After having targeted Hamas strongholds with airstrikes over the last week, on Sunday, Israel Defense Forces launched a massive ground assault to eradicate the terrorist group Hamas from Gaza.
“IDF troops have begun extensive ground operations throughout northern and southern Gaza as part of Operation ‘Gideon&#8217;s Chariots,’” the IDF announced on Sunday. “Over the past week, the IAF conducted a preliminary wave of strikes, striking over 670 Hamas terror targets throughout Gaza to disrupt enemy preparations and support ground operations. The IAF continues to provide consistent support to operating troops in Gaza.”
“Thus far, the troops eliminated dozens of terrorists, dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites above and below ground, and are currently being deployed in key positions within Gaza,” the IDF continued. “The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorist organizations in Gaza as required, in order to defend Israeli civilians.”
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𝐈𝐃𝐅 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 “𝐆𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐬”
Over the past week, the IAF conducted a… <a href="https://t.co/3qZq1ngMfH">pic.twitter.com/3qZq1ngMfH</a>
&mdash; Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1924096822760370614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“The heroism of IDF soldiers, the unity of the people and the determination of the political echelon increase the chance of the return of the hostages – as it was then and as it is now,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
A Saudi news report has claimed that the bombing campaign by the IDF killed the current leader of Hamas, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-788195">Mohammed Sinwar</a>, who took over after his brother Yahya, who orchestrated the October 7 massacre, was killed by the IDF, on May 13. “Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that, &#8220;according to all indications, Mohammed Sinwar was killed.&#8221; The Saudi channel Al-Hadath also reported that the body of the acting Hamas leader was found in a tunnel near the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, the southern Gaza Strip,” I24 <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-report-mohammed-sinwar-s-body-found-in-tunnel-near-rafah-crossing">reported</a>.
The new offensive will not stop until Israel has accomplished its aims of rescuing the hostages or having them returned, and until Hamas has been dismantled, military officials said.
While Israel tries to destroy Hamas, the terrorist group’s supporters march through streets protesting against a young Israel female singer, Yuval Raphael, performing at the Eurovision song contest. Raphael had to hide and play dead under bodies slaughtered by Hamas on October 7 to hide from being brutally murdered.
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Right now, thousands are protesting in Basel—not against terror—but against Yuval Raphael, an Israeli survivor of Hamas’ massacre, for daring to sing about hope on the Eurovision stage.
Yes. That’s the enemy now: 24 y/o girl who lived through hell and chose music over hate. <a href="https://t.co/w6fjiX31bW">pic.twitter.com/w6fjiX31bW</a>
&mdash; Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) <a href="https://twitter.com/HenMazzig/status/1923816317645185195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<a href="https://t.co/O0A6HfzFgF">pic.twitter.com/O0A6HfzFgF</a> Thousands of Muslims and their political allies flooded the streets of Switzerland — not to demand peace, not to condemn Hamas — but to protest Israel’s Eurovision contestant, Yuval Raphael, for the “crime” of surviving.
Yuval lived through the Nova Music…
&mdash; Liza Rosen (@LizaRosen0000) <a href="https://twitter.com/LizaRosen0000/status/1923880502215291381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Meet <a href="https://twitter.com/YuvalRaphael_IL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YuvalRaphael_IL</a> a Eurovision artist, survivor, and voice of resilience. After barely escaping a massacre, she’s turning her pain into power, sharing her trauma through the universal language of music. But for daring to be vulnerable, she’s being bullied. Silenced. Because… <a href="https://t.co/jZI6a7U6v4">pic.twitter.com/jZI6a7U6v4</a>
&mdash; Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSarahIdan/status/1923778640409657869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
Yet in the end, Raphael still was triumphantly voted second place:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
SECOND PLACE! 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Thank you to each and every one of you for showing love and support.
Thank you to our incredible Yuval Raphael for making us proud and spreading her light.
We love you! Am Yisrael Chai ❤️🇮🇱
📸 EBU <a href="https://t.co/jdxE6AJI6N">pic.twitter.com/jdxE6AJI6N</a>
&mdash; Israel ישראל (@Israel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1923878249756606548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hamas-agrees-to-new-hostage-talks-after-israel-pummels-terror-group-in-new-offensive?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Hamas+Agrees+To+New+Hostage+Talks+After+Israel+Pummels+Terror+Group+In+New+Offensive">Hamas Agrees To New Hostage Talks After Israel Pummels Terror Group In New Offensive</a>

