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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Thursday, February 20, 2025

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The shell of a bus after it was blown up by an explosive device in a Bat Yam bus parking lot, February 20, 2025. (Israel Fire and Rescue Authority)

Live updates (closed)

Feb. 20: IDF to step up counterterror op in some West Bank areas after attempted bus bombings

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

None hurt as 3 bombs explode on empty buses in Tel Aviv area, 2 others disabled * Israel: PIJ murdered Oded Lifshitz in captivity; ID ongoing for purported bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas

9:51 pm

IDF involved in probe of bus bombings, will step up counterterror op in some West Bank areas
9:50 pm

After attempted bus bombings, Gantz calls for reaction that terror groups 'won't forget'
9:42 pm

Israeli strikes reported in northern area of Lebanon-Syria border; no comment from IDF

The IDF holds a ceremony in the Gaza Strip honoring the four slain Israeli hostages whose bodies are apparently in coffins returned by Hamas, February 20, 2025. The coffins are seen draped in Israeli flags. (IDF)

IDF in Gaza drapes coffins in Israeli flags, Psalm 83 recited

Bodies of slain hostages brought to Israel after grotesque Hamas ceremony, 503 days since they were abducted alive

By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff

Caskets said to hold bodies of Shiri Bibas, young sons Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz handed to Red Cross, then IDF; driven through Israel to forensic institute for ID process

Oded Lifshitz (left); Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas (Amiram Oren/Courtesy)

Bibas and Lifshitz hostage families cling to hope, say they’ll await final identification of bodies

By ToI Staff and Diana Bletter

From top left, clockwise: Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Oded Lifshitz and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)

Israel names Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Oded Lifshitz as the slain hostages supposed to return Thursday

By Emanuel Fabian, AFP and ToI Staff

Hamas commander was serving 48 life terms

Freed arch-terrorist, convicted of killing 45, is guest at slain hostage handover in Gaza

Mohammed Abu Warda, responsible for series of suicide bombings, vows to continue ‘resistance’ at Khan Younis ceremony; had reportedly been slated to be deported to Egypt

Freed Hamas terrorist Mohammad Abu Warda (right) seen in a TV broadcast from the handover ceremony of slain Israeli hostages in Khan Younis, February 20, 2025. (Screenshot from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Palestinian terrorists carry to the Red Cross one of four coffins said to hold a body of a slain Israeli hostage, in the southern Gaza Strip's Khan Younis, February 20, 2025. (Eyad Baba / AFP)

ToI podcastDaily Briefing Feb. 20: Day 503 – In grotesque ‘ceremony,’ Hamas hands over 4 coffins

By Amanda Borschel-Dan and David Horovitz

Promoted Content

Wake up and enjoy the sea view of Tel Aviv, The Rav Kook Residences

History meets innovation and creativity. The project includes two unique buildings, both listed for conservation and the Rav Kook synagogue that gives the project its name.

‘Maybe we didn’t do enough’: Israelis line route of convoy carrying slain hostages

By ToI Staff, Emanuel Fabian and AFP

In Gaza border towns, on highway overpasses, along roads and in Hostages Square, public gathers in the rain to pay respects to four captives who were abducted alive on October 7

The IDF holds a ceremony in the Gaza Strip honoring the four slain Israeli hostages whose bodies are apparently in coffins returned by Hamas, February 20, 2025. The coffins are seen draped in Israeli flags as they are carried by officers of the Nahal Brigade. (IDF)

Herzog asks forgiveness, coalition MKs invoke Amalek as slain hostages handed over

By Sam Sokol, Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

Condolences come from diplomats after Hamas hands over caskets said to be holding bodies of 4 captives; minister: ‘Society that cultivates a culture of murder has no right to exist”

Marcelle Taljah, seen with her new granddaughter on October 6, a day before she was murdered. (Courtesy)

Government urged to recognize as orphans those who lost sole living parent on Oct. 7

Shira Pasternak Be'eri

500 days of loss and longing

A visit to the ad hoc memorials near Gaza amidst an ongoing crisis – the burnt out cars and ceramic flowers commemorate an unfinished tragedy

Refael Feuerstein

When the doubt ends, the mourning can begin

A Jewish and national lesson from the tragedy: Burial, even after such a long time, marks a watershed moment between turmoil and painful certainty

Graffiti of Shiri and Yarden Bibas and their sons, Ariel, left, and Kfir, right, who were taken captive by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

ToI podcast

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Why is Israel handing Gaza back to Hamas?

