Welcome to The Now

 

  So first we have Netanyahu's most recent speech : Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Saturday night that he would not end the war with Hamas in Gaza until the terror group is removed from power, calling its current demands for a hostage release deal “capitulation conditions.” Speaking in a prerecorded video address that his office described the day before as a “special statement on a diplomatic matter,” Netanyahu argued that Hamas would rehabilitate its military capabilities if the conflict were ended. He asserted that it was not possible to “trick” the terror group into ending the war in return for the hostages and then resume military operations, due to “binding” international commitments Hamas was demanding as part of an end to hostilities. Those who were suggesting this “illusion of deception” had no idea how international politics works, he said. The prime minister also accused Hamas of stymying a recently proposed deal for the return of Israeli hostages due to its d...

From CNN : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday offered $5 million and safe passage out of Gaza to anyone returning a hostage. “To those who want to leave this entanglement I say: Whoever brings us a hostage will find a safe way out for himself and his family. We will also give $5 million for every hostage,” Netanyahu said. “Choose, the choice is yours, but the result will be the same. We will bring them all back.” Speaking at the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu added that whoever harmed a hostage would “pay the price.” His announcement was met with outrage from the mother of Matan Zangauker, one of the hostages still held in Gaza. “The prime minister is trading the hostages’ lives,” said Einav Zangauker. She criticized Netanyahu for “offering money to Hamas” and said his attempt to “divide and rule in Gaza through bribes to the captors” would put the hostages at risk. “It’s unbelievable that the man who funded Hamas i...

First the story of the bodies (vi Al Jazeera): Israel’s military has announced that its troops have recovered the bodies of six captives, including a dual US national, from a tunnel in southern Gaza, as it continued its 11-month long, deadly assault on the Palestinian enclave. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched war on Gaza on October 7 following an attack led by Palestinian group Hamas that left more than 1,100 people dead. The Palestinian fighters took about 250 captives in the wake of the attack. The coastal enclave has since been turned into rubble amid non-stop bombardment as Israel has been accused of stalling a ceasefire deal to free the captives. The military said on Sunday that their remains were recovered “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” and returned to Israel where they were formally identified. It claimed that the captives were killed not long before their bodies were recovered. The captives were identified as Almog Sarusi, Al...

 

 

 Apparently releasing hostages is fine as long as you turn around and take the same number from other locations: