The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.

UNRWA says Emily Damari’s allegations she was held in its facilities ‘grave,’ demand probe

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees tells Ynet that freed hostage Emily Damari’s allegation that she was held in UNRWA facilities are “very grave allegations” that must be investigated.

In comments published by Ynet in Hebrew, a spokeswoman says it is relieved that Damari has been reunited with her family, and says UNRWA “has called repeatedly for independent investigations into allegations of misuse and disregard for UN facilities by Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.”

Gadi Mozes tells family he paced 7km every day in his 2×2 meter cell

Gadi Mozes, 80, surrounded by gunmen during his release from captivity in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 30, 2025 (Via social media)
Gadi Mozes, 80, surrounded by gunmen during his release from captivity in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 30, 2025 (Via social media)

Freed hostage Gadi Mozes has told family members that he was held alone for his entire time in captivity, Chanel 12 reports. He and hostage Arbel Yehoud, who were freed together on Thursday, met each other only a few days before release.

Mozes knew his longtime partner Efrat Katz had been murdered during the attack, and mourned her. But he did not know what had happened to his daughter Moran until he was freed (Moran survived and met him yesterday upon his return).

For 70 days of his time in captivity, he was locked alone in a dark room. He was moved between apartments and was not held in tunnels. In one location, he was able to watch some TV.

For much of the time, Mozes was held in a two meter by two meter (6.5 feet by 6.5 feet) room. He paced in it, and assessed that he walked some 7 kilometers (~4 miles) every day, counting tiles and solving math problems to pass the time and keep his mind sharp.

Once every five days or so was given a bowl of tepid water to shower with, using a cup to pour the water over his head. He insisted on shaving himself, despite it being a messy and painful affair in those conditions, in order to feel tidy.

At some points he feared he would be executed. In one instance, he was held in a hot pickup truck for 12 hours under Red Cross offices in Gaza. Though he thought he was being released, he was only being moved.

Mozes lost some 15 kilograms (33 pounds) in captivity, the network says.

His glasses were broken during the kidnapping, but after two months he got new ones from his captors and was able to read two books.

At a certain point, Mozes said, he decided to live one day at a time and not think of release.

Mozes described the chaotic handover to the Red Cross on Thursday as moments of “mortal fear,” and said he worried that he and Arbel Yehoud would be lynched by the mob around them.

Amazingly, Channel 12 says Mozes told his captors that when the war ends and there is peace, he will come to Gaza and teach them to farm.

Freed hostages: We heard our families in media, had to ration grains of rice between us

Released hostage soldier Agam Berger meets her four comrades, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, at Rabin Medical Center, January 30, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Released hostage soldier Agam Berger meets her four comrades, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, at Rabin Medical Center, January 30, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Channel 12 provides more details that released hostages have conveyed to their families from their time in captivity.

The network says some of the hostages heard family members talking about them in the media. One of the hostage women met another hostage in a Gaza hospital and only then realized there were other hostages besides her.

One told her family: “They told us no one is fighting for us, that [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only wants war and doesn’t care about us. And then we heard an interview of a relative of a hostage and understood that we hadn’t been forgotten.”

Some didn’t know what happened to loved ones on October 7 and only found out when returning home.

Conditions in captivity were hard. “There was a point when we barely had any food at all,” one released woman told relatives. “We all sat around a plate of rice and tried to divide it equally between us, to the last grain. You find yourself counting. Such hunger can’t be explained.”

Liri Albag “would boost our morale. She told us stories all the time and told us to imagine things from our normal lives, like what we’d order at a restaurant we’d sit in.”

Gadi Mozes has first Shabbat dinner with his family after release from Gaza

Freed former hostage Gadi Mozes is having his first Shabbat dinner with his family after over 15 months of captivity in Gaza.

Mozes and his family are filmed reciting a kiddush in the hospital where he is being treated.

 

Report: Liri Albag says she proposed captivity clip to captors, refused to enter tunnels

Freed hostage Liri Albag runs to hug her siblings in the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on January 25, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Freed hostage Liri Albag runs to hug her siblings in the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on January 25, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Former hostage Liri Albag has told family it was she who suggested to her captors to film a recent video message of her in captivity, so that her family would know she was alive, Channel 12 reports.

The clip was sent out by Hamas at the start of January, shortly before the terror group reached a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Albag said she appealed to Hamas’s desire to increase public pressure on the Israeli government to strike a deal.

“I told them my dad is strong and is being heard [in Israel],” she recounted. “And they went ahead and filmed me.”

The network brings more quotes from Albag.

“For some of the time I heard radio and knew exactly what was going on. It wasn’t easy realizing it was going to take a long time [to return]. We tried to stay optimistic and manage things,” she said.

“At one point the terrorists wanted to take me to the tunnels and I wouldn’t do it. I told them I refused. I couldn’t stand the quiet and loneliness there,” Channel 12 cites Albag as saying.

“We must bring all the hostages out quickly,” she stressed. “Every minute is an eternity.”

