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The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
He was ‘sacrificed on a political altar,’ says brother of slain hostage set for return
Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik is held hostage in Gaza, speaks during a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 28, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Danny Elgarat, the brother of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat, whose body is set to be returned by Hamas tonight, publishes a poem accusing the government of abandoning Itzik.
“I failed” is the title of the poem Elgarat publishes on Facebook.
“You were sacrificed on a political altar,” he writes, adding that funeral processions and shiva details have already been prepared.
“The struggle ended in defeat, I failed in the rescue mission,” he writes, adding: “A ‘complete victory’ was achieved over me” — echoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s slogan throughout the war with Hamas.
“Forgive me and the whole nation, we didn’t do enough to save you, I didn’t honor my promise to get you back safely.”
Ex-hostage Liri Albag: Hamas tried to prevent us from celebrating Jewish festivals; we did anyway
Freed hostage Liri Albag returns to her home in Moshav Yarhiv, February 5, 2025, after being released from the hospital. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)
Captivity survivor Liri Albag has spoken about celebrating Jewish festivals during her 15 months as a hostage in Gaza, even when sometimes faced with Hamas attempts to prevent this.
In comments made to Shai Graucher, head of the Standing Together group that aids former hostages, and aired by Channel 12 news, Albag says she and fellow abducted surveillance soldier Agam Berger tried to mark as many religious holidays as possible, despite the captors’ attempts to stop this.
“We even argued with them because they didn’t agree to turn off the light on Yom Kippur” — when observant Jews don’t use electricity, including turning lights off or on — “so we told them, ‘OK, your problem that electricity goes to waste, keep it on,’ and they did. We told them they were whining all the time that there was no power or water, but we wouldn’t turn it off. They didn’t agree to cooperate with Jewish things.”
Albag says the hostages made sukkah ornaments for the festival of Sukkot, that they asked for honey and a carrot for Rosh Hashanah, and that they fasted on Tisha B’Av.
On Hanukkah, they asked for candles and received hot glue sticks instead. When they said that wasn’t candles, captors gave them an electric candle with a battery, which they used: “At least we lit something.”
Before Passover, Albag concealed from the terrorists that she was making a Seder Hagaddah: “And on the holiday eve we sat at a table and I brought the Hagaddah I made, and I and Agam marked the festival.”
Red Cross en route to handover site in Gaza to receive 4 slain hostages
The Red Cross is heading to a handover site in the Gaza Strip to collect from Hamas the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, an Israeli defense official says.
The bodies will later be transferred to Israel for identification.
Hamas says it will free four Israeli hostages tonight and Israel is releasing 500+ Palestinian inmates and will be arriving in the Gaza Strip.
The Red Cross is set to transfer the coffins of deceased hostages held by Hamas shortly. #Hamas #Israel #Hostages #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/PRhzlVILir
— Patriot Independence (@Patriotind1776) February 26, 2025
Man killed in car explosion on road near Gaza border; terror not suspected
The scene of a car explosion in the Gaza border area on February 26, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
A man has been killed in a car explosion near Kibbutz Erez in the Gaza border area, on Route 34, police and paramedics say.
Medics declare his death at the scene. Police do not suspect a terror-related motive and have declared the incident “criminal,” likely meaning an underworld hit.
Trump says Ukraine can ‘forget about’ joining NATO as he plans to host Zelensky
This combination of pictures created on November 7, 2024, shows Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky (L) arrives to give a press conference on the sideline of a EU summit in Brussels, on October 17, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) arrives to speak during a campaign rally at the J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 4, 2024 (Ludovic MARIN and Ryan M. Kelly / AFP)
US President Donald Trump says Ukraine can “forget about” joining NATO as he prepares to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks.
Trump also says he hopes to soon speak face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine that began when Moscow invaded in February 2022.
The Republican president declines to detail what concessions he will ask the two sides to make, but he underscores his administration’s position that Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO, the Western military alliance, is not tenable.
“NATO, you can forget about it,” Trump says. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
How the transfer of slain hostages is expected to look: Israel to ID bodies at Gaza border
Red Cross representatives receive from Hamas terrorists coffins apparently containing the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, February 20, 2025. (Reuters/Stringer)
The Health Ministry says it is preparing to help identify the remains of four slain hostages — set to be returned by Hamas tonight — at the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza border, rather than at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir) in Jaffa.
Once identified, the bodies will be transported to Abu Kabir for post-mortems to identify causes of death, it says.
According to the Walla news site, a team from Abu Kabir has been dispatched to the Kerem Shalom crossing for the task. Depending on the state of the remains, a field identification could prove impossible, necessitating their transfer to the facility for further examination, which could add hours or days to the process, Walla reports.
An Israeli source quoted in some Hebrew-language media outlets says the bodies will need to be positively identified before the prisoner release is completed. Other reports said the release may be staggered, with the “last prisoner” only going free after the identification of the hostages.
The measure reflects a lack of trust in Israel after Hamas handed over the body of a Gazan woman rather than that of Shiri Bibas last week. The terror group claimed the switch was the result of an error and sent the slain mother’s body to Israel a day later.
Egypt, which has been mediating to help resolve the impasse, will facilitate the delicate transfer. Officials have said the bodies will go from Gaza to Egypt and then to Israel, though other reports have said the bodies will be handed by the Red Cross to Egyptian forces in Gaza and then to IDF forces.
Report: Key US House committee to refer to West Bank from now on as Judea and Samaria
US Rep. Brian Mast wears a Israel Defense Force uniform as he arrives to a House Republican caucus meeting at the Longworth House Office Building on October 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee will from now on only refer to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, the Axios news site reports, citing an internal committee memo sent yesterday by its chairman Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, to the 50 GOP staffers on the panel.
The report says Mast wrote that “in recognition of our unbreakable bond with Israel and the inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland, the House Foreign Affairs committee will, from here forward, refer to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria in formal correspondence, communication and documentation.”
“Jewish roots in this region span centuries,” he added, and “as representatives of the American people, we must do our part to stem this reprehensible tide of antisemitism and recognize Israel’s rightful claim to the cradle of Jewish civilization.”
This is not US government policy, but it reflects the support of many in the party for Israel’s annexing of the territory it seized from Jordan in the Six-Day War in 1967.
US President Donald Trump promised some three weeks ago that the administration would likely announce the matter of West Bank annexation within four weeks.
US targets firms in China, Hong Kong over alleged role in Iranian drone procurement
The United States imposes sanctions on six entities based in Hong Kong and China that it accuses of being involved in an Iranian drone procurement network as the Trump administration implements its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
The US Treasury Department says the entities are engaged in the procurement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components on behalf of an Iranian firm under US sanctions, Pishtazan Kavosh Gostar Boshra, and its subsidiary Narin Sepehr Mobin Isatis, adding that the firms are key suppliers of Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile programs.
“Iran continues to try to find new ways to procure the key components it needs to bolster its UAV weapons program through new front companies and third-country suppliers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement.
“Treasury remains committed to disrupting the schemes that enable Iran to send its deadly weapons abroad to its terrorist proxies and other destabilizing actors.”
Anti-government group urges civil disobedience gathering in Jerusalem starting Sunday
An anti-government protest group has called for a civil disobedience to begin in Jerusalem on Sunday, after the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal’s first phase is set to expire, to stop the “thwarting” of the deal and “abandonment” of the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has largely held off on negotiating the deal’s second phase, which would see Hamas release remaining living hostages, preferring to extend the ongoing first phase. The premier’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should it proceed to the second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw fully from Gaza.
