War Day 519: Trump Astounded by Gazans’ Cruelty, Large Strikes on Hezbollah

War Summary, Day 519: Hamas published video of hostage, Israel to send negotiating team to Qatar, cabinet to vote on reducing water and electricity to Gaza, Trump astounded that no one in Gaza showed kindness to hostages, IDF preparing for imminent return to battle and cancels border event, IDF again stops terrorists planting roadside bombs in Gaza, largest IAF air strikes against Hezbollah since ceasefire began, and hints attack on Iran may come soon.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

59 held captive in Gaza.
35 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
147 living hostages rescued.
49 hostage bodies rescued.
1,828 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:

– Hamas published video of hostage
– Israel to send negotiating team back to Qatar
– Rumors about agreement to Witkoff framework
– Conflicting rumors about de facto ceasefire extension
– Cabinet to vote on reducing water and electricity to Gaza
– Trump astounded that no one in Gaza showed kindness to hostages
– IDF preparing for imminent return to battle, cancels border event
– IDF again stops terrorists planting roadside bombs in Gaza
– Expected expansion of program to allow thousands of Gazans to leave daily
– Vehicle with weapons found in Samaria, other operations
– Largest IAF air strikes against Hezbollah since ceasefire began
– Houthis back to threatening Israel, give four days for aid to resume
– Iran refuses negotiations with U.S.
– Hints attack on Iran may come soon
– Iran threatens Israel
– IDF operations in Syria to remove weapons
– HTS forces massacre over 1,000 minorities in Syria, including women and children
– Qatar demands Israel give up nuclear weapons

So many rumors and unclear reports today. I took a good amount of time to sort through it all for you, and bring you as clear and accurate a report as possible.

Hostages:

Hamas published a cruel propaganda video of hostage Matan Angrest. The video appears to have been taken last week. As usual, Angrest is made to beg Israel to agree to a ceasefire deal (here specifically to a phase two) to release him, and give up on military pressure.

There are currently many conflicting reports regarding negotiations for a hostage deal—take everything with a grain of salt.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced that it will send a negotiation team back to Qatar on Monday, for renewed negotiations. According to reports, the aim is to achieve an agreement based on the Witkoff framework, in which Hamas releases half the living hostages and the bodies of half the murdered hostages in exchange for a ceasefire until after Ramadan. During the extended ceasefire, negotiations for a Phase Two will take place. After Ramadan (or two months, depending on the source), if an agreement comes about, the remaining hostages are released.

A Saudi reports says that Hamas agreed to release 14 living hostages in exchange for extending Phase One of the ceasefire (including the renewal of aid and terrorist releases). A Senior Hamas official denied this report, and stated that Hamas will not agree to anything other than an agreement which guarantees a lasting ceasefire, complete IDF withdrawal (including from the Philadelphi Corridor), and does not disarm Hamas.

Israel has also stated that no agreement has come from Hamas yet.

Despite earlier reports that the deadline for a deal was this Friday, News 12 now reports that fighting won’t resume for at least another two weeks. The Wall Street Journal suspects that there may be a slow buildup of pressure, but a major assault won’t happen for at least two months. (The reliability of these reports is unclear.)

Israel Hayom reports that in the meantime, the government cabinet is preparing to vote on increased measures this week to pressure Hamas into a deal. The methods on the table include a halt or reduced supply of water and electricity to Gaza. Before October 7th, Israel supplied around 10% of Gaza’s water, and 60% of their electricity. It’s unclear what the percentage is now, since much of Hamas’s local infrastructure has either been destroyed, or severely damaged.

Israel Hayom also reports that although Hamas received excessive food supplies during phase one of the ceasefire, their warehouses will soon run out of some basic products, including milk and eggs.

US President Trump told press that he asked the hostages he met if anyone in Gaza showed even the tiniest hint of kindness when no one was looking. He was surprised that the answer was a resounding no, and that everyone (children included) behaved cruelly, and even beat the hostages.

If the plan goes into effect, and Gazans find countries to take them in, all Gazans could be evacuated within two years’ time.

Gaza:

While a de facto ceasefire is ongoing, with reports of a deal coming soon, Kan News reports that the IDF has been instructed by the political echelon to prepare for an immediate return to combat in Gaza. Evidence to this, the IDF announced that a tree planting event near the Gaza border planned for this week, will be cancelled “based on the assessment of the situation.” The planting event was planned to commemorate victims of the October 7th massacre, and was to dedicate a new forest near Kibbutz Be’eri. Hundreds of bereaved families planned to participate. This is the second time the event is cancelled.

On Friday morning, the IDF identified a number terrorists operating near IDF positions, planting roadside bombs. An airstrike attacked the terrorists to eliminate both the terrorists and their bombs.

Overnight, a drone was spotted flying from Israeli territory into Gaza. The IDF tracked the drone during its flight, and then struck when it arrived in Gaza to the hands of those collecting it.

Air raid sirens were triggered in the Kerem Shalom area on the Gaza border on Shabbat morning. The IDF later announced that the sirens were due to a false identification.

Midday a massive fire erupted inside an aid warehouse in Gaza City. The fire spread to a number of warehouses which contained food, water, and medical supplies. The warehouses were completely destroyed. It is unknown how the fire started.

While there are still checkpoints between the north and south of Gaza, at which American, Egyptian, and Qatari security are expected to inspect vehicles to prevent weapons transfer to Northern Gaza, there is little trust that these are effective. Further deteriorating this trust, a Gazan content creator today uploaded a video of himself and his friends being very warmly embraced by a Qatari or Egyptian security contractor. In the video, the Americans can be seen and heard in the background saying something, but it is unclear what.

