Israel at war: What happened on day 51?

Thirteen Israeli citizens taken hostage in Gaza were released by Palestinian terror group Hamas and brought back into Israel by the IDF, Israel confirmed on Sunday evening.

In addition, one Russian-Israeli was released as requested by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as three Thai citizens. The four were released via the Rafah crossing.

Hostages arrived in IDF custody and reentered Israel on Sunday evening. Elma Avraham was rushed to a hospital by helicopter upon reentry in serious condition, Israeli media reported. The remaining 12 freed hostages are arriving at Hatzerim Airbase in the Negev for an initial medical assessment.

The list of released hostages included: Avigail Idan, three years old; the Brodutch family: Hagar (40), Ofri (10), Yuval (8) and Uriah (4); Ella and Dafna Elyakim, eight and 15 years old; the Almog-Goldstein family: Chen (48), Agam (17), Gal (11) and Tal (9); Elma Avraham, 84 years old; Aviva Siegel, 64 years old.

Roni Krivoy is the hostage who holds Russian citizenship, who was released thanks to direct intervention from Putin. He was welcomed back to Karmiel by Mayor Moshe Koninski, who said "The city of Karmiel welcomes Roni's release and rejoices together with his parents Oleg and Marina and brothers Yulia and Igor."

The Defense Ministry announced that the IDF's Technology and Logistics Directorate confiscated in total NIS 5 million seized since the beginning of Israel's ground operations in Gaza. 

The money was found, among other things, in Hamas strongholds and in the homes of wanted persons, where the terrorist organization was active. 

In addition, Iraqi money, Jordanian dinars, and US dollars were also found. The money was transferred to the finance department of the Defense Ministry, counted, and deposited in the State Treasury.

Hamas has claimed that two hostages who were supposed to be among those released on Saturday night could not be located according to N12.

Maya Regev who was returned to Israel, has an 18-year-old brother Itai, who was abducted along with his sister but was not returned.

The father of 13-year-old Hila Rotem was also unable to be found when Israel requested that he be among the group of those released.

Ceasefire violation?

The ceasefire agreement specifically mentioned that family members would be returned together.

Israel has accepted that the failure to return the families together does not constitute a ceasefire violation given that the individuals could not be located.

The first meeting off Emelia Aloni with her grandmother and other family members at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. (credit: Schneider Children's Medical Center Spokesperson)

Israel instead requested that their relatives be released after Hamas offered to release elderly women in their place. 

In the shadow of the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War and the deal to release the hostages from the captivity of genocidal terrorist group, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, French journalist Georges Malbrunot of "Le Figaro" reported from his sources that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to Qatar that Israel would not act against the leaders of Hamas living in Qatar. 

According to the French report, Qatar received assurances from Israel that the Mossad would not carry out assassinations in the country, and that "Doha presented its precondition to Israel a few weeks ago, before assuming its role as a mediator in the abductee issue." 

Netanyahu orders Mossad to assassinate Hamas leadership

According to a source privy to the details, Netanyahu has already ordered the Mossad to assassinate senior Hamas officials. 

Last Wednesday, the prime minister held a press conference together with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz, explicitly stating that he instructed the Mossad to act against the leaders of Hamas. 

Netanyahu even claimed that "there is no commitment in the agreement to not act in a truce against the leaders of Hamas, whoever they are." 

PHOTO: IRAN’S FOREIGN Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (left) meets with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, last month. (credit: Iran’s Foreign Ministry/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

After that, the prime minister was also asked whether there is a clause in the ceasefire agreement that grants immunity to Hamas leaders, and claimed that "such a clause does not exist."

Gallant also referred to senior Hamas officials, specifically to Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, and said, "They are living on borrowed time, all over the globe; they are all dead men."

Following the release of 13 Israelis from Hamas captivity, Israeli news site N12 spoke with the families of those who returned to hear the stories their relatives have brought back from their time in Gaza.

The families were given time to meet their loved ones immediately following their return to Israeli soil.

They reported that the hostages had been provided food during their time in captivity. The hostages reported that they had not been tortured or physically abused although the amount of food they had been given was minimal and they were often left to cook the food themselves as well as the children they were with.

They said how their final two weeks had seen supplies running low, often leaving them with not much more than pita and small amounts of rice to eat.

Hostages report lack of food in Hamas captivity

Merav Mor Munder, the cousin of Keren Munder who was released on Friday, told N12 "There were days when there were no supplies, so they only ate pita bread. They were not tortured, but there were days when they barely had any food, in the last few days they only ate very little rice."

Hannah Katzir, one of the hostages released by Hamas back to Israel on Friday night. (credit: Bring Them Home Now)

She says how one of the hostages, Hannah Katzir, who was also released, learned of her son’s murder on one of the few occasions they would be permitted to listen to Israeli radio. It was upon her own release that she learned of how her husband had also been kidnapped and remained in Gaza.

Some of the hostages spoke of their worry about last-minute attempts by Hamas or Gazans, who had thrown stones at the vehicle removing them to Egypt, to attack them.  "Until the last moment we weren't sure, we thought they would lynch us on the way to Israel," a hostage said.

Israel held its breath for many hours on Saturday after Hamas decided to delay the return of hostages to Israel, claiming that Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement reached through the mediation of Qatar. The ones who intervened in the story in the middle of the crisis were the Egyptians, who sent intelligence officers to the Gaza Strip in order to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

In order to understand what Egypt's interest is, and how it can act against Hamas in order to fully realize the deal, Maariv spoke with Dr. Shay Har-Zvi, head of the international arena and the Middle East at the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at Reichman University.