Report: Israel believes Hamas won’t agree to free all living hostages in 2nd deal phase

A crowd greets Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror operatives as they arrive for the handover of hostages to the Red Cross in the south Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A crowd greets Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror operatives as they arrive for the handover of hostages to the Red Cross in the south Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025 (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli officials assess that Hamas will not agree to free all living hostages in a second stage of the ceasefire deal, as they are its insurance policy vis-à-vis Israel, Channel 12 news reports, without citing its sources.

For this reason, those officials tell the network they believe there will be no choice but to return to fighting after the first phase ends.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel and Hamas agreed to a 42-day first phase that will see the return of 33 hostages. They will soon start holding talks on a potential second stage. That phase, if agreed on, would see the release of all remaining living hostages in return for a permanent ceasefire. Remaining bodies would be returned in a third phase.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security assessment on possible scenarios today as the first phase continues.

Netanyahu is expected to discuss the future of the ceasefire when he meets US President Donald Trump next week in Washington.

Trump and Netanyahu expected to meet twice in Washington on Tuesday, Axios reports

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet twice in Washington on Tuesday, once for a work meeting and then for an informal dinner, Axios reports.

The work meeting is expected around noon Eastern Time (1700 GMT) and then the two leaders will dine with their spouses, Axios reports, citing an unidentified source.

Iran warns US attack on nuclear sites will lead to ‘all-out war in the region’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference in Tehran, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference in Tehran, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells Al Jazeera that launching a military attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be “one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make.”

Araghchi says Tehran will respond “immediately and decisively” if its nuclear sites are attacked, which will lead to “all-out war in the region.”

Palestinians nix Ramallah celebration for freed terrorist Zubeidi after Israeli warnings

Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, a Palestinian prisoner and former a top commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who was released by Israel, waves a Palestinian flag as he is cheered by people after arriving in Ramallah aboard buses of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on January 30, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, a Palestinian prisoner and former a top commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who was released by Israel, waves a Palestinian flag as he is cheered by people after arriving in Ramallah aboard buses of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on January 30, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Plans for a large celebration in Ramallah for the recently released Palestinian prisoner Zakaria Zubeidi have been canceled after Israeli authorities warned Palestinian officials against it.

Officers from the Civil Administration “conveyed an unequivocal message according to which the IDF will show zero tolerance toward the planned event, and that any gathering in honor of Zubeidi will be dispersed quickly and aggressively,” Israeli defense sources say.

As a result, Palestinian officials canceled the event, the sources add.

Zubeidi, who organized dozens of attacks during the Second Intifada while heading the al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades in Jenin, has not yet returned to his hometown in the northern West Bank, as the IDF is carrying out a counterterrorism operation there.

Emily Damari’s mom: Emily was held in UNRWA facilities, denied medical treatment; ‘miracle’ she survived

Emily (right) and Mandy Damari on the phone to UK PM Keir Starmer, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)
Emily (right) and Mandy Damari on the phone to UK PM Keir Starmer, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)

Mandy Damari, mother of released hostage Emily, says her daughter was held by Hamas in UNRWA facilities, and that her captors refused to give her access to medical treatment.

Emily lost two fingers in her left hand after being shot by Hamas terrorists during her abduction. Her mother says it was “a miracle that she survived.”

In a post thanking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for calling them earlier today, Mandy, who like her daughter has British citizenship, writes: “Hamas held Emily in UNRWA facilities and denied her access to medical treatment after shooting her twice. It’s a miracle that she survived, and we need to get aid to remaining hostages now.”

Syrian authorities say they arrested Assad cousin who orchestrated 2011 crackdown

Syria’s new authorities announce the arrest of a cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, accused of orchestrating a crackdown in Daraa, where the 2011 uprising began.

Atif Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa in southern Syria, was arrested in Latakia, on the country’s west coast, the official SANA news agency reports, citing a senior security official.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says he is the highest-ranking figure to be detained since Islamist-led fighters toppled Assad on December 8.

“The criminal Atif Najib has been referred to the competent authorities to be tried and held accountable for the crimes he committed against the Syrian people,” SANA reports.

The protest movement against Assad began in Daraa on March 15, 2011, after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the city’s walls. Residents said the students were tortured, leading to a protest to demand their release that ended in bloodshed. Najib, blamed for the crackdown, was dismissed soon after. He was on a US Treasury sanctions list alongside other Syrian officials.

Two killed, 2 wounded in shooting and ramming in Umm al-Fahm

Two people have been killed and two people wounded in a criminal shooting and ramming in the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm.

The two men killed were aged around 25 and 50, paramedics say.

Two teens aged 17 and 16 were seriously and moderately hurt, respectively.

Police were searching for suspects in the area.

The Abraham Initiatives group, which tracks Arab community violence, says the latest murders bring the number of Arabs killed in violence since the start of the year to 21.

