War Day 522: New Hostage Deal on Table, Houthis Renew Blockade

War Summary, Day 522: Witkoff now in Qatar for negotiations, new deal on table for 10 hostages to come home in exchange for 60 days and many terrorists, possible push for some hostages this Shabbos, special operations in Qabatiya and Jenin, senior terrorists captured in Judea and Samaria, airstrikes and targeted elimination in Lebanon, negotiations beginning in Lebanon including over longtime border dispute, Houthis announce renewed blockade of Israeli-tied ships, Iran won’t negotiate, and IDF confirms airstrikes in Syria against new regime.

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.
60,000 Israelis estimated displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Testimony from Omer Wenkert
– Witkoff now in Qatar for negotiations
– New deal on table for 10 hostages to come home in exchange for 60 days and many terrorists
– Possible push for some hostages this Shabbat
– More Hamas preparations for war
– Special operations in Qabatiya and Jenin
– Senior terrorists captured in Judea and Samaria
– Airstrikes and targeted elimination in Lebanon
– Negotiations beginning in Lebanon, including over longtime border dispute
– Houthis announce renewed blockade of Israeli-tied ships
– Iran won’t negotiate
– IDF confirms airstrikes in Syria, against new regime
– IDF aims to keep new Syrian regime out of the area south of Damascus
– Note on negotiations

Hostages:

Omer Wenkert, who was recently released from Hamas captivity, gave an interview today, in which he detailed the horrific torture and starvation he endured. He described how civilians—including children, beat him brutally the day he was dragged from Israel into the tunnels, the tiny rations of food he was given, and hundreds of days alone in a one meter by one meter room (3.2 feet).

Omer says that he will not rest until all the remaining hostages come home. Then, he will set out on his dream: to get married and have children.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Qatar today to push the negotiations for more hostages to be released, and the ceasefire to be extended. An Israeli team arrived a day earlier, to meet with the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S.

The negotiations are revolving around the Witkoff framework, which has gone through some adjustments. The latest reports (which are not necessarily reliable) say that the deal on the table presses Hamas to quietly release 10 living hostages in exchange for large amounts of aid and trucks brought into Gaza daily, hundreds of murderous terrorists released from Israeli prisons, and a 60-day ceasefire extension. During the extension, there will be continued talks to bring a complete ceasefire in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.

Two notes:
– The first time we heard about the Witkoff framework, it called for 14 living hostages and 18 of the murdered hostages to be released on the first day. Then it went to only the living hostages, and now it’s down to 10.
– Hamas managed to bring additional cards to the negotiating table: Now one of the conditions to be negotiated for, is that Hamas release the hostages quietly, without any stage or cameras.

There are rumors that Witkoff is demanding that Hamas release some hostages as soon as this Shabbat, as a gesture of goodwill for the negotiations and current de-facto ceasefire to continue.

Yesterday, Witkoff said that any second phase deal must include Hamas disarming and leaving Gaza. Today, Suhail Al-Hindi, a Senior Hamas official, told Al-Jazeera that Hamas will not disarm or leave Gaza, and that any Palestinian State established will include Hamas in the leadership and military.

Gaza:

Hamas may or may not believe that Israel will return to war, but they are preparing for it. In addition to training new recruits and deploying reorganized battalions, Hamas is preparing the grounds for IDF entry. Hamas terrorists are setting up surveillance equipment around Gaza, and planting roadside bombs (IEDs) on paths not currently used by civilians, but which might be used by the IDF upon reentry.

Even though the ceasefire agreement is long over, the IDF is still keeping to the terms. This means that they can only fire at Hamas when they threaten troops in the buffer zone and Philadelphi Corridor, and do nothing but track the other activity.

Within the parameters of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF attacked two Hamas positions in Gaza today. One was a group of terrorists in Central Gaza, who were engaged in “suspicious activity” near IDF forces. The other was in Southern Gaza, where a terrorist was spotted setting up surveillance equipment to capture activity of the current IDF positions. Both threats were eliminated with airstrikes.

Judea & Samaria:

Special forces from the IDF and Israeli police operated in Qabatiya and Jenin. During operations, they encountered armed terrorists, who barricaded themselves in a building in Jenin. An intense exchange of fire broke out, and ultimately, the Israeli forces eliminated two of the terrorists, injured one, and arrested the remaining ten. Of those arrested, was Liwa Jaaz, a senior commander of the Jenin terror groups.

In a separate operation in Jenin, a terrorist was eliminated, and two vehicles containing weapons intended for terror attacks were found and destroyed.

No Israeli troops were injured, thank G-d.

Al Jazeera reported that the IDF arrested three Senior Hamas officials in the Palestinian Authority-controlled section of Chevron (Hebron).

Lebanon:

The IDF carried out two airstrikes in Lebanon today.

The first strike eliminated Hassan Abbas Izzedine, a Hezbollah commander in the terror group’s aerial defense unit. The IDF says that Izzedine was a significant source of knowledge for Hezbollah, and was leading attempts to rebuild Hezbollah’s air defense infrastructure that was damaged during the war. All efforts to rebuild Hezbollah’s infrastructure are direct violations of the ceasefire agreement.

The second airstrike targeted a group of Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon, who were gathered in a Hezbollah facility, carrying out rebuilding efforts.

