0 living hostages remaining in Gaza.
13 bodies of hostages held in Gaza.
168 living hostages rescued.
74 hostage bodies rescued.
1,940 Israelis killed.
918 fallen IDF soldiers.
70 fallen Israeli police.
32,390 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
**

Top Headlines

– Hamas has not returned hostage bodies for four days
– Egyptian forces have been sent to search for the bodies
– IDF gave intel to the Egyptian forces
– Hamas reasserting control in Gaza
– Trump gives Hamas 48 hours to return remaining bodies
– Trump does not want Israel to intervene militarily (at least for now)
– IDF eliminates Hamas terrorist planning attack on IDF forces
– IDF destroying Hamas tunnels in area of control
– The establishment of the Civil Military Control center by the US
– ISF countries gather, off to a confusing start
– Some background on the Arab countries involved
– IDF operations in Judea and Samaria arrest 44
– Terrorists throw explosives, injure two IDF soldiers
– IDF increases strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon
– Smuggling from Egypt via drones out of control, IDF testing preventative measures
– Bat Yam bomber indicted

Hostages

Hamas has not returned any bodies of hostages for four days already. Israeli intelligence estimates that Hamas knows the whereabouts and can easily reach the bodies of eight hostages, but may have lost track of the remaining five. (Ynet)

Last night (post Shabbat), an Egyptian team entered Gaza to help locate the missing bodies. This was coordinated with and approved by Israel—who gave Egypt reference points of where to search.

The Egyptian team entered with special tools and heavy machinery to use in the search. Some raised concerns that the trucks brought in by Egypt are some of what Hamas wants in order to begin reconstruction of Gaza without surrendering. Egypt will need to ensure that the trucks don’t fall into Hamas’s hands.

This is the first time that Israel is allowing a foreign team into Gaza since the ceasefire. Earlier, Israel prevented entry of an 81-member rescue team from Turkey. (However, members of Turkey’s IHH recently published footage of them doing “aid work” in northern Gaza. The IHH has been banned in Israel since 2008, due to their terror activity and support for Hamas.)

**
Step 4 of U.S. President Trump’s 20 Step Plan, requires that Hamas return all hostages—the living and murdered—within 72 hours. Hamas has severely violated this requirement. Israel believes that action must be taken in response to this violation, but the U.S. is preventing a response, and instead, giving Hamas even more time. (Kann News)

Among the possible consequences for violating the agreement which Israel might consider: resuming airstrikes; re-arresting prisoners who were released to Judea and Samaria as part of the deal; and reducing humanitarian aid.

Hamas is using this time to reassert control over Gaza, by killing off disobedient Gazans, and reorganizing their forces into security and administrative bodies.

While the Americans agree that Hamas is bluffing about being unable to find the hostages, and that they are only working to buy time, they do believe in the international partnerships and Qatari efforts, and hope that the 20 Point Plan will continue to be implemented, despite the delay.

**
Yesterday, U.S. President Trump posted on social media, reaffirming the above:

“We have a very strong PEACE in the Middle East, and I believe it has a good chance of being EVERLASTING. Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action. Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not. Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, “Both sides would be treated fairly,” that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.”

Gaza

Hamas continues to subtly test the ceasefire line (Yellow Line), and the IDF has raised security around it.

On Shabbat, IDF intelligence detected that a terrorist belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was preparing to attack IDF soldiers in the immediate timeframe. The IDF used a targeted airstrike to eliminate the terrorist, who was in Nuseirat, Central Gaza. No one else was killed in the strike.

**
In areas under IDF control, past the Yellow Line, troops are continuing work to destroy Hamas infrastructure—and especially tunnels.

Defense Minister Israel Katz recently said that the overarching strategic mission to complete the defeat of Hamas, is to destroy Hamas’s tunnels, of which 60% still exist. That, and dismantling Hamas’s remaining weapons.

Civil-Military Coordination Center

The U.S. has established an international headquarters in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel. The headquarters is intended to direct the implementation of the 20 Point Plan, and house the new International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is charged with the demilitarization of Gaza.

The ISF will include delegations from Canada, Jordan, Denmark, France, Germany, UAE, Spain, UK, and the USA. Many are already at the headquarters in Givatayim. Israel conveyed to the U.S. that it prefers that countries who rushed to unilaterally recognized a Palestinian State (France, Spain, Canada) not be involved in the ISF.

U.S. Secretary Of State, Marco Rubio, emphasized that UNRWA will not take any part in the rehabilitation of Gaza, not even the humanitarian aid, explaining that “UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.”