Father of Arbel Yehoud: Considering hell she’s been through, she’s in decent health

Arbel Yehoud, third from left, with her parents and siblings on an IDF helicopter after being freed from captivity on January 30, 2025. (Courtesy)
Arbel Yehoud, third from left, with her parents and siblings on an IDF helicopter after being freed from captivity on January 30, 2025. (Courtesy)

At a press conference, the father of Arbel Yehoud, who was released from Gaza yesterday, says: “Considering the hell she’s been through, she came back in decent health.”

“She survived heroically to the last moment,” Yehiel Yehoud says.

He thanks the German government for its efforts (Arbel is a German citizen) and US President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff “who knew how to speak Trumpish in the Middle East and use the full weight [of US influence] toward freeing the hostages.”

He also thanks the Israeli government “for realizing — even if very late and at the cost of the lives of hostages and soldiers — that there is no choice but to go through with the deal, free the hostages, and end the war, because this is the true victory needed to rehabilitate the nation and its people.”

Yehoud stresses that “the struggle is not over. Alongside Arbel, who is in good health and displaying immense mental strength, we will continue to fight until everyone returns.”

He says the family will also “now turn to grieve together for Dolev, our firstborn and beloved son.”

IDF says interceptor missile launched at suspicious target over Lebanon border

The IDF says an interceptor missile was launched at a “suspicious aerial target” over the Zar’it area on the Lebanon border.

Further details are under investigation.

IDF expects Hamas to release 3 hostages tomorrow in morning hours, possibly at more than one location

The IDF expects Hamas to release hostages Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon and Keith Siegel in the morning hours tomorrow.

The military is preparing for the hostages to be released at more than one location in Gaza, similar to yesterday’s releases in both the north and south of the Strip.

All three hostages will be escorted out of Gaza by IDF troops to an army facility near Re’im, where they will undergo an initial physical and mental checkup and meet their families.

From there, they will be taken to Ichilov and Sheba hospitals in central Israel.

If any of the three hostages require urgent medical care, they will be immediately taken to Soroka or Barzilai hospitals in southern Israel, without stopping by the Re’im facility.

Leader of extremist Lev Tahor group arrested by Guatemalan authorities

The leader of the extremist Jewish Lev Tahor sect, Aaron Teller, has been arrested for human trafficking, authorities in Guatemala say.

Another top member of the cult, Josef Rosner, has been arrested for child abuse and “human trafficking for forced or servile marriage,” Guatemala’s Public Ministry says in a statement.

The arrests were coordinated by Guatemala’s National Civil Police and the Interpol international law enforcement agency.

Law enforcement also seized five phones and an internet router during the arrests, the statement says.

Authorities in Guatemala have been cracking down on Lev Tahor, starting with a raid on the group’s compound last month. Several other members have been arrested since then.

The group has been based in Guatemala for more than a decade.

The crackdown stems from Lev Tahor’s practice of marrying young girls to adult men.

Israeli officials have assisted Guatemala and the local Jewish community has condemned the group.

Settlers said to start fires by Palestinian’s West Bank home

Fires have been lit outside the home of a Palestinian olive grower in the West Bank village of Burin.

The olive grower, Bashar Eid, says he saw settlers come from the illegal outpost of Givat Ronen, which lies on a hilltop just above Burin, and start the fires, and that “we fled for fear of being killed” when the settlers came from the outpost.

Eid says he has suffered repeatedly from attacks by settlers from nearby outposts and settlements, and has suffered physical injury at their hands, while his olive groves have also been repeatedly vandalized.

“I am in danger of being expelled or killed. What should I do?” he says.

Bibas family relatives urge public to ‘protect Yarden’s heart… Shiri and the children have not yet returned’

Yarden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)
Yarden, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)

The Bibas family issues a statement a day ahead of Yarden Bibas’s expected release from Hamas captivity.

“Our Yarden is set to return tomorrow and we are all so excited, but Shiri and the children have not yet returned. The emotions are mixed, and we are facing very complex days,” they say.

“Please protect Yarden’s heart, and respect his privacy and that of his family in the forthcoming period. We love you, dear people of Israel and our amazing supporters from all over the world.”

Hamas official: Mediators say Israel agreed to open Rafah crossing tomorrow after hostage release

The Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt is to reopen tomorrow after the fourth batch of Israeli hostages and Palestinian security prisoners are released, a Hamas official and a source with knowledge of discussions tell AFP.

“The mediators informed Hamas of Israel’s approval to open Rafah crossing tomorrow, Saturday, after the completion of the fourth batch of prisoner exchange,” the Hamas official says.

The unnamed source explains evacuations of the injured will take place at the crossing “as per the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement.”

Under the agreement, the crossing is to open after the terror group releases all female hostages, both IDF soldiers and civilians.

Two female hostages — one soldier and one civilian — were among three Israeli captives freed from Gaza by Palestinian terror groups Thursday under the hostage agreement. Five Thai nationals were also released yesterday, separate from the agreement.

The first stage in the three-phase accord provides for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Living hostages are being released first. Ten Israeli hostages have already been released under the deal — nine women and one man. Eight of the 33 are understood by Israel to be dead.

Three civilian men are slated to be released tomorrow, in exchange for 90 Palestinian security prisoners, including nine serving life sentences, under the accord.

