Israelis held hostage in Gaza - part 4

[StillHELDhostage4]

New thread.

Went to post on thread 3 and it's full.

Sad 4th thread and hostages still held by Hamas and others.

Alhamdulillah, they're home.

I also think re The Bibas family that they are the golden egg for Hamas. Whatever they say or whatever happens it has the ability to both affect morale in Israel and damage any ceasefire.
Israel won't wait forever for an answer.

Praying Palestinians hostage doctor Hussam and Ahmad Manasra are being released!

Good to see the tunnel laundrymatt appears to have done overtime and all Hamas uniform is nicely pressed for PR events. Especially as it hasn't seen an inch of fighting time. Resplendent with face masks favoured by bank robbers, kkk members etc..... cowards.

The ongoing mental torture of this situation for the families of remaining hostages is unimaginable.

Shabbat is out and finally got to see the news!!! Baruch Hashem Naama, Liri, Daniella, and Karina are home!

I've just read on BBC that arbel is due to be released next Saturday and hamas has apparently provided proof of life to the Egyptians. I'm still confused about the soldiers release, the waving etc. it looked like they had gift bags and thankfully seem in good condition compared to some of the hostages, is this because some hostages are held by different groups?

Indeed it is strange. Clean uniforms, well fed fit men. Waving supporters. If you didn't know better you'd think they were celebrating something great not a ceasefire following an horrendous conflict with thousands dead.

Interesting that it's being widely reported that at least a couple of Palestinian prisoners are refusing to leave prison and return to Gaza due to Hamas. Conditions must be awful to want to stay put!

Maybe they will be forced to join Hamas and kill. Maybe (hopefully) they want to try a different way

Returning to Gaza may well sound like a death sentence. The infrastructure and many of the buildings have been destroyed, law and order doesn't meaningfully exist, there are dangers from armed gangs and Hamas, the IDF is still shooting people, and both sides are already pushing the ceasefire so there's a fair chance more bombs will start falling soon.

I was confused too. The last hostages had men shouting in a very aggressive way but then this time people seemed to be cheering? However, re: the hostages smiling on stage, I thought maybe they were told to look happy and didn’t have a choice. I was also curious about what was in the bag!

Clean uniforms, well fed fit men.
Yes, welcome to the world of the terrorist. They have been in tunnels , probably wearing their high end casuals while the IDF rained bombs down on innocent
starving civilians. It will be even more unpalatable when the more politically minded fringes put on their Armani suits to negotiate how the day after will work. Not easy to swallow

Just to make it clear.
Also read what was written behind the hostages as they were waving.....

Thinking of the hostages and friends and family.

Sorry no MSM source, but seen in enough reputable places now:

Of the remaining hostages of this stage, reportedly 18 are confirmed to be alive, and 8 to not be alive. We have not yet been told which hostages are alive and which are not.

Agam Berger, Arbel Yehuda, and an unnamed male hostage will be released on Thursday (the agreement was broken when the female soldiers were released before Arbel, who is a citizen), in addition to the planned release on Saturday.

This is completely my speculation - I was wondering if the additional hostage on Thursday might be Sasha Troufanov, who is reportedly in poor health, and Hamas have been reassuring Russia that he will be returned 'alive and well'. I have not seen this anywhere, but it would make sense.

Thank you for that update.

Why did the IDF rain down bombs on innocent civilians if they knew that the Hamas terrorists were safe in tunnels?

Because they werent all safe in tunnels all the time - if you remember Sinwar was not in a tunnel when he was killed, was he? And lots of the bombs were also designed to destroy entrances to tunnels etc.

Sinwar wasn't killed by bombing, was he?

If Israel has designed bombs specifically for tunnel entrances, and they know that the Hamas terrorists are mostly safe in the tunnels, why have the homes of so many innocent people been bombed?

They didnt know that terrorists were safely in tunnels all the time. Its not relevant to this question how Sinwar was killed but where he was. He was not in a tunnel at that point, proving that not all Hamas were in tunnels all the time. Of course they arent always in tunnels - how would they operate only from tunnels? Civilian infrastructure has been attacked because there were terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, weapons etc n those buildings. Many buildings were also destroyed when the tunnels underneath them were destroyed. Iys very complex, you arent going to find a one size fits all answer.
I dont know anything about bomb design.

Civilian infrastructure has been attacked because there were terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, weapons etc n those buildings

How do you know this? Please provide evidence.

Can I respectfully ask that this discussion is saved for other threads please? 🙏

I saw an article recently about a small thing that one of Sasha Troufanov's friends does to keep him in their mind (can't seem to find the link now, sadly). Before he was abducted, Sasha reportedly had a routine of stopping whatever he was doing at 3pm for a cup of coffee. So, every day, his friend has a 3pm cup of coffee in solidarity with Sasha. As a fellow coffee lover, I can very much relate to the 3pm caffeine pause. This week, I'll be thinking of him - and all the hostages, of course - and while I have my 3pm coffee, I'll be hoping for his safe return soon.