By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Haviv Rettig Gur

Ahead of a terrible day for Israel as Hamas returns bodies of hostages taken on Oct. 7, ToI’s senior analyst puzzles out why Netanyahu seems to be heading to phase 2 of a sub-par deal

Then-US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Biden could possibly have ended Gaza war in 2023 by forcing Israeli reckoning — ex-aide

Tents belonging to Palestinians are seen amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on February 18, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Arab leaders to meet Friday, discuss Egyptian alternative to Trump’s Gaza plan

By AFP and ToI Staff

Cairo’s yet-to-be-unveiled plan said to include 3 reconstruction stages, with Palestinians moved to ‘safe zones’; major challenges loom regarding funding, Strip’s postwar management

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, September 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

WHO says campaign to vaccinate Gazan children against polio set to resume Saturday

By ToI Staff and Reuters

Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024 in ‘horrifying escalation,’ rights groups say

By AFP

Report says 17% increase over 2023; watchdog director says spike seen in last 3 months of year came ‘as the threat of war between Iran and Israel escalated’

Placards with photos of Iranian Nika Shakarami (R) and Donya Farhadi, both believed to be victims of the Iranian security forces, are seen on a fence during a rally against executions in Iran outside the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on October 31, 2024 (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem finished their second season of excavations at the Hyrcania fortress in the Judean desert in the West Bank in January 2025 in cooperation with the Staff Officer of Archaeology of Judea and Samaria. In the Byzantine compound, they uncovered a medallion mosaic which had been intentionally defaced with a column drum from the Herodian period. (Oren Gutfeld/The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

'This was a prosperous monumental monastery'

Mikvehs and monks: Vivid hues link rare Jewish and Christian finds in Judean Desert

By Rossella Tercatin

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem just concluded their second season of excavations at Hyrcania, where they found colorful Byzantine mosaics and Herodian frescoes

Egypt unveils first ancient royal tomb discovered since Tutankhamun

By AFP

Illustrative: Passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport on October 31, 2024. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Knesset passes law prohibiting entry into Israel for October 7, Holocaust deniers

Legislation also bans issuing entry permits to anybody who publicly supports international prosecution of Israeli citizens over their activities in the security services

Prof. Jonathan Petropoulos (left) and Bruno Lohse. (© Living Memory Productions)

InterviewNazis took one-fifth of Europe's artwork during 1934-1944

Unrepentant Nazi art thief who stole Jews’ art from ‘still warm walls’ focus of new film

By Rich Tenorio

Airing Feb. 19 on PBS, ‘Plunderer’ chronicles the life of Bruno Lohse, who amassed a collection worth millions while looting the homes of Jews for his boss Hermann Goering during WWII

Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, the head of Israel's Arava Institute, in New York City, February 14, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Interview

US colleges could learn from Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, says head of eco institute

Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, from East Jerusalem, says Arava program’s students have compulsory, confidential, ‘brave’ conversations where both sides find it hard to talk, hard to listen

DeSantis appointee to Florida university board under fire for remarks about Jews, women

By Andrew Lapin

FILE: Lebanese wave a Hezbollah flag in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on February 18, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

IDF strike kills Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon, day after withdrawal

By Emanuel Fabian, Agencies and ToI Staff

Military says operative was spotted handling weapons; Hezbollah supporters fly Iran-backed terror group’s flags in villages near border

Banners depicting slain leader of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah (C), his deputy Hashem Safieddine (C-L) and other slain Hezbollah commanders are displayed on Beirut Airport Road, in Beirut on February 19, 2025. (Anwar Amro/AFP)

Iraqi airlines adds Beirut flights as tickets sell out ahead of Nasrallah funeral

By AFP and ToI Staff

US President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Trump labels Zelensky a ‘dictator’ as tensions rise over Russian war against Ukraine

By Stephany Matat and AAMER MADHANI

President claims Ukrainian leader ‘talked’ US into providing aid for ‘war that couldn’t be won,’ after blaming Kyiv for Putin’s invasion

People walk in the rain in the northern Israeli city of Safed, February 20, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Winter storm to bring strong winds and a chance of snow to Israel over the weekend

Forecast shows snowfall on the horizon for Mount Hermon, while Jerusalem hills, central Israel could experience light dusting early next week

More Headlines

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, August 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Katz appoints outgoing IDF deputy chief as Defense Ministry’s next director-general

By Emanuel Fabian

Residents of the West Bank refugee camp of al-Far'a, near Tubas, evacuate their homes as the Israeli military operation continues in the area on February 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

West Bank terror crackdown sees largest displacement of Palestinians since 1967

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Family members of hostages honored on International Women's Day at the Peres Center on February 19, 2025 (Courtesy)

Women warriorsHostages’ mothers, wives and sisters honored on Int. Women’s Day

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative: An ultra-Orthodox man crosses a street in a Jewish neighborhood in Williamsburg Brooklyn in New York City on April 24, 2019 (Johannes EISELE / AFP)

2 NYC yeshivas are not meeting standards and must effectively close, state rules

By Asaf Elia-Shalev

For illustration: Victory supermarket in Tel Aviv, November 19, 2019. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Competition watchdog indicts three supermarket chains for price fixing

By Sharon Wrobel

Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the Church of England. (Wikimedia Commons)

Survey: 1/3 of UK Christians believe Jews ‘still talk too much’ about the Holocaust

Medics at the scene of an axe attack in Jerusalem's Old City that moderately injured a woman, February 19, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

Woman moderately injured in axe attack in Jerusalem’s Old City; motive being probed

Idan Amedi preforms in his first major concert since recovering from wounds suffered in a Gaza explosion, in Jerusalem, February 19, 2025. (Screenshot from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

SupermanIdan Amedi onstage for 1st major show since being wounded in Gaza

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