**
Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom toured the international headquarters when Marco Rubio visited on Friday. He reports seeing an assortment of international forces standing around—but that no one quite knew what to do, as there are no concrete plans yet. When Rubio came by, the soldiers were instructed to sit at desks and do quiet work at the computers.

The ISF is gathering with what may be good intentions, but is stuck in a stage with no direction: Hamas hasn’t yet returned all hostages, and shows no indication of disarming—yet the international body doesn’t want Israel to take any action to force Hamas to move forward with the 20 Point Plan.

For now, the ISF doesn’t know if they will be taking areas over from a surrendered Hamas, or taking over areas after Israel forces Hamas out. (Or, an unlikely option, if the ISF themselves will be fighting Hamas and taking over control.)

In whatever scenario Hamas is disarmed, the 20 Point Plan calls for establishing a temporary governance in Gaza, in place of Hamas, run by an “apolitical Palestinian committee.” The committee is to be supervised by an international “Board of Peace,” headed by Donald Trump, with other members such as Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Of course, both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are doing their best to get their favored players into this governance committee.

The Arab Players

There is a lot of talk and rumor about the Arab players involved in the future of Gaza. The truth is that nothing is finalized yet—everything is still in the negotiation stages. Here is a very basic intro to understand the interests of each country, and the dilemmas they preset to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority

Aka, the PA. In 1994 following the Oslo Accords agreement, the PA took control of Areas A & B in Judea and Samaria as the governing body (in Area A, they also have security control). They were also given control of Gaza in 1994, but were violently overthrown by Hamas in 2007, two years after Israel’s disengagement.

The PA is notoriously corrupt, and distrusted by residents under their control. They have not been able to have elections since 2005, mostly out of certainty that Hamas would win.

During the Second Intifada, significant evidence pointed to the PA as a background conspirator who sponsored many terror attacks (recommended reading: Son of Hamas).

The President of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen), is widely seen as Israel’s “moderate partner” for peace, in comparison to Hamas. However, Abbas is also seen as too weak to lead the PA through any reforms required for peace.

The most popular figure in the PA is Marwan Barghouti, who is currently in Israeli prison for planning terror attacks that killed five Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada. Barghouti also led riots and incitement against Israel during the intifada.

Trump told Time magazine that he was asked to get Barghouti released, so that the terrorist could lead and revive the PA. “I was literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called,” Trump told the magazine. “So I’ll be making a decision.”

In the bizarre world of the PA, a convicted terrorist and leader of the Second Intifada is seen as the best option for leading the reforms into a Two State Solution.

Qatar

Qatar is a lifelong supporter of Hamas and its umbrella organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar was widely shunned by the western world until recent years, when Israel allowed them to openly support Hamas’s social activities in Gaza, in hopes that money would keep the terrorists quiet (obviously this was proven a disastrous idea).

Qatar is now the main leader of negotiations, since they are the ones with the most power over Hamas. As a sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood, its widely suspected that Qatar would like to keep Hamas in Gaza.

Turkey

While officially at peace, Turkey and Israel have a complicated relationship, full of distrust. Turkey seems eager to send forces into Gaza, but Israel does not want them anywhere near its borders. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear, in an address standing alongside U.S. Vice President JD Vance, that Israel will not have Turkish forces in Gaza.

Turkey also has strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and hosts several Hamas leaders.

Egypt

Egypt has a strained and complicated relationship with Israel. Both fight the same terrorist enemies from the Muslim Brotherhood. However, amongst the Egyptian people, there is a strong sense of support for the people of Gaza, and anger towards Israel. Egypt also gains international relevance as a mediator, so long as the conflict in Gaza continues.

On IDF Radio, Jacki Hugi reported that Egypt refuses to send military forces to the Gaza Strip and is only willing to send military advisors or policing experts. The reasoning Egypt gives, is because they don’t want to take control before the Palestinian Authority assumes responsibility for Gaza, as the official sovereign.

However, Hugi says that in practice Egypt fears that Hamas will set a trap and harm its soldiers to disrupt the arrangement—or that friction with residents, for example, an accidental injury of a Gaza civilian by an Egyptian soldier, would spark outrage in the Egyptian street.

The concern over friction with Hamas is also a primary concern of all non Muslim Brotherhood Mideast countries, including Morocco, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia

As mentioned, the Saudis do not want to send troops into Gaza and face the possibility of friction with Hamas, or harm to their forces.

The Saudis, unlike Qatar, are opponents to the Muslim Brotherhood, and want them gone for personal reasons. However, they insist that they will only get involved if there are guarantees that the Palestinian Authority will take control of Gaza in a short timeframe.