"Egypt has considerable leverage on Hamas since Egypt is the only exit gate and land connection to the Gaza Strip that is not Israel," explains Har-Zvi. "They want to show that they have a key role and show that they are a productive and leading player in the region, and in this way get much more prestige. 'These little ones can't be given a locomotive to lead', the Egyptians tell themselves. Egypt understands that what is happening in Gaza, and certainly the day after [the war], gives it prominence."

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, November 10, 2023 (credit: THE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Qatar knows how to 'talk to everyone'

Referring to Qatar's interest, Har-Zvi emphasized that "Qatar is a country that has positioned itself in recent years as one that knows how to talk to everyone. The best example of this is from the last few weeks - the agreement between the Americans and the Iranians to release prisoners for $6 billion that were frozen. In other words, Qatar positions itself as a key player, and on the other hand, it has also been very successful in improving relations with the United States."

Har-Zvi stated that "on Qatar's territory is located the largest American military base in the region with 11,000 soldiers and a very substantial improvement in relations between it and the US is evident. In addition, it mediates with Iran and also wants to protect Hamas with billions in aid with Israeli approval. Qatar looks after and also hosts Hamas's top officials, so there is a kind of double interest here."

Secretary of State of the United States Anthony Blinken is expected to visit Israel this week.

This will be Blinken's fourth visit to Israel after October 7.

With the release of the second round of hostages, senior officials in the Biden administration expressed disappointment that so far no American citizens have been released as part of the deal.

Senior administration officials told NBC that they are still hopeful that at least three US citizens will be released within the next two days.

The Prime Minister's Office announced early Sunday morning that it had received a list of the hostages slated for release by Hamas later that day. 

It added that security officials are checking the list, and that the information has been given to the families of the abductees.
 

'Ireland' is currently trending on the social network X as citizens of Israel are outraged following  Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's comment on the release of hostage Emily Hand on Saturday.

Varadkar initially referred to 9-year-old Irish citizen Hand as a "lost" child who had been "found," before announcing that Hand, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, had returned home.

This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.

— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023

Due to the backlash that was received from the post, platform X has added a section to the tweet that allows readers to provide context stating that "using the terms 'lost' and 'found' is misleading. 8-year-old Emily was 'lost' when she was kidnapped from a kibbutz by Hamas terrorists. She was 'found' 50 days later when she was exchanged by Hamas for 3 Palestinian prisoners."

This post corresponds with Varadkar's prior attitude towards Israel.

On November 3 he described Israel's actions as "something approaching revenge," which received major criticism.

"I strongly believe that ... Israel has the right to defend itself, has the right to go after Hamas, that they cannot do this again," Varadkar told journalists during a visit to South Korea, according to comments broadcast by state radio RTE.

"What I'm seeing unfolding at the moment isn't just self-defense. It looks, resembles something more approaching revenge," Varadkar said.

"That's not where we should be. And I don't think that's how Israel will guarantee future freedom and future security," he said.

For the second time over the course of the planned four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the terrorist group, responsible for the abduction of an estimated 240 hostages into the Gaza Strip on October 7, released a small group of women and children into the custody of the Red Cross, in return for Israel's release of three times as many Palestinian prisoners arrested for security offenses. 

The group disseminated a video of masked gunmen leading the hostages, six women and seven children ranging in age from 8-13, to the Red Cross vehicle that would take them out of the Strip. The video quickly circulated online, with some of those sympathetic to the terrorist group presenting it as a vindication of their behavior, on the basis that the kidnapped Israelis appeared grateful or warm toward their captors. Others presented it as further evidence of Hamas's cruelty.

Some expressed their opposition to sharing the video at all. Hen Mazzig, the pro-Israel activist, called it "gross" to share the clip.

In the video (which can be found here), the Israelis are seen smiling and waving to their captors as they are put in the white van that will return them home. "Goodbye Noam," one Hamas member says. The captive he is speaking to, 17-year-old Noam Or, was released with his sister Alma, 13. Hamas murdered their mother Yonat on October 7, and took their father Dror into Gaza, where the group continues to hold him captive.

It is not clear whether, or how, the hostages were coerced in the making of the video, but at one point a Hamas member audibly instructs two hostages, Sharon Avigdori, 52, and her daughter Noam, 12, to "keep waving," as they smile at the camera before the van departs for Egypt. At least seven relatives of the Avigdoris were also kidnapped to Gaza, where they remain in Hamas captivity. 

Israelis gather in Tel Aviv for the release of Gaza hostages on November 25, 2023 (credit: LIOR SEGEV)

Part of a larger propaganda campaign by Hamas

Hamas is known to consider public perception as a central component of its strategy. The terrorist group, which refuses to allow the Red Cross to visit any of the hostages not yet released, is at war with Israel, after thousands of the organization's members and others invaded the country's south on October 7, killing 1,200 people, of whom about 900 were civilians. Since the attack, forensic investigators have confirmed evidence of rape, decapitation, and burning of Israelis, including children and babies, by members of the brutal jihadist group.

Hamas had been running the de facto government of the Gaza Strip from 2006 until Israel's invasion following the October 7 attack. 

As part of a deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by the Qatari government last week, Israel has released about 40 of 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women or teenage males, who are held in Israel for security offenses, such as stabbings, shootings, or the transfer of explosives. In return, Israel has agreed to a temporary truce in Gaza, and will receive 50 hostages, all women and children, over the course of four days. 

Israel has said that its forces will remain in Gaza and continue to fight Hamas until all of its hostages are returned.