Nadene Goldfoot
Israel began to bring military caravans and heavy machinery into Gaza today, as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Two views of 6 men to be released Saturday:
Top row from left-Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, Eliyu Cohen. Bottom left possibly Tal Shoham; -2nd man-Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed
The Six hostages are expected to be released on Saturday.
Roster includes two men who wandered into Gaza a decade ago, a father kidnapped while visiting his in-laws on Kibbutz Be’eri, and three young men abducted from the Nova rave. The six include Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held by Hamas since entering the Strip on their own in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Al-Sayed suffered from auditory hallucinations, and took orders from a voice in his head. He entered the West Bank on at least 15 occasions, and was detained by Palestinian Preventative Security at least 3 of those times. On August 18, 2008, he volunteered for military service, but was discharged less than 3 months later on November 6, after being identified as "incompatible for service."
The bodies of 4 other hostages are expected to be released tomorrow-Thursday. On 7 October 2023, as part of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the Nir Oz attack, the Palestinian Islamist militant organization Hamas abducted the Israeli-Argentinian/Peruvian Bibas family from the Nir Oz kibbutz: 9-month-old Kfir, 4-year-old Ariel, 32-year-old mother Shiri, and her 34-year-old husband Yarden.
Family of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘in turmoil’ over Hamas announcement, has not received Israeli confirmation; only 3 living hostages were to go free this week, but Hamas will instead release all 6 of phase 1’s remaining living hostages. While all other child hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a one-week ceasefire in November 2023, the Bibas family never emerged from Gaza, and on one of the final days of the brief pause in fighting, Hamas said in a statement that the toddler had been killed in an Israeli airstrike along with his mom and brother. (sounds to me like not taking care of such precious cargo as 2 babes and their mother- but the thought of blaming Israel) ! 
Mourners gather next to the grave of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni during his funeral in the Bedouin city of Rahat, southern Israel, on Friday. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press) He was identified after recovery earlier this month. The army said the identification was made by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Israel’s police and the family has been notified. The army said its forces recovered the bodies of Hamzah and his father from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area and returned them to Israel.
His father, Yosef AlZayadni, had been identified earlier this week. The father and son were thought to still be alive before this week’s announcement. They were kidnapped together from Kibbutz Holit, when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel says about a third of the remaining 100 hostages have died, but believes as many as half could be dead. Their fates could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.
The identities of the dead have not yet been released. The military said in January 2025, it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the circumstances behind Yosef AlZayadni’s death were being investigated.
Israel killed a Hezbollah terrorist in a drone strike in Lebanon today. This is the first strike since IDF forces withdrew from Lebanon yesterday, and since ceasefire deal. The incident marks the first death since Israeli troops withdrew from most of the border area on Tuesday.
The air force struck 3 tanks belonging to the old Syrian regime in southern Syria. The attack was intended to prevent the tanks from falling into the hands of the new Syrian regime or terrorist organizations operating in the area.
The UAE president told Secretary of State Rubio that his country was against the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, which is what President Trump has said needs to happen in order to rebuild the Strip.
Military prosecutors filed an indictment against five reserve soldiers for severely abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Israel Defense Forces’ Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel last summer. Accusations of the worst have been made. In response to allegations made by the whistleblowers, the Israeli military stated that they treat detainees "appropriately and carefully," and that "incidents of unlawful handcuffing are not known to the authorities." Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate-general, stated that military police investigations have been opened into allegations of misconduct at Sde Teiman
Resource:
israelAM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_the_Bibas_family
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