitution of Shiri Bibas’ remains for those of a Palestinian woman, Prime Minister Netanyahu had the Palestinian prisoners about to be released taken off the busses and returned to prison.
According to NPR, Israel media outlets did not broadcast the handover ceremony. This after the previous ceremonies were used as public relations circuses by Hamas. However, Israel did broadcast the release of the live hostages on Saturday.
According to the Times of Israel, Israeli Lawmakers halted the proceedings of two committees following the return of four caskets said to contain the remains of hostages Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas as well as Oded Lifshitz.
“We are all facing a difficult day to digest as the people of Israel, as Jews and as human beings,” said Knesset Finance and Internal Affairs and Environment Committee chairman Yaakov Asher (UTJ), who halted his committee’s discussion.
The headquarters of the families of the abductees said on Wednesday that "While elements are contradicting other elements, we, the families of the abductees, are at our wits' end with concern for our loved ones. The fate of the abductees, the living and the dead, is on the table, and those who are supposed to turn the world upside down to ensure this are confronting each other. Stop this behavior immediately! The most important thing right now is to return everyone on a clear and defined date. Act today so that by the time of the withdrawal from the Philadelphia axis on the 50th day of the agreement, it will be clear that by Independence Day (May 1,2025) all the abductees will be released from the hell of Hamas. The abductees have no time for mutual briefings, and there will be no other time.”"
The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday Feb 19, 25 “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told cabinet ministers during a recent meeting that Israel’s conditions in upcoming negotiations on the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal are for the Hamas terror group to disarm and have no presence in Gaza, and for the Palestinian Authority to be barred from the post-war management of the enclave, Israeli television reported Tuesday.
The Channel 12 news report came after the security cabinet met Monday night to discuss negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire agreement, which have yet to begin despite originally being expected to start on February 3. Kan news said Netanyahu is also demanding the demilitarization of the Strip.”
The Times of Israel also reported that on the team going to Doha to start negotiations for Phase II. As of now, the team is reportedly waiting for US Special Envoy Steve Witcoff to return before going to Doha. And : “When it does depart, the delegation will be headed by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s longtime confidant, after the premier pushed aside the heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad and IDF hostage point man Nitzan Alon, with whom he sparred throughout the negotiations.
The security chiefs have long felt that a deal could and should have been reached earlier but that political considerations in Israel hampered those efforts.
Some families of the hostages are concerned about Dermer’s appointment to head the negotiating team, Channel 12 reported, due to his ostensible hardline views.
The families pointed to statements Dermer made in recent meetings with them, in which they quoted him saying that he would not support any hostage deal that brings about an end to the war before Hamas has been fully dismantled.
The Voice of America reported that “The U.S. fully endorsed Israel’s war aims in Gaza on Sunday (Feb 15th), with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that Hamas “must be eradicated” and "cannot continue as a military or government force.”
Demonstration in Tel Aviv calling for release of 63 remaining hostages
According to the Times of Israel, Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 63 hostages, including 62 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas has so far released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals, and the bodies of four slain Israeli captives, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, during a ceasefire that began in January.
During a weeklong truce in late November 2023, The terror group freed 105 civilians. Four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war.
Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive. The bodies of 41 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors. Also found by the IDF was the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
The body of another soldier killed in 2014, Lt. Hadar Goldin, is still being held by Hamas, and is counted among the 63 hostages.
Terrorism
Bus destroyed by terrorist bomb in Bat Yam bus depot
According to Kan Broadcasting, a large scale terrorist attack was averted on Thursday night, Feb 20th. Three explosive devices, each weighing about five kilograms and equipped with a timer, exploded on four buses at transportation depots in the Tel Aviv area towns of Bat Yam and Holon. No injuries were reported.
According to Kan Broadcasting, at about eight at night an alert woman on a bus in Holon told the driver of one of the buses that a man had put a package under the seat and then left the bus. The bus driver cleared the passengers off the bus. Since he was only minutes from the depot he continued and parked the bus. Before the police arrived the bus exploded.
