The Times of Israel March 25, 2025

With freed Hamas hostage Chen Goldstein-Almog in attendance, President Isaac Herzog opened the conference by discussing those still captive in Gaza.

What a cop out you are the president what are you doing to bringing the hostages home, down to the last one.”?

“I am quite shocked how suddenly the issue of the hostages is no longer at the top of the priority list and at the top of the news — how can this be?” he asked

“We must, throughout this entire time, not lose eye contact, as a nation and of course as a governing system, with everything related to bringing the hostages home, down to the last one.”

There are 59 hostages still in Gaza. Israel believes 24 of them are still alive — 22 Israelis, one Thai, and one Nepali.

All of them are young men who were kidnapped on October 7 when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and abduct 251 sparking the war in Gaza.

A ceasefire deal that saw the release of 33 hostages collapsed last week as the IDF resumed its fighting in the Strip, sparking mass protests across Israel.

Herzog also argued that the law currently does not provide adequate support for freed hostages and their families.

Goldstein-Almog later reiterated that point, emphasizing that released hostages are forced to “cope with numerous significant challenges in a short period,” one of which is the difficult decision of whether to return to work at the cost of losing government-provided benefits.

Major General (res.) Amir Baram, the director general of the Defense Ministry, discussed the importance of Israel’s rehabilitation system:
“The value chain of treating the wounded must be uniformly strong and well-connected in all its parts — not only during the critical trauma phase but also throughout the long, patient, and costly rehabilitation process.”

The Times of Israel March 25, 2025

Sessions ranged from Israelis’ presentations on their research and technologies to panels of experts on the recovery process.

The Rehabilitation Department, which sits within the Defense Ministry, is responsible for reintegrating injured IDF veterans and security personnel into civilian life by providing them with social services and financial support.

Defense Ministry Deputy Director General and Rehabilitation Department Head Limor Luria described October 7 as a pivotal moment that reshaped the department’s approach, stating that “no scenario or response we had planned was relevant to the reality we encountered.”

This revelation led to the establishment of five new guiding principles.

First, Luria stressed a proactive stance: “We don’t wait for the injured to come to us.” By October 9, 2023 Rehabilitation Department teams were already deployed to 22 hospitals nationwide, ensuring that wounded soldiers began rehabilitation treatment within 48 hours of admission.

The department also shifted its focus from bureaucracy to recovery, adopting a “rehabilitation before bureaucracy” policy in coordination with the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization and the IDF Manpower Directorate.

This approach allows injured personnel to bypass bureaucratic hurdles, such as medical committees, deferring evaluations for a year to ensure immediate medical and psychological care.

Third, the department operates on the principle that every wounded soldier requires individualized support.
As a result, each patient under its care is assigned a dedicated representative to provide personalized guidance.

In addition, Luria highlighted the importance of proactive psychological rehabilitation. To help prevent cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, the department extends mental health support not only to the physically and psychologically injured but also to their families.

Finally, Luria underscored the necessity of cross-organizational collaboration.

She stressed that rehabilitation is a shared national mission, requiring coordination between government bodies such as the Health Ministry and the IDF
“Nobody can accomplish the rehabilitation goal alone,”

sacrifices, horrifically wounded soldiers and soldiers returning in coffins

The Times of Israel March 25, 2025
On Sunday, the Defense Ministry released new data on the war.

1. According to its report, some 66% of the 16,000 injured soldiers are reservists.
2. Around 10,900 individuals sustained physical injuries,
3. while half of all treated personnel experienced psychological distress, including 2,900 suffering from both physical and psychological injuries.
4. Among the total injured, 6% had moderate injuries, 4% were severely wounded, and 72 amputees have already received prosthetic limbs.
5. The ongoing conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, has led to significant casualties,
6. more than 400 Israeli soldiers killed — reportedly 1,706 just in the Gaza war; but real figure is said to be higher

In response to the escalating conflict, the IDF mobilized some 400,000 reservists, a number that reflects the heavy demands placed on the military.

The Rehabilitation Department currently cares for over 78,000 individuals from all of Israel’s wars and operations, including disabled underground fighters from the British Mandate era, before the establishment of the state in 1948

Treatment of injured soldiers is expected to take a high economic toll, with the Rehabilitation Department calculating the annual cost at about NIS 150,000 per war casualty.

