LIVE UPDATES — FROM Jan. 25th – 31st
Israel At War: Week Sixty-Nine Coverage
TRUSTED ANALYSIS
Day 483 — Friday, January 31
Special prayers were held at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in memory of Muhammad Deif, the former commander of Hamas’s military department, and other senior Hamas figures who were eliminated in the war.
Yasin Iz al-Din reports that similar prayers were held in other mosques across Judea and Samaria despite directions from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to focus on prayers for rain.
Last night, the Hamas movement officially announced the death of Muhammad Deif and other leaders in the war and called for special prayers in their memory in mosques throughout Palestine and worldwide. Hamas had denied his death for several months previously.
The list published by Hamas includes Hamas’s international leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, and more than a dozen other senior figures in the organization.
Day 483 — Friday, January 31
Israel’s aerial defense intercepted a drone over Lebanon that was making its way to Israeli airspace on Thursday, a major violation of the ceasefire agreement.
While the 60-day truce was supposed to expire on Monday, it was extended with the agreement of the US and Lebanon after the IDF asserted that the Lebanese armed forces had not complied with the deal in taking over positions Israel had vacated.
The Upper Galilee Regional Council said that no sirens went off.
Hezbollah has threatened to respond if any IDF soldiers remain in Lebanon after the 60 days. Meanwhile, Israel has struck Hezbollah operatives violating the ceasefire, as per the terms agreed upon.
Day 482 — Thursday, January 30
Eight hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel were released by Palestinian terror groups on Thursday under an ongoing ceasefire deal with Hamas, returning to Israel after 482 days in captivity in Gaza. Seven of them were freed in a long, chaotic process in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis that prompted fury in Israel.
The three Israelis are IDF surveillance soldier Agam Berger, 20, and civilians Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80. The Thai nationals are Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.
Yehoud, Mozes and the five Thais were released in an uncontrolled and dangerous handover early Thursday afternoon, outside the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, surrounded by hundreds of masked gunmen and large, seething crowds.
The two Israeli civilians were forced to walk through the crowds, with gunmen at their side, from the vehicles that delivered them and, later, to the Red Cross vehicles, in chaotic scenes that lasted for well over an hour.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the chaotic handover was unacceptable, in a statement immediately after the release. “I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” said Netanyahu. “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Israel delayed the slated release of Palestinian prisoners in protest of the chaotic handover, with Netanyahu’s office saying it would not proceed “until the safe passage of our hostages can be guaranteed in the next releases.”
It later said it had received a guarantee from mediators that the scenes of chaos would not be repeated, and reports indicated that the Palestinian prisoner release would proceed in late afternoon.
Berger and the Thai hostages were held by the Hamas terror group, while Yehoud and Mozes were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Berger, an Israel Defense Forces surveillance soldier, was abducted from the military’s Nahal Oz base, while Yehoud and Mozes were both taken from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Mozes is the first male Israeli hostage to be freed in the current deal, which provides for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Living hostages are being released first. Eight of the 33 are understood by Israel to be dead.
The Thai hostages were among 31 foreign nationals kidnapped in the Hamas attack who were working in Israel, many of them as farmhands in Israel’s agricultural heartland near the Gaza border, reportedly including some on Nir Oz.
Day 482 — Thursday, January 30
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today (Wednesday) instructing federal authorities to act to combat antisemitism, including by deporting antisemites who commit criminal acts, the New York Post reported.
According to the report, the order will give federal agencies 60 days to present plans to deal with antisemitism in places such as college campuses. It also calls for the deportation on non-citizens who commit illegal acts while protesting against Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of October 7, even if they have student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump stated in a fact sheet on the executive order. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
President Trump issued a proclamation on Monday marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in which he vowed to fight antisemitism.
In his proclamation, Trump stated, He noted: “Sadly, despite decades of wisdom shared by survivors, years of reflection on the depravities committed, and decades of progress towards peace, the poison of antisemitism still courses through the veins of cowards in dark corners of the world. So today, we renew our promise that antisemitism has no place in a civilized society, no place in our foreign policy, and no place in the United States of America.”
The President stated, “In the years since the liberation of Auschwitz on this day eight decades ago, the grave offenses that took place during the Holocaust and the cries of the Jewish people have echoed throughout the halls of history. In the wake of the oppression, persecution, and injustice committed at Auschwitz and elsewhere in Europe, the Jewish people gallantly persevered to re-found their homeland in the modern State of Israel — our mighty friend. To this day, the Jewish people proudly represent the peak of human tenacity and the pinnacle of human triumph.
“As we commemorate this somber occasion, we pay tribute to the undying spirit of the Jewish community. We reaffirm our commitment to educating our children and every future generation about the horrors that took place within the confines of Auschwitz and other concentration and death camps. We renew our resolve to end antisemitism and religious bigotry of all forms. We proudly reassert our strong bonds of friendship with the State of Israel. And we declare the timeless truth that every human being is a child of God and inherently worthy of dignity and respect,” Trump said.
