War Day 498: Three Hostages Released, Trump Will Back Whatever Israel Chooses

War Summary, Day 498: Three hostages released, Hamas sent a cruel gift to hostage mother, 369 terrorists released responsible for hundreds of murders, Netanyahu’s next steps unknown but seems intent on returning more hostages through the deal, Trump says he back’s whatever Israel’s choice, IDF drone strike in Gaza, IDF eliminates Hezbollah surveillance drone launcher, and Hezbollah supporters riot against decision to block Iran’s cash flights.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

73 held captive in Gaza.
36 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
141 living hostages rescued.
41 hostage bodies rescued.
1,821 Israelis killed.
413 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
87 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,683 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
70,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Three hostages released
– Hostages underwent severe physical and mental torture
– Hamas sent a cruel gift to hostage mother, Einav Zangauker
– 369 terrorists released, responsible for hundreds of murders
– Netanyahu’s next steps unknown, seems intent on returning more hostages through the deal
– Trump says he back’s whatever Israel’s choice
– IDF drone strike in Gaza
– IDF eliminates Hezbollah surveillance drone launcher
– Hezbollah supporters riot against decision to block Iran’s cash flights

Hostages:

Three hostages were released today, all of whom had been kidnapped from their family homes Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th. As is now usual, Hamas paraded them on stage prior to release, in a cruel and cynical ceremony.

– Alexander (Sasha) Tropanov, 29
– Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36
– Yair Horn, 46

All three had been held in tunnels under Khan Younis, and suffered severe abuse, torture, and starvation. During the weeks leading up to their release, Hamas fed them, putting them back into stable health condition. All three learned Arabic in captivity.

Sasha Tropanov had been abducted together with his mother Yelena, grandmother Irena, and girlfriend Sapir Cohen. His father, Vitaly Troufanov, was killed by Hamas on the same day. Sasha was alone through almost his entire captivity, with almost no outside communication. One of the few times he got to listen to the radio was during the November 2023 ceasefire, when he learned of his mother, grandmother, and girlfriend’s release.

Sasha only found out today that his father had been killed, and broke into tears upon hearing the news.

Sasha is an Amazon employee. Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, released a statement welcoming his return, adding, “Since we learned of Sasha and his family’s abduction, we’ve had a dedicated team working behind the scenes with experts to support efforts to secure their release and to ensure that we did the right thing for them and their safety (including painfully not commenting publicly for fear that we would negatively impact their ability to be released or how they were treated in captivity).”

Yair Horn was taken hostage from his home with his visiting younger brother, Eitan, who was not released, and is not set to be released in Phase A of the current hostage deal. The two were held together early in captivity, but were then separated for the remainder. He told his family that Eitan was injured in his leg.

Yair underwent severe torture in captivity, and lost significant weight. Despite injuries from October 7th, and from Hamas torture, he received little medical treatment.

Yair is a huge fan of the Hapoel Be’er Sheva soccer (aka football) team, and asked the helicopter pilot to fly over the team’s home stadium on his way to the hospital. His hospital room was fully decked out in the team’s gear, and the team dedicated today’s game to him.

Sagi Dekel-Chen was wounded on his shoulder during his capture, and then severely tortured during “interrogations” by Hamas. His body is covered in scars, but he insisted on spending time with his family before undergoing further medical examinations and treatment.

During his first weeks of captivity he was held in a Gaza hospital, along with other hostages, including Itzik Elgarat.

Sagi had been taken captive while defending his kibbutz as part of the security team. He did not know the fate of his pregnant wife and two daughters, and throughout captivity, both mourned and cried over them, but held onto hope and optimism. Today he learned that his wife and daughters are alive, and that his wife gave birth two months after he was taken hostage, to a girl names Shachar Mazal. When he heard her name for the first time, he said “oh that’s perfect!”

On stage at his release, Sagi’s captors who had physically and mentally tortured him for 498 days, told him that his wife had a baby, and gave him gold earrings to gift her. Sagi didn’t believe them, and asked the IDF when he reached them.

In addition to the gold earring, the Hamas terrorists gave Sagi a gift to bring to Einav Zangauker. Einav’s son, Matan, was taken hostage by Hamas, and she has been campaigning relentlessly for his freedom. Einav became a prominent face of the Hostage Family Forum, in part due to her frequent hostile statements and threats made towards Netanyahu and other government coalition members, and her calls to bring the hostages home at all costs—even surrender to Hamas. The gift from Hamas was an hourglass with a photo of her and her son, and the words “Time is running out.”