The Rehabilitation Department estimated that it will be treating approximately 100,000 wounded personnel by 2030 half of whom are expected to experience PTSD.

To manage the growing number of cases, the department has launched a specialized customer service unit to simplify administrative procedures for wounded soldiers and security personnel

“endless conflict” Forever war The horrors of death, destruction and immeasurable suffering all sides — Israeli and Palestinian

Deutsche Welle News March 25, 2025

with major losses, how is Hamas able to keep fighting and governing?

Despite major losses Hamas can still fight and govern and the danger it still poses to Israel
It may have been beaten and bombed, but it is still standing

After nearly 18 months of war in Gaza, Israel's aim of destroying Hamas, the militant Islamist organization, is still unfulfilled.

In recent days, the Israeli military has killed more Hamas senior leaders in airstrikes.
Yet, Hamas has shown that it is able to absorb major losses and can still fight and govern.

Hamas fighters out in force releasing hostages in January, a show of strength as the militants reemerged after months of hiding in tunnels

There are no precise individually verified figures available about Hamas's strength
1. Israel estimates that Hamas had more than 30,000 fighters at the time of its October 7 terror attack
2. Israel claims to have killed 17,000 since then but has not provided evidence
3. 70-80% weaponry captured or destroyed
4. Senior leadership has also been decimated

The terror group has historically been able to fill its ranks with new recruits quickly
However replacing lost and destroyed weaponry may be more difficult as its smuggling tunnels have been greatly diminished

Israel now controls the border with Egypt where Hamas formerly smuggled weapons into Gaza but the militants are still able to fire rockets into Israel —
THAAD Where art thou? THAAD

Hamas also maintains an extensive tunnel network under Gaza used
1. to launch surprise attack on Israeli soldiers
2. and hiding men and weapons safe from Israeli bombardments

Goal of destroying Hamas after 18 months of grinding bloody conflict is far off and Hamas still remains a lethal threat

Deutsche Welle News March 25, 2025

according to Hans-Jakob Schindler Counter Extremism Project, while Hamas is not in a position to do something large scale like October 7 and no longer any real organized military resistance what Hamas's capability is that it rains pinpoint terrorist attacks which requires fewer leaders, fewer fighters, fewer weapons which it has been doing and still does over many years

Maintaining resupply is indeed a challenge — luckily for Hamas while the borders are controlled, no border control is airtight so there is always something that can be smuggled enough to remain the terrorist group and rebuild its fighting force

Main backer Iran and its terror proxies have been weakened which clearly does not allow Hamas to quickly rebuild in any shape or form, right now

However it is clear that the International community, Europe and United States have not done enough to actually stop Hamas from gaining money not only from Iran but also from its investments and companies around the world — and UNRWA and to stop donations flowing in from including the US and Europe and Arab countries which it has done and built up over many years.

So all Hamas has to do is to survive in whatever small form, wait for the conflict to subside and then use this money to regroup, rebuild, rearm, draw on its new recruits and relaunch its terrorists attacks

While the Israeli military operation has radicalized large sections of the Palestinian community and we have seen how much anger there was on the Streets elsewhere but the Gazans really have no choice because for them there is only Hamas and the Israeli army

It is hard to gauge how much conviction is there and how much pressure is there to join the fight. What is the alternative to Hamas?

Hamas is an ideology you cannot destroy, you can degrade its military and terrorist capabilities but what it requires for Hamas to no longer rule Gaza is to finally make a decision as to who should, going forward — not just in an administrative sense but also Police, Security forces — Israeli army or International force

If no forward thinking decision is forthcoming — virtual stalemate — terrorists and Israel “endless conflict” Forever war

Hamas continues to be there because it has proved it is resilient. It is still the boss in Gaza

It is a very difficult political decision because of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition of right wing hardliners' position is that anyone but Israel is to secure the Gaza strip

Trump's Riviera under Israel and US control

Israel repeatedly says, it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques

If they didn't... this war would have been over in no time and “Hamas terrorists, out”

From: The Times of Israel March 26, 2025
Iran-backed terror chiefs taunt Israel, remain defiant ahead of Quds Day

Hamas official says war has not broken Palestinians’ will; Houthi chief vows attacks to continue, while Hezbollah leader insists ‘no room for normalization’

Leaders from the Iran-backed axis of resistance sworn to the destruction of Israel struck a defiant tone on Wednesday ahead of an annual Tehran-sponsored pro-Palestinian commemoration later this week, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television reported.

Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, were launched in 1979 by Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini when Iran and its allies organize marches:
1. in support of the Palestinians
2. and call for Israel’s annihilation

They are traditionally held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year is expected to finish at the end of March.

Palestinian terror group Hamas’s Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement broadcast on Al-Manar:
1. Israel had been “unable to break the will of our people and our resistance,”
2. despite more than a year “of killing, terrorism, and destruction,
3. and despite the full assistance and support of the United States.

The ongoing Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel, when Hamas-led terrorists massacred some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said his group would continue to support the Palestinian people “without retreat,” Al-Manar reported.

The Houthis have launched scores of drone and missile attacks at Israel, as well as ships passing Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden during the war — vessels with no known Israeli connections — saying they are acting out of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said, “We will not accept the continued [Israeli] occupation,” referring to the ongoing presence of Israeli troops in south Lebanon after a recent war.

The Lebanese terror group initiated cross-border fire with the Israeli military in support of Hamas on October 8, 2023

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah dramatically spiraled into all-out conflict last September, and the terror group remains a target of Israeli airstrikes as it continues to operate in southern Lebanon in violation of a November 27 ceasefire.

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was obligated to:
1. pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Israeli border,
2. and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south,
3. while the Lebanese army deploys, to control the area.

Israel, in parallel, was obligated to:
1. withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon,
2. though it retains the right to respond to immediate threats.

Following an initial postponement, with US and Lebanese approval, of the deadline to withdraw, Israel pulled all its troops out of Lebanon in February, except five strategic posts along the border.

“The prisoners must be released,” Qassem said, referring to those captured by Israel during the war, adding:
“There is no room for normalization or surrender in Lebanon.”

The 2023-2024 conflict severely weakened Hezbollah, which saw a slew of senior commanders killed, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.

In agreeing to the November ceasefire, the terror group gave up on its initial promise to only end its attacks once Israel’s operation in Gaza came to an end.

Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutioanry Guard Corps’ expeditionary Quds Force, in his speech, also aired by Iranian state television said:
“the Islamic republic has always stood and continues to stand alongside the Palestinian people in defense of the holy Al-Quds [Jerusalem],”

“God willing, this steadfastness will continue until the final victory of liberation and the reaching to Al-Quds,”

UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten
The Jerusalem Post by Dan Diker 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• The UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten

The United Nations has become a platform for delegitimizing Israel, contributing to a distorted view of reality

The United Nations was established in the wake of World War II an era marked by devastation and the atrocities of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were systematically exterminated by the Nazi regime

The UN’s 1948 recognition of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in the State of Israel symbolized hope and triumph over genocidal oppression

Yet today, the world body, has tragically inverted this narrative, portraying Israel as a villain while rationalizing the actions of genocidal terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis which share aims akin to those of the Nazis

This troubling trend within the United Nations has been evident for decades
The organization has evolved into a platform on which the legitimacy of the Jewish and democratic state is consistently undermined

Resolutions and declarations emerging from various United Nations bodies have often painted Israel as an aggressor while propping up and legitimizing the actions of terror groups that threaten both its existence and its international legitimacy

UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten
The Jerusalem Post by Dan Diker 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• This anti-Israel phenomenon is not new

Bias against Israel can be traced back to the General Assembly Resolution 3379 of 1975 which equated Zionism and racism

That resolution was shelved in 1991 but only 10 years later the highly controversial World Conference against Racism in Durban, in essence revived it

Resolutions targeting Israel have applied a blatant double standard, painting the world’s only Jewish state with a brush of illegitimacy while silencing its right to defend itself from aggression

Since 2015 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has delivered 140 resolutions condemning Israel – far more than the number of resolutions against all other nations combined

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) whose steering members frequently represent authoritarian, repressive regimes such as North Korea and Iran, has passed an overwhelming number of resolutions against the Jewish state, in contrast to the few resolutions that are passed against countries with notorious human rights records, such as Syria and China whose representatives have sat on the UNHRC

UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten
The Jerusalem Post by Dan Diker 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• International courts have served as forums for accusations against Israel