Day 482 — Thursday, January 30
Freed hostage Amit Soussana, who was released in the first hostage-truce deal with Hamas in November 2023, shared Tuesday that Liri Albag, who was among four hostages released on Saturday, saved her life in captivity.
Her comments came as freed hostage Naama Levy made her first public statements since her own release on Saturday, and Romi Gonen, released 10 days ago, dedicated a song on the radio to her family, and as more details began to emerge about returning captives’ recovery process.
The current hostage-ceasefire deal went into effect a week and a half ago.
In an interview aired Tuesday evening, Soussana said she owes Albag her life, after Albag convinced their terrorist captors in Gaza that Soussana was not an IDF officer.
Speaking with Channel 12’s “Uvda” investigative program, Soussana, 40, said her captors bound her arms and legs together, beat her with a stick and threatened her with a sharp metal object, and demanded that she admit to being in the military, claiming they had learned from TV that she was.
She said Albag talked to the guard and managed to persuade the captors that Soussana wasn’t in the military.
“I told her when she came back: ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life,” Soussana recalled.
Soussana also said that in the first three weeks of her captivity, she was kept alone in an apartment with two guards who bound her legs with a metal chain and with two locks to a window, “like an animal.”
She also recounted the sexual assault she endured by one of the captors, a story she first revealed in an interview with The New York Times last year.
Day 481 — Wednesday, January 29
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday applauded U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Gazans be offered residency in Arab nations as the “most realistic solution.”
“For 76 years, they have been held in Gaza—on purpose—in poverty, in destitution, in overcrowding,” the finance minister told JNS following a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon.
“Instead of helping them start a new life,” the United Nations kept the Palestinians “in very difficult situations on purpose, so that they would suffer,” he said. “Why? To maintain their desire to destroy the State of Israel.”
“They told them: You will suffer. Do you know why? Because of the Jews. Do you know what the solution to your suffering is? To return to Safed, Haifa, Acre, Jaffa,” Smotrich continued, naming cities in Israel.
The Gaza Strip “is a time bomb that the Arab world for years kept as it was, precisely to get to Oct. 7,” the minister stated, referring to the 2023 Hamas massacre in which some 1,200 people, primarily Jews, were murdered.
While the attack was led by Hamas’s Nukhba force, they were followed by “ordinary civilians, women, men, children, who slaughtered, raped, burned,” said Smotrich.
“Do you know where this hatred comes from? For 76 years, they were kept like this, in refugee camps, with nothing. They were told that this suffering was because of the Jews. So there are more than 1.5 million people who have grown up for generations with hate for Israel and antisemitism,” he continued.
According to the Religious Zionism Party leader, Trump’s proposal to allow Gazans to leave the Strip “is the most realistic solution in the world. “
“Do you know what isn’t realistic? What we’ve been trying to do for a hundred years and haven’t succeeded in: To divide the land [of Israel],” he added, listing the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, the Oslo Accords, Camp David and the Annapolis Conference as examples of failures.
“It is nonsense to do the same thing over and over again and to expect a different response every time,” he added, paraphrasing Albert Einstein.
“We’ve been attempting peace, co-existence, two countries, but what we don’t understand is that the other side doesn’t want to live next to us,” he told JNS. “They want to live in our place. Only someone like that is able to get to these levels of cruelty that we saw on Oct. 7.”
The only solution, he continued, “is to take all these refugees and, after 76 years, help them start a new life and really allow them to improve their lives and build their families. It would be good for them, for us, for the Middle East and for the world.”
On Saturday, Trump called on Arab countries that have come out in support of the Palestinians, singling out Egypt and Jordan, to take in more Palestinians from Gaza, which has suffered extensive damage during Israel’s 15-month war against the Hamas terrorist group.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said, according to an Associated Press report. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’
Trump on Monday doubled down on the proposal, saying he would like to see Gazans “living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much,” Agence France-Presse reported.
“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, according to the AFP report. He added, “There’s always been violence associated with it.”
Day 480 — Tuesday, January 28
Eight Declared Dead: Hamas Reveals Status Of First Phase Hostages To Be Released
Eight of the 33 hostages intended for release during the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip are dead, according to a list provided by Hamas.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer confirmed that the terrorist group stated the remaining 25 hostages are alive. The list was delivered to Israel overnight on Sunday.
After repeatedly violating the truce deal with Israel, Hamas is to release three additional captives on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem announced on Sunday night.
The hostages to be released are civilian Arbel Yehud, Israel Defense Forces soldier Agam Berger and an unidentified man. Three more abductees are to be freed on Saturday, per the terms of the ceasefire.
So far, seven hostages have been freed. Yet 87 of the 251 individuals taken by Hamas during the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, are still in Gaza. This includes the remains of at least 34 hostages, confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014. Another soldier’s remains were recovered earlier this month.
Hamas failed to provide the list on Saturday, as required by the terms of the ceasefire, prompting Jerusalem to postpone the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.
On Monday, Palestinians began crossing on foot via a coastal road through the Netzarim Corridor south of Gaza City. Vehicle crossings via a parallel highway inland followed, leading to heavy traffic. While vehicles are subject to inspection under the ceasefire agreement, the details of the inspection process remain unclear.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the truce and warned of severe consequences for violations, stating, “We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7, [2023].”
