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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 473

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What Matters Most On Monday, January 20, 2025

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Released hostages (L-R) Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen reunite with their mothers shortly after returning to Israel after 471 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, January 19, 2025. (IDF)

British PM on release: 'Wonderful, long-overdue news'

Beaming, laughing, weeping, 3 freed hostages finally reunite with loved ones

By Emanuel Fabian, Amy Spiro, Shoshanna Solomon and ToI Staff

UK-Israeli Emily Damari reveals she lost 2 fingers on Oct. 7; Romi Gonen thanks her community in voice message; Doron Steinbrecher’s family thanks public in name of ‘our heroic Dodo’

Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react to the news of the hostages' release, as they gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

ToI podcastDaily Briefing Jan. 20: Day 472 – Joy, fear as hostages freed, Palestinian prisoners released

By Amanda Borschel-Dan, Emanuel Fabian and Tal Schneider

US President Joe Biden speaks about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal in North Charleston, South Carolina, on January 19, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

On final day of presidency, Biden hails hostage deal, ‘looks forward’ to end of war

Palestinian youths raise national flags along with Hamas (green) and Hezbollah (yellow) banners as they sit atop a Red Cross bus carrying dozens of security prisoners set free by Israel in the early hours of January 20, 2025, in the West Bank town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

List includes top PFLP member, teen behind Jerusalem shooting

Israel frees 90 Palestinian security prisoners, who are welcomed with Hamas flags

By ToI Staff and Agencies

After 3 civilian hostages released from Gaza, Israel releases inmates, mostly female, to West Bank or East Jerusalem – first of up to 1,904 Palestinians to go free in phase one of deal

Members of Hamas's armed wing take part in a military parade along a street in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on January 19, 2025 (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

As it seeks to project enduring strength, Hamas says will abide by truce if Israel does

By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff

Hamas forces parting ‘gift bags’ on freed hostages as mementos of hellish captivity

The three Israeli women freed Sunday after 471 days held hostage in Gaza were sent home by Hamas with "gift bags" and "Palestine" lanyards in a choreographed handover seemingly designed by the terror group for propaganda purposes. Inside the bags given to Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24,... Continue Reading

Protesters block parts of the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024 (Aviv Atlas / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

From the Hartman InstitutePromoted Podcast

Liberal democracy as a matter of national security

With right-wing ultranationalism on the rise in Israel, how can the left reclaim a language of safety and morality?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets US President-elect Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff at his office in Jerusalem, January 11, 2025. (Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson)

Live updates (closed)

Jan. 20: Witkoff: There’s more value in freeing hostages, solving disputes than resuming war

Relatives of Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari, and Romi Gonen report they’re doing well after release from Hamas captivity

11:41 pm

Man's body found in Petah Tikva stairwell, was apparently shot
10:03 pm

Opposition MK: Netanyahu government complicit in West Bank settler rampage
9:50 pm

IDF says troops dispersed settler riot in area of West Bank village

Paramedics and police at the scene of a Palestinian suicide-bombing that killed 19 and injuring 74 on a bus in Jerusalem, June 18, 2002. (Flash90/File)

Inside story'On a national level, it’s not a good deal'

Convicted terrorists to be released are ‘an open wound’ for victims’ families

By Gavriel Fiske

While many support any effort to bring home live hostages, some bereaved family members call for a terrorist death penalty in order to halt the cycle of hostage release deals

Presidential inauguration

Trump looks to ride on success of hostage deal as he readies to take oath of office

Donald Trump appears set to ride on the success of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that he helped finalize before even entering office, as he is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. Trump threatened “all hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages weren’t returned by his January 20 inauguration.... Continue Reading

US President-elect Donald Trump reacts during a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2025, one day ahead of his inauguration ceremony. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., speaks outside the hush money criminal case of former president Donald Trump in New York, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey / File)