THE UNSANCTIONED Durban conference in 2001 designed to expose and excise racism and xenophobia from the international community, ended up being a festival of hatred and racism against one country: Israel

Despite the withdrawal of both the United States and Israel over contentious language equating Zionism with racism, the “apartheid” and even genocidal rhetoric against the Jews and Israel has persisted, emboldening efforts to delegitimize Israel on the international stage

The international courts have served as additional forums enabling accusations of war crimes and genocide against Israel and “lawfare” campaigns to delegitimize the Jewish state

In December 2023 South Africa, later joined by other nations, turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to make unfounded accusations of genocide against Israel

That case underscores the United Nation’s politicization and reflects a troubling willingness to disregard factual evidence

Even those within the UN establishment, such as genocide expert Alice Nderitu, faced repercussions for opposing the case, illustrating the systemic bias prevalent within the organization

At the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024 arrest warrants were issued for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, claiming that they were responsible for war crimes allegedly committed during ongoing military actions against Hamas

Simultaneous warrants for Hamas leaders were issued posthumously, somehow equating the terrorist organization that had carried out the October 7, 2023 massacre and kidnappings with the democratic State of Israel which complied strictly with international law in its counter-terror operations, preventing civilian deaths in Gaza by issuing warnings by flyers and allowing humanitarian aid to enter

UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten
The Jerusalem Post by Dan Diker 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• The UN must confront its biases

The Organizational culture within the United Nations and its agencies contributes to a distorted view of reality

Reports from entities, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have falsely accused Israel of systematic violence, ignoring Hamas’s
well-documented crimes

This inversion of accountability not only demonstrates the politicization of human rights issues but also wholly disregards the experiences of Israelis

Moreover the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) which purportedly supports Palestinian refugees, has been implicated in supporting terrorism

1. Schools funded by UNRWA have been misused as weapons storage locations and as military headquarters
2. showcasing a flagrant disregard for the safety and welfare of children
3. In addition, agency schools have facilitated the indoctrination of Palestinian children with hatred of Jews and Israelis
4. UNRWA teachers and staff have been revealed as Hamas militants

The aid agency exemplifies how the United Nation’s efforts to assist can, paradoxically, fuel terrorism rather than alleviate suffering

UN not Israel, should be erased and rewritten
The Jerusalem Post by Dan Diker 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• The political ramifications of the UN’s decisions can no longer be ignored

Former Israeli deputy prime minister Natan Sharansky’s Three Ds test to determine collective antisemitism (Demonization, Double Standards and Delegitimization) is increasingly relevant in determining which narratives support the antisemitic eradication of Israel

There is a pressing need for the United Nations to confront its embedded biases and its acceptance of jihad and collective Jew hatred

A reimagined framework must emerge, one that prioritizes accuracy, fairness and a commitment to uphold human rights without prejudice

October 7 has proven beyond a doubt that the UN and its associated agencies are accomplices to terror organizations, defaulting on their mission set in the United Nations’s founding charter of pursuing peace and defending the sovereignty of nations – among them, Israel, the nation-state of the Jewish people

The United Natiions is beyond repair It needs to be dismantled, redesigned and rebuilt, from the ground up start with defunding....

*The writer, Dan Diker is president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs

How Israel's Antisemitism Conference Went Sideways
Haaretz by Esther Solomon and Rachel Fink 26 March 2025

Extracts:

• 'A Fiasco and an Embarrassment': How Israel's Antisemitism Conference Went Sideways

Israel's Antisemitism Conference was supposed to be a "coming out party" for the newly cozy relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Europe's burgeoning far-right politicians

Haaretz English Editor-in-Chief Esther Solomon said on the Haaretz Podcast,
The invitations to numerous illiberal populist European politicians with xenophobic, anti-immigrant ideologies led a long and growing list of mainstream Jewish leaders and other participants from Europe and North America to pull out

Solomon noted in her conversation with podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer, these participants were
Also on the podcast, Haaretz correspondent Rachel Fink reports on the resurgence and intensification of the protest movement against the current government that has brought hundreds of thousands to the streets and the expectation that in the coming weeks, they may escalate to mass strikes and shutdowns

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella landed in Israel on Wednesday for the start of the two-day International Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem. It’s the first time that the far-right National Rally has been invited to speak at the event – and this year, they’re joined by a slew of other far-right European parties whose attendance has sparked a wave of boycotts and controversy.