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, including many convicted of deadly attacks. So far, seven hostages have been released in exchange for more than 300 terrorists.
The next two projected phases present greater challenges. Hamas has stated that it will not release the remaining 60 hostages unless Israel ends the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to dismantling Hamas and ending its 18-year rule over Gaza. The future of negotiations remains uncertain as both sides prepare for difficult talks.
International Community Chided For 'Manipulating The Definition of Genocide' In Holocaust Remembrance Day Speech
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke at a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day in New York City at the UN Headquarters on Monday. The event commemorated 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
Herzog began his speech by noting the yellow ribbon pin on his lapel, and said, “I stand before you as president of a nation that is determined and proud, and yet – anguished and incomplete.”
He continued by making his appeal to the international community saying, “I call on all representatives in this General Assembly, all who consider themselves part of the civilized world, to throw your weight to ensure our hostages return to their homes – every single one of them. Bring them home now!”
Herzog presented a challenge to the global community by asking a few questions:
“How is it possible that the moral compass of so many in the family of nations has become so disoriented, that they no longer recognize the clear truth: That just as terrorists use civilians as human shields, they also weaponize the international institutions, undermining the most basic, fundamental reason for their establishment? How is it possible that the same institutions established in the wake of the greatest genocide in history – the Holocaust – are manipulating the definition of genocide for the sole purpose of attacking Israel and the Jewish people?”
Herzog told those in attendance that “the international courts and institutions set up in the wake of the Holocaust have since become distorted and hypocritical in their attacks on Israel.”
Herzog shared that his great uncle, Hersch Lauterpacht, – a Holocaust survivor – “served as a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials and went on to help establish the International Court of Justice, later serving on the court as a judge” according to the Times of Israel.
“He did so out of deep faith – and hope, that the international institutions [including the UN, ICJ and ICC] would forever be committed to preventing these heinous crimes from ever happening again – to the Jewish people or any other people,” remarked the president.
Herzog noted that Hamas terrorists who carried out the atrocities of Oct.7, 2023, “took their inspiration from Nazism and Hitler.”
The president highlighted that, 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, antisemitism continues to exist, now growing more intense and manifesting in new ways. He stated, “This serves as an urgent reminder to all of humanity: antisemitism, brutality, cruelty, and racism are still alive and well in our world.”
Lebanon Truce Extended To Feb. 18, White House Says
The U.S.-monitored arrangement between Lebanon and Israel will carry on until Feb. 18, the White House stated on Sunday evening—the day the prior agreement, struck on Nov. 26, was slated to end.
“The government of Lebanon, the government of Israel and the government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023,” the White House stated.
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, said on Friday that a “short, temporary ceasefire extension” was “urgently needed.”
U.S. President Donald Trump “is committed to ensuring Israeli citizens can safely return to their homes in northern Israel,” while also supporting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the new Lebanese government, Hughes stated.
Israel announced on Friday that it would not withdraw all of its forces from Southern Lebanon by Sunday. Hezbollah warned that it would consider the truce terminated, and the Lebanese government urged the Trump administration to intervene.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated on Friday that the Israeli military’s “withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in Southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani,” the river in the southern part of the country.
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the Israeli government said.
Israel “will not endanger its communities and citizens and will insist on the full implementation of the objective of the fighting in the north, which is the safe return of residents to their homes,” it added.
The 60-day ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27 and was slated to expire on Sunday. Hostilities began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity, it said, with Hamas in Gaza.
In a deliberation held at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee three weeks ago, Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin, the head of the Israeli Defense Forces Northern Command, said that Hezbollah has committed hundreds of violations of the ceasefire terms, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News reported recently.
Gordin added that the Lebanese Armed Forces are aiding the Shi’ite terrorist organization in locations where the Lebanese army is manned by Shi’ite commanders and companies.
Day 479 — Monday, January 27
After Hamas Plays Games, Netanyahu Confirms Terror Group Will Hand Over Three Civilian Hostages On Thursday
Hamas will hand over Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, and an additional male hostage on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed shortly after Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.
Additionally, the Qatari ministry said Hamas will hand over three more hostages on Saturday as per the ceasefire agreement.
The PMO also confirmed it had received the list Hamas provided mediators with all required information on the remaining hostages set to be released in the first phase of the agreement, which was initially meant to be provided last week.
In return, the Qatari ministry said Israel will allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza starting Monday morning.
Sources present in the negotiations told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN that Palestinian Islamic Jihad withdrew its demand to define Arbel Yehoud as a member of the security forces and that she would be considered a civilian.
Previous discussions about the possible date for the return of Gaza residents to the northern Strip via the Netzarim depended on Arbel’s release, with negotiations revolving around the question of whether to allow the return upon her arrival in Israeli hands or after the agreement of her release was reached.
Day 478 — Sunday, January 26
Due to Hamas Breach Of Deal, Israel Halts Movement Of Gazans North
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Israel that took effect on Jan. 19, Hamas is obligated to release civilian women and children hostages before freeing female soldiers. But on Saturday, the terrorist organization released four female soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces while keeping civilian Arbel Yehud in captivity.
