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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Friday, January 31, 2025

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

Israel expected to release 90 Palestinians, 9 serving life

Hostages Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas to be freed by Hamas Saturday

By ToI Staff and Amy Spiro

Israel has expressed ‘grave concern’ for the fate of Bibas’s wife and small sons, who are still held in Gaza after all living children and women are supposed to have been freed

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

ToI podcastDaily Briefing Jan. 31: Day 483 – After chaotic hostage scene, Israel demands calmer handovers

By Jessica Steinberg and Amy Spiro

Family has said it 'holds onto hope' that all will return

Ahead of Yarden Bibas’s release, relatives warn of ‘very complex days’ ahead

‘Please protect Yarden’s heart,’ the wider family urges. ‘Our Yarden is set to return tomorrow and we are all so excited, but Shiri and the children have not yet come back’

The Bibas family, father Yarden, mother Shiri, baby Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)

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)

After 15 months, no more female soldiers remain held in Gaza

Surveillance soldiers all finally home: Agam Berger’s return closes one horrific Oct. 7 chapter

By ToI Staff, Amy Spiro, Leon Kraiem, Diana Bletter and Emanuel Fabian

Berger’s freed comrades embrace her at hospital, elect to stay with her; release offers closure for families whose daughters did not survive, as sister of slain commander writes: ‘It’s over. You can rest in peace’

(Top L-R:) Freed hostage Agam Berger reunites with her family at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on January 30, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO); Freed hostage Gadi Mozes reunites with his children at an IDF facility near Re'im on January 30, 2025 (IDF); Arbel Yehoud reunites with her family at an IDF facility close to the Gaza border, January 30, 2025 (IDF)

‘We’ll never leave you again’: Families meet freed hostages after 15 months of agony

By Amy Spiro and ToI Staff

Wiwwaeo Sriaoun (L), the mother of Thai farm worker Watchara Sriaoun who was held hostage in Gaza, reacts as she receives an image of her son (R) being released, at her home in Udon Thani province, Thailand's rural northeast on January 30, 2025. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)

In Thailand, families of hostages weep with joy upon news of their release from Gaza

By Amy Spiro, ToI Staff and Agencies

A passerby looks at photos of the hostages in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, January 23, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Live updates (closed)

Jan. 31: Israel said to believe Hamas won’t agree to free all living hostages in 2nd phase

By Elana Kirsh and ToI Staff

Next hostage release expected Saturday morning, with 3 Israeli men set to go free * Details begin to emerge about the difficult conditions that the freed captives endured in Gaza

8:09 pm

UNRWA says Emily Damari's allegations she was held in its facilities 'grave,' demand probe
7:49 pm

Gadi Mozes tells family he paced 7km every day in his 2x2 meter cell
7:23 pm

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

Witkoff after his Gaza visit: 'It is not safe to walk there'

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

By ToI Staff and Reuters

‘We do a lot for them, and they’re gonna do it,’ says US president, whose envoy Witkoff says Gaza rebuild could take 10 to 15 years: ‘There is nothing left standing’

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on January 30, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

US envoy Steve Witkoff visits Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, to meet with the families of Hamas-held hostages, January 30, 2025 (Adar Eyal / Hostages Families Forum)

Witkoff meets freed soldiers, ex-hostages, officials, stresses commitment to full deal

Displaced Palestinians cross a checkpoint manned by US and Egyptian security at the Netzarim Corridor as people make their way from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip, on Salah al-Din road, in central Gaza, on January 29, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP)

US security firm hiring special forces veterans to staff key Gaza checkpoint

By Jonathan Landay and Aram Roston

Moira Dror looks out over Netiv Ha’asara, with northern Gaza just a few dozen yards behind her, January 30, 2025. (Jeremy Sharon / The Times of Israel)

Trepidation and resilience in southern Israel as hostages, terrorists, Gazans go home

By Jeremy Sharon

Residents of western Negev worry about security after ceasefire with Hamas but are defiant in their will to stay. ‘I’m not giving Hamas that victory,’ says Netiv Ha’asara resident

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)

Shear joy

Safely home, freed hostage Gadi Mozes shaves son’s 482-day beard

By Jessica Steinberg

Yair had vowed not to cut his facial hair until his father returned; Gadi also takes razor to grandson’s Erez’s curls

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

In freed hostage Gadi Mozes, many Israelis see embodiment of ‘kibbutznik’ spirit

Jewish women, including at the Israeli airline El Al, wore braids to celebrate Agam Berger, released from Hamas captivity on Jan. 30, 2025. (Berger with her parents: handout; El Al staff via El Al)

Jewish women braid hair and challah to celebrate release of hostage Agam Berger

By PHILISSA CRAMER

A crowd greets terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, former head of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, after his release as part of a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas as he arrives in Ramallah, in the West Bank, January 30, 2025. (Flash90)

Zakaria Zubeidi among terrorists to get heroes’ welcome as Israel frees 110 prisoners

By Charlie Summers, Emanuel Fabian, Amy Spiro and ToI Staff

Hundreds in Ramallah greet Zubeidi, who organized dozens of attacks during the Second Intifada; 66 prisoners sent to West Bank, 14 to East Jerusalem, 9 to Gaza and 21 exiled

Gadi Mozes is escorted by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen as he is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

Furious over ‘shocking scenes’ of hostage handover, Israel delays release of prisoners

The head of Hamas's military wing Muhammad Deif in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)

Six months later, Hamas officially admits Muhammad Deif killed by Israel

By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff

ToI podcast

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Death penalty for terrorists?

