This IDF soldier was carrying a book of psalms in his pocket. That little book saved his life when he was shot - the bullet stayed lodged in the book. - Fair Use - In my personal Bible reading, I am now going through the Psalms. I feel that very many of them could relate to this war. First Israeli Hostages Return; 10 Thai, 1 Filipino Freed; 39 Palestinian Convicts Released: Thirteen Israeli women and children taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 are crossing back into Israel after a transition through Egypt via the Red Cross on Friday evening local time. 12 Thai hostages and one Filipino hostage have also been freed. In return, Israel has released 39 Palestinian terror convicts, all women or teenagers. It has also allowed additional fuel trucks and other supplies into Gaza, after a four-day pause in fighting took effect earlier on Friday, under the terms of the agreement. Over 200 hostages remain in custody in Gaza. At least 50 Israeli hostages are set to be released over the four-day pause, and a total of 150 Palestinian convicts. Hamas will be allowed to extend the pause in fighting as long as it hands over an additional 10 hostages per day, up to ten days total. Israel would then release an additional 150 Palestinian prisoners. There are a number of potential complications in the deal. Israel reportedly agreed to stop surveillance of Gaza during the four-day pause, which will allow Hamas to move hostages without their locations being traced — and would also allow Hamas to rearm in anticipation of more fighting. Meanwhile, some Palestinian civilians who moved south during the fighting are attempting to return to the northern Gaza Strip, which is still a war zone. Hezbollah, in Lebanon, has also stopped firing at Israel, though it is not a party to the agreement with Hamas on the hostages. The first stop for the hostages will be a military base in Israel, where they will receive medical examinations and attention. The families of the hostages are waiting there, as are stuffed animals and toys for the children who are going to be released. Soldiers escorting the hostages have been instructed not to answer questions directly about the children’s parents, because many of them were killed by Hamas. Few of the hostages are presumed to know the full extent of what happened in the last several weeks. Israel has vowed to continue the fighting to destroy Hamas, which many Israelis believe can no longer be allowed to exist after the October 7 terror attack. Global pressure, however, is building on Israel to extend the pause into a permanent ceasefire. Update: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement officially welcoming the return of the hostages, noting that it remains one of the main goals of the war, and said that the Israeli government would continue to pursue all the hostages’ release. I made a mistake, here is the link Thank you for this Heidi... :rose: You're welcome, Kolleen. It's so touching and beautiful. I love that they are singing in both Arabic and Hebrew (and English). It's touching to see the photos of the hostages, makes a person feel more connected and pray more for them. Breaking: Hamas Transfers Second Set of Hostages via Egypt Including 13 Israeli and 4 Thai Hostages: According to the IDF 13 Israeli and 4 Thai hostages were released. It looks like 9 children, including one boy, and 4 women were released by Hamas this morning. This was after Hamas delayed their release earlier Saturday. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/breaking-hamas-transfers-second-set-hostages-via-egypt/ Amir Tsarfati: Tonight, 17 hostages were released from captivity in Gaza: White House Confirms: Israel Agrees to Extend ‘Pause’ for 2 Days, 20 Hostages: The White House confirmed Monday that Israel had agreed to extend the four-day “pause” in fighting in Gaza for two days in exchange for a Hamas promise to release 20 additional Israeli hostages over that period. . . . . John Kirby confirmed to reporters that such an agreement had been reached — and also that Israel would return to fighting once the “pause” had ended. Israeli forces remain in their positions in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel is currently waiting for the final group of 11 hostages to be released by Hamas on Monday evening [their time]. There was another snag in the process, as Hamas tried to separate child hostages from their mothers, as it had done previously. Israel has insisted that families not be separated, or that mothers at least be released with their children. Hamas still retains over a dozen children as hostages, including an infant. Biden Pressure on Israeli Tactics Will Leave Hamas Intact and in Power: A source within the Israeli government told Breitbart News on Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden’s pressure would lead to Hamas surviving the war intact, rather than allowing Israel to destroy Hamas or remove its military and governing capabilities. In recent days, the White House has acknowledged that Israel intends to continue fighting Hamas after the current “pause,” sought by Biden to allow the release of hostages, ends later this week. . . . . the Israeli government privately believes Biden is prepared to tolerate the survival of Hamas, despite the fact that Hamas and other terror groups would see that as a victory. The reason Israel believes this is Biden’s goal is that the U.S. administration is imposing onerous conditions on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regarding its operations in Gaza, such that defeating Hamas has become almost impossible. The New York Times described these Tuesday: The United States has warned Israel that it must fight more surgically and avoid further mass displacement of Palestinians in its war against Hamas to avoid a humanitarian crisis that overwhelms the world’s ability to respond, according to senior Biden administration officials. Middle East analyst and commentator Caroline Glick went into further detail in a column for the Jewish News Syndicate. She said, for example, that Biden’s opposition to Israeli airstrikes on buildings gave Hamas snipers the ability to kill Israeli soldiers. She wrote: “At a minimum, it is clear that Biden’s preference for the lives of civilians in Gaza over the lives of IDF soldiers on the ground ensures that far more soldiers will be killed in the fighting than would otherwise.” She noted that Biden had originally questioned Hamas’s statistics on civilian casualties in Gaza — which fail to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and true non-combatants — but that he had since apologized to anti-Israel Muslim groups and now uses the faulty Hamas death statistics. Glick added that Israel likely knew the locations in which most of the hostages were being kept, but had been prevented from launching military operations to rescue them because of the high potential cost in civilian lives, which Biden would not tolerate. Moreover, Glick noted, the Biden administration insists on letting the Palestinian Authority control Gaza after the war, rather than allowing Israel to control security there — a return to the status quo before 2007, when Hamas staged a coup in Gaza. Glick noted that the U.S. has near-total leverage over Israel because of Israeli dependence on American munitions for resupply. (Iran supplies Hamas and other terror organizations, and Russia supplies advanced weapons systems to the Iranian regime.) She suggested that the Republican-held House of Representatives hold hearings into the Biden administration’s pressure on Israel. Israeli analysts have described Biden’s recent approach to Israel as a tight hug — one that looks, on the surface, like support, but one that also prevents the Israeli government from moving on its own and doing what it must to defend its own security.
14 Israelis: including 9 children and 4 women, an Israeli citizen with Russian citizenship, and 3 Thai nationals.
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US President Joe Biden:
I will talk to Netanyahu, Sisi, and the Emir of Qatar to see if the humanitarian truce can be extended beyond tomorrow to release more hostages.
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The enormous American pressure is working: Israel apparently agrees to extend the ceasefire up to ten days, when ten hostages will be released each day.
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An 84-year-old Israeli abductee, Alma Avraham, was airlifted in serious condition to a hospital in central Israel right after her release.
Alma Avraham, the 84-year-old released abductee, is in a life-threatening condition at the moment. She is treated at the Soroka Medical Center. The Hamas scumbags denied important medication from her for nearly 50 days! They needed her as a bargaining chip, that's all!
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I won't post snippets, but if you are interested, graphic photos and videos of the massacre are here:
https://www.hamas-massacre.net/
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https://t.me/s/beholdisraelchannel
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American officials have told the Israelis that any coming military operations should not hamper the flow of power and water or impede the work of humanitarian sites such as hospitals and U.N.-supported shelters in south and central Gaza.