Demanding Israel “rise to phase two,” the protest group calls on its volunteers to come to join the “days of rage” by car, prepare food for a possibly long stay, and support protesters on the ground.
According to the message, Shift 101, which has held several silent pro-hostage deal protests, will gather on Jerusalem’s Azza Road — near the prime minister’s residence — at 4 p.m. Sunday, followed by an open-ended “rage protest” starting 7 p.m.
Since November, the “civil disobedience” group has been registering volunteers at weekend protests on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road and holding numerous tutorials on nonviolent disobedience tactics.
It has previously also called for a general strike and for parents to refrain from sending children to school. It advocates “nonviolent, determined civil disobedience that will lead to the fall of the government.”
In messages to volunteers, the group has repeatedly called for protesters to prepare for a “command day” that would see “thousands of soldiers on foot and battalions of cars” gather in Jerusalem, “when hostage families give the signal.”
It’s unclear how many volunteers have joined the group and which, if any, hostage families are affiliated with it.
ICC cancels arrest warrant for slain Hamas leader Muhammad Deif
The head of Hamas's military wing Muhammad Deif in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)
The International Criminal Court scraps an arrest warrant issued against Hamas’s former military chief Muhammad Deif, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year.
The decision by The Hague-based court comes after prosecutors earlier this month told its judges they had “sufficient and reliable information” that Deif was killed last July in Gaza.
“As a result, the Chamber decides to terminate the proceedings against Mr. Deif and renders the arrest warrant… against him without effect,” presiding judge Nicolas Guillou says in a written decision.
Israel announced Deif’s death shortly after the strike, but Hamas did not confirm this until late last month, when the terror group issued a statement announcing his “martyrdom.”
Judge Guillou adds the order is “without prejudice to pursuing again, should information become available that Mr. Deif is still alive.”
Set up in the late 1990s to try those accused of the world’s worst crimes, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Deif in November last year.
At the same time, it also issued warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Michelle Trachtenberg, Jewish ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Buffy’ star, dies at 39
Michelle Trachtenberg, pictured in 2007. (J. Meric/WireImage for Manning, Selvage and Lee via JTA)
Michelle Trachtenberg, who starred in US films and TV shows ranging from “Harriet the Spy” to “Gossip Girl,” has died at 39.
She was discovered today in a Manhattan apartment complex, according to the New York Post. The cause of death is not immediately clear.
Trachtenberg was Jewish, and she said her mother immigrated from what is now Russia. She grew up in New York, speaking English and Russian.
Trachtenberg got her start as a child actress on Nickelodeon and had a breakout performance as the title character in 1996’s “Harriet the Spy.” From there, she starred in a variety of shows and movies in teenage roles. She was one of a trio of Jewish actresses to star in the supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” along with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, and later appeared in a recurring role on the prep school drama “Gossip Girl.” In between, she starred in the raunchy 2004 teen comedy “EuroTrip.”
She did not have any prominent roles in more recent years, though she appeared in two episodes of the “Gossip Girl” reboot in 2022.
On Instagram, Trachtenberg made occasional references to her Jewish identity, posting about a Hanukkah celebration a decade ago and again about the holiday in 2022. Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught that launched the war in Gaza and touched off a wave of global antisemitism, Trachtenberg has posted photos of herself wearing a Star of David necklace and another, last year, of a Mickey Mouse Hanukkah backpack along with the caption “Please stop hatred towards the innocent.”
Trump: ‘Vicious’ Hamas thinks ‘they’re doing us a favor by sending us bodies’
US President Donald Trump says he’s “very disappointed” about the bodies of four hostages being released today by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
“They think they’re doing us a favor by sending us bodies,” Trump says of Hamas. “This is a vicious group of people.”
“At some point, somebody’s going to say, we got to do something about this,” Trump says during a cabinet meeting.
He reiterates that Israel will have to decide how it wants to proceed with the ceasefire. Trump has repeatedly suggested that he might have returned to the war if he were in Israel’s shoes.
He reflects on how badly the families of slain hostages want their loved ones back.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of the parents and a lot of the people involved. They want those bodies almost as much and maybe even just as much as they wanted their son or their daughter. It’s Amazing, ‘Please, sir, please. My son is dead, but they have his body. Please. Can you get it for us?'” he recalls.
Trump says some pretty messed up things about the dead bodies of hostages that Gaza is turning over.
He claims the relatives want their son and daughters’ dead bodies just as much as their living son or daughter. Listen below. pic.twitter.com/1odP43D30l
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) February 26, 2025
IDF names Hezbollah arms smuggling official targeted in airstrike as Mahran Ali Nasruddin
The IDF names the “central” Hezbollah terrorist targeted earlier in an airstrike on the Al-Qusayr area of southern Lebanon as Mahran Ali Nasruddin, of the terror group’s Unit 4400, which coordinates weapons smuggling.
The military says this means transferring arms from Iran and its proxies in the region, particularly via Syria.
It notes that many senior members of the unit have been killed during the war, including its commander and the latter’s expected successor.
Nasruddin played a “significant” role in weapons smuggling and has been directly involved in collaborating with smugglers working at the Syria-Lebanon border.
Macron says his heart is with family of French-Israeli hostage Ohad Yahalomi
Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Ohad Yahalomi, taken October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)
French President Emmanuel Macron says that all his heart is with “the family and loved ones of our compatriot Ohad Yahalomi.”
Yahalomi, a French-Israeli dual national, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, after he engaged in a gun battle with gunmen in his house and was shot in the leg.
“In these suspended hours of pain and anguish, the nation stands by their side,” writes Macron on X.
Yahalomi is among the last four hostages — all presumed dead — who are yet to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
Egypt rejects Lapid’s proposal for it to run Gaza as ‘unacceptable’
Egypt rejects Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s proposal that it take over the administration of Gaza, calling the idea “unacceptable” and contrary to longstanding Egyptian and Arab policy.
“Any notions or proposals that circumvent the constants of the Egyptian and Arab stance [on Gaza]… are rejected and unacceptable,” the official MENA news agency quotes foreign ministry spokesman Tamim Khallaf as saying, a day after Lapid floated the idea.
In press remarks, Khallaf says any suggestions bypassing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state are “half-solutions” that risk prolonging the conflict rather than solving it.
He claims the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are integral parts of the Palestinian territories that must be under “full Palestinian sovereignty and management.”
Yesterday, Lapid said Egypt should run the Gaza Strip for at least eight years after the war is over in exchange for massive debt relief.
Egypt has repeatedly rejected proposals for the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million Palestinian inhabitants to be relocated, calling such mass displacement a “red line.”
It led diplomatic efforts this month against a plan floated by US President Donald Trump for the US to “take over” and “own” the war-battered enclave after its inhabitants have been relocated to Egypt or Jordan.
‘I defeated captivity,’ says ex-hostage Omer Wenkert
Freed hostage Omer Wenkert flies with his parents Niva and Shai to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, February 22, 2025. (IDF Spokesperson's Office)
Captivity survivor Omer Wenkert publishes a series of Instagram Stories, saying that the first thing he told his mother when he was freed on Saturday was: “I defeated captivity.”
“Last Saturday, after a struggle that seemed endless, I got to receive my life and freedom back, and this is my time to join the struggle for the return of my brothers who were left behind,” he says.
“Here I am — I won’t hide that everything is different, complicated and confusing,” Wenkert writes. “But I am still me. Hope we will meet again on the [dance] floor.
“WE WILL DANCE AGAIN,” he writes in English.
Families of 4 slain hostages slated for return today have been informed
The families of the 4 slain hostages appearing on the list received by the mediators from Hamas have been informed, The Times of Israel has learned.
An official announcement with the names will be published by the Prime Minister’s Office only after the bodies have been properly identified.
Contradicting Hamas, Israel says Palestinian prisoners to only be freed after bodies of hostages arrive in Israel
The Israel Prison Service says it will free the Palestinian security prisoners slated for release tonight only after the bodies of the four hostages returned by Hamas arrive in Israel.
Prison guards plan to transport the detainees to Ofer Prison in the West Bank and Ketziot Prison in the Negev, where they will be identified by Red Cross representatives, says a spokesperson for the agency. They will then be released into the West Bank or Gaza Strip, respectively.
A source speaking to the Israel Hayom outlet claims that the inmates will not be released until the slain hostages are identified by Israel, which could take many hours after their return.
Hamas has claimed the prisoners will be released simultaneously with the hostages’ bodies.
Families of Tsahi Idan, Itzik Elgarat confirm they’re among the dead hostages set to return tonight
Tsahi Idan was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from his Kibbutz Nahal Oz home. (Courtesy)
The families of hostages Tsahi Idan and Itzik Elgarat confirm that officials have told them they are on the list of four dead captives set to be returned tonight.
“We are all still waiting for the awaited certainty, which we will only be able to get after he returns to Israel and after all the necessary checks are performed by the bodies authorized by the state, while preserving the privacy of Tsahi and his family,” the Idan family says in a statement carried by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The family notes that Tsahi was alive at the time of the November 2023 hostage deal and thanks the public for the “much love and support.”
Idan was expected to be returned in the upcoming batch of slain hostages, as one of the remaining names on the list of captives included in the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire deal.
Meanwhile, Elgarat’s brother Danny confirms in a Channel 12 interview that officials have also informed him Itzik is on the list.
Itzik Elgarat was taken captive from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
Netanyahu’s office confirms Hamas will return 4 dead hostages tonight, without ceremony
Israel confirms that an agreement has been reached with Hamas over the return of 4 slain hostages.
The bodies will be returned tonight, without Hamas putting on a ceremony ahead of the handover.
IDF strikes senior Hezbollah member involved in weapons smuggling to terror group
The Israeli Air Force, a short while ago, struck a “central terrorist” in Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is responsible for transporting and smuggling Iranian weapons into Lebanon, the IDF says.
The strike in the al-Qusayr area of southern Lebanon came after the operative “repeatedly violated” the current ceasefire, including being involved in weapons smuggling to the Iran-backed terror group. He was attacked “while planning more smuggling.”
The army, which has recently carried out airstrikes in the area of the Syria-Lebanon border, adds that Unit 4400 is continuing to smuggle arms to Hezbollah “in a manner that constitutes a threat to Israel’s security.”
IDF strikes Gaza rocket launchers in area from which failed projectile was fired
The IDF says it struck several rocket launchers in Gaza a while ago.
The launchers were located in an area from which a rocket was fired earlier today, which landed inside the Strip, the military adds.
Hezbollah member reveals part of speech that was planned by later-slain successor to Nasrallah
Excerpt from a planned speech by Hashem Safieddine, who had been the designated successor to slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, is displayed on the Lebanese news channel al-Mayadeen on February 26, 2025. (Screenshot/Youtube)
Lebanese media reveals portions of a never-delivered speech by Hashem Safieddine, who was to replace slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah before his own death in an Israeli airstrike in October.
Safieddine reportedly planned to give his speech upon taking the helm of the Iran-backed Lebanese terror organization, following Israel’s assassination of Nasrallah in late September. But the designated successor was also killed by the Israeli Air Force, just a few days after his boss.
Safieddine was officially laid to rest earlier this week alongside Nasrallah, following a massive funeral that drew mourners in the tens of thousands to Beirut’s largest sports arena.
Hezbollah parliament member Hassan Fadlallah displayed the handwritten document in an interview with the Lebanese al-Mayadeen outlet. It was apparently discovered at the site of the airstrike that killed Safieddine, in the terror group’s Beirut stronghold, Dahieh.
Safieddine’s speech mourns Nasrallah and lauds the so-called unprecedented victories achieved by the slain terror chief. He also derides American support for Israel and condemns “international silence” regarding Israeli offensives in Gaza and Lebanon post-October 7.
Hamas says it will free 4 slain hostages tonight; report says this will happen at 11 p.m.
After an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the handover of the bodies of the slain hostages will likely happen tonight, Hamas’s military wing confirms this in a statement and Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, which has close ties to the terror group, reports that the release is expected to happen tonight at 11 p.m. Israel time.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-affiliated Prisoners’ Information Office in Gaza says that the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis is preparing to receive freed Palestinian prisoners, and they are “expected to arrive between 10 p.m. and midnight.”
Hamas has been expected to hand over Tsahi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur, the last four abductees included in the first phase of the hostage deal, which ends on Saturday.
The terror group’s statement names the four hostages it will return, but Israeli officials ask media outlets not to publish them until the families are informed.
The terror group has claimed the release will happen tomorrow and that it will happen simultaneously with Israel freeing 602 Palestinian security prisoners whose release Israel has been holding up since Saturday to protest Hamas’s propaganda displays and demeaning ceremonies during the handovers of hostages.
However, an Israeli official tells Channel 13 that Israel will not release prisoners until it verifies that Hamas has returned the slain hostages it is required to.
Hamas says it will return 4 slain hostages, without a public ceremony
Top row (L-R) Tsahi Idan and Ohad Yahalomi; Bottom row (L-R) Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur (Courtesy)
Two Hamas officials say the terror group will hand over four dead Israeli hostages tomorrow in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian security prisoners, with a senior Hamas official telling AFP that there will be no public ceremony for the handover of the bodies.
“The handover will take place without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction,” the latter official says, speaking on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to discuss the matter.
“Mediators have informed Hamas that the [hostage-prisoner] exchange will take place on Thursday… Hamas and other resistance factions will hand over four bodies of Israeli captives, and in return, Israel will release more than 600 Palestinian detainees,” another Hamas official tells AFP. Another senior Hamas official says the “exchange will happen simultaneously.”
An Israeli official has told The Times of Israel that the handover of the bodies of the slain hostages will likely happen tonight, with the remains first handed to the Egyptians, who will transfer them to Israel.
Hamas is expected to hand over Tsahi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur.
Since the first stage of the ceasefire took effect last month, Hamas has handed over 25 hostages alive in public ceremonies that often paraded, humiliated, and sometimes even endangered the captives, drawing widespread condemnation, including from the United Nations.
It also handed over the bodies of four hostages, after first displaying the coffins on stage in front of a large crowd alongside propaganda material.
However, after Saturday’s handover of six living hostages, Israel suspended the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, insisting it would free them only after Hamas halts these “humiliating ceremonies.”
Ex-hostage Iair Horn mourns Bibases, says ‘I won’t really be here’ until brother Eitan and all captives return
Captivity survivor Iair Horn, speaks to the media and foreign dignitaries at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, February 26, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Captivity survivor Iair Horn addresses dozens of foreign diplomats at a vigil for Shiri Bibas and her young sons Ariel and Kfir at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, hours after the three were buried near Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Horn, who, like the Bibas family, hails from the ravaged community, follows the diplomats in lighting a candle and laying a flower at a makeshift memorial for Shiri and the boys.
Among the foreign dignitaries is Nepalese Ambassador Dhan Prasad Pandit, whose country’s citizen Bipin Joshi remains in captivity.