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-...erusalem-conference-anti-semitism-israel

From: The Jerusalem Post March 27, 2025
Trump said in February that the UN has "great potential and ... we'll continue to go along with it, but 'They got to get their act together'."

The UN pushed back at the time, saying Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had worked tirelessly to implement reforms anti-Israel

Since returning to office on January 20 Trump has:
1. stopped US engagement with the UN Human Rights Council,
2. extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA
3. and ordered a review of the UN cultural agency UNESCO

From: The Times of Israel March 27, 2025
Bernie Sanders says he’ll force Senate votes on blocking US arms sales to Israel

US Senator Bernie Sanders says he will force votes next week on resolutions that would block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel, citing the human rights crisis faced by Palestinians in Gaza after Israel resumed bombarding Hamas targets in the enclave and suspended aid deliveries.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, asserts in a statement announcing his plan:
“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has clearly violated US and international law in this brutal war, and we must end our complicity in the carnage,”

“No humanitarian aid has entered Gaza in more than three and a half weeks since Israeli authorities announced a complete blockade — that’s no food, water, medicine, or fuel since the start of March,”

The Senate voted overwhelmingly in November to block three resolutions introduced by Sanders that would have halted transfers of weapons approved by the administration of then-president Joe Biden, a Democrat whom progressives criticized as doing too little to help Palestinians as conditions in Gaza worsened.

President Donald Trump, who began a second term on January 20 and is a fierce advocate for Israel, has reversed Biden’s efforts to place some limits on what arms are sent to Netanyahu’s government.

Last month, Trump sidestepped the congressional review process to approve billions of dollars in military sales to Israel.

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis demonstrate against army conscription in Jerusalem.

The Israel Fire and Rescue Service says: Haredi demonstrators pushed burning dumpsters at firefighters, injuring them

Fire and Rescue Service says firefighters were attacked by Haredi demonstrators in Jerusalem while working to extinguish objects that were set ablaze during a protest against enlisting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students in the military.

They say the demonstrators pushed five burning dumpsters toward the firefighters and threw objects at them.
It adds that firefighters were hurt but doesn’t specify their conditions.

Police, meanwhile, say six officers were hurt while responding to the rioting and arrested two demonstrators.

conscription dodgers — Refuseniks and ultra-Orthodox [exempted since Adam was a little boy] shirk their military service even in dire straits while enjoying living in the only Jewish state

women and children can be careless, but not White House

From: Reuters March 27, 2025
US judge orders Trump administration to preserve Yemen attack plan messages

A US judge orders President Donald Trump’s administration to preserve messages sent on the Signal messaging app, an unsecured platform, discussing attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen that became public after they were inadvertently shared with a journalist.

While I haven't read the whole transcript... I reckon, Jeffrey Goldberg, the American journalist, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic erred gravely; going public with these sensitive war plan information:
1. not just the integrity and trust issue
2. against the national interests of US and Israel
3. he could have made Life-long Trump friend!

apparently The Atlantic decided not to publish, Hegseth’s sharing of a “TEAM UPDATE” because of the risk it said that it posed to US servicemen and operations in the Middle East.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that Israel had supplied intelligence about the Houthi militant who was targeted.
NBC reported, Israeli officials are furious over the Signal chat leak because it had supplied sensitive intelligence on a Houthi militant targeted in the US airstrike

From: Al Jazeera March 26, 2025
appGate: We owe the Trump admin a debt of gratitude for the Signal group chat leak
We should thank, not denounce, Trump’s 18 chatroom ‘dwarfs’ for revealing the depth of their ineptness.

Israel’s expansionism is a danger to others—and itself
The Economist 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• A perilous path — Israel’s expansionism is a danger to others—and itself

It risks turning hubris into disaster

It is Hard to believe today but 18 months ago Israel was in grave peril still is....
1. Surrounded by enemies always
2. bickering with its main ally in Washington
3. and reeling after Hamas’s attack caused the most murderous day, in the country’s history


The Jewish state seemed vulnerable always and confused Now, by contrast, Israel is rampant

It is still fighting —
1. occasionally in Lebanon and Syria
2. more permanently against Palestinian militants in the West Bank
3. and once more, on an even larger scale, in Gaza

Gaza where an American-sponsored ceasefire has broken down But this time Israel is fighting on its own terms and with full American backing
We might think that makes Israel safe again No one thinks that

Yet its renewed military supremacy comes with a danger of over-extension and bitter strife at home
As its government charges ahead, it risks turning hubris into disaster “Out! out! out! Netanyahu get out!”