Hamas was also supposed to say on Saturday how many of the 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of the ceasefire are alive. It has not done so. It did claim that Yehud is alive and well, and will freed as part of the next batch of captives on Feb. 1.
Israel postponed its response to Hamas’s breach of the agreement until the safe return of the four hostages. Now that they are in Israeli custody, discussions took place, leading to the decision to suspend the return of displaced Palestinians from southern Gaza to the northern Strip until Yehud is back in Israel.
On Friday, discussions revolved around whether to reopen strategic routes, including the Netzarim Corridor that runs east to west south of Gaza City and the coastal and Tantar routes, to allow the movement of Gazans. Israel has decided to freeze all Palestinian movement north until compliance with the agreement is restored.
Despite Hamas’s breach of the terms, Israel has maintained the agreed ratio of prisoners to be released, even though the composition of released hostages has shifted. The initial agreement stipulated that more terrorists would be released in exchange for soldiers than for civilians.
Hamas has attempted to shift responsibility for the failure to release Yehud onto Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a Salafi group aligned with that holds the hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
According to both Palestinian and Israeli sources, the Salafi group has issued demands for Arbel’s release, including fuel and supplies from incoming shipments, names of specific terrorists to be freed, and assurances of continued independent operations in Gaza.
An Israeli official said that Hamas is trying to avoid accountability and avert an Israeli response to the agreement’s breach.
“Hamas has the capacity to exert control over the Salafi group, and a firm Israeli demand could compel them to ensure Arbel Yehud’s release,” the official said.
Israel’s leadership remains adamant about adhering to the agreement and holding Hamas responsible for fulfilling its terms, including the immediate release of all remaining hostages.
Day 478 — Sunday, January 26
Donald Trump Releases Bomb Shipments Frozen By Joe Biden To Israel
The White House released 1,800 one-ton bomb shipments previously frozen by former US president Joe Biden, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
The delivery was frozen back in May of last year due to the Israeli operation in Rafah.
Later on Saturday, US President Donald Trump wrote that “a lot of things” were on their way to Israel in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
“A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel but have not been sent by Biden are now on their way!” the post said.
In May, Biden warned Israel that he’d halt US weapons shipments earmarked for Gaza if the IDF embarked on a major military operation against Hamas in Rafah.
“I‘ve made it clear that if they [Israel] go into Rafah…I’m not supplying the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah,” Biden told CNN while campaigning in Wisconsin for reelection.
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Four Female IDF Hostages Return Home To Israel After 477 Days In Hamas Captivity
The IDF confirmed that the four hostages [Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag] returned to Israeli territory after being transferred from Hamas captivity to the Red Cross on Saturday.
The four female IDF soldiers taken hostage by Hamas were transferred, in military uniform, to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday.
The hostages were seen holding bags similar to the ones given to the three hostages released last week. Last week, the bag included Arabic language completion certificates and photos of the hostages’ time in captivity.
Ahead of the hostage transfer, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, along with Gazan civilians, congregated in Palestine Square of Gaza City.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement Saturday morning in response to released hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, and Liri Albag being transferred to IDF custody.
“The Israeli government embraces the four returning IDF soldiers. Their families have been informed by the designated authorities that they have been transferred to the IDF.
“The Israeli government is committed to the return of all the remaining hostages.”
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Danon To UN: UNRWA Must Cease Its Operations, 'Evacuate All Premises' In Jerusalem By January 30
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Friday informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a letter that the “Palestinian refugee” agency UNRWA must “cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city” by January 30.
The notification follows the law which was passed by the Knesset in October banning UNRWA’s operation on Israeli land, and which takes effect on January 30.
A week after the Knesset passed the legislation, then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz officially announced the cancellation of the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA which formed the legal basis for relations between the State of Israel and UNRWA.
UNRWA, which has long been criticized for cooperating with Hamas, has come under increased scrutiny as its workers have been found to have been directly involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel revealed a year ago of this year that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks.
It then presented a dossier showing that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively took part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli hostage recently released by Hamas, reportedly requested her captors release Keith Siegel, another hostage, in her place.
According to N12, Emily was informed of her release but learned that Keith, a 65-year-old American-Israeli, would remain in captivity due to his deteriorating condition.
Her plea was ultimately denied, as such decisions were made by higher-ranking members of the terrorist organization.
Fresh evidence, including Emily’s account, confirms Keith’s survival as recently as her time in captivity. Previously, the last known evidence of Keith being alive was a Hamas propaganda video from April.
Keith Siegel was abducted alongside his wife, Aviva, during the October 7 attack on Kfar Aza and transported to Gaza in their hijacked car. Aviva was released in November during the first phase of a hostage deal. She later recounted the harsh conditions they endured, including starvation, dehydration, and physical abuse—Keith’s ribs were broken during the kidnapping.
Keith is among two American-Israeli hostages reportedly included in the next phase of ongoing negotiations for their release.
Day 484 — Saturday, February 1
Special prayers were held at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in memory of Muhammad Deif, the former commander of Hamas’s military department, and other senior Hamas figures who were eliminated in the war.