Before reading prepared remarks, Horn, who was released on February 15 as part of the ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, says that “for you, they are the Bibas family, but for me, they are family.”
Foreign dignitaries light candles and lay flowers at a makeshift memorial for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, on Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, hours after the three slain captives' funeral near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. pic.twitter.com/XVw8VGL32T
— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) February 26, 2025
Horn, who like the Bibases holds dual Israeli-Argentine citizenship, recalls his friendship with Shiri. He recounts how “Arielito” ran away from him when they first met but played with him the next time. Horn says he similarly tried to become friends with baby Kfir but ran out of time.
“I was released after 498 days in Hamas captivity,” says Horn, whose younger brother Eitan is still being held hostage.
Thanking the foreign diplomats for their efforts to bring the captives home, Horn continues: “It’s true that I stand here in front of you… but there are still 63 hostages in Hamas’s tunnels, among them my younger brother Eitan.”
“Until Eitan and all the others return, I won’t really be here,” he says. “My body might be here, but my soul isn’t.”
“This is actually the first time I’ve stood in the sun for so long,” he says. “While we’re here, enjoying the sun — not even appreciating it — hostages are fighting to breathe.”
Horn extols the “small things, like wearing sunglasses, being blinded by the sun, feeling cold in my bald spot.”
“Small things, but immense. Like my little brother Eitan, who is small to me but is a giant,” Horn adds in tears.
He thanks US President Donald Trump, saying that “without you, I would still be in captivity,” and urges him to ensure the hostage deal proceeds to its next, second phase, which would see Hamas release the remaining living hostages, including Eitan.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has largely held off on negotiating the second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza. The premier’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should Israel proceed to the next phase of the deal.
Addressing Trump, Horn says: “We need you so that the next phase of the deal goes forward. My brother has no time. The rest of the hostages don’t have time. We don’t have time.”
“I know what the hostages feel,” he says. “Every day, it gets worse. No person in the world should go through that.”
Horn, flanked by his brother Amos and sister-in-law Dalia Cusnir, speaks in front of a podium featuring an illustration of Shiri, with angel wings, hugging Ariel, who was 4 at his death, and Kfir, nine months.
The picture is adorned with the English-language slogan “Never forgive, never forget.”
A large, stuffed purple elephant — akin to the one clutched by Kfir in a now-famous photo — sits on a stool next to the podium.
Under the podium stand three small columns: a black one, in the center, holds a photograph of Shiri; Ariel and Kfir are featured on the other two, which are painted orange in honor of the boys’ bright red hair.
Russia is the ‘aggressor,’ says Sa’ar after Israel voted against Ukraine at UN
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar leads a faction meeting of his New Hope party in the Knesset, February 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israel still sees Russia as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine, says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, after Israel voted at the UN with the US and Russia and against Ukraine.
“We voted with the Americans and I do believe that Russia is the aggressor,” Sa’ar tells Politico during his trip to Brussels this week. “We haven’t changed our mind, but we thought it is right to give a chance to the initiative of America to try to end this war and solve it by peaceful means.”
Sa’ar also warns that a “military option” could well be the only way to stop Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon. He says that Israel prefers a diplomatic solution, but chances of success are “not huge.”
If Iran is allowed to build a nuclear weapon, he says, it would spark a “nuclear race in the Middle East with Egypt, Saudis, Turkey.”
On Syria, Sa’ar notes that “Europe is happy and we are happy that Assad is gone.”
He warns that the new Syrian government is mistreating Alawites, the religious community to which ousted leader Bashar al-Assad belonged.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas will be visiting Israel in March, Sa’ar says.
As Israel buries Bibas family, Hamas official boasts of ‘humane, moral’ treatment of hostages
On the day of the funeral of the three members of the Bibas family murdered in captivity in Gaza, Hamas politburo official Muhammad Nazal claims that the Palestinian terror group “treats its prisoners in a humane, moral and civilizational manner.”
Speaking to the Al-Arabi al-Jadeed outlet, Nazal says Hamas’s handling of the hundreds of hostages — mainly civilians abducted from their homes or a music festival on October 7, 2023 — has been “wonderful” and “humanitarian… as shown by them appearing in good health, and in an advanced moral state.”
However, families of released hostages have continued to reveal new gruesome details about the conditions their loved ones faced in Hamas captivity. Some were kept alone in tunnels for hundreds of days, many arrived in Israel visibly malnourished and emaciated, and several responded almost unresponsive. Former hostage Keith Siegel said after his release that “[Hamas] terrorists kicked me, spat on me and held me with no water, no light, no air to breathe.”
Nazal says that Hamas will not let postwar Gaza be ruled by Arab states, opposing international efforts toward a “day after” plan. He emphasizes the terror group’s commitment to continued “armed resistance” until “full sovereignty” over Gaza is reinstated.
Asked how Hamas would respond if Arab leaders decide at the upcoming Arab summit in March that Hamas must surrender Gaza, Nazal responds that political pressure can hardly make Hamas “put down its weapons” after over a year of “fierce resistance.”
He adds: “I think the Arab countries understand our position, which is the position of the Palestinian resistance in general, and not the position of Hamas alone.”
Jordan king tells Syrian interim president he condemns Israeli strikes
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows King Abdullah II (L) welcoming Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at Jordan's Marka airport on February 26, 2025. (Jordanian Royal Palace / AFP)
Jordan’s King Abdullah tells Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa after a meeting in Amman he condemns Israeli strikes on Syria, a palace statement says.
The two neighbors agree that coordination is crucial for border security and curbing arms and rampant drug smuggling that Jordan struggled to contain along its border during former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, the palace adds.
Gaza reconstruction needs political clarity, stability, UAE official says
The diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates president, Anwar Gargash, arrives to attend the opening ceremony of the summit on peace in Ukraine, at the luxury Burgenstock resort, near Lucerne, Switzlernand, on June 15, 2024. (Denis Balibouse/Pool/AFP)
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, says a Gaza reconstruction plan cannot happen without a clear path to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
Investment in the project would need political stability, he adds in remarks to the Investopia 2025 conference in Abu Dhabi.
“Gaza does need a reconstruction plan, a massive one, but that reconstruction plan cannot really take place without a clear path to a two-state solution. So, clearly here, you need political stability of a roadmap in order for these big investments to come to place,” Gargash says.
Arab states are weighing a post-war plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the strip under US control and displace Palestinians, a prospect that has angered regional leaders. The mainly Egyptian proposal may include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from the region, sources familiar with the discussions have said.
IDF says it identified a rocket launch from Gaza that fell inside Strip
The IDF says it identified a rare rocket launch from Gaza a short time ago, amid the ceasefire, which fell inside the Strip.
It says it is looking into the matter.
It is the second such incident this week.
Israeli official: Handover of bodies of 4 slain hostages likely tonight
Top row (L-R) Tsahi Idan and Ohad Yahalomi; Bottom row (L-R) Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur (Courtesy)
The handover of the bodies of four slain hostages will likely happen tonight, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The bodies will be handed to the Egyptians, who will transfer them to Israel.
Hamas is expected to hand over Tsahi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur.
Israel will release the 602 Palestinian prisoners that had been scheduled to be released on Saturday.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas buried in a single casket: ‘They will remain together’
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were buried together in a single casket.
The funeral’s MC, Carmit Palty Katzir, whose family members were killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7, said: “They will remain together and close, just as Shiri enveloped the children, always, including on that accursed day.”