Trump’s national security adviser vows Hamas will never again govern Gaza

US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a rally ahead of the 60th presidential Inauguration in Washington, January 19, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Iran says it hopes Trump will take ‘realistic’ approach, show ‘respect’ to Mideast

By AFP and ToI Staff

US President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Sunday, January 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Trump set for US presidential swearing-in, capping unprecedented comeback

By Zeke Miller, CHRIS MEGERIAN and MICHELLE PRICE

Washington freezes over as former leader who tried to overturn 2020 election returns to office with sheaf of executive orders in hand and Democrats’ ‘resistance’ largely neutered

US President Joe Biden speaks at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Analysis

Biden, who campaigned on issue of antisemitism, leaves as it hits historic levels

Outgoing US president established 1st national strategy to fight antisemitism, even appointing special envoy, but couldn’t stop surge of anti-Jewish hate after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack

Op-Ed: Day 471 of the war

From hell to safety in a few frenzied seconds

Four hundred and seventy-one days. Four hundred and seventy-one days after they were dragged away into the dark underworld of Hamas captivity, where nobody knows what hell they endured, Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, emerged into the light on Sunday afternoon. And they were not merely standing and walking but also,... Continue Reading

Hamas terrorists hand over hostages Emily Damari (in green sweater), Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen, abducted during the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a ceasefire and a hostage-security prisoners deal, in Gaza City, January 19, 2025 (AFPTV / AFP)

IDF: 'They're in our hands. They're coming home'

Hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher return to Israel after 471 days

By Emanuel Fabian, ToI Staff and Agencies

For the first time since November 2023, three hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel were released by Hamas on Sunday under a ceasefire deal, returning to Israel after 471 days in captivity in Gaza and being reunited with their families. The first three hostages freed under the deal were... Continue Reading

(From left): Israeli hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher are handed over by Hamas terrorists to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City on January 19, 2025. (Reuters / Al Jazeera screenshot / Reuters)

Left to right: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, Pool), Volodymyr Zelensky (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP), Ursula Von Der Leyen (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

‘A deeply meaningful moment,’ it ‘fills our hearts with hope’: World hails hostage release

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Avishag Gadot, center, with her friends, waiting at Sheba Medical Center as three hostages released from Gaza are set to arrive for treatment, January 19, 2025. The poster says: 'The people of Israel love you.' (Shoshanna Solomon/Times of Israel)

Reporter's notebookA mix of joy, hope, sorrow and song awaited released hostages outside the hospital

By Shoshanna Solomon

The reunification of the Brodutch family, with father Avihai embracing his children who were held by terrorists in Gaza for 51 days, November 27, 2023. (Schneider Medical Center)

Father and husband of hostages freed in Nov. 2023 on what lies ahead for the newly released

By Jessica Steinberg

Avihai Brodutch, who sat outside Defense Ministry demanding return of his family, says the 3 hostages freed after 471 days, 2 of whom are from his kibbutz, will ‘live it their whole lives’

‘A big day,’ but… Israeli leaders welcome freed hostages, even as some bash the deal

By Amy Spiro and ToI Staff

Welcoming the release of hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher as part of the first day of the ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, most Israeli leaders and politicians reacted with joy and pride at their return to Israel. At the same time, some right-wing... Continue Reading

Emily Damari hugs her relative at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, January 19, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Hadash head Ayman Odeh speaks during a plenum session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 18, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Lawmakers slam Arab MK for saying he’s ‘happy for release of hostages and prisoners’

By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff

Sgt. First Class (res.) Eviatar Ben Yehuda, killed in the West Bank on January 20, 2025. (Courtesy)

IDF reservist killed, senior officer seriously hurt by roadside bomb in West Bank

By Emanuel Fabian

Sgt. First Class (res.) Eviatar Ben Yehuda, 31, killed in Palestinian town of Tamun during patrol; blast injures his battalion commander, 3 other soldiers