Yasin Iz al-Din reports that similar prayers were held in other mosques across Judea and Samaria despite directions from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to focus on prayers for rain.
Last night, the Hamas movement officially announced the death of Muhammad Deif and other leaders in the war and called for special prayers in their memory in mosques throughout Palestine and worldwide. Hamas had denied his death for several months previously.
The list published by Hamas includes Hamas’s international leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, and more than a dozen other senior figures in the organization.
Day 483 — Friday, January 31
Israel’s aerial defense intercepted a drone over Lebanon that was making its way to Israeli airspace on Thursday, a major violation of the ceasefire agreement.
While the 60-day truce was supposed to expire on Monday, it was extended with the agreement of the US and Lebanon after the IDF asserted that the Lebanese armed forces had not complied with the deal in taking over positions Israel had vacated.
The Upper Galilee Regional Council said that no sirens went off.
Hezbollah has threatened to respond if any IDF soldiers remain in Lebanon after the 60 days. Meanwhile, Israel has struck Hezbollah operatives violating the ceasefire, as per the terms agreed upon.
Eight hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel were released by Palestinian terror groups on Thursday under an ongoing ceasefire deal with Hamas, returning to Israel after 482 days in captivity in Gaza. Seven of them were freed in a long, chaotic process in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis that prompted fury in Israel.
The three Israelis are IDF surveillance soldier Agam Berger, 20, and civilians Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80. The Thai nationals are Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.
Yehoud, Mozes and the five Thais were released in an uncontrolled and dangerous handover early Thursday afternoon, outside the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, surrounded by hundreds of masked gunmen and large, seething crowds.
The two Israeli civilians were forced to walk through the crowds, with gunmen at their side, from the vehicles that delivered them and, later, to the Red Cross vehicles, in chaotic scenes that lasted for well over an hour.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the chaotic handover was unacceptable, in a statement immediately after the release. “I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” said Netanyahu. “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Israel delayed the slated release of Palestinian prisoners in protest of the chaotic handover, with Netanyahu’s office saying it would not proceed “until the safe passage of our hostages can be guaranteed in the next releases.”
It later said it had received a guarantee from mediators that the scenes of chaos would not be repeated, and reports indicated that the Palestinian prisoner release would proceed in late afternoon.
Berger and the Thai hostages were held by the Hamas terror group, while Yehoud and Mozes were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Berger, an Israel Defense Forces surveillance soldier, was abducted from the military’s Nahal Oz base, while Yehoud and Mozes were both taken from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Mozes is the first male Israeli hostage to be freed in the current deal, which provides for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Living hostages are being released first. Eight of the 33 are understood by Israel to be dead.
The Thai hostages were among 31 foreign nationals kidnapped in the Hamas attack who were working in Israel, many of them as farmhands in Israel’s agricultural heartland near the Gaza border, reportedly including some on Nir Oz.
Report: Trump To Sign Executive Order For Deportation Of Antisemites
US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today (Wednesday) instructing federal authorities to act to combat antisemitism, including by deporting antisemites who commit criminal acts, the New York Post reported.
According to the report, the order will give federal agencies 60 days to present plans to deal with antisemitism in places such as college campuses. It also calls for the deportation on non-citizens who commit illegal acts while protesting against Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of October 7, even if they have student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump stated in a fact sheet on the executive order. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
President Trump issued a proclamation on Monday marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in which he vowed to fight antisemitism.
In his proclamation, Trump stated, He noted: “Sadly, despite decades of wisdom shared by survivors, years of reflection on the depravities committed, and decades of progress towards peace, the poison of antisemitism still courses through the veins of cowards in dark corners of the world. So today, we renew our promise that antisemitism has no place in a civilized society, no place in our foreign policy, and no place in the United States of America.”
The President stated, “In the years since the liberation of Auschwitz on this day eight decades ago, the grave offenses that took place during the Holocaust and the cries of the Jewish people have echoed throughout the halls of history. In the wake of the oppression, persecution, and injustice committed at Auschwitz and elsewhere in Europe, the Jewish people gallantly persevered to re-found their homeland in the modern State of Israel — our mighty friend. To this day, the Jewish people proudly represent the peak of human tenacity and the pinnacle of human triumph.
“As we commemorate this somber occasion, we pay tribute to the undying spirit of the Jewish community. We reaffirm our commitment to educating our children and every future generation about the horrors that took place within the confines of Auschwitz and other concentration and death camps. We renew our resolve to end antisemitism and religious bigotry of all forms. We proudly reassert our strong bonds of friendship with the State of Israel. And we declare the timeless truth that every human being is a child of God and inherently worthy of dignity and respect,” Trump said.
Day 482 — Thursday, January 30
Amit Soussana Recounts Story Of Her Life Saved By Fellow Hostage During Captivity
Freed hostage Amit Soussana, who was released in the first hostage-truce deal with Hamas in November 2023, shared Tuesday that Liri Albag, who was among four hostages released on Saturday, saved her life in captivity.