Ofri Bibas Levy: They could have saved you but preferred revenge
Yarden Bibas's siter Ofri Bibas Lev eulogizes Shiri and children Ariel and Kfir Bibas at Tsoher Regional Cemetery on February 26, 2025 (Screen grab/GPO)
Ofri Bibas Levy, Yarden Bibas’s sister, says at the funeral that she has been writing these words for over a year.
“The uncertainty, anxiety, and concern for you gave my thoughts no rest, but each time my mind began to formulate them, I forcefully pushed the words away — with the power of my love for you and Yarden, with the strength of hope that you would return,” says Bibas Levy.
“For sixteen months, I’ve been speaking about you everywhere,” she says. “It always hurt and intensified the longing, but talking about you also kept you present, alive. How can it be that you are no longer here?”
Bibas Levy laments that she’ll never be able to schedule another Shabbat picnic with Shiri, that they won’t be able to watch their children run to one another for hugs, to make fun of Yarden and worry about him together, or to receive hand-me-downs from Shiri for her baby Afik, born in the last 15 months.
Bibas Levy says nothing makes sense yet, nothing feels real.
“Shiri, you were the perfect partner for Yarden,” says Bibas Levy. “I couldn’t have asked for anyone better for him. Loving, sensitive, caring, nurturing, calming. The strength you instilled in him all these years, we now draw through him. Don’t worry about him. He is strong and amazing and still makes us laugh. And we will take care of him. I promise.”
She speaks of her nephews, Ariel and Kfir, and how she will miss them and seeing Ariel grow up with her daughter.
“How much she misses you,” says Bibas Levy. “How much we imagined you growing up together, far into a post-army trip to South America.”
She speaks about not having enough time with Kfir, just 10 months old when he was killed.
“We didn’t get to do anything together,” says Bibas Levy. “I didn’t even get to buy you a gift for your first birthday.”
Bibas Levy says her nephews are in her head and heart, every time she looks at her children.
“Every time I see a Batman costume or hear a baby laugh,” says Bibas Levy. “And that’s how I want to remember the three of you: happy, laughing, a family.”
“Many people ask for your forgiveness, and Yarden’s, and ours,” says Bibas Levy. “But the blame is not on them. This disaster should not have happened. You should not have been taken, and you should have returned alive.
“Forgiveness means accepting responsibility and committing to act differently, to learn from mistakes,” adds Bibas Levy. “There is no meaning to forgiveness before the failures are investigated, and all officials take responsibility. Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened, and must never happen again.”
“They could have saved you but preferred revenge. We lost. Our image of ‘victory’ will never happen. Our struggle against the enemies will be eternal, but we must always sanctify life, love of fellow humans, respect for the dead, and never leave anyone behind. Otherwise, we lose who we are,” she says.
“Luli and Firfir, the world came to know you in the most tragic way, but I promise we will do everything so that your memory will be one of innocence, love and goodness. Exactly as mom Shiri and dad Yarden raised you.”
Shiri Bibas’s sister: ‘Watch over us from above; the monsters will not break us, they lost’
Shiri Bibas's sister Dana Silberman-Sitton eulogizes her and children Ariel and Kfir at Tsoher Regional Cemetery on February 26, 2025. (Screen grab/GPO)
Dana Silberman-Sitton, Shiri Bibas’s sister, says she has prepared herself for this moment for a full year, but nothing could truly prepare her for saying goodbye to her loved ones. She uses the nicknames she had for her sister and nephews: Baz, Lulu and Firfir.
“We waited to be aunts together, just to be called ‘aunt,’ and you, Shiri were like no other aunt, loving and protective,” she says.
Sitton describes being raised in a home filled with love, compassion, and understanding. “Dad and Mom raised us to be strong women, to love others and respect differences,” she says.
When they both became mothers, they would both pick up their children from preschool and go visit their parents, Margit and Yossi Silberman, who also lived in Nir Oz and were killed on October 7, burned in their home by Hamas terrorists.
“They would run to hug and kiss the kids and we’d look at each other and say, ‘Okay, we’re not needed here,'” says Sitton. “Now Baz, you’re here beside them, with them. So I’m not worried.”
Sitton eulogizes her two nephews, Ariel, “Lulu,” a redhead with a mischievous laugh: “I only got to be your aunt for four years, but they were four proud years,” she says. “I’ll miss your walk, like a little man, your laughter, your kind eyes, and your sweet hugs.”
Sitton speaks to Kfir, or “Firfir.”
“Sadly, I only had 9 months to cherish you. It wasn’t difficult to fall in love with you immediately. Smiling and pure, and a redhead too — you didn’t disappoint.”
Sitton asks for forgiveness on behalf of the country’s leadership and military who were not there for the family that day, and who took so long to bring them back to their home.
“Please watch over us from above — five angels who are uniquely mine. Baz, hug Dad and Mom tightly for me and watch over them for me,” she says. “Please send energies here to drive all evil from the world and leave only good.
“I promise you, as I promised Mom and Dad, that the monsters beyond the fence will not succeed in their mission. They will not defeat us, they will not break us,” she says.
“On the contrary, their mission failed because we united, because we grew stronger because we became invincible. They lost.”
Yarden Bibas eulogizes his family: ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all… Shiri, guard me so I don’t sink into darkness’
Yarden Bibas (R) with his sister Ofri as he eulogizes his wife Shiri and two young sons Kfir and Ariel, at Tsoher Regional Cemetery on February 26, 2025 (Screen grab/YouTube)
In a heartbreaking address, Yarden Bibas eulogizes his wife Shiri and children Ariel and Kfir at their funeral, speaking with his sister Ofri at his side.
Shiri, Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir were abducted by Hamas-led terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 and murdered in captivity in Gaza.
“Mi Amor,” Yarden begins, addressing Shari.
“I remember the first time I said ‘mi amor’ to you. It was at the very beginning of our relationship. You told me to only call you that if I was certain I loved you, not to say it carelessly. I didn’t say it then because I didn’t want you to think I was rushing to say ‘I love you.’ Shiri, I’ll confess to you now that I already loved you back then when I said ‘mi amor’.
“Shiri, I love you and will always love you! Shiri, you are everything to me! You are the best wife and mother there could be. Shiri, you are my best friend.
“Mishmish, who will help me make decisions now? How am I supposed to make decisions without you?
“Do you remember our last decision together? In the safe room, I asked if we should ‘fight or surrender’. You said fight, so I fought. Shiri, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all. If only I had known what would happen, I wouldn’t have fired.
“I think about everything we went through together — there are so many beautiful memories. I remember Ariel and Kfir’s births. I remember the days we would sit at home or in a café, just the two of us, talking for hours about everything under the sun. It was wonderful. I miss those times deeply. Your presence is profoundly missed.
“I want to tell you about everything that’s happening in the world and here in Israel. Shiri, everyone knows and loves us — you can’t imagine how surreal all this madness is. Shiri, people tell me they’ll always be by my side, but they’re not you. So please stay close to me and don’t go far!
“Shiri, this is the closest I’ve been to you since October 7th, and I can’t kiss or hug you, and it’s breaking me!
“Shiri, please watch over me… Protect me from bad decisions. Shield me from harmful things and protect me from myself. Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness. Mishmish, I love you!”
Yarden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)
Yarden then addresses his son Ariel:
“Chuki, Ariel, you made me a father. You transformed us into a family. You taught me what truly matters in life and about responsibility. The day you were born, I matured instantly because of you. You taught me so much about myself, and I want to thank you. So thank you, my beloved.