Silhouette of soldiers with Israel flag against the sunset

IDF Starts Ground Offensive Into Gaza To Finish Off Hamas

Gaza

Hamas

Israel

October 7

Yahya Sinwar

<div>
A Pulitzer Prize administrator mocked a conservative journalist and member of its nominating jury for questioning why the group gave an award to an anti-Israel journalist who downplayed Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, was invited this year to serve on the five-member jury for the Pulitzer Prize&#8217;s National Reporting award. But after the Pulitzer&#8217;s Commentary award went to Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha — who objected to the media describing an Israeli victim of  the October 7 massacre as a hostage — Johnson <a href="https://freebeacon.com/media/occasionally-we-misjudge/">had questions.</a>
As she wrote in the Free Beacon this week, Johnson asked Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller several questions about the prize, most notably, whether or not &#8220;members of the Pulitzer board themselves aware of Abu Toha’s public statements?&#8221;
The statements in question had to do with Emily Damari, who was taken hostage at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 and held by Hamas for 471 days.
“How on earth is this girl called a hostage? (And this is the case of most ‘hostages’),” Abu Toha wrote just before the Pulitzer deliberations began. “This is Emily Damari, a 28 [year-old] UK-Israeli soldier that Hamas detailed [sic] on 10/7… So this girl is called a ‘hostage?’ This soldier who was close to the border with a city that she and her country have been occupying is called a ‘hostage.’”
“Imagine for a moment a Pulitzer going to an extremist Israeli settler poet who had minimized and mocked the suffering of civilians in Gaza; who put ‘Palestinian’ or ‘innocent civilian’ in quotation marks the way Abu Toha does ‘hostages,’&#8221; Johnson wrote. &#8220;You can’t, because it would never happen.”
In response to Johnson&#8217;s query, Miller — whose social media accounts are littered with pro-Kamala Harris and anti-Trump posts — delivered what Johnson called a &#8220;non-response response about the board’s commitment to recognizing &#8216;excellence in reporting.'&#8221;
Johnson then began querying other members of the Pulitzer committee, prompting Miller to allege that Johnson’s emails violated the confidentiality agreement she had signed upon joining the jury.
Miller ended her email by noting that, while jurors are selected “for their character, expertise and integrity…Unfortunately, we occasionally misjudge.”
</div>
<div>
“She and her colleagues have misjudged, starting with the minor issue of what the confidentiality agreement actually says,” Johnson noted.
“As part of providing my services to the Pulitzers, I agreed not to discuss deliberations over the National Reporting category, nor to reveal the finalists before the winner was announced,&#8221; Johnson wrote. &#8220;I did not agree to refrain from reporting on a separate category in which I had no role.
&#8220;The Pulitzer board’s position that any reporter who participates on one of its many juries is prohibited from doing any reporting about the organization itself—even when one of its awards has become an international news story—is preposterous.”
</div>
<div>
Other jurors on the board with Johnson included Zeba Khan, the founder of Muslims for Obama; Jon Allsop, who has accused the Israel Defense Forces of deliberately targeting journalists; and Julia Preston, who has stated that President Donald Trump is “an existential threat to our democracy.”
</div>
<div>
Damari slammed the Pulitzer board, saying they had rewarded a voice that denies truth, erases victims, and desecrates the memory of the murdered.
</div>
<div>
&#8220;How to use language is precisely a journalist’s job—and a poet’s, too,&#8221; Johnson noted. &#8220;It’s not outlandish, then, to believe that Abu Toha meant exactly what he said and said exactly what he meant: No mercy for the men, women, and babies Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7.&#8221;
</div>

MixCollage-16-May-2025-11-56-AM-55

Pulitzer Prize Official Mocked Juror For Questioning An Anti-Israel Writer’s Award

Journalism

Palestinian

Pulitzer Prize

Washington Free Beacon

A heroic young Israeli police officer, a father of three who <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/408359" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rushed to save his countrymen</a> from Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, killing more than a dozen terrorists intent on slaughtering Israelis, took his own life after apparently suffering from survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
First Sgt. Igor Pibenev, 32, the father of three daughters, was at the police station in Hebron on the morning of October 7 when he heard Hamas had launched its murderous assault. Driving to his home in Yated, a village near the Gaza border, he first encountered two terrorists near Urim Junction and killed them, prompting two other terrorists to start shooting at him, both of whom he killed.
“The scenario in my head was that I would get home and see a lifeless house, but I put fear aside,” Pibenev recalled. “From Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, I headed home, but I saw terrorists walking toward the kibbutz cowshed. Then a shootout began, lasting a few minutes. On the way from the police station to my community, I saw a suspicious white vehicle and stopped on the side of the road. I identified terrorists; I shot at them and eliminated them. We had drills for situations like these, but I never believed that we would confront so many terrorists. When I heard about what happened in Kibbutz Be&#8217;eri, I imagined how I&#8217;d be left without a wife and children, but I remained optimistic the entire time.”
“After I eliminated the terrorists, I received a message from my wife that she is currently at the neighbors&#8217; with the children and she is fine and healthy. I said I am on my way,” Pibenev <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/408359" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said.</a>
“I entered the house, and the look my wife gave me and the girls was that I had arrived as they had hoped. &#8230; I gave a hug to the children &#8230; My feeling was that I was marrying my wife again and that I was back three more times in the delivery room with the excitement of seeing my children come into the world.”
Three months ago, Pivenev’s wife Chani posted on social media: “If there are people around you are have been sinking since that Saturday, (October 7) turn the world on its head so that they can get the proper professional help and treatment. Don&#8217;t try to save them alone, you can&#8217;t, and things will just get worse. Fight the feelings of guilt — it&#8217;s not your fault.&#8221;
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Israel’s Response To Hamas Attack Complicated By Hostages And Concerns Over Gaza Campaign