Her comments came as freed hostage Naama Levy made her first public statements since her own release on Saturday, and Romi Gonen, released 10 days ago, dedicated a song on the radio to her family, and as more details began to emerge about returning captives’ recovery process.
The current hostage-ceasefire deal went into effect a week and a half ago.
In an interview aired Tuesday evening, Soussana said she owes Albag her life, after Albag convinced their terrorist captors in Gaza that Soussana was not an IDF officer.
Speaking with Channel 12’s “Uvda” investigative program, Soussana, 40, said her captors bound her arms and legs together, beat her with a stick and threatened her with a sharp metal object, and demanded that she admit to being in the military, claiming they had learned from TV that she was.
She said Albag talked to the guard and managed to persuade the captors that Soussana wasn’t in the military.
“I told her when she came back: ‘I don’t know if they would have killed me or not; as far as I’m concerned, you saved my life,” Soussana recalled.
Soussana also said that in the first three weeks of her captivity, she was kept alone in an apartment with two guards who bound her legs with a metal chain and with two locks to a window, “like an animal.”
She also recounted the sexual assault she endured by one of the captors, a story she first revealed in an interview with The New York Times last year.
Day 481 — Wednesday, January 29
Trump Calls Relocation Of Gazans The 'Most Realistic Solution'
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday applauded U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Gazans be offered residency in Arab nations as the “most realistic solution.”
“For 76 years, they have been held in Gaza—on purpose—in poverty, in destitution, in overcrowding,” the finance minister told JNS following a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon.
“Instead of helping them start a new life,” the United Nations kept the Palestinians “in very difficult situations on purpose, so that they would suffer,” he said. “Why? To maintain their desire to destroy the State of Israel.”
“They told them: You will suffer. Do you know why? Because of the Jews. Do you know what the solution to your suffering is? To return to Safed, Haifa, Acre, Jaffa,” Smotrich continued, naming cities in Israel.
The Gaza Strip “is a time bomb that the Arab world for years kept as it was, precisely to get to Oct. 7,” the minister stated, referring to the 2023 Hamas massacre in which some 1,200 people, primarily Jews, were murdered.
While the attack was led by Hamas’s Nukhba force, they were followed by “ordinary civilians, women, men, children, who slaughtered, raped, burned,” said Smotrich.
“Do you know where this hatred comes from? For 76 years, they were kept like this, in refugee camps, with nothing. They were told that this suffering was because of the Jews. So there are more than 1.5 million people who have grown up for generations with hate for Israel and antisemitism,” he continued.
According to the Religious Zionism Party leader, Trump’s proposal to allow Gazans to leave the Strip “is the most realistic solution in the world. “
“Do you know what isn’t realistic? What we’ve been trying to do for a hundred years and haven’t succeeded in: To divide the land [of Israel],” he added, listing the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, the Oslo Accords, Camp David and the Annapolis Conference as examples of failures.
“It is nonsense to do the same thing over and over again and to expect a different response every time,” he added, paraphrasing Albert Einstein.
“We’ve been attempting peace, co-existence, two countries, but what we don’t understand is that the other side doesn’t want to live next to us,” he told JNS. “They want to live in our place. Only someone like that is able to get to these levels of cruelty that we saw on Oct. 7.”
The only solution, he continued, “is to take all these refugees and, after 76 years, help them start a new life and really allow them to improve their lives and build their families. It would be good for them, for us, for the Middle East and for the world.”
On Saturday, Trump called on Arab countries that have come out in support of the Palestinians, singling out Egypt and Jordan, to take in more Palestinians from Gaza, which has suffered extensive damage during Israel’s 15-month war against the Hamas terrorist group.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said, according to an Associated Press report. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’
Trump on Monday doubled down on the proposal, saying he would like to see Gazans “living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much,” Agence France-Presse reported.
“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, according to the AFP report. He added, “There’s always been violence associated with it.”
Day 480 — Tuesday, January 28
Eight Declared Dead: Hamas Reveals Status Of First Phase Hostages To Be Released
Eight of the 33 hostages intended for release during the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip are dead, according to a list provided by Hamas.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer confirmed that the terrorist group stated the remaining 25 hostages are alive. The list was delivered to Israel overnight on Sunday.
After repeatedly violating the truce deal with Israel, Hamas is to release three additional captives on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem announced on Sunday night.
The hostages to be released are civilian Arbel Yehud, Israel Defense Forces soldier Agam Berger and an unidentified man. Three more abductees are to be freed on Saturday, per the terms of the ceasefire.
So far, seven hostages have been freed. Yet 87 of the 251 individuals taken by Hamas during the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, are still in Gaza. This includes the remains of at least 34 hostages, confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014. Another soldier’s remains were recovered earlier this month.
Hamas failed to provide the list on Saturday, as required by the terms of the ceasefire, prompting Jerusalem to postpone the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.
On Monday, Palestinians began crossing on foot via a coastal road through the Netzarim Corridor south of Gaza City. Vehicle crossings via a parallel highway inland followed, leading to heavy traffic. While vehicles are subject to inspection under the ceasefire agreement, the details of the inspection process remain unclear.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the truce and warned of severe consequences for violations, stating, “We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7, [2023].”
