Israel At War Motzei Shabbos Mishpatim

 Israel at war  day 

More hostages return home.

Four Israelis — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, were freed from Hamas captivity on Shabbos after more than 500 days in the Hamas terror group’s captivity chained in the dark, starved, and psychologically abused in Gaza, they and their family members said upon their return.

-Two further hostages — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who, suffering from mental illness, each entered the Gaza Strip of their own accord some 10 years ago — came home Saturday bearing evident psychological scars from their captivity, and were described by relatives as largely unresponsive upon their return.

- Yesterday evening, the body of Shiri Bibas Z"L was handed over to Israel. The remains were positively identified - Shiri was also murdered in captivity like her sons a month or so after 10/7.

- Hamas cruelty to pressure Israel The terrorists  brought 2 Israeli hostages who are not being released in Phase A to watch their fellow hostages be released today, and filmed their reactions as they cried and begged to be saved. 

- After the releases today, 63 hostages remain in Gaza - 36 of those hostages have been officially declared dead.

- Netanyahu delays planned hamas prisoner release until Hamas ends ‘demeaning ceremonies’

In light of the repeated violations by Hamas — including the ceremonies that demean our hostages and the cynical use of our hostages for propaganda purposes — it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists planned for yesterday until the next release of hostages is guaranteed, and without the degrading ceremonies,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office reads.

- President Trump on Israel leaving Gaza in 2005: "The location is great, I have no idea why Israel gave it up. Why did they give it up? This is one of the worst real estate deals I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of bad real estate deals, and this is one of them

- TRUMP: "We're going to have some good news in the Middle East. What happened yesterday. The sight of those babies was not acceptable to anybody. Nobody's seen anything like it."

- Subject to the publication gag order, all that is authorized to be released now is that the attempted bus bombing attacks this week in Israel are "much more serious than has been reported so far". 

- Israel is considering stopping or significantly reducing humanitarian aid to Gaza in the immediate term. The goal is maximum pressure on Hams to release as many hostages as possible, as quickly as possible. 

Bibas family statement:

Tonight our Shiri was sent home. After the identification process at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, this morning we received the news we feared: our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, husband, sister, and her entire family to rest.

Despite our fear for their fate, we continued to hope that we would be able to hug them, and now we are hurting and broken.

For 16 months we have sought certainty and now there is no comfort in it, but we hope for the beginning of closing the circle.

Shiri was a wonderful mother to Ariel and Kfir, a loving partner to Yarden, a devoted sister and aunt, and an amazing friend.

In this difficult hour, we continue to demand and call for the immediate return of the remaining abductees who are still in captivity. There is no more important goal than this. There will be no reconstruction without them.

Details of the  [shiva] and funeral will be announced later. Please give the family the space to digest and grieve. Thank you everyone for your support and love over these 16 months.