More Hostages Coming

Hamas is releasing six hostages and the bodies of 4 others as we see in a report from i24news.tv:

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached with Hamas in Cairo, Egypt, for the terror group to return the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, with six living ones slated for return on Saturday. Four more bodies will be released next week.

Before you think Hamas is relenting, the terror group couldn’t care less about these hostages or any so called humanitarian reasons. No, they want more terrorists returned before the deal collapses:

Earlier, Israeli source told i24NEWS that "negotiations are being conducted for the release of all six living kidnap victims from Phase One – as early as this coming Saturday." According to the same source, Hamas is interested in accelerating the release of terrorist prisoners, including those who were re-arrested after the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal and are supposed to be released.

Of course Hamas wants us to see the offer of hostages release as a way of getting the other help included:

Arabic media reports confirmed this, ‎as a senior Hamas official told the Saudi A-Sharq that they agreed to hand over the bodies of Israeli hostages before the end of this week, in the hope of accelerating the entry of humanitarian aid, heavy machinery, and "caravans," mobile homes, into Gaza. The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian network Al-Quds reported that the last two stages of the first phase of the hostage deal are expected to merge.

And they want to move to second phase where the terms of ending the war with them surviving which shouldn’t come as surprise:

In addition, they intend to enter into negotiations for the second phase of the deal.

Hamas enjoys getting more seasoned criminals sooner with little if nothing in return to Israel. It’s a bad deal for Israel and Hamas must pay more for the time they get to recover from the IDF’s destruction of them:

So far, 19 captives have been released from Hamas captivity alive as part of the first stage of the deal, leaving 14 more, believed to be six alive and eight bodies. According to the agreed-upon roadmap, Israel is expected to release 100 more life-imprisoned convicted terrorists and 800 Gazan detainees arrested during the ground operation in these stages.

At least the Bibas family will get closure since they are part of the bodies that will be returned.

Ceasefire Ends

And in Lebanon the ceasefire is over, but it clearly isn’t the end to the fighting as we read in an article from the Jewish News Syndicate:

The Israel Defense Forces will continue to act against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon “at full strength,” Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed on Tuesday morning in a post on X as the military reportedly completed its withdrawal from most of the territory.

“We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7,” Katz declared, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led massacre in Israel’s south and the 16-month-long Hezbollah terrorist campaign that followed the attacks.

Katz mentioned that the IDF will still be in the buffer zone:

Katz reiterated in his statement that, “starting today, the IDF will remain in the buffer zone in Lebanon at five control posts along the border line, to ensure the protection of the northern communities.”

Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported that the withdrawal from the Land of the Cedars was completed ahead of the midnight deadline. IDF officials told the outlet overnight that “the challenge is to preserve the [military] achievements and prevent Hezbollah from returning.”

On Monday, the army’s Northern Command confirmed that soldiers would remain deployed at five strategic outposts in Southern Lebanon beyond the Feb. 18 deadline set out in the ceasefire deal with Beirut.

The US gave the IDF permission:

Israel’s decision to keep boots on the ground in Lebanon was made in conjunction with the Trump administration. The company-size posts, located within several hundred meters of the border, are manned by hundreds of soldiers until the political echelon decides otherwise.

The five outposts are located on a hill near Labbouneh, opposite the Israeli border town of Shlomi; on the Jabal Blat peak, opposite Moshav Zar’it; on a hill opposite Moshav Avivim and Kibbutz Malkia; on a hill opposite Moshav Margaliot; and on a hill opposite the town of Metula.

Hezbollah warned Israel it needed to leave:

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned Israel on Sunday that if it does not withdraw its forces by Tuesday, “we will know how to deal with it.

“Israel must fully withdraw on Feb. 18; it has no excuse [not to do so],” the top terrorist leader said in a televised speech cited by the France 24 outlet.

Israel isn’t certain that the Lebanese army can handle their part of the deal:

However, there had been doubts in Jerusalem that the LAF could fulfill its obligation to clamp down on the presence of Hezbollah. The IDF remained engaged in frequent operations in the area until Monday.

The LAF announced on Tuesday morning that its forces were deployed overnight to several areas throughout Southern Lebanon, including in the villages of Kafr Kila, Meiss al Jabal, Bint Jbeil and “other border sites.”

The LAF said engineering units were surveying the areas, reopening roads and removing unexploded ordnance left behind during the war.

Don’t expect that LAF to hold up, though. We pray that they do though.