Health Ministry says hospitals in central, southern Israel prepared to receive hostages tomorrow

People wave Israeli flags as a military helicopter transporting the four newly-released hostage soldiers lands at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on January 25, 2025. (Yossi Zamir/AFP)
People wave Israeli flags as a military helicopter transporting the four newly-released hostage soldiers lands at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on January 25, 2025. (Yossi Zamir/AFP)

The Health Ministry says that medical teams and professionals at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov Hospital and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer are prepared to receive the three hostages slated for release tomorrow — Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas — and to do everything necessary to provide comprehensive medical and psychological care.

Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center and the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, both in southern Israel closer to the Gaza border, are also prepared to receive the hostages should any of them require urgent medical attention upon their release, the ministry adds in a statement.

The Health Ministry also reminds the public that these are “sensitive times” for the returned hostages and their families and urges everyone to respect their privacy, which is “essential for their transition from captivity toward recovery and rehabilitation.

Parents of freed IDF soldier Agam Berger to Trump: ‘Thank you for making us all do the right thing’

Freed hostage Agam Berger (right) reunites with her parents Shlomi and Merav at an IDF facility next to the Gaza border on January 30, 2025. (IDF)
Freed hostage Agam Berger (right) reunites with her parents Shlomi and Merav at an IDF facility next to the Gaza border on January 30, 2025. (IDF)

Meirav Berger, mother of released hostage Agam Berger, offers a heartfelt, spiritual message of thanks for the return of her daughter, in a public statement at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

“Thank you to the creator of the world, to the nation of Israel and the Jewish world, to those who stood with us and wrapped us in endless love and overturned every rock to bring our Agam home to us,” she says.

Her husband, Agam’s father, Shlomi Berger, thanks US President Donald Trump in English:

“Thank you, thank you for your care and for making us all do the right thing,” he says. “We will never forget your help, your generosity and your leadership, God bless the United States of America.”

Meirav also thanks the IDF soldiers, the country’s decision-makers, the family’s community in Holon, as well as their friends and family.

“And Agam, our superhero, what luck that you are mine,” says the released soldier’s mother. “With God’s help, take all that is offered to you. No one will ever be able to say no to you.”

Berger was freed from Gaza yesterday along with two other Israeli hostages and five Thai nations, 482 days after they were kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre. Another three Israeli hostages are slated for release tomorrow, under an ongoing deal with the terror group.

Egyptians gather at Rafah Border Crossing to protest Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans

Hundreds of Egyptians gather in front of the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, to show solidarity with the Palestinians and to reject the proposed displacement plans, January 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Arafat)
Hundreds of Egyptians gather in front of the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, to show solidarity with the Palestinians and to reject the proposed displacement plans, January 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Arafat)

Several hundred Egyptians gather in front of the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to protest US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal that large numbers of Gazans take refuge in Egypt and Jordan.

The protesters wave Palestinian flags and hold photos of Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who has rejected Trump’s suggestion, along with signs saying, “We support you.”

Hundreds of Egyptians gather in front of the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, to show solidarity with the Palestinians and to reject the proposed displacement plans, January 31, 2025. Arabic reads, “Egyptians support you Mr. President”. (AP Photo/Mohammed Arafat)

The protest comes as the Gaza-Egypt crossing is set to reopen for Palestinian civilians under a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that came into effect last week.

The EU said earlier today that it has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the crossing.

Freed IDF soldier Liri Albag: ‘I was finally able to reunite with my family… but our struggle is not over’

Released hostage Liri Albag is seen with her parents after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
Released hostage Liri Albag is seen with her parents after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Former hostage soldier Liri Albag, who was freed from Hamas captivity last week, calls for the release of the remaining abductees held by terror groups in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

“I was finally able to reunite with my family… but our struggle is not over and I will not stop fighting until everyone is home,” she writes in a post on Instagram.

“I want us to continue to stay united because together nothing can break us. Our unity and hope scare our enemies, amazes our loved ones and comforts those among us. I hope everyone will see the light.”

Albag was released on Saturday along with three other surveillance soldiers after 477 days in captivity, under a deal with the Hamas terror group that came into effect last week.

During the first phase of the accord, Hamas is set to free 33 hostages in exchange for Israel’s releasing up to 1,904 Palestinian security prisoners and detainees. Ten hostages have been released from captivity so far — five soldiers and five civilians — in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including dozens serving life sentences.

WATCH: Son of released hostage Gadi Mozes asks dad to shave his beard, after letting it grow for 482 days

BEFORE: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his about-to-be cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)
BEFORE: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his about-to-be cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)

After being released from Hamas captivity in Gaza yesterday, former hostage Gadi Mozes shaves the bushy beard of his son, Yair Mozes, who vowed not to shave until his father returned home.

In the video taken at Rabin Medical Center, where Mozes and most of the other released hostages are recuperating, 80-year-old Mozes, who was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, is seen steadily shaving his son’s cheeks and then his grandson’s head.

