On October 16, 2025, the final 20 living Israeli hostages came home, two years to the day after that black Shabbat (by the Hebrew calendar). For the first time since then, no living hostage remains in the Gaza Strip. That is an enormous relief, yet it is not the end.
Several deceased hostages (as of this writing, two) are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Their families continue to wait, without a grave, without closure. Hamas claims it “doesn’t know” where the bodies are. A cynical lie. Of course they know. They are withholding the bodies because it gives them power.
Since the ceasefire began, three Israeli soldiers have already been killed, by Hamas terrorists using RPGs and sniper fire. Two of them were from my city, Modi’in. A friend of my daughter knew one of the fallen. I remember the funeral procession that passed through our street. People stood silently along the roadside, many holding Israeli flags. No one spoke. Just silence as the convoy made its way to Jerusalem for burial on Mount Herzl. It was one of those...
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