“Ariel, I hope you’re not angry with me for failing to protect you properly and for not being there for you. I hope you know I thought about you every day, every minute.
“I hope you’re enjoying paradise. I’m sure you’re making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions. I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics.
“Chuki, be careful when you climb down from your cloud not to step on Toni… Teach Kfir all your impressions and make everyone laugh up there. Ariel, I love you ‘the most in the world, always in the world,’ just as you used to tell us.”
Finally, Yarden addresses baby Kfir:
“Poopik, Kfir, I didn’t think our family could be more perfect, and then you came and made it even more perfect…
“I remember your birth. I remember during the delivery when the midwife suddenly stopped everything — we were frightened and thought something was wrong — but it was just to tell us we had another redhead. Mom and I laughed and rejoiced.
“You brought more light and happiness to our little home. You came with your sweet, captivating laugh and smile, and I was instantly hooked! It was impossible not to nibble on you all the time.
“Kfir, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better, but I need you to know that I love you deeply and miss you terribly! I miss nibbling on you and hearing your laughter. I miss our morning games when Mom would ask me to watch you before I went to work. I cherished those little moments so much, and I miss them now more than ever!
“Kfir, I love you the most in the world, always in the world! I have so many more things to tell you all, but I’ll save them for when we’re alone.”
Friend of Bibas family at funeral: ‘Fly, little birds, cut across the sky, mother is with you’
Friend of the Bibas family Avinoam Blumenkrantz speaks at the funeral of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir in southern Israel, February 26, 2025 (Video screenshot/GPO)
Avinoam Blumenkrantz of nearby Kibbutz Tse’elim, the hometown of Yarden Bibas, says at the funeral: “Through the tears it is difficult to see words that will soften the blow.”
“Our torn hearts are with you. We will do all we can to wrap you with love,” he says. “You are a family of lions… you fought and did not let up to the last second.”
He adds: “The terrible massacre crossed generations. It erased in one stroke three generations of the family.” Shiri’s parents were murdered during the attack on Nir Oz.
“Fly, little birds, cut across the sky. Fly wherever you please,” he says, quoting a famous song by the late Arik Einstein. “No vulture will frighten you. Mother is keeping you safe. Mother is with you. And all of us will take care of your dad Yarden.”
WATCH: Eulogies for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas
Eulogies are now starting for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas at Tsoher Cemetery in southern Israel, following their burial.
Watch them below.
‘Sorry’: Young mothers, people dressed in orange gather at Hostages Square
People gather to pay their respects during the funeral service for murdered hostages Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, February 26, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Large crowds have gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to watch the funeral of Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas.
The square is full of people wearing orange and holding yellow and orange balloons, wearing Batman masks and posters of Batman alongside Israeli flags held high and wrapped around peoples’ shoulders. Four-year-old Ariel loved the superhero.
People stand in the square with Israeli flags held high, some wrapping the flag around their shoulders. Young mothers with their babies in strollers and carriers are there too.
“Yarden, we’re with you,” reads one sign, while another says, “Rest in peace, little Batman. Now you’re a superhero.”
Some signs say “Sorry,” and red posters read, “Finish the deal now, bring them home.”
The 21-year-old granddaughter of Shlomo Mantzur, who was killed in captivity, says to Channel 12 interviewers that she’s unsure of how safe she feels in Israel after what happened to her grandfather and to all those killed and taken hostage on October 7.
“It’s hard to know if I’ll want to raise a family here, to base my life here,” she says.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas laid to rest in cemetery by their home in Nir Oz
The burial ceremony for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas is now underway at Tsoher Cemetery, near the home from which they were abducted in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Yarden Bibas makes a ‘heart’ sign to gathered supporters
In this photo captured a short time ago from the funeral procession, Yarden Bibas makes a “heart” sign with his hands from inside a van to people on the roadside paying their respects to his murdered wife and children.
אוהבים אותך ירדן.
ירדן ביבס מסמן עכשיו לב להמונים שהגיעו ללוות את אשתו ושני בניו.
חיבוק pic.twitter.com/7Tn2zM3bnt
— yayafink (יאיא פינק) (@yayafink) February 26, 2025
Funeral procession for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas arrives at cemetery near Nir Oz
The funeral procession for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas has arrived at the Tsoher Cemetery near Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The burial will take place in private. The eulogies will be broadcast.
Meanwhile, there is a livestream from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where large crowds are gathered to watch and voice their solidarity.
IDF says booms heard in center were once again related to Air Force training
The IDF says boom sounds heard in central Israel were “likely related to routine training activity of the Air Force.”
It adds that “explosions heard earlier in the Gaza envelope area were routine activity of ordnance disposal by IDF forces.”
There is no concern about a security event.
President Herzog on Bibas family: A heart-rending cry, echoing in all corners of the world
President Isaac Herzog at a Memorial Day ceremony in the Old City of Jerusalem, May 12, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
President Isaac Herzog eulogizes slain hostage Shiri Bibas and her two sons Ariel and Kfir in a lengthy post on X ahead of their funeral.
“An entire country and an entire people are in a time of mourning,” and “all of us, an entire people with broken hearts, are accompanying them to eternal rest,” he writes.
“This is not how we prayed for them to return to us,” he says. “In our minds’ eyes we saw them returning, shining with their golden heads, with the lively, playful gaze that shone in their little eyes.
“If there is still mercy in the world, the beautiful faces of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir will be a heart-rending cry, echoing in all corners of the world,” Herzog continues.
“A cry that is heard from one end of the world to the other and awakens the hearts of the people of the world, whose senses have become dull, whose measure of justice has been distorted, whose hearts have been sealed. See, oh world, today we are bringing to burial the sweetest and most righteous of your children. Open your heart, oh world, join in the great cry that an entire broken people are crying out today.”
Shiri Bibas (left) and her sons Ariel, 4, (top-right) and baby Kfir, who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 and murdered in captivity. (Courtesy/Foreign Ministry)
Knesset speaker holds minute of silence for Bibas family and other victims
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) holds a minute of silence in the Knesset plenum in memory of murdered hostages Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas.
“Last night, Oded Lifshitz was laid to rest, may God avenge his blood, and the Knesset building was lit up in orange in memory of those being laid to rest at this moment: Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, the redheads, may God avenge their blood,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana says, using the phrase for Jews killed for their Judaism.
“We remember and will not forget. On behalf of the Knesset, I would like to share in the deep sorrow of the families, for their memory and for the memory of all the victims” who have fallen since October 7, 2023, he says.
אמש הובא למנוחות עודד ליפשיץ הי"ד ומשכן הכנסת הואר בכתום לזכרם של המובאים למנוחות ברגעים אלה שירי ביבס ושני בניה הרכים אריאל וכפיר, הג׳ינג׳ים, השם יקום דמם, כולם קורבנות האויב העזתי.
״זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק״, ואנו זוכרים, ולא נשכח.
בשם הכנסת, אני מבקש להשתתף… pic.twitter.com/tGKlRyyk2L
— Amir Ohana – אמיר אוחנה (@AmirOhana) February 26, 2025
Ohana was criticized by some this morning for rejecting calls to cancel the day’s plenary session in light of the national mourning surrounding the funeral for the Bibas family. However, the Knesset has not canceled sessions for funerals of other victims of October 7 either.
