Bringing Them Home

"[Israel will not rest until] all of its war goals are completed, [which includes the return of every single hostage being held in Gaza. The US promised Israel would have the weaponry it needed to return to fighting if necessary]."

"[Israel would do so] in new ways and with very great power."

"In the agreement approved just now, we will get back another 33 of our brothers and sisters — most of them alive."

"President Trump joined the mission to free the hostages from the moment he was elected. He spoke to me on Wednesday evening and welcomed the agreement. [Trump] rightly stressed that the first stage of the accord is a temporary ceasefire. That’s what he said, ‘A temporary ceasefire’."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of captives held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv, January 18, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Women, children, the elderly and the ill are classified as 'humanitarian' for purposes of initial selection in an exchange of hostages for prisoners and it is they, 33 in total number from among whom the initial choices for freedom will be made. They were all randomly, opportunistically snatched from the presumed security of their homes in farming communities, from a feel-good music festival, from bus stops and family outings to be taken to Gaza as human prizes to be held as chess pieces while also being raped, tortured, starved and humiliated in a twisted psychosis of Jew-hate.

 

Three hostages are to be returned Sunday, the initial day of the ceasefire; four on the seventh day, three more for each week in the following four weeks and the final 14 to be released in the sixth week of the agreement. The ceasefire to go into effect at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, the first three hostages, women all, to be freed around 4:00 p.m. Their names were to have been revealed Saturday afternoon by Hamas, but Saturday afternoon arrived and departed and no such revelation was received, causing great unease in Israel by anxious hostage families. But this is typical of Hamas; extracting as much psychological pain as possible from its victims.

Ninety-four of the hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 invasion of thousands of Palestinian terrorists of the Palestinian Islamic and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine groups, led by Hamas, remain in Gaza. One third of the total is presumed to be no longer living. Two mentally unstable Israelis who years before had wandered into the Gaza Strip are also being held. The bodies of two murdered Israel Defense Forces soldiers from an earlier period are also being held for ransom and are to be included in the total released over a period of time in exchange for acceding to Hamas demands.

Israel is to release a thousand Palestinians from incarceration in Israeli prisons. It is also to withdraw its forces from populated areas of the Gaza Strip, among whom, needless to say, Hamas terrorists are prone to placing themselves, treating the civilians as human shields. A list of 95 Palestinian prisoners meant to be released on the first day was published by the Israeli Justice ministry.  Among those to be released are 25 male prisoners under age 21 and 70 women; the youngest among them 16 years of age. Accused of crimes such as incitement, vandalism, supporting terror, terror activities, attempted murder or throwing stones or Molotov cocktails.

Among the most well-known prisoners on the list is Khalida Jarrar, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Among those to be released are murderers of Israelis. A byproduct of securing the release of the Israeli hostages, a steep price to pay, yet one Israeli authorities have countenanced for the urgent purpose of bringing their hostages back home, alive, if at all possible; dead, to be buried with honour, if that is the case. 

Hamas has stated it will not release the remaining captives unless a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal is achieved. Israel has vowed and reiterates that vow repeatedly that it will continue fighting until the Hamas terrorist group is completely dismantled, to ensure that the Hamas pledge to conduct future October 7 atrocities without end will never come to fruition. Israel's intention is to maintain open-ended security control over Gaza. For it has no other choice.

 

A woman and a little girl look at a mural showing female Israeli soldiers taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 18, 2025 (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)