The unexploded bomb on the fourth bus bore the inscription “Revenge From Tulkarem” with Hamas’ terror branch in the West Bank city later hinting at its involvement. Israeli forces have been operating as part of a major counterterrorism offensive in the northern West Bank where Tulkarem is located.
The Kan public broadcaster said two Jewish Israelis, one of whom is a taxi driver, were detained on suspicion of having driven the terrorists to the scene of the attack. According to the report, the two, from Bat Yam and Holon respectively, are also suspected of attempted murder.
Kan military correspondent Itai Blumenthal said that the bombs on all four buses were to explode simultaneously but the timers on three of the bombs were defective.
According to a Channel 12 news report, the devices were slated to explode on Friday morning, when the buses were crowded and in use, but went off early. Giora Eiland, a former IDF operations chief, speculated that the timers were incorrectly set.
The Times of Israel reported that police sappers neutralized the two undetonated explosives found on the Holon bus, Tel Aviv’s police chief told the press that the devices were affixed with a stopwatch, which he said was typical of those created in the West Bank.
Police suspect the terrorist who placed the bombs escaped detection. Kan Broadcasting’s Blumenthal said that there are between 40,000 - 50,000 Palestinians illegally working in Israel and any one of them could have placed the bomb.
Hebrew media outlets report that the Jewish Israeli suspect will be brought for a remand hearing today. Additionally, a Palestinian illegally in Israel was also reportedly detained in connection to the attack as well as at least one other suspect.
According to Ynet’s Ron Ben Yishai these bombs were inspired by ISIS. “Attacks with explosive devices in several locations were typical of al-Qaeda and ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan at the time, and it is clear that the terrorists in northern Samaria are trying to imitate this model.”
Red Sea
Israel Navy’s “Still” advanced missile boat
Israel has acquired four advanced missile boats from Germany that have already been active. According to the Times of Israel the “Still” took down missiles and drones shot from Yemen towards Israel. The boats also destroyed the Syrian navy and attacked Hezbollah units operating in Lebanon, all in one night. The boats have a crew of 80, men and women, and approximately 30 Shayetet navy commandos.
Iran’s new drone carrier warship the Shahid Beheshti
Meanwhile, according to the Times of Israel, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have taken delivery of the country’s first ship capable of launching drones and helicopters at sea, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday. According to the IRNA state news agency, the vessel has a capacity of 60 drones.
The Shahid Beheshti, a former container vessel, is equipped with a 180-meter (590-ft) runway and is able to operate without refueling for up to one year, Tasnim said.
Amid military exercises lasting from early January to early March, Iran’s armed forces have unveiled new weaponry as Tehran braces for more conflict with Israel and the United States under President Donald Trump.
“The Revolutionary Guards took action to transform a commercial ship… into a mobile naval platform capable of carrying out drone and helicopter missions in the oceans,” said Navy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Alireza Tangsiri.
Meanwhile, there is talk that Israel is preparing to take a preventative action against Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon.
Antisemitism
Pro-Palestinian protest in Brooklyn, New York
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with Israel supporters in the heavily Jewish orthodox neighborhood of Boro Park in Brooklyn, New York. The Jerusalem Post reported that the protest, was led by the Pal-Awda activist group who have protested frequently at Israeli events in New York.
One pundit commented on one of the causes of the spike in antisemitism around the world. The pundit blamed the civil war in Syria that sent six million Syrian refugees seeking shelter. Many found homes in Germany, Denmark, France and England. Even the USA and Canada.
It is these refugees, mixed in with the virulent BDS movement, that are behind the rise in antisemitism. These groups of displaces Moslems, many of them Palestinians, who are behind the antisemitic anti-israel protest movement.