By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Haviv Rettig Gur

In the context of the release of convicted Palestinian mass murderers, ToI’s senior analyst delves into the charged issue of capital punishment and how it may shift the conflict

Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, a Palestinian prisoner and former a top commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades who was released by Israel, January 30, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Hamas killed Thai nationals deliberately

The terrorists called to the workers from Thailand in their native tongue to lure them out of hiding, only to kill them or take them hostage

Kenny Schiowitz

Navigating the immense risks of negotiating with terrorists

We celebrate the return of hostages, but fear of future dangers threatens to overwhelm that joy. What if living with mixed emotions is exactly the point? (Bo)

Released hostage Ilana Gritzewsky poses for a portrait in her apartment in Kiryat Gat, December 15, 2024, near photos of her boyfriend, Matan Zangauker, who is being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

After initial ecstasy of freedom, released hostages face long road to recovery

By Melanie Lidman

‘I don’t think my brain has really grasped everything,’ says Ilana Gritzewsky, who came back in November 2023

Staff Sgt. Liam Hazi, killed in the Jenin camp in the West Bank, on January 30, 2025. (Courtesy)

IDF soldier killed in Jenin gunbattle amid West Bank crackdown; 2 gunmen eliminated

By Emanuel Fabian

Staff Sgt. Liam Hazi fatally hurt, five other troops wounded in exchange of fire with gunmen in building; police kill wanted Palestinian in Nablus

Inside story

Netanyahu’s offer to Lapid and Gantz: Early elections in a year’s time

By Shalom Yerushalmi

PM wants opposition leaders to back his government through the hostages’ release, in exchange for holding early elections one year after the last captive returns

Head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz and head of Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid in a joint press conference at the Knesset. 6 November 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox students seen at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, February 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Debating ultra-Orthodox enlistment law, MKs argue how to define who is Haredi

Salwan Momika protests outside a mosque in Stockholm on June 28, 2023, during the Eid al-Adha holiday. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP)

Iraqi man who burned Qurans in Sweden shot dead during livestream

By AP and ToI Staff

Prosecutors says 5 suspects arrested over murder of Salwan Momika, which took place just before judge was set to announce verdict in his incitement trial

Screen capture from video of antisemitic graffiti found in Sydney, Australia, January 30, 2025. (9News. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Australian Jews up security, conceal identity amid stream of antisemitic attacks

By Alasdair Pal and Jill Gralow

Police and private security stationed outside Jewish school as children return from summer break; community leader says some Jews removing kippot and mezuzot

Police stand near houses vandalized with anti-Israel slogans in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, Australia, December 11, 2024. (AP/Mark Baker)

Discovery of explosives-filled trailer near Sydney averted mass casualty event — police

This picture, taken from a position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, shows civilian Lebanese cars driving near destroyed buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab on January 29, 2025. (Jalaa Marey / AFP)

IDF fighter jets carry out overnight strikes on Hezbollah sites in Beqaa Valley

By Emanuel Fabian

Military says targets ‘posed a threat to Israeli home front and troops,’ included a military facility and sites at border crossings with Syria

The northern Israeli border with Lebanon. January 27, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)

IDF shoots down Hezbollah surveillance drone, in first such incident since ceasefire

By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff

On the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters march in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, on the Los Angeles campus of the University of Southern California, October 7, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG, via JTA)

'Address this crisis without abandoning democratic values'

US Jewish groups divided on Trump’s threat to deport campus anti-Israel protesters

By Andrew Lapin

Executive order signed Wednesday directs agencies to take ‘actions to remove’ non-citizen students who endorse terror. Some welcome the move amid concerns about rights violations

FILE - British actress and singer Marianne Faithfull poses during a photo-call for her movie 'Irina Palm' at the 57th International Film Festival Berlin 'Berlinale' in Berlin, February 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

British singer and pop icon Marianne Faithfull dies at 78; father saved mother from Nazis

By Hillel Italie

Faithfull, whose heritage was one of intrigue, decadence and fallen empires, known for inspiring some of the Rolling Stones’ greatest hits and her relationship with Mick Jagger

Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood. (Shmuel Bar-Am)

Why rent in Jerusalem is surging disproportionately – and unlikely to let up soon

With immigration of American and French Jews rising, partly driven by antisemitism, and many buildings undergoing urban renewal projects, fewer apartments are available for tenants

Lit-up apartment building in Petah Tikva, August 2021. (Itay Tamir via iStock by Getty Images)

Housing snapshot: Home sales and rentals across Israel in January 2025

More Headlines

From left: New York City Councilmembers Ketih Powers and Julie Menin; Rabbi Arthur Schneier; Yad Vashem head Dani Dayan; and Israeli consul-general Ofir Akunis. New York City, January 30, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

New York City names street ‘Yad Vashem Way’ amid rampant antisemitism

Amazon delivery vehicle is being scanned by Israeli startup UVeye's AI-driven inspection system. (Courtesy)

Israeli AI startup that scans Amazon vehicles raises $191 million led by Toyota fund

By Sharon Wrobel

Thirdeye's Chimera, an electro-optical system that includes a compact lightweight thermal camera that can be attached to drones, vehicles, and robots and uses advanced object recognition analytics. (Courtesy)

‘War is good for business’: Israeli startups going global after key role in Gaza

Architect's impression showing how land in and around a large junction in Gedera, southern Israel, is to be used for solar panels. (Netivei Israel)

Solar panel installations must grow by 40% to meet 2030 goals – Energy Ministry

Father Calvin Robinson gives Elon Musk's salute at the National Pro-Life Summit, January 25, 2025, in Washington. (X screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Church defrocks priest for mimicking Elon Musk’s Nazi-like salute

By Andrew Lapin

An Israeli analog astronaut in a simulated spacesuit exits the Mars habitat in the Ramon Crater in the Negev on October 31, 2021. (Amy Spiro)

After US pledges a Mars landing, Israeli deep space venture hitches wagon to Trump’s star

By Sharon Wrobel

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