GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 469

Temper Your Joy

They’re Coming Home

Hostages are expected to be released starting on Sunday as we read in a report from The Times Of Israel:

The government’s hostages and missing persons coordination unit on Friday notified the families of the 33 Israeli hostages expected to be set free in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Those on the list, to be returned over a period of 42 days, are so-called “humanitarian” cases: women, children, elderly individuals and the infirm.

It’s still not certain if all 33 are still alive:

Notably, Israel has not been told how many of the 33 are alive, though it expects the majority are. Israel will receive a full status report on all those on the list seven days into the ceasefire. Some unconfirmed media reports have said Israel has insisted on first receiving the living among the 33, with bodies returned at the end.

While it would be nice to get all of the hostages out at the same time, it will be done progressively and those released won’t be known until a day before:

The order of release is not yet known. The identities of those set to return are expected to be provided 24 hours before each release.

The schedule for the release will see three hostages returned on the first day of the ceasefire and four more returned on the seventh day. Subsequently, three hostages will be returned every week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the final, sixth week of phase one.

There was a list that was out before and the list appears to be accurate for the most part:

When it was published in the media earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office downplayed the list, saying it was one Israel had provided to mediating countries in July.

Beyond the 33 on the list, 65 more people are held by Hamas, many of them no longer alive. These are to be returned as part of a second phase of a deal, if it comes to pass, that would also see a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

It should be noted that by not releasing hostages in large groups is a calculated move by Hamas since they can back out at any point as I will address tomorrow. So this deal does release hostages, but the way it’s being done is just another way these terrorists continue to inflict pain and suffering on Jews to the bitter end. Make no mistake, Hamas doesn’t care for anyone other than themselves and every tear they can get from Jews is a good one.

And About Those Prisoners

All the talk about getting hostages released is front and center for most news sites, but we should not forget that the terrorists are getting a huge amount of their comrades back into their camp and those prisoners aren’t rehabilitated as we hear from an article from The Jerusalem Post:

Shin Bet head Ronen Bar presented data to the ministers in the security cabinet on Friday, stating that "82% of those released in the Gilad Shalit deal in 2011 returned to terrorism," and that 15% of them carried out attacks themselves after their release in the deal, or planned the attacks.

In spite knowing these facts, the Israeli Security cabinet approved the deal:

Israel's security cabinet voted to recommend the government approve the outline for the hostage deal on Friday.

More details are given about that Shalit deal:

The just over 1,000 released prisoners engaged in terror activities such as contributing to terrorist funds as well as aiding and providing information to terrorist groups, Bar said.

Bar added that those to be released in the current deal will almost certainly go back to terrorism:

He also said that the release of terrorists is expected to increase the motivation to carry out attacks in the West Bank, Israeli media reported.

Bar said that the danger does not necessarily stem from terrorists being released as part of the deal, but from the atmosphere that will be created in the West Bank as a result, which will make terror organizations want to attain additional "achievements."

Now the Israel Defense Force will have to fight against them again:

The Shin Bet chief noted that for this reason, the IDF must increase activity against terrorists and terror infrastructure in the West Bank in parallel with the implementation of the deal, Maariv quoted Bar.

Going back to the Shalit deal, research shows that these terrorist leopard can’t change their spots:

IDF Lt.-Gen. Maurice Hirsch told the Post this week that "By 2014, 50% of those released in Judea and Samaria almost immediately returned to terrorism."

There are numerous examples to support this:

Instances of engaging terrorists who were released in the Shalit deal include one that occurred in June 2014, in which two suspects, father and son - Ziad Hassan Awad and Izz al-Din Ziad Hassan Awad - the former having been released in the deal, were detained by Israeli forces for their involvement in a shooting attack that happened on Passover eve that killed a police officer.

Another terrorist attack a year previous was avoided, but was still a danger:

A year prior, in May 2013, the Shin Bet detained Hamas operative Bakr Atallah Samih Sa’ad, who planned to carry out terrorist attacks, after an investigation revealed that he went to Jordan to meet with Hisham Abd al-Qader Ibrahim Hijaz, another Hamas terrorist operative who was released in that deal.

Hijaz was responsible for the deaths of ten Israeli civilians and soldiers before his arrest. He was supposed to serve ten life sentences before being released in the deal.

And it should be noted that the attacks on October 7, 2023 might not have happened since the man behind it would have still be in prison and got out because another hostage was taken:

Gilad Schalit was released from five years of Hamas captivity in 2011 in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Among the aforementioned who were released in the deal, Yahyah Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 attack, was also released in this deal. Schalit was captured in 2006 when several Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and attacked IDF bases near the border crossing at Kerem Shalom, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding four others.

I’m happy that hostages are coming home, but we can’t forget who is also being released.