Report: Hamas preparing for fresh fighting, appointing commanders, renovating tunnels
Hamas fighters are deployed in Rafah ahead of the planned release of two among six Israeli hostages set to be handed over to the Red Cross, Gaza Strip, on February 22, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas is making preparations for the possibility of renewed fighting against Israel in Gaza, appointing new commanders to replace those killed, making deployment plans and beginning some work to rebuild tunnel systems, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The paper says the terror group is preparing for the possibility of the ceasefire’s collapse, and distributing pamphlets to new recruits that explain the use of weapons and guerilla warfare.
Likud’s Bitan rejects minister’s plan to form committee to bypass him on Kan bill
MK David Bitan chairs a meeting of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, January 15, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
Knesset Economic Affairs Committee chairman David Bitan (Likud) rejects Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s plan to establish a new “media committee,” in order to bypass his opposition to a coalition bill aimed at shutting down the Kan public broadcaster.
“With all due respect, no government bill on any reform has been placed on my desk, so I’m not stopping anything,” Bitan tells his committee.
“On the contrary, the minister explained what he intends to do. Handed out flyers as if we were on an election campaign, but I didn’t receive anything. Second, the minister has a very great lack of understanding of the separation of powers. He can bring bills to the Knesset… If it doesn’t work out for him, he can’t bring it to a special committee. There will be no special media committee,” Bitan says.
“This is the end of the discussion on the matter,” he adds.
On Monday, Karhi declared that he would establish a new committee in order to advance the controversial legislation, which would require the government to issue a tender for the purchase of the television and radio networks controlled by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), which operates Kan television and radio, among other platforms.
“Unfortunately, there are those within the coalition who are delaying the reforms,” he said, accusing Bitan of “going with the opposition” and predicting that the “reforms will be completed by the end of July.”
The proposed legislation, part of a larger media overhaul package advocated by Karhi, stipulates that if a buyer cannot be found in two years, the broadcaster will be shuttered completely and its intellectual property will revert to the government. It passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum in November 2024, but when it came up for discussion in Bitan’s committee last month, Bitan said that he “can’t advance this bill for a simple reason — public broadcasting is necessary.”
“There has always been public broadcasting in Israel, so in terms of canceling the public broadcaster, I’m not in favor,” Bitan said at the time. “Unfortunately, there are those in Likud who are causing damage to the party and its members for the sake of politics, and I will not allow this.”
Funeral procession for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas approaches Nir Oz
The funeral procession for Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas is approaching Nir Oz, the kibbutz from which the family was kidnapped on October 7.
The three will be buried in nearby Tsoher Cemetery.
השיירה עוברת ביד מרדכי pic.twitter.com/W59BjU1elo
— רוני גרין שאולוב – Roni Green Shaulov (@Ronigreensha) February 26, 2025
Residents in central Israel once again report booms, tremors
Residents in central Israel are reporting the sounds of distant explosions and tremors for the second straight day. The cause is not immediately clear.
Yesterday, the army said similar sounds were caused by routine Israeli Air Force training activity.
Lawmakers observe minute of silence in Knesset committees
Lawmakers observe a minute of silence in several Knesset committees ahead of the funeral of hostages Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas.
The Knesset Economic Committee, the Subcommittee on Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies, the National Security Committee, and the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee all begin today’s discussions with a pause to commemorate the murdered woman and her two children.
Both Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, acting chairman of the Constitution Committee, and Shas MK Avraham Betzalel, a member of the Economic Committee, read Psalms in memory of the deceased.
National Security Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth says that the entire nation had prayed for the safety of the Bibas family and that “the entire Jewish people is accompanying the Bibas family today, a family that has become a part of us.”
Sessions of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee; the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee; the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee; and the State Control Committee have been postponed.
National Unity withdraws legislation from Knesset agenda as nation mourns Bibas family
Benny Gantz’s National Unity party announces the withdrawal of all of its legislation from the Knesset plenum’s agenda today as a gesture of solidarity, while the nation mourns Shiri Bibas and her sons, Kfir and Ariel.
All three, who were killed in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, are being buried today.
Haredi leader warns government will fall if conscription bill not passed before budget
United Torah Judaism leader Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Tel Aviv on February 4, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf warns that if an ultra-Orthodox conscription law is not passed before the state budget, it will never be passed, and declares that the controversial legislation must be given priority or the government will fall.
“We have two options before us: either they put off the conscription bill and we go to summer elections, or they insist on the conscription bill before the budget and the government completes its term,” Goldknopf insists.
The 2025 state budget must be passed by the end of March or the government will automatically fall, triggering early elections.
According to a report in the Hamodia daily, which is affiliated with Goldknopf’s Gur Hasidic movement, the housing minister complained during a UTJ faction meeting in the Knesset that a bill enshrining yeshiva students’ military exemptions should have been passed a long time ago, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly given excuses and postponed its advancement.
While cautioning that the party will not make any final decision before obtaining guidance from its rabbinic leadership, Goldknopf declares that the enlistment bill should be prioritized as a condition of the government’s continuation and that it should “be made clear to the general public” that unless it is passed before the budget, the enlistment bill “will never be enacted.”
According to Hebrew press reports, at the weekly cabinet meeting earlier this week, Netanyahu indicated that the budget would be passed first. In response, Goldknopf was said to have asked why his party remained in the government.
Police arrest 36 in crime clan suspected of using violence to take over state tenders
Police arrest a suspect in a raid on the Abu Latif crime ring on February 26, 2025. (Israel Police)
Police announce the arrests of 36 members of the Abu Latif crime clan on suspicion of using violence and intimidation to dominate state-issued tenders worth hundreds of millions of shekels.
The arrests were made this morning in a large raid in several locations in northern Israel on the homes of the crime ring’s head and other members, and were carried out by over 1,000 security personnel.
The operation came after a years-long police investigation into the crime ring’s efforts to violently threaten potential competitors for state tenders for various contract jobs. Members of the organization would often carry out shooting and bombing attacks to this end, police say.
The Abu Latif ring got its start by running a protection racket, and stepped up its criminal activity in recent years with its involvement in public tenders.
This morning’s operation was commanded by Israel Police chief Daniel Levy, Northern District commander Meir Eliyahu, and head of law enforcement’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit Meni Binyamin. Police seized large amounts of cash, property and luxury cars.
Gaza-based terror group says it will release body of hostage Ohad Yahalomi Thursday
Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Ohad Yahalomi, taken October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)
Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, a Gaza-based terror group allied with Hamas, says it will release the body of Israeli hostage Ohad Yahalomi on Thursday.
Ohad’s is one of four bodies set to be released by Hamas in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Overnight, Hamas said that it had reached an agreement with Israel for the release of the four bodies and 602 Palestinian security prisoners that Israel was to have released on Saturday. Jerusalem had refused to move forward with the release, citing Hamas violations of the deal during the return of the three Bibas family members’ remains, as well as the propaganda ceremonies it has been convening throughout the hostage releases.
Shiri Bibas’s sister-in-law: ‘Through the window, I see a broken nation’
People pay their respects during the funeral procession for murdered hostages Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir, in Rishon LeZion, February 26, 2025. (Dor Pazuelo/ Flash90)
Ahead of the funeral of her sister-in-law and nephews, Ofri Bibas, sister of released hostage Yarden Bibas, posts on Facebook: “Through the window, I see today a broken nation.”
“We will not rise or be rehabilitated until the last of the hostages is home,” she adds.
“Thank you all.”
Iran denounces new US sanctions as ‘sign of hostility’
Iran condemns a new round of US sanctions as a “clear sign of hostility” after Washington blacklisted more than 30 people and vessels linked to its oil trade.
Washington announced the measures on Monday, targeting the head of the national oil company and others accused of brokering oil sales. It was the second wave of sanctions in less than a month since US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran.