AFTER: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his newly cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)

In the background, a family member calls out the shehecheyanu blessing for having finally reached the moment when Mozes is safely home.

“It’s like shearing a sheep,” says someone else.

Gadi Mozes shaves the beard of his son, Yair Mozes, and his grandson, Erez, after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 30, 2025. (Hostages Forum)

EU restarts civilian mission to monitor Rafah Border Crossing, says foreign policy chief Kallas

The European Union has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, according to the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Kallas announced on Monday that there was broad agreement among member states’ foreign ministers that the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) could play a “decisive role” in supporting the hostage-ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that came into effect last week.

“The EU’s civilian border mission deploys today to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis. It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care,” she posts on X.

Photos posted to social media show EU staff and vehicles at the Rafah crossing.

Both Palestinian Authority and Hamas officials say the crossing will now be run by members of the PA and European monitors.

The Palestinian officials say 50 injured fighters and 50 wounded civilians, along with individuals escorting them, will be permitted to pass through the crossing, along with another 100 people, most likely students, who will be allowed through on humanitarian grounds.

There is no official comment from Israel on the reopening of the crossing, which comes under a hostage-ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group.

Calderon children, released from Gaza in Nov. 2023, to be reunited with their father: ‘What a perfect morning’

Ofer Calderon taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)
Ofer Calderon taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)

“Thank God, oh my goodness, what a perfect morning,” Sahar Calderon posts on Instagram, moments after Israel confirms that her father, Ofer Calderon, is one of three male hostages slated for release from Gaza tomorrow.

Calderon was kidnapped along with his two children, Sahar, 16 at the time, and Erez, then 12, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, killing over 100 residents and some 15 foreign agricultural workers, and taking about 80 hostages.

His children were among 105 hostages released in November 2023 in a week-long truce, while he has been held by terrorists for over 15 months.

Calderon, 54, is slated to be released tomorrow along with hostages Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas.

Sahar Calderon, right, hugs her mother after being released from Hamas captivity on November 27, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

‘Dad’s coming! Dad’s on the list’: Freed hostage reacts to news her husband, Keith Siegel, will be freed tomorrow

Keith Siegel, taken captive by Hamas terrorists from his home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
Keith Siegel, taken captive by Hamas terrorists from his home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

Shir Siegel, whose father Keith Siegel was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and is still held in Gaza, posts footage of the moment her mother finds out he is slated for release tomorrow.

“Dad’s coming! Shirkush! Dad’s coming. Dad’s on the list,” cries Aviva Siegel, who was also kidnapped from her home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza in the Hamas onslaught and released in a week-long truce in November 2023.

Siegel, 65, a dual Israeli-US citizen originally hailing from North Carolina, is believed to be in poor health.

Israeli officials confirmed a short while ago that he will be released from Gaza tomorrow along with Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas, under the first phase of an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal. Ten Israeli hostages have been released since the accord came into effect last week.

Two IDF reservists from Haifa, one from Iron Dome unit, charged with spying for Iran

Two IDF reservists arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, Yuri Eliasfov (L) and Georgi Andreyev (R), appear on video at a court hearing to extend their remand on January 27, 2025. (Screenshot from Ynet)
Two IDF reservists arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, Yuri Eliasfov (L) and Georgi Andreyev (R), appear on video at a court hearing to extend their remand on January 27, 2025. (Screenshot from Ynet)

The State Prosecutor’s Office files indictments at a Haifa court against two IDF reservists for alleged espionage on behalf of Iran in return for financial compensation, according to a statement.

The defendants, Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreyev, both aged 21 and both residents of the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Yam, are charged with serious offenses including contact with a foreign agent, transferring classified information, and aiding the enemy during wartime.

The police and Shin Bet security service announced their arrests early this week.

The two were in contact with an Iranian agent identified as “Boaz” and carried out actions intended to harm state security, according to the charge sheet.

Prosecutors say the two men have a long-standing friendship.

Eliasfov, who served in the military’s Iron Dome unit, is accused of passing along highly sensitive material about the missile defense technology to his Iranian handler, including photos and video of the radar screen.

The indictment accuses him of offering to sell video footage of the missile defense system to “Boaz” for $10,000, including an $800 down payment.

Andreyev served in the Air Force’s operational headquarters, according to the charge sheet.

The two are accused of spray-painting pro-Iranian graffiti and hanging banners in Tel Aviv carrying the slogan “Children of Ruhollah,” referring to Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s first supreme leader following the Islamic Revolution.

Hostages slated to be freed from Gaza tomorrow are Ofer Calderon, Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas — officials

Israeli hostages slated to be freed from Gaza on February 1, 2025: (L-R) Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, and Ofer Calderon. (Courtesy)
Israeli hostages slated to be freed from Gaza on February 1, 2025: (L-R) Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, and Ofer Calderon. (Courtesy)

The three Israeli hostages slated to be freed from Gaza tomorrow are Ofer Calderon, Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas, Israeli officials say.

Siegel, 65, a US citizen originally from North Carolina, was taken captive with his wife Aviva from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was freed in November 2023.