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi met with four of the five surveillance soldiers who had been released from captivity: Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, and Karina Ariev. Daniel Gilboa did not attend the meeting.

He apologized for not taking the warnings from the surveillance soldiers seriously ahead of October 7th, telling them, “It was wrong to have not taken you seriously, you were amazing soldiers, I apologize for what you experienced in captivity.”

For months ahead of October 7th, female surveillance soldiers repeatedly warned senior officers of suspicious activity near the Gaza border. The senior officers disregarded their reports and unimportant, and took no action.

During their meeting, the four freed soldiers told Halevi what had happened to them on October 7th, as well as during captivity. Halevi thanked them for his testimony and heroism, and promised that the IDF is learning from its mistakes.

Terrorists Released:

(This section is not for the sensitive reader.)

369 terrorists were released today, 36 of whom had been sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out severe terror attacks. 10 were released to Judea and Samaria, one to East Jerusalem, and the rest were deported abroad.

Among the released terrorists:

• Muhammad Naifa, convicted of murdering 13 Israelis. He was a senior operative of Fatah’s military wing in Tulkarem and the perpetrator of the Kibbutz Metzer attack. In 2002, he climbed over the kibbutz fence armed with an M16 rifle and opened fire at a children’s home. He then encountered Tirza Damari HY”D and her husband, shooting at them. Tirza was killed on the spot, while her husband managed to escape. He continued his killing spree, entering the Ohayon family home, where he shot and killed Revital (the mother) and her two children, Noam (4) and Matan (5), at close range. He later murdered the kibbutz secretary, Yitzhak Dori, before fleeing. He planned kidnapping attacks from within prison. Naifa was also responsible for planning the Hermesh massacre, which included a similar attack in the town, murdering Orna Eshel, Linoi Sarusi, and Hadas Turgeman HYD.
• Osama Al-Ashkar, Naifa’s right-hand man, who together with Hatem Al-Jayousi (released last week), ran a terror headquarters from within Fatah, one of the most dangerous and brutal factions during the Second Intifada.
• Wadah Bizra, who smuggled the explosive belt used in a suicide bombing at the Hasharon Mall, where Ruti Peled and her one-year-old granddaughter Sinai Keinan HYD were murdered, and about 50 others were injured.
• Nael Salameh Obeid, an accomplice in the terror bombing at Café Hillel, where seven Jews were murdered and 57 were injured.
• Ahmad Barghouti, assistant to the arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who served as the Fatah Secretary-General and was considered the mastermind behind the Second Intifada.
• Mansour Shurayem, a senior Fatah terrorist from Tulkarem, who was sentenced to 14 life terms and 50 years for planning multiple attacks in which many Jews were murdered during the Second Intifada, including: The Hadera banquet hall shooting, where six Jews were killed and 26 were injured; the murder of IDF soldier Yaniv Levy at the Metzer Junction; the murder of a civilian at the Taibe Junction in 2001.
• Mohammed Shraieh, a member of the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence in Bethlehem, who shot and killed Chief Superintendent Moshe Dayan in 2002 while Dayan was riding his motorcycle near the Mar Saba Monastery in the Judean Desert.
• Mansour Moqeda, who murdered Dr. Mordechai Shafir in Moshav Hagor (Sharon region) in 2001. Shafir, a resident of Kfar Saba, was found dead in his orchard.
• Samir Ait, founder of a terror cell that murdered Moran Amit in 2002. Along with six other terrorists, Ait ambushed Jews in the Peace Forest near the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood. When he encountered Moran and her friend, the group brutally stabbed her all over her body before fleeing.
• Mazen Al-Qadi, convicted of assisting the suicide bomber in the Sea Food Market attack, where three Jews were murdered. He was also at the center of the 2023 prison scandal, involving sexual relations with five female IDF prison guards at Ramon Prison.
• Mohammed Matzlach, convicted for his involvement in the Ramallah lynching of 2000, where two IDF soldiers were murdered.
• Abd Al-Karim Oweis (a commander in the Al-Aqsa Brigades) and Amjad Taketka, who were involved in the 2002 suicide bombing at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, where six Jews were murdered. Oweis was also responsible for attacks in Afula and on King George Street in Jerusalem.
• Saeed Shatia, a member of the terror cell that murdered brothers Shlomo and Moti Odesser in 2002.
• Rasem Hussein, a Tulkarem terrorist involved in two attacks in 2002, where he murdered kashrut supervisor Aharon Abedian and Said Fuad, who was suspected of collaborating with Israeli security forces.
• Khalil Sarahana, who drove the suicide bomber that murdered police officer Tomer Yosef HYD in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada.