By removing two million Palestinians from Gaza to Europe and other Arab countries, says the pundit, all you’re doing is exporting terrorists whose goal is to destroy Israel. And/or the Jewish people.
Politics
Yaron Avraham, political correspondent for Channel 12TV, said on Wednesday night that PM Netanyahu was going to replace Shin Bet head Danny Barnea on the hostage negotiating team and also remove him from his position at the Shin Bet.
Barnea has been conducting an investigation into the causes of the Oct 7th war. According to Channel 12’s Avraham, Barnea has a backbone and will not drop his investigation. Barnea has been at loggerheads with Netanyahu over the hostage negotiations.
On Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu blamed the IDF for the causes of the war and the death of Shiri Bibis and her two young children, Ariel 4 and Kfir 1. One pundit quipped Netanyahu would say and do anything to shift the blame from himself
Another observer said they had no problem with what Netanyahu said anymore since whenever he appeared on TV he shut off the sound.
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu on Wednesday cast the blame of the death of the Bibas family and the war in Gaza on the IDF. Yet another pundit quipped that if he could blame a tree for the war and the fate of the hostages he would.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin has set a precedent in Israel by refusing to attend the swearing in ceremony of Yitzchak Amit at president of the high court. The Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Knesset also turned their backs on the swearing in ceremony.
US President Trump (left) and Israel’s PM Netanyahu (right)
Justice Minister Levin has also kept up the march for his Judicial Reforms, bringing bills to the Knesset Judicial committee that would take the oversight now practiced by the high court and place it in the hands of the government.
And Prime Minister Netanyahu made his eleventh court appearance providing testimony in his trial for fraud, breach of trust, and bribery.
Experts say the trial may last another 9 to 12 months since the Prime Minister has limited his appearance to only two days a week, and then for only a few hours. Netanyahu’s attorneys say that either security issues keep him out of court, or his recovery from his recent prostate surgery.
Also, the Times of Israel reported on Sunday Feb 23rd that The Democrats Party lawmaker Naama Lazimi claims that the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “exiled” abroad after he hit the premier.
Yair Netanyahu, son of Israel’s prime minister
The opposition MK makes the comment at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting as she asks questions over the funding of the two-month visit of Sara Netanyahu to the United States, and the annual cost of security for Yair Netanyahu, (2.5 million shekels, about $700,000) who lives in Miami.
“I want to ask if this amount is still budgeted and whether there is still an intention to finance [Yair Netanyahu’s] stay because he hit the prime minister, and was forced to go abroad because he harmed a symbol of government,” she says.
Likud spokesmen deny the claim Yair Netanyahu hit his father PM Netanyahu.
Editorial
Israelis have a festering infected open wound called the hostages. As long as there remains even one hostage that wound continues to fester. The recent discovery that Shiri Bibis and her two little boys Ariel and Kfir were dead sent a shudder of dread through the Israeli populace. At least through most of the populace.
There are those who have ignored the plight of the hostages considering them casualties of war. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrtich has said he was against any exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. His concern was that those prisoners, many with ‘blood on their hands,’ were being released back into the West Bank Arab towns and villages. The presence of these freed terrorists would be a threat to the Israelis living in Israeli towns, villages and settlements in the West Bank. These are, after all, Smotritch’s constituency, those who put him in power.
Families of the hostages have reportedly confronted Smotrich and others, like former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over their callous view of the hostage exchange.
Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid was not concerned about the release of the terrorists from Israeli prisons. Nor the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon or Gaza. “We can always go back in,” he said.
Still, there is a sense of unease over the lopsided exchanges. Hamas releases six prisoners, Israel releases six hundred. And few if any Israelis doubt that the released Palestinian prisoners will have been rehabilitated and have given up their commitment to drive Israelis out from the ‘River to the Sea.’
Many of these released prisoners will slip back into the ranks of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups and fill in the gaps left by the Israeli assassinations of their leaders, commanders, and top advisers.