The sanctions are a “clear sign of the hostility of American policymakers towards the welfare, development, and happiness of the great people of Iran,” says foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
In a statement, he calls the measures a “wrongful, unjustified, illegitimate act that violates the human rights of the Iranian people.”
IDF said probing leak of its investigation into Oct. 7 battle at Nahal Oz Base
The torched command center of the Nahal Oz IDF base, overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during a visit by relatives of slain lookout soldiers on December 19, 2023. (Courtesy/Eyal Eshel)
Army Radio reports the military has launched a probe into the leak of its investigation into the battle at Nahal Oz Base on Oct. 7, 2023, where over 50 soldiers were killed and 10 taken hostage.
Details on the findings of the probe were aired by Channel 12 yesterday, before it was presented to bereaved families.
The network said the investigation found that only one soldier was on guard duty that morning. It said Hamas had studied Nahal Oz from afar for years and was intimately familiar with the layout of the base.
Yarden Bibas to gathered masses: I apologize ‘for not being able to come and personally hug each one of you’
Crowds gather to pay respects to the murdered Bibas family members as their funeral procession gets underway in Rishon LeZion, February 26, 2025 (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)
The Bibas family issues a statement as the funeral procession gets underway.
“We have begun the funeral procession accompanied by masses of Israelis. We see and hear you, and are moved and strengthened by you,” the family says.
Shiri’s husband and Kfir and Ariel’s father Yarden Bibas “apologizes for not being able to come down and personally hug each and every one of you.”
“We long for the day when we can once again unite in moments of joy rather than sorrow.”
Crowds gather to pay respects to the murdered Bibas family members as their funeral procession gets underway at the Gan Yavne Intersection, February 26, 2025 (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
Crowds gather to pay respects to the murdered Bibas family members as their funeral procession gets underway in Rishon LeZion, February 26, 2025 (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)
Crowds gather to pay respects to the murdered Bibas family members as their funeral procession gets underway in Rishon LeZion, February 26, 2025 (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)
‘Trump Gaza number one’: President shares AI video reimagining Strip as glitzy beachfront haven
US President Donald Trump has shared an AI-generated music video to his Truth Social platform, created by an unknown party and showing what is assumedly his vision for a Gaza Strip riviera.
The clip depicts a modern coastal strip lined with promenades, high-rises, and shimmering beaches. Odd details include bearded belly dancers, a child clutching a golden balloon shaped like Trump’s face, and a massive golden statue of Trump himself. People dance as dollar bills rain down, while an Elon Musk lookalike enjoys a local dish, basking in the spectacle.
Trump himself is seen dancing with a scantily clad woman and, at the end, lounging with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the pool at one of his hotels, emblazened with the large golden words “Trump Gaza.”
And here are some of the lyrics:
“No more tunnels, no more fear, Trump Gaza is finally here
Trump Gaza shining bright, golden future a brand new light
Feast and dance the deal is done, Trump Gaza number one.”
“TRUMP GAZA NUMBER ONE”
This is real pic.twitter.com/tP5IsjfkRF
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) February 26, 2025
WATCH: Bibas family funeral procession begins
Livestreams of the Bibas family funeral procession can be watched here:
and here
Crowds gather to pay respects to the Bibas family ahead of funeral procession
At Kfar HaMaccabiah in Ramat Gan, crowds line the streets to pay respects to the Bibas family ahead of the funeral of murdered hostages Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. February 26, 2025 (Naama Zeevi Rivlin)
Crowds have begun lining streets in central Israel ahead of the funeral procession of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, and murdered in captivity in Gaza.
People with flags and placards are gathered in Ramat Gan’s Kfar HaMaccabiah, from which some family members will set out. Later, the caskets will be taken from Rishon Lezion, passing by Yavne, Ashdod and Ashkelon and eventually reaching the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council near the Gaza border.
Thousands of Israelis are expected to pay their respects along the way to the family that became a symbol of the horrors of the Hamas-led attack.
The funeral service itself will be held privately, with eulogies broadcast live around 11:30 a.m.
At Kfar Hamaccabiah in Ramat Gan, crowds line the streets to pay respects to the Bibas family ahead of the funeral of murdered hostages Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. February 26, 2025 (Naama Zeevi Rivlin)
Funeral for slain hostages Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas to be held this morning
Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas (Hostages Families Forum)
The funeral procession for slain hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Ariel and Kfir is set to begin at 7:45 a.m. in Rishon Lezion this morning, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urging Israelis to stand alongside the route with Israeli flags in their honor.
The funeral will be held near the family’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, in a private ceremony, with eulogies to be live-streamed from 11:30 a.m.
Witkoff says Lebanon, Syria could potentially join Abraham Accords: ‘So many profound changes happening’
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s point person on the Middle East, voices optimism at efforts to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states that Trump brokered during his first term.
He also says he sees potential for normalization by Lebanon and Syria, after recent setbacks by forces in the two countries with ties to Iran’s clerical government.
“Lebanon, by the way, could actually mobilize and come into the Abraham Peace Accords, as could potentially Syria. So, so many profound changes are happening,” Witkoff tells an event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee.
US says Gaza among the regional issues that Rubio discussed with Saudi defense minister
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud discussed ways to jointly promote regional stability, including Red Sea security and freedom of navigation, the State Department says.
The department says that Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon were among the topics discussed.
Australian nurse indicted for threatening to kill Israeli patients
SYDNEY — An Australian nurse filmed in an online video chat saying she would kill Israeli patients has been charged with threatening violence, police say.
Footage released by Israeli influencer Max Veifer on social media this month showed him in a video chat with a male and a female nurse at a Sydney hospital.
Asked how they would treat Israeli patients in their Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in southwest Sydney, the female nurse told Veifer: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.”
Detectives charged the 26-year-old woman — named in Australian media as Sarah Abu Lebdeh — with threatening violence to a group; using a carriage service to threaten to kill; and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, police said in a statement.
Police had acted “swiftly under enormous pressure and public expectation,” New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb says.
The woman is scheduled to face court in Sydney on March 19.
Trump says he may have handled Hamas threat not to free hostages ‘differently’ than Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order, alongside US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (L) and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (R), at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on February 25, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)
US President Donald Trump says he might have responded differently to Hamas’s threat not to release a batch of hostages earlier this month than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did.
After Hamas made the threat, citing Israeli violations of the ongoing ceasefire deal, Trump set a Saturday noon deadline for all remaining hostages to be released or there would be all hell to pay.
Mediators subsequently brokered an agreement for Hamas to release the three hostages as slated so Israel would not resume the war, which Trump appeared to be green-lighting.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reiterates his belief that Hamas backed down from its threat because of his Saturday ultimatum.
“The rest is really up to [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu],” Trump says. “I may have done it differently than him… I may have taken a different stance.”
IDF says strikes in southern Syria hit military targets, including weapon storage sites
The IDF confirms that it struck “military targets” in southern Syria, including weapon storage sites.
“The presence of military assets and forces in the southern part of Syria constitutes a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the military says. “The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Katz confirms Israeli strikes in southern Syria: ‘We will not allow it to become southern Lebanon’
Defense Minister Israel Katz confirms that Israel is carrying out airstrikes in southern Syria after blasts were reported in several areas south of Damascus, and warns Israel “will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon.”
The strikes come after several Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanded in recent days the demilitarization of southern Syria, and warned that Israel would prevent the Syrian army from moving south of Damascus.
“We will not endanger the security of our citizens,” Katz says. “Any attempt by Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria — will be met with fire.”
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