Zehava Shaul mourns at the grave of her son, IDF Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by the Hamas terror group in 2014, at his funeral in Poria Illit in northern Israel, January 20, 2025. Shaul's body was returned to Israel from Gaza in a clandestine Israeli operation on January 19, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Soldier Oron Shaul, whose body was recovered from Gaza, laid to rest in Israel

Images from a video taken of fires in the Palestinian West Bank village of Sinjil, after Israeli extremists set vehicles and homes ablaze, January 19, 2025. (Screenshots, courtesy Sinjil Municipal Authority)

Israeli extremists torch Palestinian homes, cars in outburst of violence in West Bank

By Jeremy Sharon and ToI Staff

IDF: Troops arrested 2, dispersed rioters; watchdog disputes latter claim; ultranationalists say will ‘spoil’ Palestinian prisoner release celebrations if authorities don’t clamp down

Amichai Eliyahu

The unbearable price of freedom

As a government minister opposed to this deal, I must state clearly: Releasing terrorists is a moral crisis that threatens Israel’s security

Catherine Perez-Shakdam

The bitter lesson of the hostage release

The immoral equivalency of innocents taken captive with those convicted of atrocities fundamentally legitimates terror. That is wrong – and dangerous

Get hip to your own hypocrisy

Given the pragmatic and moral imperatives to stand together, US Jews on both sides need to stop their inflammatory, divisive rhetoric

He’s still at it: AIDS research pioneer who made Ethiopia healthier

Zvi Bentwich got a lifetime achievement award from the Society for International Development. Here’s why he so richly deserves the honor

Israelis watch the release of three hostages from captivity in Gaza as part of a deal with the Hamas terror group, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, January 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Crowds erupt in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square as captives arrive back in Israel

By Noam Lehmann, AFP and ToI Staff

After a tense afternoon, thousands cheer and hug as Jerusalem confirms Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen are in Israeli hands

People gather in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to watch the release of three hostages, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, Hamas looms large as tension turns to celebration

By Deborah Danan

Explainer

With Otzma Yehudit out of government, Netanyahu set to appoint replacement ministers

The exit of Itamar Ben Gvir's ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party from the government on Sunday morning over the ceasefire deal in Gaza is set to leave multiple government posts empty, sparking what one coalition insider has described as "a big internal fight" within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party over the allocation of the suddenly available positions. The resignations... Continue Reading

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and cabinet ministers pose for a picture during a special government meeting on Jerusalem Day at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, June 5, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Activists with the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow hold a rally demanding a ceasefire in Gaza in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building on October 18, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)

'You can slander Israel, just not using misappropriated money'

US attorney uses ‘lawfare’ to force $700K settlement from Jewish Voice for Peace

By Asaf Elia-Shalev

David Abrams makes a living off hunting alleged fraud by groups critical of Israel; in JVP’s case, the group allegedly misrepresented itself when applying for COVID relief funds

More Headlines

A British Airways flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, September 3, 2014. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

British Airways to resume London-Tel Aviv service on April 5

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at a national demonstration for Palestine and Lebanon, in central London, on November 30, 2024. (CARLOS JASSO / AFP)

UK police question Labour ex-chief Corbyn over anti-Israel march; 77 arrested, 9 charged

By Agencies and ToI Staff

An illustrative image of program developers, startups and innovation (scyther5; iStock by Getty Images)

One in five Israeli tech firms moved some operations and staff abroad during war

By Sharon Wrobel

Amsterdam club cancels Israeli comedian’s show after antisemitic threats

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends an event titled 'Day of Remembrance 80 Years Since the Liberation of Auschwitz - What Now?' on January 19, 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Germany must never ‘turn the page’ on the Holocaust, says Scholz

By AFP and ToI Staff

Screen capture from music video of Iranian rap artist Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, aka Tataloo, 2019. (YouTube. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law

Iran sentences pop singer Tataloo to death for blasphemy

By AFP and ToI Staff

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