Before released, terrorists convicted of murder were dressed in shirts with a Magen David, and in Arabic, the words “We will not forget, and we will not forgive.”

Hostage Negotiations:

14 hostages remain to be released in Phase A of the hostage deal, of which Hamas reports that 6 are alive. While Israeli intelligence has strong suspicions of which ones are living, there is only public confirmation of one who isn’t—Shlomo Mansour.

59 hostages are not accounted for in Phase A. Of the 59, 35 are confirmed to have been killed, leaving 24 assumed alive, still in Gaza.

After the hostages were released today, Netanyahu held meetings with security officials to determine the next steps.

No one knows what will be in the next weeks, there are only various reports of what may be.

An Israeli official privy to the discussions told the Jerusalem Post that the goal is to release as many hostages as possible during phase A, before returning to war. YNet reports that Israel will try to get 6 hostages released next Shabbat.

There remains a very heavy IDF presence on the Gaza border, in full preparedness for a return to war. It is fairly clear that there will be return to war, the only question is when.

In a statement, Netanyahu credited Trump’s strong stand, and the IDF’s pressure, on getting the three hostages released today despite Hamas threats. The Prime Minister’s Office released a similar statement, adding, “The PM also appreciates the president’s continued full support for Israel in relation to the Gaza Strip. The PM will convene the security cabinet soon to decide Israel’s next steps.”

On Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their statement last week that they would not release any Hostages. Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!”

Contrary to Egyptian reports, Israel has not yet allowed the delivery of mobile homes into Gaza, since it is not in compliance with the Phase A agreement.

Gaza:

The IDF carried out a drone strike in Central Gaza as a warning after several vehicles attempted to cross into Northern Gaze via an unauthorized road, in order to avoid security inspection. The vehicles turned around after the warning strike.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi met with the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit. He told them not to be bothered by the footage of many Hamas terrorists standing in uniform during the hostage release ceremonies. Halevy said those are the terrorists who were afraid to face the IDF, and sat in some tent in the Mawasi humanitarian zone, in their civilian clothes, with their uniforms on a shelf. “After the ceasefire started they ironed the uniform and stood with their chest out on stage,” said Halevi. “When we will go back [to fighting] they will realize who we are and who they are, and that’s the way you have to look at it.”

Judea & Samaria:

A man (attempted terrorist?) from Jenin was arrested after breaking into a Jewish community in nearby Gan Ner, and hitting a man with a hoe. The farmer was lightly injured. The attacker was found hiding in a horse stable in a nearby community.

The IDF updates that since the start of Operation Iron Walls, 65 terrorists have been eliminated.

Ahead of the terrorist release today, the IDF patrolled streets to prevent celebrations, and confiscated a large number of weapons.

Lebanon:

The IDF carried out a strike in Lebanon, eliminating a senior member of Hezbollah’s aerial unit. The Hezbollah terrorist had repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement by launching surveillance drones into Israel.

In Beirut, Hezbollah supporters continue to riot in protest of Lebanon’s refusal to allow Iranian passenger flights full of cash for Hezbollah to land. Lebanon began blocking these flights on Thursday after Israel’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee publicly warned about them.

During riots on Friday, UNIFIL peacekeepers were attacked, and a UNIFIL vehicle was set on fire. The Lebanese intelligence arrested 25 suspects in the attack.

Other:

– US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Israel for the first time in his new role, and was greeter by his Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Rubio is scheduled to meet with senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum together with Sa’ar tomorrow afternoon.

– The Shin Bet announced that it has begun probing reports on alleged ties between advisors to Netanyahu and Qatar. The primary complaint comes from opposition MK Gilad Kariv, who has been accused of leaking sensitive information from the Knesset Security Committee.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement dismissing the accusations and calling them “fake news.”

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