Israel News Updates

 Day 746

- The remains of two residents from Kibbutz Nir Oz, Tamir Adar and Arie “Zalman” Zalmanowicz, were returned to Israel on Tuesday via the Red Cross. The bodies were handed over to the Israeli military, inspected, draped with national flags, and taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification and to determine the cause of death. Adar, 38, was killed while defending his kibbutz during the Hamas attack on October

- Body identified as that of Hostage Arieh (Zalman) Zalmnovitz z”l an 85-year-old resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was returned overnight from Gaza for burial in Israel. Zalmnovitz was abducted alive on October 7 and was filmed being taken on a motorcycle surrounded by Hamas terrorists on the way to Gaza. He is believed to have died in captivity on November 17, 2023. He leaves behind two sons and five grandchildren. Alongside him, the remains of another fallen hostage were identified; that individual’s name will be released following the family’s approval.

- Bodies said to belong to two deceased hostages brought back to Israel. Caskets handed to IDF by Red Cross in Gaza, taken to forensic institute to verify identities; if confirmed to be captives, number of bodies still in Strip would drop to 13

- Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded by an IED in Khan Younis. No terrorists seen; unclear if IED was places recently or pre-ceasefire.

-US Vice President JD Vance says that recovering the 15 remaining deceased hostages in Gaza “is difficult” and “is not going to happen overnight.”

- Trump posted: Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and “straighten our Hamas” if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us. The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years! It is a beautiful thing to behold! I told these countries, and Israel, “NOT YET!” There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right. If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help. Also, I would like to thank the great and powerful country of Indonesia, and its wonderful leader, for all of the help they have shown and given to the Middle East, and to the U.S.A. TO EVERYONE, thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

-Israeli military source to NBC: "The assessment in the IDF is that Hamas has 10,000-20,000 commando soldiers left"

- New York Times: Little progress in efforts to form an international force to govern Gaza. Countries mentioned as candidates hesitate to join because, according to them, the mission is unclear. Their main concern is confronting Hams, which has not yet been disarmed and is still well-armed in large areas. Sources from some of the involved countries said they are not willing to have their soldiers stationed in city centers in the Strip due to the danger from Hamas's underground tunnels.

-Hamas is secretly participating, with the knowledge of the Arab mediators, in forming the technocrat government that is set to manage the Gaza Strip. hamas has appointed about half of the technocrat government's composition. The mediators, particularly Egypt, presented Hams with the complete list of the proposed composition for approval. The Palestinian Authority chose the other half of the technocratic government's composition

- The head of Egyptian intelligence arrived in Israel to discuss a ceasefire, will also meet PM Netanyahu, head of the Shin Bet, Zini, and Witkoff

Summary of the headlines from VP Vance's press conference in Israel an hour ago:

Today, we announce the opening of the Civil-Military Center to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the US have a plan to rehabilitate the Strip.

We will not force Israel to bring in foreign forces it does not approve of.

Hams must disarm and behave properly. It may take time to grant its military operatives immunity.

If Hamas does not cooperate, it will be eliminated

If Hamas does not hand over its weapons, bad things will happen.

The location of some of the hostages' bodies is unknown.

There is no ultimatum defining a deadline for handing over the hostages' bodies

My visit to Israel was scheduled in advance and is unrelated to the breach of the agreement two days ago.

There will be no American soldiers on Gaza soil

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Jared Kushner: Rehabilitation funds for the Strip will not reach areas controlled by Hams.