Israeli October 7 Hero Who Killed Over A Dozen Terrorists Dies Tragically

Heroism

Terrorism

World

Today is Mother’s Day. Around the world, children shower their mothers with flowers, cards, and celebrate cherished moments. But for me — and for the other mothers of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza — this day marks 582 days of a living nightmare that began on October 7.
I am the mother of Yonatan Samerano, a hostage. For us, time froze on October 7. For 582 days, every moment has been a blur of uncertainty, fear, and heartbreak. Every night, as parents tuck their children into bed, I lie awake, silently screaming into my pillow so I don’t wake anyone else. The weight on my chest never lifts.
Yonatan is a regular at the Nova music festival. He is vibrant, creative, full of life — &#8220;one big party,&#8221; as everyone who knows him would say. He fills every room with joy and helps countless artists in Tel Aviv&#8217;s music scene find their voice. His energy is magnetic, his spirit generous. He believes in people, in art, in freedom.
That morning at 6:29 a.m., when the rockets and sirens began, he and his friends jumped into their car to hurry home to safety. They were among the first to leave the festival grounds. A police officer directed them toward shelter in Kibbutz Be&#8217;eri, unaware they were driving straight into danger. Terrorists opened fire on their car and looters later dragged them from their vehicle.
A white Jeep then pulled up and two terrorists emerged from the vehicle. They picked up my wounded son from the pavement and placed him in the back of the Jeep, leaving his friends lifeless on the sidewalk.
The horror didn&#8217;t end with his capture. We were later forced to watch video footage of his capture. The video revealed that the man driving the Jeep was a social worker from UNRWA — an organization meant to provide humanitarian aid. He dragged my wounded son across the ground and threw him into a UN vehicle.
That’s how Yonatan was kidnapped and taken into Gaza.
I write this not just as a grieving mother, but as a witness to this unconscionable act. While others have received definitive news about their loved ones, we live in this cruel limbo — my son, shot and taken, is still in Gaza.
Every mother understands the fierceness of maternal love — but no mother should understand this pain. I wouldn’t wish even a single day of this uncertainty on any mother, anywhere. Each minute feels like an eternity.
Some mothers count the minutes until they’ll see their child again. I count minutes wondering if I’ll receive even the faintest sign that my son is still alive. Where is he? How are they treating him? Have they abandoned him? What has become of him? What remains of the beautiful soul I raised?
And yet the day passes, night falls again, and the cycle repeats — 582 days without a smile, without laughter, without any sense of life.
<div id="attachment_918277" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-918277" class="size-large wp-image-918277" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2193968537-864x576.jpg" alt="Ayelet Samerano (R), mother of Yonathan Samerano held hostage, addresses a speech during a gathering to support the hostages held in the Gaza Strip since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in Paris on January 18, 2025. Israel's cabinet convened to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect this weekend, Israeli Prime Minister's office said. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2193968537-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2193968537-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2193968537-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2193968537.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images</div>
The hostage release <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hamas-releases-six-hostages-as-first-phase-of-ceasefire-winds-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal</a> in February of this year brought miraculous reunions for some families. I&#8217;ve watched mothers embrace their children after months of captivity, their faces transformed by joy. I replay those images in my mind, visualizing that moment with Yonatan to keep myself going.
Some parents of the 59 hostages still held by Hamas have succumbed to despair, seeing only darkness. I remind myself that hope is my greatest strength. It allows me to see possibilities where others cannot. Perhaps I&#8217;m not being realistic, but this hope sustains me and gives me the courage to face each day amid this chaos.
Hope is what propels me forward each morning. Yonatan gives me strength each day. He is my son, the most precious thing in my world, and I cannot surrender. I must rise, act, fight, and struggle — constantly thinking of new ideas that might help bring him home.
The last time I spoke with my son was the evening before October 7, when I dropped him off to meet his friends for the festival. That morning, when the first siren sounded, I tried desperately to reach him, but he didn&#8217;t answer.
Since then, we&#8217;ve experienced immense grief and longing. No words can express our feelings given the terrible uncertainty about our son&#8217;s condition. Our hearts break anew each day.
President Trump has made remarkable progress in bringing many hostages home. I urge him: Don&#8217;t stop — continue to do whatever is necessary to bring every last one home. The hostages have little time left to spare.
To mothers celebrating today with your children — treasure every moment. Hold them closer. Memorize the sound of their laughter. These are luxuries I dream of experiencing again.
And to my fellow mothers of hostages — I stand with you in our impossible vigil. We will continue to fight, to hope, to believe that our children will return.
Mother&#8217;s Day will truly arrive when we can hold our children again. Until then, we remain mothers in waiting, our hearts simultaneously broken, yet full of an unbreakable hope.
I carry Yonatan with me every moment — his endless magic, his beautiful spirit, his love of life. And I carry the hope that one day soon, all 59 hostages will return to their families&#8217; arms. That would be the greatest Mother&#8217;s Day gift of all.
* * *
Ayelet Samerano is the mother of Yonatan Samerano who was kidnapped and taken to Gaza by Hamas in an UNRWA vehicle on October 7, 2023.

Yonatan Samerano

582 Days Of Waiting: A Mother’s Day Without My Son

582 Days Of Waiting: A Mother's Day Without My Son

Hostages

Mother

Mothers Day

Opinion

UNRWA

As Israel marks its 77th Independence Day and President Donald Trump completes his first 100 days in office, my heart is somewhere else entirely: in the darkness of Gaza, where my son Bar remains in captivity — frail, frightened, and forgotten by far too many.
Bar Kupershtein is 23 years old. He was abducted by Hamas terrorists at 9:15 a.m. on October 7, 2023, from the Nova Music Festival. Just three hours earlier, at 6:30 a.m., Bar called to check in on his grandmother as sirens sounded across Israel. He assured her that he was ok and would soon be returning home. He never made it. Instead of running, Bar stayed and helped others flee the area. He provided medical aid to the wounded, organized the evacuation of thousands, and — despite opportunities to run for his life — chose to remain behind to save lives. Survivors have testified to his heroism.
<div id="attachment_913445" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-913445" class="size-large wp-image-913445" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Kupershtein family. Bar Kupershtein." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Kupershtein family.</div>
That decision, one rooted in bravery and selflessness, led to his capture.
This is who Bar is: a caregiver, a leader, a young man of tremendous character.
I myself was seriously injured in 2019 while volunteering as a medic, on my way to resuscitate a 4-year-old girl. A terrible car accident left me disabled and struggling to speak. This is where Bar really stepped up. He moved in with his grandparents to make space for my caregiver and began working at the festival to help support our family, including his four siblings. He became the pillar of our family.
Now, that pillar is crumbling in an underground tunnel beneath Gaza.
In a recently released video by Hamas, used as psychological propaganda, Bar appears gaunt, drastically thinner, his eyes hollow, and his body weak. He did not speak, we did not hear his voice. He looks like a different person — one shaped not by time, but by torment.
Our entire family is struggling to maintain hope. I am learning to speak again so I can be Bar’s voice, calling out from the silence of the tunnels. My father, Bar’s grandfather, is a Holocaust survivor — he has suffered two strokes since Bar’s abduction. My mother is battling bowel cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. The pain has seeped into every corner of our home and yet nothing is as severe as painful as longing for Bar’s release.
<div id="attachment_913447" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-913447" class="size-large wp-image-913447" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Kupershtein family. Tal Kupershtein speaks at a rally on behalf of his son, Bar." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-09-44-AM-9910-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Kupershtein family.</div>
President Trump, your first 100 days have shown boldness and decisiveness on many fronts. You have demonstrated strength and urgency during this period. I implore you now to bring that same resolve to this urgent humanitarian crisis. The United States has long prided itself as a beacon of moral leadership. You have the power to rally the international community. You have the influence to pressure Hamas. You have the ability to make a deal happen. Please use it.
Now I ask you — beg you — to apply that same determination to the ongoing hostage crisis. Use your influence to rally international partners. Press every available lever. Show the world that America stands for life, for freedom, and for human dignity.
To the global community: do not let these hostages fade from view. Their suffering continues every day as negotiations stall and the world grows quieter. Bar and the 58 others held in Gaza are not just numbers — they are our children, our parents, our friends, and loved ones.
If your child were held underground in darkness, I’m sure you would not stop short of anything to bring them home. So I will never stop! The world must never stop until they all come home!
My son is still alive. But we are running out of time. Let these 100 days be remembered not just for politics, but for courage — for choosing life over fear, action over delay, hope over silence. And please help me hug my son again!
I promise, when Bar finally returns — when I see him again — I will summon every bone in my broken, wheelchair-bound body to rise. I will teach myself to walk again, if only to take one step closer to my son. To hold him. To remind him that he was never alone.
Bring my Bar home.
* * *
Tal Kupershtein is the father of Bar Kupershtein who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-HOSTAGES

