The news is doing a lot of reporting about the children kidnapped by Hamas and held captive since October 7th. Israel is rejoicing at the return of the hostages. Gaza is also rejoicing, but I suspect it’s for different reasons–they will now have more terrorists to deploy.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, The U.K. Daily Mail<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n A Palestinian woman who disfigured herself in a suspected bomb attack in\u00a0Jerusalem<\/a>\u00a0has been reunited with her family after being released from an Israeli prison.<\/strong><\/p>\n Israa Jaabis, 38,\u00a0had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of detonating a gas cylinder that wounded an Israeli police officer. The attack left her with severe burns on her face and hands.<\/strong><\/p>\n She was released on Saturday as part of the agreement with Hamas that will see Israeli hostages freed\u00a0in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.<\/strong><\/p>\n Jaabis was given a flower crown and seen embracing her family upon her release. She told the\u00a0Al Jazeera tv network that she was ‘shy’ to hug her son whom she hadn’t seen in eight years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel freed 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 teenagers – from two prisons on Saturday during the second round of the exchange after an hours-long unexpected delay set nerves on edge.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Hamas<\/a>\u00a0had accused\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0of breaking the terms of the agreement. Israel denied the allegation.<\/strong><\/p>\n …The deal risked being derailed when Hamas’ armed wing said on Saturday it was delaying releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n Saving the deal took a day of diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, which President Biden also joined.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades also said Israel had failed to respect terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners that factored in their time in detention.<\/strong><\/p>\n COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians, accused Hamas itself of delaying trucks trying to deliver humanitarian aid to northern Gaza at a checkpoint.<\/strong><\/p>\n ‘To Hamas, residents of Gaza are their last priority,’ it said on Sunday.<\/strong><\/p>\n As much as I rejoice in the return of some of the hostages, this is a sad time for Israel. Because of international pressure, Israel was forced into a deal with Hamas which Hamas will use to manipulate public opinion. We can also expect more hostage-taking in the future since this has unfortunately worked very well for Hamas. Understand the people doing the negotiating are not on Israel’s side–Qatar is the home of the head of Hamas and funds Hamas generously. Even though I rejoice in the release of the hostages, I hope Israel will quickly go back into Gaza and eliminate Hamas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The news is doing a lot of reporting about the children kidnapped by Hamas and held captive since October 7th. Israel is rejoicing at the return of the hostages. Gaza is also rejoicing, but I suspect it’s for different reasons–they … Continue reading