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, including many convicted of deadly attacks. So far, seven hostages have been released in exchange for more than 300 terrorists.
The next two projected phases present greater challenges. Hamas has stated that it will not release the remaining 60 hostages unless Israel ends the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to dismantling Hamas and ending its 18-year rule over Gaza. The future of negotiations remains uncertain as both sides prepare for difficult talks.
Day 480 — Tuesday, January 28
International Community Chided For 'Manipulating The Definition of Genocide' In Holocaust Remembrance Day Speech
Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke at a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day in New York City at the UN Headquarters on Monday. The event commemorated 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
Herzog began his speech by noting the yellow ribbon pin on his lapel, and said, “I stand before you as president of a nation that is determined and proud, and yet – anguished and incomplete.”
He continued by making his appeal to the international community saying, “I call on all representatives in this General Assembly, all who consider themselves part of the civilized world, to throw your weight to ensure our hostages return to their homes – every single one of them. Bring them home now!”
Herzog presented a challenge to the global community by asking a few questions:
“How is it possible that the moral compass of so many in the family of nations has become so disoriented, that they no longer recognize the clear truth: That just as terrorists use civilians as human shields, they also weaponize the international institutions, undermining the most basic, fundamental reason for their establishment? How is it possible that the same institutions established in the wake of the greatest genocide in history – the Holocaust – are manipulating the definition of genocide for the sole purpose of attacking Israel and the Jewish people?”
Herzog told those in attendance that “the international courts and institutions set up in the wake of the Holocaust have since become distorted and hypocritical in their attacks on Israel.”
Herzog shared that his great uncle, Hersch Lauterpacht, – a Holocaust survivor – “served as a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials and went on to help establish the International Court of Justice, later serving on the court as a judge” according to the Times of Israel.
“He did so out of deep faith – and hope, that the international institutions [including the UN, ICJ and ICC] would forever be committed to preventing these heinous crimes from ever happening again – to the Jewish people or any other people,” remarked the president.
Herzog noted that Hamas terrorists who carried out the atrocities of Oct.7, 2023, “took their inspiration from Nazism and Hitler.”
The president highlighted that, 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, antisemitism continues to exist, now growing more intense and manifesting in new ways. He stated, “This serves as an urgent reminder to all of humanity: antisemitism, brutality, cruelty, and racism are still alive and well in our world.”
Lebanon Truce Extended To Feb. 18, White House Says
The U.S.-monitored arrangement between Lebanon and Israel will carry on until Feb. 18, the White House stated on Sunday evening—the day the prior agreement, struck on Nov. 26, was slated to end.
“The government of Lebanon, the government of Israel and the government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023,” the White House stated.
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, said on Friday that a “short, temporary ceasefire extension” was “urgently needed.”
U.S. President Donald Trump “is committed to ensuring Israeli citizens can safely return to their homes in northern Israel,” while also supporting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the new Lebanese government, Hughes stated.
Israel announced on Friday that it would not withdraw all of its forces from Southern Lebanon by Sunday. Hezbollah warned that it would consider the truce terminated, and the Lebanese government urged the Trump administration to intervene.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated on Friday that the Israeli military’s “withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in Southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani,” the river in the southern part of the country.
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the Israeli government said.
Israel “will not endanger its communities and citizens and will insist on the full implementation of the objective of the fighting in the north, which is the safe return of residents to their homes,” it added.
The 60-day ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27 and was slated to expire on Sunday. Hostilities began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in solidarity, it said, with Hamas in Gaza.
In a deliberation held at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee three weeks ago, Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin, the head of the Israeli Defense Forces Northern Command, said that Hezbollah has committed hundreds of violations of the ceasefire terms, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News reported recently.
Gordin added that the Lebanese Armed Forces are aiding the Shi’ite terrorist organization in locations where the Lebanese army is manned by Shi’ite commanders and companies.
Day 479 — Monday, January 27
After Hamas Plays Games, Netanyahu Confirms Terror Group Will Had Over Three Civilian Hostages On Thursday
Hamas will hand over Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, and an additional male hostage on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed shortly after Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.
Additionally, the Qatari ministry said Hamas will hand over three more hostages on Saturday as per the ceasefire agreement.
The PMO also confirmed it had received the list Hamas provided mediators with all required information on the remaining hostages set to be released in the first phase of the agreement, which was initially meant to be provided last week.
In return, the Qatari ministry said Israel will allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza starting Monday morning.
Sources present in the negotiations told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN that Palestinian Islamic Jihad withdrew its demand to define Arbel Yehoud as a member of the security forces and that she would be considered a civilian.
Previous discussions about the possible date for the return of Gaza residents to the northern Strip via the Netzarim depended on Arbel’s release, with negotiations revolving around the question of whether to allow the return upon her arrival in Israeli hands or after the agreement of her release was reached.
Day 478 — Sunday, January 26
Due to Hamas Breach Of Deal, Israel Halts Movement Of Gazans North
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Israel that took effect on Jan. 19, Hamas is obligated to release civilian women and children hostages before freeing female soldiers. But on Saturday, the terrorist organization released four female soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces while keeping civilian Arbel Yehud in captivity.
