War Day 523: Signs of Life From Hostage, Hamas Sends Child to Approach Soldiers

War Summary, Day 523: Signs of life from hostage Avinatan Or, Hamas demands free electricity and water from Israel, Israel mulling return to war as reported deadline approaches, new IDF chief favours soldiers handling aid in Gaza to remove Hamas, Hamas sends child to approach IDF soldiers in no-go zone, teen injured by terror attack, IDF troops locate large cache of weapons near Jerusalem, Shin Bet thwarted nearly 200 terror attacks in the past month, Israel seeking normalization with Lebanon yet Lebanon denies, Israel issues threat to Iran, and IDF chases Syrian military away from Druze villages.

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:

– First signs of life from hostage Avinatan Or
– Hamas not cooperating in negotiations
– Hamas demands return of aid, free electricity and water from Israel
– Israel mulling return to war as initial reported deadline approaches
– New IDF chief in favor of soldiers handling aid in Gaza, to remove Hamas
– Hamas sends small child to approach IDF soldiers in no-go zone
– Terror attack in Ariel, teen injured
– IDF troops locate large cache of weapons near Jerusalem, intended for terror attacks
– Shin Bet thwarted nearly 200 terror attacks in the past month alone
– Israel seeking normalization with Lebanon, Lebanon denies this
– Israel issues threat to Iran
– IDF chases Syrian military away from Druze villages

Hostages:

For the first time, the family of hostage Avinatan Or received a sign of life from him. A recently released hostage confirmed that he had seen him, and he is still alive—but being held in horrific conditions.

Israel’s negotiation team is still in Qatar, but it is unclear if there has been any progress in negotiations. Hamas is still demanding nothing less than a complete end to the war, and complete IDF withdrawal—including from the Philadelphi Corridor bordering Egypt. Hamas also refuses to disarm or leave Gaza.

Instead of freeing the hostages, Hamas put out a dramatic statement, demanding that Israel reopen the border to deliver humanitarian aid, including food, water, and electricity. The statement did not say that they are out of supplies yet, but that it “threatens to trigger a catastrophic water crisis.”

There is currently a proposal on the table that will reconnect Gaza’s electricity, water, and food supply—if they just return half the hostages. Hamas doesn’t think they need any deal yet, and that instead they can turn to the world to pressure Israel to give in, while totally ignoring the hostages.

Children across Israel wore costumes to school today, in the annual pre-Purim tradition. The most popular costumes were heroes of Israel, which in addition to every type of IDF soldier, included hostages. Young girls dressed up as Agam Berger, with her sign that read “I chose the path of faith, and in the path of faith I returned,” and Emily Damari, with her bandaged hand held in a victory symbol. Many children chose to dress up as batman, remembering the costume the Bibas children wore on their last Purim. At least two entire classes—a 5th and an 8th grade, went viral for choosing to all dress up together in tribute to the Bibas children.

It says a lot to the character of Israeli children, and how the war has affected them, that on the funnest day of the year, they chose to think of the hostages.

Gaza:

This evening (Wednesday) Netanyahu convened a meeting with the expanded security cabinet, to discuss the possible resumption of military operations in Gaza. Present at the meeting were the heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad, National Security Council, and the IDF Chief of Staff, as well as senior ministers Saar, Smotrich, Katz, and Deri.

Earlier, it was reported that this Friday may be the deadline for returning to war. Later reports indicated that Israel might wait longer, if there are signs that hostages will be freed. (There is also a small possibility that the meeting was about something else, such as Iran, but disguised as a meeting about Gaza.)

Ahead of a possible return to war, the new IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, changed the position of the IDF on a major issue. The previous IDF chief was against the IDF getting involved in the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza, out of fear that it would be seen as military rule. In Zamir’s view, if there is no alternative group that can be trusted to deliver the aid without Hamas’s involvement, then the IDF must do it.

In another big change, Major General Yaniv Asor assumed the position of Commander of the Southern Command, replacing the previous commander, who retired due to his failures on October 7th. In the exchange ceremony today, Asor told his soldiers that their first mission is “the complete destruction of Hamas terrorists,” and their second mission is “the return of our brothers in trouble and captivity, the living and the fallen.”

This is the first time that an IDF commander publicly gives an order of priority to the two missions, reassuring soldiers that their fighting will prevent Hamas in Gaza from being able to carry out a murderous attack or take hostages ever again.