Bring My Son Home: A Father’s Plea To President Trump And The World

Bring My Son Home: A Father's Plea To President Trump And The World

Nova festival

President Trump

In a reversal from the Biden administration’s policy, the Trump administration&#8217;s Department of Justice has stripped the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) — which has been accused of working with Hamas during the October 7, 2023, massacre of more than 1200 people in Israel — of immunity from prosecution. That decision will enable the billion-dollar lawsuit filed by the October 7 victims&#8217; families to move forward.
In a  letter from the United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres regarding the case Estate of Tamar Kedem Siman Tov et al. v. UNRWA, the text stated:
<blockquote>
The complaint in this case recounts atrocious crimes committed by Hamas on October 7. And its factual allegations, taken as true, detail how the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (&#8220;UNRWA&#8221;) played a significant role in those heinous offenses. Previously, the Government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer those allegations in American courts. The Government has since reevaluated that position, and now concludes UNRWA is not immune from this litigation. Nor are the bulk of other defendants.
</blockquote>
The lawsuit<a href="https://unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/001-UNRWAComplaint.pdf"> states</a>:
<blockquote>The atrocities committed by Hamas in the October 7 Attack were not only acts of terror, genocide, and crimes against humanity, they were torts in violation of the law of nations. Because, as detailed below, the Defendants’ actions aiding and abetting those torts in violation of the law of nations, including but not limited to their funding of Hamas, occurred in significant part in the State of New York and in this federal judicial district, this Court has subject matter jurisdiction and venue over Plaintiffs’ claims against these Defendants. Many of the Plaintiffs separately have claims against Defendants for aiding and abetting Hamas’ violations of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”), which requires no such New York nexus.</blockquote>
“The US administration&#8217;s determination that UNRWA lacks diplomatic immunity could substantially facilitate Israel&#8217;s efforts to end the agency&#8217;s operations within Israeli territory,” Israel Hayom <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/04/25/trumps-doj-strips-unrwa-of-immunity/">pointed out</a>. “The lawsuit presents evidence alleging UNRWA orchestrated a $1 billion money laundering operation that funded Hamas, while simultaneously reducing humanitarian aid to Gaza residents and playing a critical role in the October 7 attack.”
Documents shared with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/world/middleeast/hamas-unrwa-schools.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> last December impelled the media outlet to admit that senior staff at UNRWA schools doubled as members of Hamas’ military wing.
As shown by the detailed records kept by the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, which were seized by Israel, at least 24 people employed by the anti-Israel UNRWA in their schools were members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. “A majority were top administrators at the schools — principals or deputy principals — and the rest were school counselors and teachers, the documents say,” The Times reported. “Almost all of the Hamas-linked educators, according to the records, were fighters in the Qassam Brigades.”
“The Constitution does not grant immunity to foreign sovereigns or organizations. Instead, such immunity &#8216;is a matter of grace and comity on the part of the United States,’” the letter continued. “The interactions among two treaties, one statute, and one proposed convention govern whether UNRWA is entitled to such grace here. First, the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 (‘IOIA’) creates the ‘default rules’ for the immunity enjoyed by international organizations in the United States. Although apparently aimed at many of the same entities that now comprise the United Nations (‘UN’) system, id., the JOIA applies to any ‘public organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Congress &#8230; and which shall have been designated by the President through appropriate Executive order as being entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided in this subchapter.’&#8221;
“In other words, Congress controls in the first instance whether the United States participates in such ‘public organizations’ and it empowered the President to decide whether to extend immunity to these organizations including ‘at any time to revoke the designation’ entitling the organizations to immunity,” the letter explains.
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The Trump DOJ has reversed the Biden admin&#39;s position and made it clear that UNRWA and its employees are not entitled to immunity for their atrocious terroristic conduct. 
File this under the category of &quot;things that should not have to be said but thank God someone said them.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iRVSFZdV4v">pic.twitter.com/iRVSFZdV4v</a>
&mdash; Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkGoldfeder/status/1915591397521969386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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UNRWA – Palestine – Photo Illustration