Hamas was also supposed to say on Saturday how many of the 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of the ceasefire are alive. It has not done so. It did claim that Yehud is alive and well, and will freed as part of the next batch of captives on Feb. 1.
Israel postponed its response to Hamas’s breach of the agreement until the safe return of the four hostages. Now that they are in Israeli custody, discussions took place, leading to the decision to suspend the return of displaced Palestinians from southern Gaza to the northern Strip until Yehud is back in Israel.
On Friday, discussions revolved around whether to reopen strategic routes, including the Netzarim Corridor that runs east to west south of Gaza City and the coastal and Tantar routes, to allow the movement of Gazans. Israel has decided to freeze all Palestinian movement north until compliance with the agreement is restored.
Despite Hamas’s breach of the terms, Israel has maintained the agreed ratio of prisoners to be released, even though the composition of released hostages has shifted. The initial agreement stipulated that more terrorists would be released in exchange for soldiers than for civilians.
Hamas has attempted to shift responsibility for the failure to release Yehud onto Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a Salafi group aligned with that holds the hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
According to both Palestinian and Israeli sources, the Salafi group has issued demands for Arbel’s release, including fuel and supplies from incoming shipments, names of specific terrorists to be freed, and assurances of continued independent operations in Gaza.
An Israeli official said that Hamas is trying to avoid accountability and avert an Israeli response to the agreement’s breach.
“Hamas has the capacity to exert control over the Salafi group, and a firm Israeli demand could compel them to ensure Arbel Yehud’s release,” the official said.
Israel’s leadership remains adamant about adhering to the agreement and holding Hamas responsible for fulfilling its terms, including the immediate release of all remaining hostages.
Day 478 — Sunday, January 26
Donald Trump Releases Bomb Shipments Frozen By Joe Biden To Israel
The White House released 1,800 one-ton bomb shipments previously frozen by former US president Joe Biden, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
The delivery was frozen back in May of last year due to the Israeli operation in Rafah.
Later on Saturday, US President Donald Trump wrote that “a lot of things” were on their way to Israel in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
“A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel but have not been sent by Biden are now on their way!” the post said.
In May, Biden warned Israel that he’d halt US weapons shipments earmarked for Gaza if the IDF embarked on a major military operation against Hamas in Rafah.
“I‘ve made it clear that if they [Israel] go into Rafah…I’m not supplying the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah,” Biden told CNN while campaigning in Wisconsin for reelection.
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Four Female IDF Hostages Return Home To Israel After 477 Days In Hamas Captivity
The IDF confirmed that the four hostages [Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag] returned to Israeli territory after being transferred from Hamas captivity to the Red Cross on Saturday.
The four female IDF soldiers taken hostage by Hamas were transferred, in military uniform, to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday.
The hostages were seen holding bags similar to the ones given to the three hostages released last week. Last week, the bag included Arabic language completion certificates and photos of the hostages’ time in captivity.
Ahead of the hostage transfer, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, along with Gazan civilians, congregated in Palestine Square of Gaza City.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement Saturday morning in response to released hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, and Liri Albag being transferred to IDF custody.
“The Israeli government embraces the four returning IDF soldiers. Their families have been informed by the designated authorities that they have been transferred to the IDF.
“The Israeli government is committed to the return of all the remaining hostages.”
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Danon To UN: UNRWA Must Cease Its Operations, 'Evacuate All Premises' In Jerusalem By January 30
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Friday informed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a letter that the “Palestinian refugee” agency UNRWA must “cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city” by January 30.
The notification follows the law which was passed by the Knesset in October banning UNRWA’s operation on Israeli land, and which takes effect on January 30.
A week after the Knesset passed the legislation, then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz officially announced the cancellation of the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA which formed the legal basis for relations between the State of Israel and UNRWA.
UNRWA, which has long been criticized for cooperating with Hamas, has come under increased scrutiny as its workers have been found to have been directly involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel revealed a year ago of this year that UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks.
It then presented a dossier showing that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively took part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.
Day 477 — Saturday, January 25
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli hostage recently released by Hamas, reportedly requested her captors release Keith Siegel, another hostage, in her place.
According to N12, Emily was informed of her release but learned that Keith, a 65-year-old American-Israeli, would remain in captivity due to his deteriorating condition.
Her plea was ultimately denied, as such decisions were made by higher-ranking members of the terrorist organization.
Fresh evidence, including Emily’s account, confirms Keith’s survival as recently as her time in captivity. Previously, the last known evidence of Keith being alive was a Hamas propaganda video from April.
Keith Siegel was abducted alongside his wife, Aviva, during the October 7 attack on Kfar Aza and transported to Gaza in their hijacked car. Aviva was released in November during the first phase of a hostage deal. She later recounted the harsh conditions they endured, including starvation, dehydration, and physical abuse—Keith’s ribs were broken during the kidnapping.
Keith is among two American-Israeli hostages reportedly included in the next phase of ongoing negotiations for their release.