Calderon, 54, and his two of his children, Erez and Sahar, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and they were both freed during the last ceasefire.

Bibas, 35, was kidnapped separately from his wife and children, Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, who were all taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Hamas has claimed that Shiri and the two boys have been killed in captivity. Israel has not officially confirmed their deaths, but has expressed “grave concern” for their fate. Yarden was wounded during his kidnapping.

Israeli officials say that the families have been notified and that Israel accepts the Hamas list.

Activists hold silent protest at US embassy calling for release of all Gaza hostages

Protesters call for the release of the remaining hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv, January 31, 205. (Barak Dor/Pro-Democracy Movement)
Protesters call for the release of the remaining hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv, January 31, 205. (Barak Dor/Pro-Democracy Movement)

A group of activists holds a silent protest outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of the remaining 79 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Some of the protesters wear white and hold white umbrellas, amid yellow chairs symbolizing the hostages.

The demonstration comes amid an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group. Ten Israeli hostages have been freed so far in the initial stage of the agreement, in return for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

The protest is organized by Mishmeret 101, which roughly translates to Shift 101, which holds anti-government demonstrations modeled after the non-violent protests staged by Mahatma Gandhi in India in the 1930s to fight British imperialism.

Israel confirms receipt of list from Hamas of three men slated for release from Gaza tomorrow

Israel confirms that it has received a list from Hamas of the three male hostages slated to be released tomorrow from captivity in Gaza.

The Prime Minister’s Office says it will only release the names after looking into the names on the list and updating the families.

Family of freed 80-year-old hostage Gadi Mozes: ‘No one in the world is happier than we are’

Freed hostage Gadi Mozes reunites with his children (from left) Oded, Moran and Yair at an IDF facility near Re'im on January 30, 2025. (IDF)
Freed hostage Gadi Mozes reunites with his children (from left) Oded, Moran and Yair at an IDF facility near Re'im on January 30, 2025. (IDF)

The family of 80-year-old Gadi Mozes, who was freed from captivity in Gaza yesterday after almost 16 months, call his return “a miracle,” in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

“No one in the world is happier than we are. Light has returned to our lives thanks to this life-saving deal,” the family says.

“We received a miracle — our father and grandfather Gadi has returned to us healthy and whole after a year and four months of uncompromising struggle filled with fear, terror, despair, worry, and lack of air.”

Mozes was one of ten Israeli abductees released to date under a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas that came into effect last week.

“We continue this long and important struggle because all the hostage families and the people of Israel deserve to experience this moment. Whether for rehabilitation or for burial.”

It is believed that 79 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Three more male hostages are expected to be released tomorrow under the ceasefire deal.

Hamas names three male hostages to be freed from Gaza tomorrow

The Hamas terror group names three male hostages who are set to be released tomorrow from captivity.

Israeli officials have requested that media outlets not publish the names until the families of the hostages have been notified.

Report: Gadi Mozes was held alone for his entire 482 days in Gaza, convinced captors to bring him books, kept a diary

Gadi Mozes, 80, surrounded by gunmen during his release from captivity in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 30, 2025 (Via social media)
Gadi Mozes, 80, surrounded by gunmen during his release from captivity in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 30, 2025 (Via social media)

Former hostage Gadi Mozes, 80, was held alone for the entire 482 days he was held captive by Gaza terrorists, the Kan broadcaster reports.

The moment he met Arbel Yehoud yesterday, who was also said to have been held alone for the duration of her captivity, was reportedly the first time he saw an Israeli hostage since he was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.

Prior to their release yesterday morning in a long, chaotic process in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group issued a propaganda video showing Yehoud and Mozes embracing.

Both Mozes and Yehoud are believed to have been held by Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally.

The Kan report adds that Mozes had managed to convince the Palestinian terrorists holding him captive to bring him books in English to read and that he had been able to take daily walks outside where he was being held.

He was also said to have kept a diary, which was taken from him before he returned to Israel yesterday, in which he kept track of the days and noted the times he was moved around the Strip.

He occasionally saw news footage from Israel, including clips of his family members advocating for his release, according to the report.

Mozes’s partner, Efrat Katz, was killed during the October 7 onslaught, apparently by IDF fire. Her daughter Doron Katz-Asher was kidnapped along with her granddaughters Raz, then aged 5, and Aviv, then 2. His ex-wife Margalit Mozes was also kidnapped from her home on Nir Oz. The surviving four were released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

Mozes and Yehoud, along with IDF soldier Agam Berger, were freed yesterday under the first stage of an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, which provides for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Five Thai nationals were also released from Gaza yesterday, though not as part of the truce deal.

Foreign Minister Sa’ar visits five Thai men freed from captivity in Gaza yesterday: ‘You are strong’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar visits five Thai men -- Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnau -- who were freed from captivity in Gaza the previous day, Shamir Medical Center, Petah Tikva, January 31, 2025. (Oz Schechter/GPO)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar visits five Thai men -- Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnau -- who were freed from captivity in Gaza the previous day, Shamir Medical Center, Petah Tikva, January 31, 2025. (Oz Schechter/GPO)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visits the five Thai men who were freed from captivity in Gaza yesterday at the Shamir Medical Center.

