Important Takeaways:
- Hamas returned four more hostage bodies and Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners following a day of mourning as Israel buried the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two little boys – the youngest hostages murdered and held by Hamas for more than 500 days.
- In the very early Thursday morning hours, without any fanfare, Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, who passed them over to the Israeli police and the Israel Defense Forces.
- The bodies of Tsachi Idan from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Itzhak Elgarat and Ohad Yahalomi, both from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and 85-year-old Shlomo Mantzur from Kibbutz Kissufim were identified by morning.
- President Isaac Herzog posted on X, “In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing that they will be laid to rest in dignity in Israel.”
- Israel freed more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, including 71 who were serving life sentences and 60 with long prison sentences.
- The overnight releases complete the first phase of exchanges of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners for 33 hostages, leaving 59 hostages in Hamas captivity. It’s believed approximately 20 of the 59 are still alive.
- However, President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, who has postponed his arrival in the region, says he believes he can get an extension of Phase One and the release of more hostages.
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Important Takeaways:
- On Tuesday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Wake Up America,” Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Israel, said that Hamas never keeps its word and “if you negotiate with terrorists, you only give them more freedom.” But it’s also important the U.S. is “engaged and involved” in negotiations over the next phase of the ceasefire.
- Huckabee said Hamas has to be eliminated by Israel, and “every time Hamas says they will do something, they simply never do.”
- Co-host Sharla McBride then asked, “[W]e know that U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will be heading to the Middle East tomorrow to discuss extending that first phase of the ceasefire with Israel, Qatar, and Egypt. And with a lot of the President’s focus on Ukraine and Russia right now, how important is the U.S.’s role in all of these mediations and all of these negotiations over in the Middle East?”
- Huckabee answered, “Sharla, the most important thing we’re watching is that we are engaged and involved. Until Donald Trump was sworn in, there was a disengagement, and when we were engaged, it was schizophrenic. We never knew whether the American policy was steadfast with Israel or kind of with Israel, but telling them how they ought to prosecute the war and at what point they could go into certain cities and whether or not we were going to withhold arms, which we did, by the way, withhold the very defense weapons that Israel needed to defend itself, not just against Hamas, but against Hezbollah and the Houthis. Under Donald Trump, there’s clarity. There’s a certainty. The trumpet is blowing a clear, clear signal, and that signal is, America will stand with its allies, number one. Number two, we are not going to flinch when it comes to dealing with these murderous terrorists. Hamas is not a government. I hope everybody remembers that. They are terrorists. There is no governing force of Hamas. They’re not a country. They’re simply Iranian-backed savages. That’s what they are.”
- Co-host Marc Lotter then said, “[O]n Saturday, Israel was supposed to release 620 Palestinian prisoners after the return of six hostages from Hamas captivity. But Prime Minister Netanyahu said the prisoners will not be released while Hamas continues the gross display of hostages in these staged ceremonies. And, to your earlier point, I remember when the position was don’t negotiate with terrorists. So, what has to happen now? Hamas just needs to basically realize, negotiation’s over.”
- Huckabee responded, “Marc, you made the point so eloquently just then, and that is that, if you negotiate with terrorists, you only give them more freedom. … If you reward a behavior, you get more of it, if you consequence or punish a behavior, you get less of it. So, when you reward terrorists, you get more of what they have. If you consequence them, that’s the only way you get less of it. And that’s something, I think, everyone understands.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Most Democrats in the US seem to have forgotten the absolute horror of the attack of October 7, 2023. They seem not to understand why most Israelis think that there is no way to coexist with a Gaza Strip in the hands of terrorists thirsty for Jewish blood. These Democrats appear not to see that relocating Gaza Arabs elsewhere has nothing to do with “ethnic cleansing.” Trump did not propose to eliminate the Arabs, but to relocate them to safer places. These Democrats also appear to ignore that ethnic cleansing is precisely what is at the heart of the intentions of the members of Hamas, an organization with explicitly genocidal goals.