Trump DOJ Strips Hamas-Linked UN Agency Of Immunity For October 7 Massacre

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A dog abducted by terrorists on October 7 was reunited with its owner, Rachel Dancyg, on Wednesday, after a year and a half of being apart.
Billy, a three-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ massacre. 
In a viral video, Billy is seen running into the arms of the Dancyg family while Rachel cries. Rachel then hugs Aviad Shapira, the reservist who found the dog.
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Rachel’s family and friends were murdered on October 7.
Her dog Billy was kidnapped to Gaza.
For a year and a half, Rachel didn’t know if he was alive.
This week, an IDF reservist found him in Rafah.
Today, they were reunited. 💙🇮🇱<a href="https://t.co/xfiKyGNUur">pic.twitter.com/xfiKyGNUur</a>
— Tamar Schwarzbard 🇮🇱 (@TSchwarzbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSchwarzbard/status/1912473008926584836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Shapira told Israel’s Channel 12 that the dog ran into his arms while he was in Rafah. Shapira, of the Golani’s 13th Battalion, took care of the dog for four days before returning to Israel, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/dog-abducted-from-murdered-hostages-family-found-by-troops-in-gaza/">The Times of Israel reported</a>.
“She just ran up to me and jumped on me,” Shapira said. “I told myself that she would come with me to Israel. I really fought for her to come with me.”
When Shapira took Billy to an Israeli vet, a microchip was discovered, showing she belonged to Rachel.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-908495" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-2-266x576.jpg" alt="" width="266" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-2-266x576.jpg 266w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-2-139x300.jpg 139w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-2.jpg 591w" sizes="(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px" /></div>
&#8220;Our heartfelt thanks to Aviad, who insisted on bringing Billie back to Israel,” a spokesperson for Kibbutz Nir Oz released in a statement. “Thank you to all the heroic IDF soldiers; you lit up our darkness.”
&#8220;Dogs are part of the family,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;Many of the dogs and animals who lived on the kibbutz were abducted or murdered on October 7th, together with the humans. The great hug that Billie got upon her return from the entire people of Israel teaches how much we all long and need such miracles.&#8221;
Rachel’s son-in-law, Yaron Maor, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/3-year-old-spaniel-abducted-on-oct-7-found-in-gaza-to-be-returned-to-family/">told</a> YNet that the family didn’t believe that Billy survived and purchased another dog of the same breed for the family’s children.
“We are in complete shock and overwhelmed with emotion to see her tomorrow. We didn’t believe she had survived,” he said before reuniting with the dog. “Now the two dogs will live together with us. It’s a miracle from heaven.”
Rachel is the ex-wife of Alex Dancyg, a murdered hostage who was buried in August after his body was recovered by the IDF. Dancyg’s brother, Itzik Elgarat, was also murdered and buried after his body was returned in the latest hostage deal.
Rachel is known for her heroic act of saving her teenage granddaughters on October 7. While sheltering in a safe room that didn’t have a lock, the 72-year-old grandmother successfully held the door shut while terrorists fired bullets at the door.

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Dog Abducted On October 7 Reunited With Owner: ‘It’s A Miracle From Heaven’

Dogs

On Monday, American victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of more than 1200 people in Israel filed a lawsuit against a U.S. billionaire who<a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-845379" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reportedly advised</a> the Trump administration envoy for hostages, Adam Boehler, accusing the billionaire of aiding Hamas in the October 7 attack. Boehler was negotiating directly with the terrorist group Hamas in March.
Billionaire Bashar Masri, who lives in Washington D.C., “is portrayed in the lawsuit as a central figure who leveraged his cultivated image as a peace-building entrepreneur to secure funding while covertly supporting Hamas,” attorney Marina Medvin, who represented some of the January 6 defendants, noted, adding, “His alleged background includes participation in the First Intifada and ties to Qatari investors linked to Hamas. His companies PADICO, PRICO, PIEDCO, and Massar International are accused of being under Masri’s control and instrumental in owning, operating, and integrating the properties into Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.”
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Interesting new lawsuit filed today in DC by American October 7 victims against Bashar Masri, a US billionaire, accusing him of aiding Hamas in the October 7 attack.
Masri advised Trump admin on Hamas negotiations, specifically advising Adam Boehler, who conducted unprecedented…
&mdash; Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1909244462431125631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Masri and the companies he controls including Defendants Palestine Development &amp; Investment Company (&#8220;PADICO&#8221;), Palestine Real Estate Investment Company (&#8220;PRICO&#8221;), and Palestinian Industrial Estate Development Company (&#8220;PIEDCO&#8221;) developed and operated prime properties in Gaza for outwardly legitimate purposes. But in reality, they were also used to construct and conceal Hamas&#8217;s attack tunnels, store and launch its rockets at Israel, host Hamas leadership and foot soldiers, train Hamas naval commandos-and even to produce electricity for Hamas&#8217;s attack tunnel infrastructure,&#8221; the lawsuit <a href="https://x.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1909245945616667022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a>. “Just prior to the October 7 Attack, Masri even installed an individual closely tied to Hamas as Chairman of PIEDCO.”
“As far back as 2014, Al Mashtal Hotel, adorned with large UN and EU signage on its roof, hosted a significant network of Hamas attack tunnels used to launch rockets into Israel and served as a command center for Hamas&#8217;s leaders during its conflict with Israel that summer,” the lawsuit <a href="https://x.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1909246611936412095">continues</a>. “The IDF eventually struck the launch sites and damaged the hotel. In the following years, Defendants worked closely with Hamas to renovate and refurbish the hotels, including electrical upgrades used to power Hamas&#8217;s tunnel network beneath them, and to restore and enhance the rocket launching sites positioned near the hotels, which Hamas deployed on October 7, 2023, and thereafter. Hamas&#8217;s terrorist tunnel network not only ran under Masri&#8217;s hotels, but the tunnels were accessible directly from guest rooms and other facilities inside the hotels.”
While Boehler was meeting with Hamas, he made <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/meet-adam-boehler-trumps-complacent-confused-and-dangerously-naive-hostage-envoy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statements</a> in which he referenced Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said he could see members of Hamas being “nice guys,” stating:
<blockquote>
I spoke with Ron, and I’m sympathetic. He has someone that he doesn’t know well, making direct contact with Hamas. Maybe I would see them and say, “Look, they don’t have horns growing out of their head. They’re actually guys like us. They’re pretty nice guys.
</blockquote>
Boehler also said he “wanted to say to Hamas, what is the endgame that you want here? Not the dream endgame, but what do you think is realistic at this point?” Asked whether he “realistically” thought “that Hamas would eventually agree to lay down its weapons and not be part of Gaza’s political future,” he immediately replied, “I do believe that.”
Boehler later <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-hostage-envoy-adam-boehler-50f28c5b58a0e585df526d0b2da13856" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew</a> his nomination for special presidential envoy for hostage affairs but is still involved in hostage negotiations.

TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT

October 7 Victims File Suit Against Arab Billionaire Who Reportedly Advised Trump Hostage Negotiator

Adam Boehler

The following is an excerpt from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQQ47DR3">The Wake Up Call: Global Jihad and the Rise of Antisemitism in a World Gone Mad</a>,&#8221; by Israel Ellis (Post Hill Press/Wicked Son).
* * *
<h3>A Conversation on Healing and the Battle for Humanity </h3>
October 7 should be a traumatic jolt for anyone who is a lover of life. We must stand united and resolved to make the world a safer place for the future generations that will follow. For if the lovers of life cannot heal the hate, we are truly lost at sea.
I met George, a doctor from Germany, at a healing retreat on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the south of Thailand. During the first of our many conversations, I described some of the ideas that would later become these chapters, and in answer to his piqued interest, I went on to explain to him the events that took place in Israel on October 7 and the theater of the world since. We got around to the existential question on what it takes to save our world from itself, and both readily agreed in the simplicity that peace comes from love. And to love is to heal. Our conversation turned to philosophy and the infinity of the cosmos. It’s the kind of place that leads you into these thoughts. I brought up the biblical story of Jonah, the unwilling oracle, who warned the people of Nineveh, who repented without question because they came to understand the severity of the warnings and the opportunity to change. I asked George: Where is today’s Jonah to tell the haters wrong from right? To warn us of the consequences of hate?
The next morning George sat beside me and told me had he reflected on the prior evening’s discourse. “I agree,” he said with slow, carefully chosen words. “Both sides need to heal.” He saw my body tense up at the reference to “sides.” The idea of shared moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas is a typical red herring of those that will not fully condemn Hamas and stand for Israel. George gently raised a placating hand and asked me for patience. “Can you for a moment accept that there is a part of Hamas within you?” I caught my breath.
We sat in silence while I pondered this and took effort to examine George through a different lens. He has no connection to Israel; he is not affected by what happened on October 7 except that he is a lover of life and a healer and he is saddened that this event has happened in a world he deems has turned itself upside down. He lives his life in a bubble, not intentionally, but rather because he was born into it; a privileged Western bubble with all the trappings, including the luxury to question his existence and the next steps in his life. He is a good person. He is not committed to any specific ideology, except for his life and those of his patients. He is not a liberal nor does he consider himself a conservative. He will not take up a placard and join a protest. He believes that all people should live together in peace. He stays out of business that is not his to judge, because he knows his opinion will have no effect on the outcome.
It occurred to me that his apathy is part of the challenge the world faces; he places his complete trust in his government to manage the situation. He corrected me when I suggested this, and instead claimed it is humanity itself that he trusts. “Humanity will eventually find their way, they always do,” he said.
But I disagreed. “This is not a stream of water trickling through the path of least resistance,” I said. “To avoid long and painful consequences, we sometimes must act to protect humanity from and for itself.”
The impossibility of the situation Israel finds itself in is a predicament for the free world. To counter the epidemic of Global Jihad will require some sacrifice of liberty, and this can be a slippery slope. And yet, it has already begun. The UK has the most extensive and sophisticated closed-circuit video monitoring system of its kind in the world, complete with facial recognition and AI capabilities. There are few places left in London where you can escape someone watching you. This invasion of privacy is the compromise for security. But this does nothing to weed out the problem of radicalization by its roots. These bandaid solutions will only drive the Jihad further underground into the metaphorical and literal tunnels. The only long-term solution depends on overhauling how the next generation comes to see their world. Confronting the hold that the radicals have institutionalized over young people, dismantling the arenas for hate, and policing the spread of lies and calls to Jihad, is of the most critical importance. Like the cameras in London, it is not pretty to impose law and confront hate.
<div id="attachment_901781" style="width: 383px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901781" class="wp-image-901781 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-373x576.jpg" alt="Post Hill Press/Wicked Son" width="373" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-373x576.jpg 373w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-194x300.jpg 194w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-768x1187.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_.jpg 880w" sizes="(max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px" />Post Hill Press/Wicked Son</div>
I returned to the present with the clang of a spoon against my metal cup. George waited for my answer. Can I accept that there is something of Hamas in all of us? It is a difficult question, because on the face of it it seems a bizarre and hurtful theory by someone who knows little about the situation on the ground. But I have come to respect George, and I knew he was not playing with me. What he asked me is if we are all capable of playing the part of Hamas if we were wearing the shoe on the other foot.
I looked across at George and asked him thoughtfully if he has siblings. “Yes,” he answered, not really sure of where I was going with this. “I have a sister, she is eight years younger than myself.” I asked him if he ever felt jealousy toward her. He assures me that he did. When she first arrived home, the focus of his entire world shifted to her. “Did you ever have evil and violent thoughts about how to deal with that? Did you plan to kill her?” I asked, to his wide-eyed look. Of course, this is extreme, but relevant. “I love my sister to this day,” he stammers. “I would never harm her.” He takes a slow breath in and admits “regardless of how much she may have infuriated me as a young boy.”
In the story of Cain and Abel. Cain, the older brother, is jealous at the acceptance of Abel’s’ sacrifice to God, and in response he kills him. Cain is new to all these powerful emotions, being only the third person to ever live, he has no context for dealing and how to manage these feelings. Leading up to the act, he could not have understood the consequences of his actions, yet as his brother lay unmoving beneath him, he realizes immediately by some intuitive force that he has committed a grave transgression. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he responds to God, when questioned of Abel’s whereabouts, a clear defensive diversion away from the moral consequence of what he has done. There are direct lessons that can be interpreted from this story; the moral wrongness of murder, the accountability, the shame and regret, and the divine justice that follows.
In my own paraphrasing of Genesis 4:11-12, I quote; “Cain, the earth received your brother’s blood from your hand, thereby the ground will give you nothing in return, and you are banished and will walk the earth without home.” This is a very clear and powerful statement that is made, one that neither Jews, Christians, or Muslims will disagree with. A person who commits murder will become a wanderer, a refugee wherever they go. They are Cain, who was deserving of justice, even though no lawbook had ever told him murder was wrong.
What happened on October 7 was a collective sociopathic act that crossed a line from which there can be no return, not just for the Hamas terrorists that came armed with guns and bombs, but for the people of Gaza who supported the invasion and followed in its wake, rampaging through residential areas, pillaging, burning, and committing barbaric acts of rape and live dismemberment. The people of Gaza, everyday citizens, came to set fire to buildings with people still inside. If you poll Gazans today, the majority will support Hamas and celebrate the events of October 7. If you survey the Palestinian people in the lands controlled by the PA, chances are there will be a strong empathy for the Gazans whose immorality brought them to their own destruction. If you poll the Pan Arab world, you will likely find an alarming number of people in support of Hamas. 
The October 7 attacks ignited global outrage, revealing deep-seated hatred and a disturbing lack of empathy. Those who march in support of Israel’s destruction or celebrate Hamas’s violence are morally complicit in these heinous acts. Like Cain, who committed the first murder despite having no explicit prohibition, these supporters cannot claim ignorance as a defense for their actions. And this is the difference between a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer, and a fundamentally good person. The masked people holding placards celebrating Hamas and chanting for the genocide of Jews, participating in protests and encampments, these are not just the useful idiots of Hamas, these are useful evildoers for Hamas.
* * *
Israel Ellis is <a href="https://israelellis.com/in-the-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an entrepreneur</a> and the father of an IDF soldier. He is the author of &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQQ47DR3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wake Up Call</a>&#8221; (Post Hill Press/Wicked Son).
This excerpt is published by permission from Post Hill Press/Wicked Son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