There are reports that the Israeli security cabinet is preparing to approve an expanded exit program for Gazans who wish to leave to a third country. Under the expanded program, the Defense Minister will establish a new authority to allow the safe and controlled movement of Gazans through Israel, up until departure to their new destination. The program will be able to escort thousands of Gazans each day. They will be able to leave via the port in Ashdod, crossing to Jordan, or from the Ramon Airport near Eilat.

The program will not force anyone to leave Gaza—departure will be voluntary only. It will need high levels of security to ensure that no terrorists take advantage and carry out attacks during their journey.

Judea & Samaria:

Counterterrorism operations in Samaria are ongoing. The IDF is refraining from giving daily briefings with details of operations, in order to avoid harming operations.

In Samaria, near the village of Imatin, Israeli security forces located and confiscated a vehicle containing three weapons and ammunition.

In the same region, near Nabi Elias, terrorists threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles driving on a civilian road. No casualties were caused. IDF troops set out in search of the terrorists.

Lebanon:

On Friday, the IAF attacked around 20-30 Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon. The IDF chose to target these sites after identifying weapons and rockets stored in them, which directly threatened the safety of Israel. This is estimated to be the largest attack against Hezbollah since the ceasefire began.

On Shabbat, the Air Force attacked a Hezbollah terrorist who was engaged in restoring terrorist infrastructure and directing Hezbollah’s terrorist operations in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah is known for playing the long game and desperately needs this ceasefire to buy time for rebuilding. Yet, it remains astonishing that they haven’t responded to the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes since the conflict began, nor to the five IDF outposts still held on the Lebanese side of the border. Their silence underscores their profound weakness after provoking a war with Israel.

Yemen:

The Houthis are back to threatening Israel. Today they published a poster threatening “4 Days, to bring aid to Gaza or we will return to resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy.” It’s unclear if “naval action” means hijacking ships and claiming that they got Israeli hostages (remember Eli Copter and Avi Ron?), or launching direct missile and drone attacks against Israel.

Iran:

After US President Trump invited Iran to nuclear negotiations, Iran announced their refusal to “accept American demands.”

The White House responded: “We can deal with Iran militarily or make a deal. We hope Iran will put its people and interests before terrorism.”

Asked by press what will happen next, Trump responded: “There’ll be some interesting days ahead. That’s all I can tell you. We’re down to final strokes with Iran….. We are at the final moments, we can’t allow them to have nuclear weapons”

Iran is also back to threatening Israel. An IRGC official told press that they’re preparing for a third attack against Israel (True Promise 3), which will learn and improve from the flaws of their previous attack, and will be carried out “only when we can maximize its impact.”

Netanyahu is known for his preference to attack one problem at a time. Earlier, he waited for a more quiet period on Gaza before launching a full-scale war against Hezbollah. At the start of the current Gaza ceasefire, he launched full operations in Samaria. The question is, if it’s clear that there will be no deal with Iran, will Netanyahu take advantage of the quiet in Gaza now, before it returns to full war, in order to attack Iran? Is he stretching out the ceasefire in Gaza not only for the tiny hope of getting more hostages freed, but also to be able to focus on Iran?

Israel is staying very tight-lipped about preparations to attack, and has shared minimal updates about the ongoing extensive Air Force exercises. We won’t know anything until the attack begins, but it does appear to be growing nearer.

Syria:

Over the last week, IDF forces in southern Syria carried out extensive targeted raids based on intelligence indications. The troops located, confiscated, and destroyed numerous weapons, including rifles, ammunition, missiles, and other military equipment.

Following the Thursday attack by pro-Assad forces, which was quickly suppressed by the HTS (current Al-Jolani) forces with the help of Turkey, the HTS forces carried out a two-day massacre. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the death toll surpassed 1,000 people, of which 750 were civilians. Some estimate that as many as 2,000 were killed.

Footage shows entire families being tortured and massacred, including women, elderly, and children.

The people targeted primarily belong to the Alawites sect, but also include Christians and other minorities who live in the coastal towns. The Alawites are a Muslim minority sect, seen by Sunni muslims as more secular, and not “real” Muslims. The Assad family are from the Alawite sect, and many (but not all) Alawites supported him, even during his massacres of other Syrians.

Jolani, Syria’s self-proclaimed president and leader of the HTS, released a video statement justifying the attacks on civilians while claiming national unity. He warned former regime loyalists against resistance, asserting that any harm to one province will be met with a nationwide response. In contradiction to the massacres carried out by his own forces, and blaming the Alawites for Assad’s actions, he claimed: “Our goal is to rebuild the country you destroyed. We have no desire for your blood.”

The ISIS-like massacre and brutality of the HTS forces led many to understand why Israel chose to destroy all of the Syrian regime’s weapons the moment the Assad regime collapsed. With Assad’s weapons, HTS revenge massacres like this would be infinitely worse. Some raise concerns that small pockets of resistance to the new regime will create a new opening for Iran to sweep in and create another proxy for attacking Israel.

Israel remains in southern Syria, and says it is committed to protecting the Druze of the area, and defending Israel borders.

Other:

– Qatar’s foreign ministry released a statement calling on Israel to give up its nuclear weapons and sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Israel has a policy of nuclear ambiguity, and doesn’t confirm or deny having nuclear weapons.

– IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari will soon be retiring from the IDF. Hagari made this choice after being unsatisfied with the path to promotions laid out for him. While the new Chief of Staff did request that Hagari stay, typically every new chief chooses a new spokesman.

Sponsored by Elizabeth & Dean, in tribute to the people of Israel; those lost, those still held as hostages, and the nation that has lost so much. Never again tragically happened, but you are not alone!!