- The leaders of the main European countries talk about the “two-state solution” while knowing perfectly well that the only outcome Hamas wants is a one-state solution: the destruction of Israel, not a state alongside Israel… Europe’s leaders ignore countless polls showing that the residents of the Gaza Strip, as well as those, in the territories mismanaged by the Palestinian Authority, celebrate the October 7 massacre and want above all else Israel’s destruction. That, in fact, seems to be the actual goal of everyone who disagrees with Trump.
- A Palestinian state would indeed be — as the Palestinians have openly stated — a launching pad from which to keep trying to destroy Israel.
- Qatar is reportedly trying to come up with a potentially duplicitous “peace plan” to allow its treasured client and Muslim Brotherhood associate, Hamas, to remain in power in Gaza so it can attack Israel again.
- No one bothers to explain how the Gazans can continue to live in an area studded with unexploded ordnance, where 70% of the buildings are destroyed, and which Trump has rightly defined as a “demolition site,” while leaving nearly two million people to reside there and hundreds of armed terrorists in tunnels.
- No one admits that massive population displacements have successfully taken place in the past. Millions of Germans were moved from territories conquered by Germany after 1945, with no protests voiced…. Jews who lived in the Gaza Strip were expelled in 2005 by decision of the Israeli government to give the Palestinians there a chance to create a peaceful “Singapore on the Mediterranean.”
- “The non-terrorists in Gaza move to a place where they can live in peace and dignity. The US and others then rebuild Gaza and recover their costs through the commercialization of 25 miles of what will become pristine beachfront, now open to the world… [P]eace prevails with no American boots on the ground nor expense to the American taxpayer. Hard to quarrel with this if you believe in peace, prosperity and human dignity.” — David M. Friedman, former US Ambassador to Israel, X, February 6, 2025.
- If Trump successfully manages to overcome the pressures and obstacles placed in front of him, what he is setting in motion today can magnificently transform the Middle East.
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Important Takeaways:
- One of the group’s senior officials, Osama Hamdan… also threatened that Hamas would not allow any non-Palestinian party to enter the Gaza Strip.
- Iran’s ruling mullahs have already lost their strategic ally with the collapse of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Losing the Gaza Strip would therefore be another severe blow to the Iranian regime, whose declared goal is to annihilate the “Zionist entity.”
- Similarly, Hamas’s longtime patrons and funders in Qatar will do their utmost to ensure that the terrorist group remains in power.
- Hamdan’s statements are a clear indication that Hamas intends to maintain its control of the Gaza Strip at any cost. They are also a sign that Hamas is determined to continue its terror attacks against Israel.
- Any deal that allows Hamas to remain in power would be disastrous for Israel, the Palestinians, and Arab states threatened by the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance.”
- It would also undermine the Trump administration’s credibility in the eyes of many in the Middle East. The Trump administration will appear as if it is only good at making empty threats.
- There should be no reconstruction of the Gaza Strip as long as Iran’s proxies remain in power. The idea of allowing the Palestinian Authority to return to the Gaza Strip as a civilian body that pays salaries and funds projects should be rejected by the Trump administration.
- Even if the PA is permitted to deploy its own security forces in the Gaza Strip, it does not mean that they would be able to disarm Hamas and other terrorist groups. The PA did not do so when it was in control of the Gaza Strip between 1994 and 2007, and the assumption that it would do so now is catastrophically wrong.
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Important Takeaways:
- The United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday that the parading of the bodies of hostages through Gaza before they were handed over to Israel is abhorrent.
- “The parading of bodies in the manner seen this morning is abhorrent and cruel, and flies in the face of international law,” said the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We urge that all returns are conducted in privacy, and with respect and care.”
- In the statement, UN rights chief Volker Turk added that “under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”
- Hamas said that it returned on Thursday the bodies of hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young redheaded boys, Kfir and Ariel, as well as that of Oded Lifshitz, who was kidnapped at age 83.
- Lifshitz’s family said Thursday that they received confirmation from Israeli authorities that his remains were returned. Israel has said it is still testing the other three bodies before providing the Bibas family with confirmation.