United Arab Emirates

Of all the powerful Arab countries, the UAE has the strongest relationship with Israel.

Throughout the war, the UAE led international aid efforts in Gaza, building medical clinics, field hospitals, and building infrastructure for humanitarian zones with schools, electricity, water, and sewage infrastructure.

The Emiratis take a strong line against terrorism, and want to see the end of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Recently, 17 Arab countries and bodies issued a joint statement protesting a Knesset vote in favor of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. The statement also voiced support for UNRWA. While all the above mentioned counties (and PA) signed the statement, the UAE did not. This does not mean that the UAE is in support of sovereignty—they did quietly voice opposition to Israel’s government. But it does point to a different attitude than other Arab leaders.

However, while the UAE is taking part in the ISF, they do not either want to send troops to fight Hamas in Gaza, and instead prefer only to work in humanitarian aid, focus on Hamas-free areas, and perhaps train soldiers who would fight Hamas.

Judea & Samaria

Since releasing 160 terrorists into Judea and Samaria, the IDF has raised security efforts to prevent terror attacks.

In the last week, 44 wanted terrorists were arrested, and a large number of weapons and incitement materials were confiscated.

**
On Friday, terrorists threw explosive devices at IDF troops in Tubas, injuring two soldiers. Within hours, Israeli security forces hunted down and arrested three suspects in the incident, including those who made the explosives.

Lebanon

While the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) are supposed to disarm Hezbollah by the end of 2025, it seems that Hezbollah is rebuilding faster than the LAF are able to move. The IDF has increased strikes against Hezbollah in recent days, hitting sites that are in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Here’s a quick view of recent IDF activity:

Thursday

– An airstrike struck a Hezbollah weapons depot in Nebatieh.
– A wave of airstrikes in the Beqaa Valley hit a Hezbollah training camp, precision missile production site (which has been hit several times before), and other targets.

Friday

– A drone strike eliminated a terrorist who was actively working to rebuild Hezbollah’s military capabilities in the Zutar al-Sharqiya of Southern Lebanon.
– A strike eliminated terrorist Abbas Hassan Karki, the logistics commander of the Hezbollah’s Southern Front. Karki was a significant leader in Hezbollah in the effort to rebuild.

Shabbat

– An airstrike eliminated terrorist Mohammed Akram Arabia, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces, in the Al-Kaem area of southern Lebanon. Arabia was busy working to restore Hezbollah’s combat capabilities, and rebuild terror infrastructure.
– The IDF eliminated terrorist Zein Al-Abdin Hussein Fatouni, a commander in the anti-tank array of the Radwan Force’s Battalion B. He was involved in attempts to rebuild terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Today

– Lebanese media reported two IDF strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning. The IDF has not yet confirmed the strikes.

Sinai Smuggling

The IDF has been experimenting with a new technological system to stop the phenomenon of smuggling drones over the Egyptian border.

The smuggling drones are primarily being operated by Bedouin criminal organizations based southern Israel. The motivation is criminal, not terrorism, but there is no distinction of whose hands the weapons will fall into.

In 2024, these drones were seen around 10-15 times per day. Recently, residents of Israeli towns on the Egypt-Israel border have been reporting around 150 drone sightings per day.

Eyal Ben, from Petach Nitzana and a member of the town’s security squad, says: “We see them overhead, we hear buzzing. The smugglers are near us without fear. In recent days, I documented a drone that crossed the border back and forth five times in one hour. This should be treated as a terrorist incident for all intents and purposes.”

Bat Yam Bomber Indicted

The military prosecution has filed a serious indictment against Abd Alkarim Tsanobar, the main suspect in a planned bus bombing attack in February 2025.

According to the indictment, Tsanobar and his accomplices began planning a terrorist attack in the Gush Dan area in January 2025. Their goal was to harm civilians by placing explosive devices filled with nails and screws in crowded locations.

On February 20, 2025, Tsanobar entered Israeli territory and planted five explosive devices on four buses in Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. Some of the bombs detonated during the night when the buses were empty, while others were found and neutralized. The attack was prevented before it could cause mass casualties.

After the failed attack, Tsanobar fled to Judea and Samaria, hiding in various locations. During this time, he reportedly planned a suicide attack in Tel Aviv and attempted to produce more explosive devices with the help of others. These plans were stopped when he was arrested by IDF and Shin Bet forces in July 2025.

The military court has ordered Tsanobar to remain in detention until his trial concludes. Additional indictments have also been filed against his accomplices.

**
Sponsored anonymously by a Canadian Jew from Vancouver.