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule
The Times of Israel by Nurit Yohanan 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• public anger calling for the end of Hamas' nearly two-decade rule

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule

In first comment since Gazans began taking to streets terror group claims demonstrations being manipulated by ‘enemy and other parties with political agendas’

Hamas responded Thursday to growing public protests inside Gaza by insisting the demonstrations are,
1. directed against Israel and the ongoing war
2. rather than against the terror group ruling the Strip

Thousands of Gazans have taken to the streets this week in rare displays of public anger against Hamas, chanting for the end of the group’s nearly two-decade rule after it plunged the enclave into war by attacking southern Israel on October 7 taking hundreds of hostages, many of whom it is still holding

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule
The Times of Israel by Nurit Yohanan 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• “Out! out! out! Hamas get out!”

Hamas claims protest rallies are being misrepresented as criticizing Hamas’s de facto regime

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told the Qatari channel Al-Araby,
Despite multiple media reports, images and videos from protests as well as media interviews with Gazans to the contrary, Naim claimed the rallies are being misrepresented as criticizing Hamas’s de facto regime

Naim said, — a reference to Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza

Naim added, without specifying which actors he was referring to,
Naim further claimed that the authoritarian Islamist group allows residents to show dissent,

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule
The Times of Israel by Nurit Yohanan 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• release the hostages and end the war

On Wednesday, thousands of people rallied throughout Gaza, chanting “Hamas out”

The protest followed a smaller demonstration a day earlier in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, which drew wide media attention
Some protest participants spoke directly to the media Wednesday, criticizing Hamas over the war

a Gazan man named Sami Ubayed told Israel’s Ynet news outlet,
1. Hamas is destroying Gaza and making us into stones
2. they must be removed from power
3. Hamas needs to be flexible and release the hostages

• “Hamas does not represent us”

We won’t stop demonstrating Demonstrators carrying banners reading “Hamas does not represent us” were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahiya in the north of the territory

• “The people want the fall of Hamas”

In Beit Lahiya, where a similar but far smaller protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated Wednesday, with many chanting “The people want the fall of Hamas”

• “Out! out! out! Hamas get out!”

In the hard-hit Shejaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted “Out! out! out! Hamas get out!”

In some incidents, protesters at rallies urged Hamas to release hostages it is holding, to expedite an end to the war that has devastated most areas of Gaza, making conditions harsh for residents

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule
The Times of Israel by Nurit Yohanan 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• Hamas' waning power in the wake of Israel’s military campaign

The terror group has violently cracked down on previous protests

This time, no outright intervention was apparent which some saw as a sign of its waning power in the wake of Israel’s military campaign The group’s armed personnel are also thought to be keeping a low profile since Israel resumed military action in Gaza earlier this month following the two-month ceasefire

Protests are relatively rare events in Gaza, especially against Hamas which has maintained an iron grip on the Strip since it violently ousted the Palestinian Authority from the territory in 2007

While there have been more public statements by individuals in Gaza against Hamas rule since the war started, large-scale demonstrations against the group have been almost nonexistent

The last documented protest in the Strip against Hamas took place in January 2024 when Palestinians in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis called for,
1. an end to the war,
2. the end of the terror group’s rule over Gaza
3. and the release of the Israeli hostages

Before the war, anti-Hamas protests were also relatively rare events and were often suppressed violently by the terror group

Hamas claims growing Gaza protests are actually aimed at Israel not against its rule
The Times of Israel by Nurit Yohanan 27 March 2025

Extracts:

• dictators and terrorists — the landslide victors

Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds — 24 of them believed to be alive

Israel is also demanding that the group,
1. give up power, disarm
2. and send its leaders into exile

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining captives,
1. in exchange for Palestinian prisoners
2. a complete end to war
3. and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza

Hamas won a landslide victory! in Gaza in the last Palestinian elections, held in 2006 !Same as!
Hamas seized power in Gaza from the Palestinian Authority PA which is based in the West Bank and dominated by the secular Fatah movement, the following year after months of factional unrest and a week of heavy street battles

Rights groups say both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,
1. violently suppress dissent
2. quashing protests, in the areas they control
3. and jailing and torturing critics

From: The Times of Israel March 28, 2025
Hamas are terrorists! Al Jazeera out! We want to live!'