After months of push from the Trump administration, Israel as begun “dialogue” with Lebanon to resolve three key issues:

One: The continued presence of the IDF in five strategic points in Southern Lebanon. This is the main point of discussion. The IDF presence is not in civilian areas. Israel has stated that the IDF will withdraw once the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have fully deployed to Southern Lebanon, and are actively removing and keeping Hezbollah out.

Two: Lebanese prisoners, of which most are Hezbollah terrorists, being held in Israel. It is unknown how many there are, but likely somewhere in the hundreds.

Three: Longstanding disputes over the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Quick history lesson: Israel and Lebanon have never had an agreed upon border, since Lebanon never recognized Israel. In 1923, The League of Nations recognized a border drawn between what was then the British and French mandates of each country. After Israel gained independence, Lebanon did not recognize the border, and terror groups in Lebanon continuously attacked Israel. In 1985, Israel established a security zone in Southern Lebanon, to put a stop to the incessant terror attacks. In 2000, Israel withdrew to a border line drawn by the UN, called the “Blue Line,” which is almost identical to the 1923 border. Lebanon never recognized the Blue Line, and still does not recognize Israel. There are a few parts of the Blue Line in particular, which Lebanon protests. Most are minor, but the most significant are Mount Dov—which used to be part of the Syrian Golan Heights, and Ghajar Village in the Golan Heights, which is split between Israel and Lebanon. Both areas are essential for Israeli security.

The current ceasefire agreement, which began in November 2024, mentioned moving towards these talks. The goal of the talks is to prevent a return to war by empowering the new Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, and removing Hezbollah’s relevance. Hezbollah’s entire establishment and existence is based on the (false) premise that they are fighting for territory stolen by Israel, and preventing Israel from taking more. However, their excuse for joining the war this time around, was in support of Hamas—making it questionable whether discussions over a small piece of land will really help, when Hezbollah’s real issue is the entire existence of a Jewish State.

Yemen:

The Houthis announced that they reinstated their blockade of Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The Houthis threatened that they’ll attack any Israeli-linked ship in the area, until the flow of trucks to Gaza is restarted.

There were unverified Saudi reports this morning of an airstrike in western Yemen, targeting Houthi military radar systems.

Israel has long prepared for this, and taken it into account in planning.

Israel has already carried out major attacks against Yemen three times. There are expectations that the next attack will be much larger, with more U.S. support.

Iran:

Following Khomeini’s lead, Iranian President Pezeshkian sent a message to Trump that Iran won’t negotiate under threat, and America and “do whatever the hell you want.”

Syria:

The IDF confirmed carrying out a series of airstrikes in Syria last night. The strikes targeted radars and detection equipment used to build an aerial intelligence picture, and military headquarters and sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime.

Israel is making a strong effort to prevent the new Syrian regime from establishing themselves south of Damascus, in areas which would be a threat to Israel’s security. It appears that the IDF will prevent any move from the new al-Jolani regime to bring weapons within 60 kilometers of the border with Israel (this was a policy Israel wanted to apply in Syria since 2018, but did not do effectively until now).

Defense Minister Katz visited the IDF in Syria, and stated, “Every morning when al-Joulani opens his eyes in the presidential palace in Damascus, he will see the IDF watching him from the heights of Mount Hermon and will remember that we are here and in all the security areas in southern Syria, to protect the residents of the Golan and the Galilee against any threat from him and his jihadist friends.”

Katz also mentioned efforts to strengthen ties with the Syrian Druze, and that the group would be able to enter the Israeli Golan Heights for work as soon as March 16th.

Meanwhile, in what could be a threat to Israel’s new buffer zone, there are reports that al-Jolani is making strong efforts to bring about a peace agreement with the Druze in the Sweide province. This is an area which is south of Damascus, which borders Jordan, but doesn’t reach up to Israel. The agreement would integrate the Druze of the province with the rest of Syria state institutions, and bring the Syrian military control to their area.

Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom cites a political source saying that Israel will wait and see, but for now, if this agreement comes about, it won’t change Israel’s basic approach to the new regime in Syria.

Note:

Not everything is how it seems on the outside. The Trump administration has made heavy threats of war, sent unprecedented amounts of weapons to Israel, and ran dramatic exercises with the Israeli Air Force in a show of strength. But in practice, the administration’s preference is to achieve ceasefires. The grand threats are primarily pressure to bring those about. This is the case in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran—and the terror groups know it.

The preference for ceasefires is strong enough, that the deals being pushed might not always be in Israel’s favor. While Adam Boehler’s direct talks with Hamas didn’t bare any fruit, his interviews clearly outlined the priorities. Boehler stated “the U.S. is not an agent of Israel,” and also that the U.S. would never agree to a hostage deal with the same conditions as those being pushed on Israel (particularly the amount of terrorists being released).

We may get a lot of reports, but we don’t really known what is going on behind the scenes. Soon it’ll be Purim, and we will read the Megillah and remember—kings and ministers are only messengers of the One Above. When we place our trust in Him, then the messengers can be used to bring about our salvation.

May we merit a Purim miracle—with all the hostages returned in safety, and the weapons of our enemies laid down forever.

For over 500 days since October 7th, Tzion and Menachem Mark have dedicated themselves to bringing joy and spirituality to front-line soldiers through their Heart & Soul campaign. Reaching distant bases and outposts others cannot, they ensure no soldier feels alone. This effort involves traveling with treats and drinks when possible, and always bringing smiles, music, and Tefilin. We pray for a time when their work is no longer needed, but for now, we extend our heartfelt gratitude. – Sponsored by Yanki and Sarah Greenspan in their honor