One pundit said the open wound wasn’t the hostages but rather Gaza itself. A pit of vipers, another pundit said, that needed to be cleaned out.
Even US President Donald Trump agrees with them. NPR radio says Trump wants to turn Gaza into a beach resort and real estate development. Some point out that Trump was in the real estate business and that his son-in-law Jered Kushner, who publicly eyed Gaza as a potential beach resort, still is in the real estate business.
Gen (ret.) Giora Eiland said on Reshet Bet radio this week that Israel lost the war in Gaza. The winner, he said, is the one who makes the rules of disengagement and imposes those rules not he defeated entity. However, in Gaza, Eiland says, it is Hamas who is making the rules.
Observers see the dribs and drabs of hostage release. Of the anxiety over who will be released, each Saturday. If they’ll come out looking like walking wounded, or as corpses in black body bags.
Phase two is on the horizon. The Israeli negotiating team has been reorganized. The head of the Shin Bet, who has been at odds with Prime Minister Netanyahu, has been related by the Netanyahu loyalist and yes man Ron Dermer.
According to Ynetnews, Bar was replaced “After anonymous informants from the Prime Minister's Office accused the Shin Bet chief and the previous team, a source in the negotiations claimed: "The release of the hostages was achieved because the Shin Bet chief pressured Hamas, and because Witkoff pressured the Prime Minister….Everything else is an attempt to rewrite history”
Netanyahu's office officially responded: "Propaganda echoes.”
The hostage families' headquarters were furious: "Those who are supposed to turn the world upside down for the hostages are confronting them.”
Bar was also steadfast in his responsibilities to investigate the security breach in the Prime Minister’s office, further irritating Netanyahu.
There are those, and not just a few, who suspect Prime Minister Netanyahu of being disingenuous, or not being serious about the hostage release because, as Eiland and others say, he is too much under the sway of the ‘messianists’, Ben Gvir and Smotritch, who are against the release of prisoners and in favor of restarting the war in Gaza.
Many members of the hostages’ families give public credit to US President Donald Trump for the latest round of hostage release saying if he hadn’t threatened to bring ‘Hell’ to Gaza the hostages would still be languishing in dark, dank, fetid tunnels.
Netanyahu, according to some observers, is inured to the hardships suffered by the hostages. Ignoring the reports. A medical team leaked the fact that one released hostage had sixty different types of sperm in her system.
Shira Albag, mother of Liri who was recently released from Gaza, told the Jerusalem Post, "Unfortunately, there are two million terrorists in Gaza. Two million terrorists. Liri was kept in civilian homes, and even the little children, they’re part of it. It’s not just the ones in uniforms with green headbands. The so-called uninvolved civilians are deeply involved."
Ignoring the reality of the remaining hostages dwindling chances at survival is keeping Netanyahu in power, according to critics. By pandering to the ‘messianists’ and bringing Israel to the brink of another round of fighting in Gaza, he is risking the lives of those hostages still alive.
Top this off with Netanyahu’s continual dodging his court dates on the pretext of security concerns or important state business. And, says one pundit, let’s not forget about the evil genius Justice Minister Yariv Levin who has restarted his insidious Judicial Reform moves, slowly taking away any objective controls on the government that can be imposed by the courts.
Ben Gvir and Smotritch continue to demand Israel restart the war. And turn part of Gaza into occupied territory ruled by the IDF. And Netanyahu, hostage to their votes to keep him in power, is listening. Dragging his heels to implement the cease-fire agreements.
Leaving the hostages to an uncertain fate. Leaving the question of Gaza as a terrorist haven unanswered. Leaving it a festering open wound.
The question is: will the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas be enough to finally push Netanyahu from his throne? And bring in someone who can finally heal the open wound.
Or will the rage and roiling revenge derail the ceasefire talks and, amid a public outcry, cause the IDF to remove everyone from Gaza and then flatten it, as Ben Gvir, Smotrich and even President Trump want?