“You are strong,” he tells Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnau, who were released yesterday after being held for 482 days in captivity. “I wish you and your families a good life, health and freedom.”

Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa is slated to arrive in Israel tomorrow to meet with Sa’ar and the freed hostages, the Foreign Ministry says. The five men, who were working as agricultural laborers in Israel when they were abducted on October 7, 2023, are expected to fly home to their families in about 10 days.

Tel Aviv police detain four French immigrants on suspicion of defrauding investors of over €3 million

At the request of French law enforcement, Tel Aviv police detained four French immigrants on suspicion that they defrauded investors of more than 3 million euros ($3.1 million).

The arrests were made against the backdrop of a larger investigation in Paris by both French police and Europol, the law enforcement arm of the European Union. The four Tel Aviv residents are suspected of fraud and money laundering.

An Israel Police spokesperson says that officers came across NIS 500,000 ($140,000) in cash, in both shekels and euros, while searching one of the suspects’ homes.

Police arrest 25-year-old on suspicion of stabbing his mother; victim evacuated to hospital in critical condition

Police arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of stabbing his mother in the northern city of Nof HaGalil earlier this morning, according to a police spokesman.

Paramedics evacuated the 61-year-old woman to the Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth, where she is in critical condition and being treated for a severe stab wound in her abdomen.

Police have brought the suspect in for questioning and are investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Rafah crossing between Gaza-Egypt to reopen for Palestinian civilians today instead of Sunday — report

The flag of Egypt sways in the wind on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip on September 9, 2024. (AFP)
The flag of Egypt sways in the wind on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip on September 9, 2024. (AFP)

The Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is set to reopen for the passage of Palestinian civilians today, according to the Kan broadcaster, despite being scheduled for Sunday under a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group.

Under the agreement, the crossing on Gaza’s southern border is allowed to open after the terror group releases all female hostages, both IDF soldiers and civilians.

Two female hostages — one soldier and one civilian — were among three Israeli captives freed from Gaza by Palestinian terror groups yesterday under the hostage agreement. Five Thai nationals were also released yesterday, separate from the agreement.

The first stage in the three-phase accord provides for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Living hostages are being released first. Ten Israeli hostages have already been released under the deal — nine women and one man. Eight of the 33 are understood by Israel to be dead.

Kan reports that the crossing will be monitored by a European security force along with Palestinian officials not affiliated with Hamas.

The Rafah crossing has already reopened for humanitarian aid deliveries as part of the ceasefire, after being closed in May when Israel seized the area, with Egypt refusing to reopen the gateway until it was back under Palestinian control.

The crossing is a major conduit for aid into Gaza and its closure has worsened the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, which was sparked by Hamas’s devastating attack on southern Israel in October 2023.

Report: Israel told Lebanon truce committee Iran is smuggling cash to Hezbollah via Beirut airport

Illustrative - A Middle-East Airlines (MEA) plane approaches Beirut International airport on October 3, 2024. (Joseph Eid/AFP)
Illustrative - A Middle-East Airlines (MEA) plane approaches Beirut International airport on October 3, 2024. (Joseph Eid/AFP)

Israel has complained to the US-led committee overseeing the Lebanon ceasefire that Iran is sending suitcases stuffed with US dollars to Hezbollah via Beirut’s international airport, according to an American defense official cited by the Wall Street Journal.

The official is quoted as saying that Israel also claims Turkish citizens are being used to smuggle cash from Istanbul to Beirut.

According to the WSJ report, Israel’s complaints have been passed on to the Lebanese government.

A Lebanese security official quoted by WSJ says the Beirut airport is under tight military control to prevent Hezbollah smuggling attempts.

Though smuggling large amounts of cash through the airport would be difficult, valuable items like gemstones and diamonds could pass undetected, the Lebanese official says.

The November 27 ceasefire deal ended two months of full-scale war that followed months of lower-intensity cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah.

During the campaign, Israel eliminated most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership. It also targeted the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution, which has over 30 outlets across Lebanon, which both Jerusalem and Washington say is used by Hezbollah for money laundering and terrorism financing, assertions the group denies.

The Iran-backed terror group began near-daily attacks on northern Israel one day after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by its Palestinian ally Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israeli residents of the north were displaced by the attacks, with rocket fire eventually spreading to the center of the country.

IDF: In overnight raid in Jenin, troops eliminated two Palestinian gunmen who killed soldier yesterday

Weapons belonging to two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier, uncovered by IDF troops in an overnight raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, in a photo cleared for publication on January 31, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Weapons belonging to two Palestinian gunmen who killed an Israeli soldier, uncovered by IDF troops in an overnight raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, in a photo cleared for publication on January 31, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says troops last night eliminated two Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank who earlier in the day killed a soldier and wounded five others.

