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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel will seize more of Gaza if Hamas doesn’t free hostages, IDF chief warns

2025-05-21

[IsraelTimes] Zamir tells Gazan civilians that their leaders, not Israel, ‘brought destruction’ upon them, as hostage talks appear to once more reach an impasse in Doha

The Israeli military is prepared to capture more territory in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip if Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
does not agree to release the remaining hostages it is keeping in captivity, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in a video statement on Tuesday.

He issued the ultimatum following a situational assessment and field tour in Gaza, days into a major new offensive dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots," through which Israel seeks to attack Hamas and seize and retain territory, while relocating Paleostinians from the north of the Strip to its south.

The offensive was launched amid negotiations in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, which started back up again last week following the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

Israel had previously warned that it would launch the offensive should no agreement be reached following the end of US President Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
’s visit to the region last week. While reports initially indicated that the new talks were moving in the right direction, they hit a wall in recent days.

Zamir said "Hamas will pay a price for its refusal" to release the hostages.

"It will face intense firepower," he said. "We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until its defeat."

"Hamas only has one option, and that is to release our hostages," Zamir continued, adding that should an agreement be reached, "the IDF will know how to adjust its activity accordingly."

"Our objectives are clear: the return of the hostages to their homes, the defeat of Hamas and the dismantling of its rule," he continued. "We are defending ourselves, and for that we must attack. We cannot defend ourselves only on the defense, without clearly removing the threat from the other side of the border."

At several points during his remarks, Zamir recalled that Israel had not been the one to start the war in Gaza, but that it erupted when Hamas launched its deadly cross-border invasion on October 7, 2023.

"This was not a military assault, but a horrifying crime against innocent civilians, and act of terror against the State of Israel and the Jewish people," he said of the attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages, of whom 58 are still awaiting release.

"Since that dreadful day, the IDF has acted with force and determination in a multi-front campaign against enemies whose goal is to destroy us," said Zamir.

Turning to the Paleostinian civilians in Gaza, he added: "We are not the ones who brought this destruction upon you."

"We did not start the war. We did not rob you of food, shelter, or money. We are not the ones hiding in hospitals or schools. We are not the ones staying in luxury hotels while you live in hardship," he said.

"This is your leadership, those who are holding our hostages. Hamas is responsible for starting the war. It is responsible for the dire situation of the population. It destroyed, and it will not be the one to rebuild."

Hostage Matan Zangauker struggling to stand, suffering severe health issues – report

This is who Hamas is. This is who all the jihadis are.

[IsraelTimes] According to reported testimony from ex-hostage Edan Alexander, Matan Zangauker suffers from muscular atrophy, is held in cages and has been severely tortured.

Released hostage Yarden Bibas says he encountered Yahya Sinwar in tunnel
[IsraelTimes] Released hostage Yarden Bibas describes meeting Yahya Sinwar while in captivity, when the former Hamas leader allowed him to remain with his best friend, David Cunio, who is still held captive in Gaza, for around two weeks before they were separated.

“David is my best friend, he has been with me my whole life,” Bibas tells Channel 12 news.

Bibas says he met Cunio on the day his wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and their twin daughters were released from captivity on November 27, 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire deal.

“He was moved to me in the tunnel. When he saw me for the first time, he was in shock. He thought he saw a ghost. I hugged him, and then he continued to the next place,” Bibas says.

“When Sinwar arrived at the tunnel, I said to him that this is my best friend and I want to stay with him. He said there was no problem, you can stay with him. After around two weeks, they separated us. I don’t know why,” Bibas says.

TV report: Freed hostage Edan Alexander meets Gallant, tells him he slept on Gazan street and nobody noticed
[IsraelTimes] Freed hostage Edan Alexander describes the difficult conditions of his captivity to former defense minister Yoav Gallant, including sleeping on Gaza’s street, in quotes reported by Channel 12 news.

Asked by the former Likud lawmaker how he held onto hope in captivity, Alexander reportedly answered: “I knew that my friends from Golani were fighting above for me and I had a duty to survive for them.”

“My captivity was difficult. We moved between dozens of places, we slept in apartments, mosques, and even on the street. One of the times we didn’t stop moving from place to place, and then we slept on Basmata Street — without anyone noticing. And now we must do everything to release everyone,” he said, Channel 12 reports.

Channel 12 also says that Alexander was held alongside senior Hamas officials, including its former leader and October 7, 2023, massacre mastermind, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by IDF troops in October.

According to Alexander’s reported testimony, food cans would explode in the tunnels due to the intense summer heat.

Separately, Channel 12 reports on a meeting between Alexander and the family of hostage Nimrod Cohen, with whom he was held in captivity.

Alexander reportedly told them Cohen supported him during their time together, but was very depressed and traumatized due to his experiences of the October 7 massacre, when he saw his friends murdered.

Posted by:trailing wife

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