- Before they were handed to the Red Cross, the coffins were placed on a stage, with armed Hamas gunmen wearing black and camouflage uniforms surrounding the area, and cruel psychological propaganda adorning the stage, including plaques on the coffins declaring the dates of their “arrest” and slogans blaming Israel for their deaths.
- Since the start of the latest ceasefire last month, Hamas has freed 24 hostages in handovers featuring large public ceremonies and terrorist propaganda, forcing the hostages to wave and praise their captors before being freed.
- 66 of the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
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Important Takeaways:
- The U.S.-born Ron Dermer is a Cabinet minister who’s widely seen as Netanyahu’s closest adviser.
- He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and is a former Republican activist with strong ties to the Trump White House.
- Dermer currently serves as Israel’s strategic affairs minister, where he has been a key player in relations with the U.S. as well as Gulf Arab countries.
- Talks have not yet started on the second stage, which is meant to include an end to the war, return of all hostages and Israeli pullout from Gaza.
- Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and take over the territory.
- In a phone call with U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on Wednesday, Lebanon’s president insisted that Israeli forces withdraw from five strategic hilltops inside Lebanon.
- Israel is keeping its forces on Lebanese soil even after a deadline spelled out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.
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Important Takeaways:
- The initial phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes a 42-day truce and the return of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, has remained on track despite a series of setbacks and accusations of violations that had threatened to derail it.
- But negotiations over the second stage, aimed at securing the release of the remaining 64 hostages, are expected to be tough, because they include issues like the administration of post-war Gaza, where there are large gaps between the sides.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said “We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organization in Gaza”
- But he added that if the negotiations are constructive, Israel will remain engaged and may prolong the ceasefire.
- “If we will see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement (then) we will make this time-frame work longer,” Saar said.
- So far, 19 Israeli hostages have been returned in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. If the six living hostages and four bodies are returned this week, as announced, four more would remain. Based on information from Hamas, all four are thought to be dead.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday he will set up a new unit in his ministry dedicated to facilitating the exit of Gaza residents who want to move to a third country, after reviewing an initial plan for it.
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Important Takeaways:
- Hamas on Tuesday said that it will release the dead bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest people held by the group, Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
- The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached during negotiations in Cairo for “four slain hostages” to be handed over on Thursday and “six living hostages” to be released on Saturday.
- It added that “four additional slain hostages are expected to be handed over to Israel next week.”
- It is clearest indication that the Bibas children – who were just nine months and four years old, respectively, when they were kidnapped in October 2023 – are indeed dead.
- Israel has not yet confirmed their deaths and has not yet commented on Hamas’ announcement.
- Hamas’ announcement came on the day Israel said it would begin talks on the second phase of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire agreement.
- Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said negotiations could begin “this week” following discussions with “our American friends”.
- He committed to aiming to reach an agreement by the 42nd day of the truce, as stipulated in the original deal, and said the possibility of a longer-term agreement was an “option”.
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Important Takeaways:
- Muhammad Shaheen, a senior Hamas official, was killed in a drone strike on a vehicle near Sidon, southern Lebanon, on Monday, an Israeli official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.
- Shaheen was Hamas’s head of operation within Lebanon. In his role, he tried to plan terror operations against Israeli citizens, whether within Israeli territory or during international travels.
- The IDF said that Shaheen also received funding directly from Iran to carry out these terror operations.
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Important Takeaways:
- “Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape!” he wrote. “This differs from their statement last week that they would not release any Hostages.”
- The hostages are all dual citizens of Israel and differing nations. Sagui Dekel-Chen is also an American, Iair Horn is also an Argentinian citizen, and Alexandre Troufanov is also a Russian citizen, CNN reported. They were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, NBC News noted.
- Saturday also reportedly saw Israel release 369 Palestinian prisoners, per NBC News.
- The move meets Israel’s demands for three live hostages to be released on Saturday to prevent an end to the ceasefire.
- Trump said Saturday that he supports whatever decision Israel makes regarding his own ultimatum.
- “Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!” Trump added.
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