Yesterday, Staff Sgt. Liam Hazi, 20, of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit, was killed and five troops were wounded during an exchange of fire with two gunmen in a building in the Jenin refugee camp. The pair managed to flee following the incident.

Several hours later, the IDF says Haruv troops and other forces surrounded another building to which the gunmen fled, and following another exchange of fire, killed them.

Five Thai hostages freed by Hamas yesterday are in ‘fair’ health — hospital director

Thai hostages who were freed from Hamas, from left to right, Surasak Lumnau, Sathian Suwannakham, Bannawat Saethao, Watchara Sriaoun and Pongsak Thaenna hold the Thailand flag in Israel, Jan. 30, 2025. (Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv via AP)
Thai hostages who were freed from Hamas, from left to right, Surasak Lumnau, Sathian Suwannakham, Bannawat Saethao, Watchara Sriaoun and Pongsak Thaenna hold the Thailand flag in Israel, Jan. 30, 2025. (Royal Thai Embassy in Tel Aviv via AP)

The five Thai nationals freed by the Hamas terror group yesterday after over 15 months in captivity are in “fair” health, according to the director of the Shamir Medical Center in Petah Tikva, where the former hostages are recovering.

Dr. Osnat Levzion-Korach notes however that most were held underground and were not exposed to sunlight for extended periods.

She says they do not appear to be malnourished and credits their young age with helping them survive captivity in fairly good physical shape.

IDF: Fighter jets carried out overnight strikes on Hezbollah sites in Beqaa Valley

Overnight, Israeli fighter jets carried out a series of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, the military says.

The IDF says the targets, which “posed a threat to the Israeli home front and troops,” included a military facility with an underground weapons manufacturing site and infrastructure at border crossings between Syria and Lebanon which the terror group used to smuggle arms.

The strikes were carried out after Hezbollah launched a surveillance drone at Israel yesterday, which the military says was intercepted.

The IDF says the drone was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

UN chief demands evacuation of 2,500 Gazan children in need of medical treatment

Medics care for patients at a clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treating severe injuries and burns sustained in Israeli bombardment, at the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 24. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
Medics care for patients at a clinic set up by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treating severe injuries and burns sustained in Israeli bombardment, at the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 24. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demands that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment after meeting with four US doctors who said the children were at imminent risk of death in the coming weeks.

The doctors had all volunteered in Gaza during the 15-month-long war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Among those patients urgently needing treatment are 2,500 children, says Feroze Sidhwa, a California trauma surgeon who worked in Gaza from March 25 to April 8 last year.

“Of those 2,500 kids, the vast majority need very simple things done,” Sidhwa tells reporters after meeting with Guterres, citing the case of a three-year-old boy who suffered burns to his arm. The burns had healed, but the scar tissue was slowly cutting off blood flow, leaving him at risk of amputation, according to Sidhwa.

The doctors say they’re advocating for a centralized process for medical evacuations with clear guidelines.

At the start of this month, before the ceasefire came into effect last week, the World Health Organization said 5,383 patients had been evacuated with its support since the war began in October 2023, most of those in the first seven months before the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed.

US military says it killed senior member of al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria airstrike

The US military says it killed a senior operative of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday.

The airstrike, part of an ongoing effort to disrupt and degrade terrorist groups in the region, resulted in the death of Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir of the Hurras al-Din group, the US Central Command says in a statement.

IDF says troops shot 2 suspects hurling firebombs at West Bank highway

The Israel Defense Forces says that troops opened fire on a pair of suspects in the Palestinian village of al-Khader throwing firebombs toward the West Bank’s main highway.

“The soldiers fired toward the terrorists… and hits were identified,” according to a military statement, who says the suspects were spotted by members of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit who were on a stakeout.

No one was injured by the Molotov cocktails hurled at Route 60, the statement adds.

Palestinians say 2 killed by Israeli fire in Jenin

Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli fire in Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

The two are named by official Palestinian mouthpiece Wafa as Yazam al-Hassan and Amir Abu Hassan. It is not immediately clear if either were affiliated with any terror groups.

The killings raise the death toll from a major Israeli anti-terror offensive in the area to 19, according to Wafa.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces says the reports are being checked.

‘They’re gonna do it, okay’: Trump insists on Jordan, Egypt taking in Gazans

US President Donald Trump looks on after delivering remarks at the House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami, in Miami, Florida on January 27, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
US President Donald Trump looks on after delivering remarks at the House Republican Members Conference Dinner at Trump National Doral Miami, in Miami, Florida on January 27, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

US President Donald Trump insists that Jordan and Egypt will support a proposal to resettle Palestinians in their countries rather than in a rebuilt Gaza, despite flat refusals from both countries to consider the move.

“They will do it. They will do it. They’re gonna do it, okay? We do a lot for them, and they’re gonna do it,” Trump says when asked about the proposal during a photo op in the Oval Office.

Both Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah explicitly rejected the proposal on Wednesday.

“Regarding what is being said about the displacement of Palestinians, it can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security,” Sissi said.

Trump said earlier this week that the issue would be discussed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he travels to Washington next week.

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