‘Am I My Brother’s Keeper?’: Cain, Hamas, And The Aftermath Of October 7

'Am I My Brother’s Keeper?': Cain, Hamas, And The Aftermath Of October 7

Anti-Semitism

Bible

Books

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Native Israeli actress Gal Gadot, famous for playing Wonder Woman among other roles, explained why she left behind her usual reticence in speaking about politics after the October 7, 2023, massacre in which the terrorist group Hamas and Gaza residents slaughtered over 1,220 Israelis: “I could not be silent.”
“There is a challenge for people to speak on social media because there is so much hate going on and so many bots and so many angry people that are looking for a cause,” Gadot told <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/features/gal-gadot-snow-white-wonder-woman-walk-of-fame-1236339602/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a>.
“Who cares about the celebrity talking about politics?” Gadot, who has served in the Israel Defense Forces, asked rhetorically. “I’m an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world.”
“But on October 7, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent,” she declared. “I was shocked by the amount of hate, by the amount of how much people think they know when they actually have no idea, and also by how the media is not fair many times. So I had to speak up.”
“I’m not a hater,” she continued. “I’m a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel and established his family from scratch after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz. And on the other side of my family, I’m eighth-generation Israeli. I’m an indigenous person of Israel.”
“I am all about humanity and I felt like I had to advocate for the hostages. &#8230; when your compass is clear, your conscience is clean. I know what I’m advocating for, and I know what I wish for the world. I am praying for better days for all. I want everybody to have good life and prosperity, and the ability to raise their children in a safe environment.”
On Tuesday, as Gadot was honored at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, the festivities were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/18/gal-gadot-protest-walk-of-fame" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delayed</a> for 15 minutes when pro-Palestinian activists made enough trouble that police were called in.
On March 4, speaking at the Anti-Defamation League’s annual summit, Gadot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRQO48kvonQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “Never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States, and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying and cheering on a massacre of Jews. &#8230; Here’s the thing: However much you tried to avoid it before, even if speaking up wasn’t really your thing, none of us can ignore the explosion of Jew-hatred around the world anymore. &#8230; My name is Gal, and I’m Jewish, and we have had enough of Jew-hatred. On October 7, Jewish women were sexually terrorized, raped, murdered, and kidnapped by Hamas. We were all listening, hoping to hear support from our sisters around the world and too often heard silence. We can’t wait any longer; we can’t hold our breaths and pray or beg from support from people, groups, communities, that don’t want to be there for us. We need to be there for ourselves.”
The day of the October 7 massacre, Gadot wrote on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CyGtKE-tbSI/?img_index=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a>:
<blockquote>
At least 250 Israeli have been murdered and dozens of women children and elders held as hostages in Gaza, by Palestinian military group Hamas. Starting early morning more than 3,000 rockets were fire. Hamas is holding hostages, controlling bases and settlements in Israel. There have been more than 1,500 injured and heavy fighting is still ongoing “I hear their voices and they are banging on the door. I am with my two little children.” My heart is aching. Praying for all of those in pain.
</blockquote>
Years after serving in the Israel military, Gadot <a href="https://fashionmagazine.com/flare/celebrity/gal-gadot-wonder-woman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “It was demanding because you give up your freedom for two years, but there is something special in giving back to your community.”

Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Justice League” – Arrivals

‘I Could Not Be Silent’: Gal Gadot On Speaking Out After October 7

Celebrities

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Competing in the judo competition at the European Open in Warsaw, an Israeli judoka defeated his Muslim opponent, who refused to shake his hand. Undaunted, the Israeli then raised his hand in the victory gesture popularized by returned hostage Emily Damari.
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Israeli Judo athlete Yosef Simin won his match. But his MusIim opponent refused to shake his hand. 
So Yosef marked his win with Emily Damari’s victory symbol. 🤟
King.
🎥Israel Hayom <a href="https://t.co/I0MrB7ENaG">pic.twitter.com/I0MrB7ENaG</a>
&mdash; dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) <a href="https://twitter.com/DahliaKurtz/status/1893803011132019093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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After his Muslim opponent refused to shake his hand, Israeli judoka Joseph Simin makes hostage Emily Damari’s gesture of freedom. 🤟
What a Champ! <a href="https://t.co/TxpuVW7Qp5">pic.twitter.com/TxpuVW7Qp5</a>
&mdash; Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeldickson/status/1894000155696783575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Yosef Simin, who won the silver medal, defeated Islam Tsintsalashvili of Georgia in the round of 16. When Tsitsalashvili later refused to shake his hand, Simin responded by raising his hand in the symbol of the hostages, inspired by Damari.
Damari, taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 massacre in which the terrorist group Hamas slaughtered more than 1220 Israeli men, women, and children, spent 471 days held as a hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza before being released in January. She lost the third and fourth fingers on her left hand when Hamas shot her during the kidnapping, thus permitting her to hold up only her thumb, index finger, and little finger to wave after she was freed.
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Thank you to everyone in the UK and around the world who supported the campaign to bring Emily home, and for all your messages here on X. You are amazing and we love you all 🤟
94 hostages still need us🎗️💛 <a href="https://t.co/nuRVj6n8tt">pic.twitter.com/nuRVj6n8tt</a>
&mdash; Mandy Damari 🎗🤟 (@DamariMandy) <a href="https://twitter.com/DamariMandy/status/1881749983143350436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Supporters had added bandages to the ‘rock on’ emoji, which uses the same configuration of fingers, to transform Damari’s injury into a symbol of defiance,” The Jewish News <a href="https://www.thejewishnews.com/jewish-telegraphic-agency/released-hostage-emily-damari-s-injured-hand-becomes-an-instant-symbol-of-israeli-defiance/article_4e15cdb6-d9a2-11ef-adbb-b3a0e1ac5475.html#:~:text=Damari's%20injury%20turned%20her%20hand,her%20and%20took%20her%20hostage." target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. “Others adapted Damari’s gesture as well. A drawing of Damari’s hands demonstrating the Jewish priestly blessing circulated online, with words from the biblical benediction: ‘May God bless you and keep you.’ The drawing was attributed to Moshe Shapira, a Jerusalem artist and architect, whose son Aner was killed on Oct. 7 after saving the lives of others.”
In 2017, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, Israeli judoka Shir Rishoni won her match against her Moroccan opponent, Aziza Chakir, but when Rishoni approached Chakir to offer the typical handshake after the match, Chakir reacted with a hilarious display of moral cowardice: she <a href="https://israel365news.com/319449/two-judo-bronze-medals-israel-still-no-flag-sight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran away.</a>
Israeli judo competitors have been snubbed not only by their opponents, who refuse to acknowledge their victories but also by the International Judo Federation itself, which refused to fly the Israel flag when Israeli athletes won any medal and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-wins-gold-at-abu-dhabi-judo-tourney-which-refuses-to-play-the-anthem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refused to play</a> the Israeli national anthem when Israeli judo champion Tal Flicker won the gold, prompting him to sing the Israel national anthem while the theme of the International Judo Federation was played.

Mother Of British Hostage Being Held By Hamas Speaks To The Press

Muslim Judoka Refuses To Shake Israeli Opponent’s Hand After Loss. Israeli Has Perfect Response.

Muslim Judoka Refuses To Shake Israeli Opponent's Hand After Loss. Israeli Has Perfect Response.

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Hamas terrorists claim that their two youngest hostages, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, will be among the four dead they will return to Israel later this week.
Following threats from President Donald Trump — who made it clear that he would stand by and support Israel in taking whatever measures deemed necessary if the remaining hostages were not released in the coming days — Hamas also agreed to release six living hostages on Saturday and another four deceased hostages next week.
The Israeli Prime Minister&#8217;s office confirmed that negotiations in Cairo, Egypt, had resulted in an agreement and shared the details of the upcoming exchange with <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/18/middleeast/hamas-israel-hostages-to-release-bibas-family-intl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. Israel will also release several Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli officials have not yet confirmed that the Bibas children — just four years old and nine months old, respectively, at the time of their capture — are among the dead, but they did say that the families of the hostages have all been notified of the agreement.
The Bibas children — along with their mother Shiri and father Yarden — were among those kidnapped and taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists breached the border into Israel and killed more than 1200 people. They tortured, raped, and slaughtered hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children — and then returned to Gaza with dozens more as their hostages.
In November 2023, just weeks after the family was taken hostage, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/30/news/hamas-releases-video-of-bibas-family-after-claiming-idf-strike-killed-mom-2-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hamas claimed</a> that the young boys and their mother had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hamas also claimed that they had offered to return the bodies to Israel Defense Forces at the time, but their offer had been rejected.
Israeli officials could not confirm at the time whether or not claims of their deaths were true.
&#8220;The Hamas terrorist organization presented harsh documentation of Yarden Bibas,&#8221; IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said after the video was released. &#8220;Our hearts are with the entire Bibas family. We will continue to return all our captives. Hamas employs psychological terror against the families of the captives. Its purpose is to exert pressure, to harm our resilience.&#8221;
Yarden Bibas was released from Hamas captivity on February 1, 2025 — one year and four months after he was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Hamas To Return Bodies Of Bibas Babies, The Two Youngest Hostages Killed

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