Hamas pushed their efforts to weaken the buffer zone to a new deplorable level. Until now, Hamas has been approaching IDF positions while dressed in civilian clothes, or even sending adult civilians—including women, to approach the buffer zone. Last night, they decided to send a child.

IDF soldiers spotted the 4-year-old boy moving towards their post in the buffer zone. Despite the risk of Hamas placing weapons on the boy, the soldiers took care of him, fed him, and then coordinated with international aid organizations to return him to Gaza. The small child told the soldiers that he was sent by Hamas.

In a meeting with the pressing the Oval Office, Trump was asked about his plan to “expel the Palestinians from Gaza.” Trump responded that “nobody’s expelling any Palestinians.” Some, including within Hamas, took this to mean that Trump gave up on the relocation plan. But it seems apparent that Trump only meant that his plan was never to expel anyone, rather to allow and entice them to relocate—something he already explained many times.

Meanwhile, according to a Qatari report, the Trump administration informed Egypt that the U.S. will reduce military aid to Egypt. Some connect this to Egypt’s refusal to take in Gazans.

Judea & Samaria:

A terrorist shot an 18-year-old Jewish man on the road in Ariel, and then fled. The injured young man brought himself to the nearby industrial zone for help, from where he was brought to the hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition. The IDF immediately set out in search of the terrorist.

Overnight (Tuesday-Wednesday), IDF forces carried out several counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria. In total, the troops arrested 12 wanted terrorists, interrogated dozens of suspects, and confiscated a significant amount of weapons.

In A-Ram, near Jerusalem, the troops found a large cache of weapons, weapon parts, ammunition, and explosive devices, all intended for use in terror attacks.

In Qabatia, the troops located approximately 100 kg of materials for preparing explosives.

In Qalqilya, Border Police demolished the home of terrorist Ali Khalil. The terrorist, together with others, carried out an attack in Qalqilya on June 22, 2024, murdering Amnon Mukhtar.

Shapira Nitzan of News 12 reported that in the last month alone, the Shin Bet thwarted an unbelievable 195 terror attacks throughout Israel—thank G-d.

Lebanon:

Amit Segal of News 12 cited an inside Israeli source that Israel is pursuing normalization with Lebanon. He says that the newly launched dialogue with Lebanon are a part of a wider plan to achieve this.

The Lebanese President however, ’did not seem pleased with this report. His office almost immediately published an official statement: “Israeli claims that negotiations on the land border are a step towards normalization are false and baseless.”

Yemen:

Israel and the U.S. are quietly working together to counter the Houthi threat in the Red Sea.

(Interestingly, the Houthis have only threatened to resume attacks on Israeli-linked vessels at sea, but not to resume the direct attacks on Israel.)

Iran:

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made an interesting post on their Arabic social media accounts. The post included an image of a chess game, in which one side, representing Israel, has the other side, representing Iran, in checkmate. Surrounding the Iranian king are fallen pieces with the flags of Iran’s various proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah. The caption, in Arabic, reads: “After the fall of the Iranian regime’s legions, the time has come: Checkmate!”

Ayatollah Khameini is still refusing to enter negotiations with the U.S., and is still happily putting up his proxies. Today he wrote: “We will give our full support to the Resistance in Palestine and the Resistance in Lebanon.”

Syria:

The IDF gave more information about Monday night’s airstrikes in Southern Syria. 22 IAF fighter jets participated in the strikes, which hit 40 targets with around 60 munitions. The targets included radars and other intelligence-collecting systems, as well as military headquarters and weapon depots, all of which belonged to the former Syrian regime.

IDF forces on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon are just 30 km from Damascus, with the capital city in full range of IDF artillery. Holding all of Mount Hermon gives Israel strategic dominance over large areas in both Syria and Lebanon.

News 12 reports that the IDF is actively chasing regime forces away from Druze villages, to protect the residents. Several times this week, Israeli fighter jets were mobilized to fly at a low altitude over nearby Syrian forces, as a warning to keep away. The Druze in Israel are a highly respected community throughout the country, and have many relatives amongst the Syrian Druze.

Sponsored anonymously in zchus of the Rebbe’s tireless shluchim to the new Chabad yishuv!