Tears at the inhumane treatment our brave hostages, having already suffered so much, should have to endure before being brought to freedom yesterday (Thursday). Or perhaps far better, great fury:
“Earlier, live footage of the hostages’ release revealed that an angry mob surrounded them as they were brought to the Red Cross representatives.
“Chaos abounded, such that hostage Gadi Mozes was initially reported to be with the Red Cross, but a diplomatic source clarified that he had not yet arrived.
“As the Red Cross vehicle left the scene to meet with the IDF and ISA forces in Gaza, the mob followed the vehicle, delaying its arrival with the Israeli forces.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403137
Arbel Yehud, the fear on her face:
Gadi Mozes – who is 80 – enduring the mob as well:
The two were brought to Red Cross personnel and rode out in one car. See video here of masses of terrorists surrounding the car. Try it full screen for greater impact.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403142
This was in Khan Younis.
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What we are seeing is a demonstration of the inhumanity of Hamas, which should come as no surprise.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was furious: “I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages. This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization.
“I demand that the mediators make certain that such terrible scenes do not recur and guarantee the safety of our hostages.”
Because of this action, the release of the terrorists for this stage of the deal was delayed for some hours.
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Yesterday, in total three Israelis were brought home: Gadi Mozes and Arbel Yehud, both civilians, and IDF observer Agam Berger (to the left, below).
As I understand it, Agam came out separately because she was IDF and Hamas chose to make a show of her release, just as they had done with the four IDF women brought out last. See a video of her paraded on a stage in Jabaliya; she is holding a document that is in the nature of a “certificate” or “diploma.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbyaFdIdNZ8
I don’t know if they did this with Agam, but the four IDF women released last week were given “goody bags” – as if they had been away at camp. A vile and nauseating display, an attempt to put a good face on their brutality.
But these young soldiers are so very brave. This is Agam’s special strength:
Liri Albag, who was with Agam in captivity, told her mother that Agam refrained from eating non-kosher meat throughout her time in captivity, a decision that significantly limited her food options. “Despite the harsh conditions and limited options, Agam chose to remain true to her values and faith.”
https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/01/30/agam-berger-insisted-on-keeping-kosher-in-captivity/
Agam reuniting with her parents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-BDyR0TmGM
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Also released were five Thai nationals, workers seized on October 7.
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A powerful piece about this situation by British-Israeli journalist Melanie Philips must be read and shared (emphasis added):
“Listen to those mobs chanting ecstatically for the murder of Jews in a willed repetition of the slaughter of Jews by Islam’s founder Mohammed in 7th century Khybar; then watch Sky News report this as a ‘celebration,’ and then begin to understand the depravity of the western media that’s sanitised this barbarism for 15 months and demonised its victims.
“Look at the thousands who have emerged in Hamas uniform and armed to the teeth, vowing to carry out more and more October 7 massacres until every Jew is dead and Israel is destroyed — Hamas murder squads loudly declaring that they will use the ceasefire to regroup, rearm and attack Israel; and then listen to the politicians hailing this development as the beginning of peace…
“All you who have connived at this obscenity, including the members of the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration — yes, even though it was indeed Donald Trump whose arrival on the scene forced Hamas/Qatar to yield up this limited number of hostages but at a terrible price that no civilised nation should have expected any victimised people to pay, including enabling its genocidal enemy to regroup and re-emerge as a force for evil in a way that threatens to render worthless the supreme sacrifice made by all those Israeli heroes who have fallen in battle — you who are all falling over yourselves to take credit for the release of the hostages today, know this: that the spectacle of these innocents having to run the gauntlet of genocidal menace after 15 months in hell, this hostage negotiation that was more akin to a mafia-style hit-job forcing Israel under unimaginable pressure to release dozens of men who have slaughtered Israeli Jews over the years, who left hundreds of families permanently bereaved and shattered and are now being released to do it all again — you have produced a sickening theatre of sadism and cruelty on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, which casts a baleful shadow over the new and transformative era that tomorrow’s dawn will supposedly bring…”
https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/an-obscene-spectacle
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Very tough words, they speak to me:
Trump’s Middle East Envy Steve Witkoff came into Israel on Wednesday, having first been in Saudi Arabia. We could have expected that he would be here when hostages were released, so that he would be a visible reminder of all that Trump had accomplished.
He is being hailed as a top-notch negotiator, but I think he’s a top-notch actor. On Sunday, he had described the agreement he helped broker between Israel and Hamas as “the most worthy thing I could ever do in my life.”
https://www.jns.org/witkoff-in-israel-to-push-implementation-of-hamas-ceasefire/
Forgive me, but would it not have been even more worthy if he had arranged a deal that did not require release of hundreds of terrorists likely to return to terrorism? Or had arranged a deal that would not require redeployment of the IDF?
Yes, wonderful beyond words: to see hostages brought out. But this is enough for him, without giving voice to any concern about the price of the deal. He said he was coming to make certain that the deal was being implemented “in a correct way.” And what, pray tell, does he think is the “correct way”?
Did you, my friends, notice a statement from him about how despicable the behavior of the terrorists was as they brought the hostages forward for release? If he had any criticism of Hamas, I failed to catch it.
Then he said: “Hopefully we’ll get to phase two as well, and we’ll get everybody out who is alive, back to their families, and bodies…we’ve got to get those bodies out too, and that’s just as important.”
To get to phase two means a permanent ceasefire with Hamas still standing. But that’s fine with him.
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According to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last week, U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have provided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an official missive confirming that “the State of Israel will be able to return to the war on day 43” if talks fail during the 42-day first phase of the agreement.
https://www.jns.org/smotrich-us-guaranteed-israels-right-to-resume-fighting-in-gaza/
This is reassuring, providing some hope. But I remain a cynic. What happens if Hamas says they are willing to continue to talk (i.e., they don’t allow a failure of the talks) even though there is no agreement on what happens next, and that “great negotiator” Witkoff is behind the scenes pushing for the talks to continue? The fine print of the deal is not available, but I seem to recall that there was talk of allowing the negotiations to continue past 42 days if they haven’t failed. This is not going to be a simple matter and will require enormous strength.
Chief of Staff Halevi observed to troops in Gaza: We are a military that is very proud to implement the [government’s] policy, to implement the decision to return the hostages, and we will be just as proud to return and fight.”
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One-hundred terrorists were released late afternoon on Thursday, including many who are responsible for the murder of dozens of Israelis, in exchange for the eight hostages released:
See details:
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Much, much more to look at after Shabbat, including Trump’s idea – which is not being received well – that 1.5 million Gazans should be moved out to a Muslim nation such as Egypt, Jordan or Indonesia.
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I ask for prayers for Israel’s wellbeing – for the wisdom and strength of our leaders and the safety of all Am Yisrael.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