Bucking Hamas intimidation, Gazans hold THIRD straight day of rallies against terror group
Hundreds — if not thousands — attend protests throughout Strip, as Hamas warns participants they’ll be treated as Israel collaborators

Protests against Hamas were held throughout Gaza for a third consecutive day on Thursday, with participants putting themselves at risk after the terror group warned the public against taking part in such demonstrations.

Footage from the various protests showed hundreds — if not thousands — of Palestinians marching through the ruins of Gaza, shouting against the terror group.
The rallies took place in northern Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Lahiya and in the central Strip’s Gaza City, along with other locations.

Chants and signs heard at the Thursday rallies included the slogans,
1. “Hamas out,”
2. “Al Jazeera out,”
3. “Hamas are terrorists,”
4. “The people want to overthrow Hamas.”
5. "Barra Barra Barra – Hamas tetlaa Barra" – Out out out, Hamas must get out!
6. "Al Jazeera Barra Barra" – Al Jazeera get out.

Gazans are done with Hamas, its mouthpieces, pro-Hamas activists, & imbeciles who blindly champion a terrorist militia as legitimate "resistance."

At some of these rallies, masked Hamas militias—armed with clubs—
1. were seen watching the crowd closely,
2. possibly taking names of protesters to target them later.

Supporters of the demonstrations said these men were Hamas operatives seeking to intimidate those protesting.
Several participants posted on social media that they received death threats from Hamas members who warned them not to attend such rallies again.

Earlier Thursday, Hamas issued a joint statement with other Gaza terror groups, warning that those participating in the protests would be treated as Israel collaborators — a group that is stomped out brutally by Hamas.

While the protests were still relatively small, the fact that they had not relented amid Hamas intimidation indicated that the phenomenon was gaining momentum. Another round of protests was also scheduled for Friday, according to social media posts from organizers.

From: Agence France-Presse March 28, 2025
Hamas claims Gaza truce talks with mediators stepping up

A senior Hamas official says that talks between the terror group and mediators over a ceasefire and hostage release deal are gaining momentum, even as Israel continues intensive operations in Gaza.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, says in a statement:
“We hope that the coming days will bring a real breakthrough in the war situation, following intensified communications with and between mediators in recent days,”

Palestinian sources close to Hamas had told AFP that talks began Thursday evening between the terror group and mediators from Egypt and Qatar to revive a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.

Naim says, the talks aim to:
1. “achieve a ceasefire,
2. open border crossings,
3. (and) allow humanitarian aid in,”

Most importantly, he says, the proposal aims to bring about a resumption in “negotiations on the second phase, which:
1. must lead to a complete end to the war
2. and the withdrawal of occupation forces.”

From: The Times of Israel March 28, 2025
Hamas receives US offer to revive ceasefire in exchange for American hostage’s release

Proposal envisions Trump issuing statement calling for Gaza calm, resumption of talks for permanent ceasefire, but diplomat says Hamas likely to demand more for Edan Alexander

a senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Thursday:
Qatar has presented Hamas with a new US proposal to restore the ceasefire in Gaza through the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander

the diplomat said, confirming reports on Channel 12 and the Axios news site:
In exchange for Alexander’s release, US President Donald Trump would issue a statement calling for calm in Gaza and the resumption of negotiations for a permanent ceasefire

The Arab diplomat expressed skepticism that Hamas would agree to release Alexander for only a statement from Trump and said the terror group would likely ask for something more substantial, given its skepticism regarding Israel’s willingness to adhere to agreements.

Alexander is one of the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are still alive, according to Israeli intelligence assessments.

Hope not -- I was under the impression...

From: The Times of Israel March 22, 2025
Witkoff on March 16 called the Hamas proposal to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander along with the bodies of four other hostages with US citizenship — a “non-starter.”

From: The Times of Israel March 14, 2025
“Our priority as the US government is always that we care about all hostages,” said Rubio. “We want all the hostages released.”