Bringing Them Home

We’re told in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate that Prime Minister Netanyahu intends to bring home the 20 or more living hostages:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday night that Israel was not giving up “on a single one” of its war aims.

The PM continues to use all options at his disposal:

While leaving Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said that he had spoken earlier in the day with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff regarding the release of the remaining 58 hostages in Gaza, and would discuss the matter with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee later that night.

“We’re making all efforts, including today, to bring about the release of all our hostages and to achieve our war aims. We’re not giving up on a single one,” Netanyahu said in a video post on X, contradicting claims of critics, such as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

There is still animosity against Netanyahu:

On Tuesday, the mother of Edan Alexander, 21, the IDF soldier released by Hamas on Monday, pointedly omitted the prime minister from the list of those she thanked for her son’s freedom.

The US is giving the PM credit, though:

However, Witkoff relayed to the family that Netanyahu’s efforts were critical to her son’s release.

Netanyahu stated that the fate of the hostages is extremely important:

“I took two hours to speak to Witkoff in Doha because I requested to send the delegation [there] in order to try and advance the release of our hostages. So they’re at the top of my mind,” Netanyahu said in the video post.

Of the 58 hostages still in Hamas’s hands, 23 are still believed to be alive.

More talks are ongoing while US President Trump is in the region:

On Tuesday, Netanyahu held a series of extended meetings with Witkoff and members of the negotiating team regarding the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

The discussions coincided with Trump’s arrival in Qatar, which has served as a key mediator in the talks, alongside Egypt and the United States.

Negotiations in Doha are being conducted indirectly, with intermediaries relaying proposals between Hamas and Israeli representatives. Despite months of stalled efforts, U.S. officials believe renewed momentum may be possible following recent developments on the ground and increased international pressure.

US representatives met in Israel assuring hostage families:

Trump’s envoys, Witkoff and Adam Boehler, met on Tuesday in Tel Aviv with the families of hostages and emphasized their commitment to securing the return of all captives—both living and deceased.

Just The Facts Ma’am

Tomorrow the IDF plans of moving Gazan civilians to the south will begin and with it ending the lies of humanitarian aid that Hamas uses to get a hostage deal. We learn from an article from Honest Reporting that the lamestream media reports of widespread famine are not accurate:

“Gaza edges closer to famine as Israel’s total blockade nears its third month” (CNN, May 1, 2025).

“Starvation looms as Israel’s total blockade on Gaza enters its third month” (NBC News, May 4, 2025).

“Israel is starving us in Gaza. This is what that feels like” (The Guardian, May 6, 2025).

Once again, various media headlines and NGO press releases are teeming with the news that Gaza is on the brink of famine and mass starvation. In many cases, these forecasts of doom are laying the blame squarely at the feet of Israel and its two-month-old blockade of the coastal enclave.

But is this accurate? Is Israel’s ongoing blockade about to cause a mass famine across the Gaza Strip?

The answer is more complex and nuanced than the sensationalist media headlines would have us believe.

As you can see, the media reporting is all about how bad Israel is treating Gazans. Apparently it’s not that simple:

When reading news stories about the alleged ongoing food crisis in Gaza, it’s important to bear in mind that:

Enough aid entered the Gaza Strip during the second ceasefire in early 2025 to keep Gaza’s two million residents nourished for at least 5 to 6 months. The inequality in the distribution of food among the people of Gaza is due to a variety of complicating factors on the ground, including the hijacking of free food aid by Hamas and the exploitation of it for profit. The Israeli leadership is currently devising plans to restart the distribution of food to Gaza’s Palestinians without it falling into the hands of Hamas. Throughout the war, there have been several claims that a famine caused by Israeli restrictions on aid was imminent. However, none of these famines have ever occurred as forecasted. The rate of malnutrition among children in Gaza is roughly equal to the rate of malnutrition that existed prior to the start of the war.

There are even more facts to consider:

Following a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January and February 2025, Israel imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, hoping to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages and accepting more favorable conditions for a renewed ceasefire. Under this blockade, no aid and materials (including food) are allowed to enter the embattled Strip. However, in the six weeks between the beginning of the ceasefire and the imposition of the blockade, Israel facilitated the delivery of 338,676 tons of food into Gaza. According to the World Food Programme’s estimate, this amount of food would be enough to sustain all 2 million residents of Gaza for between 5 to 6 months, while, according to the UN’s estimate, this amount should last the people of Gaza between 6 to 8 months.

So are Gazans starving with no access to food? Consider that restaurants are still advertising their businesses on X as this account tells us. And new cafes are opening as well. Yes, supplies are hard to buy, but they are still available.

The Food Is There

So what is really happening:

Now, less than four months since the beginning of the ceasefire, it is clear that there should still be ample supplies of food available across the Gaza Strip. If so, what accounts for the disturbing images of Palestinian civilians waiting in long food lines?

It is simply poor or nonexistent reporting:

According to Times of Israel journalist Lazar Berman, the existence of long and chaotic food lines alongside images of Gazans patronizing markets and restaurants (which have yet to receive the attention of the mainstream media) likely points to an imbalance in the distribution of aid within the Strip. While some areas have adequate access to food, other areas either have little access to food or only have food available at inflated and restrictive prices.

And who is the cause? Israel? No, it’s Hamas:

One of the main factors contributing to this discrepancy in access to food aid is Hamas itself, which has commandeered a significant amount of this free food aid, either to hoard it or to sell it at inflated prices and to fill its coffers with the profits.

Malnutrition is used to make Israel look bad, but again the facts get in the way:

Alongside stories and images of long food lines, another aspect of the alleged food crisis in Gaza that has received a considerable amount of attention from the media is malnutrition among local children. In the first half of April 2025, 32,000 children were screened for acute malnutrition. Of those screened, 984 were diagnosed with severe or moderate malnutrition. While any level of malnutrition among children is lamentable, analyst Mark Zlochin has noted that this level of malnutrition among children (3%) is actually slightly lower than the rate that existed in Gaza prior to the war.

The bad press remains, but again context is conveniently left out:

As part of the media’s focus on malnutrition in children, news outlets will focus on certain examples to provide a human face to this issue. However, in many cases, the children represented in these stories suffer from pre-existing conditions that can contribute to their ill state. For example, NBC News, CBC News, and CNN all profiled Osama Al-Raqab, a 6-year-old Gazan boy diagnosed with malnutrition. Unlike the description of him as having been “full of life” and “once-healthy,” Osama suffers from cystic fibrosis, a disorder that can lead to malnutrition in even the best circumstances. To blame Osama’s condition on Israel’s blockade is both misleading and manipulative.

What should happen is for journalists to actually report the facts:

In sum, while many media organizations and NGOs seek to portray Israel’s two-month-long blockade of Gaza as the sole cause of impending famine and mass starvation in the region, the reality is much more complex.

It’s time the media acknowledge the complexity and, above all, stop falling for the Hamas narrative of a non-existent famine in Gaza.

As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem we need to pray the truth gets out. Hopefully the truth will set minds free.