Herzog: ‘This Is A Wake Up Call, We Are Facing Absolute Cruel Evil, We Must Stand Together’
President Isaac Herzog addressed the Great Synagogue of Rome on Wednesday evening (19th) as the names of the slain hostages to be returned on Thursday (20th) – Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas , and Kfir Bibas were announced.
Herzog concluded his official visit to Italy on Wednesday (19th) with an address at a historic gathering of the Jewish community at the Great Synagogue of Rome.
“These days are a wake-up call – not just for our nation, but for the entire family of nations. In the face of this evil – led by the evil Iranian regime – we must stand together, resolutely, firmly, and courageously,” he told the congregants.
He thanked them for their support and solidarity with the Israeli people and addressed their deep concerns for the difficult days ahead.
“Yesterday it became apparent to all of us that the days ahead will be especially heart wrenching.”
“They will hold both pain, grief and sorrow – as the bodies of hostages are returned to us tomorrow – but also relief and even hope, as living hostages, our brothers are freed on Shabbat.”
These heart-wrenching, overwhelming days also highlight two absolute truths.”
“The first: it is our highest duty to bring every last one of our hostages home. Every moment they are in the hands of the terrorist monsters is a direct threat to their lives. We must use every measure to bring them home urgently. Every single one of them.”
The second is the understanding that we really are dealing with absolute and cruel evil, an evil that murders, tortures, and kidnaps mothers and babies, motivated by a murderous jihadist ideology, an evil that butchers whole families. An evil that is continuing its crimes against humanity at these very moments,” Herzog concluded.
Netanyahu: Thursday Will Be A Day Of Sorrow For Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday (19th) that Thursday (20th) would be a difficult day for the nation as the bodies of four hostages who were killed in Hamas captivity will be returned to Israel.
“”Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the State of Israel. A wrenching day of grief. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages, deceased,” he said.
“We embrace the families, and the heart of the entire nation is torn. My own heart is torn. So is yours. And all of the world’s hearts should be torn, because this demonstrates who we are dealing with, what we are dealing with – with such monsters.”
“We are grieving, we are in pain, but we are also determined to ensure that such a thing never happens again,” the Prime Minister said.
The Hamas terror organization has claimed that three of the hostages whose bodies will be returned will be Shiri Bibas and her two children Ariel and Kfir, who were just four years old and nine months old when they were kidnapped on the morning of October 7, 2023. The identity of the fourth hostage whose body will be returned Thursday (20th) was made known on Wednesday evening (19th). He was identified as Oded Lifshitz, 84.
The bodies will be received within the territory of the Gaza Strip where a rabbi will lead a full military ceremony in which the caskets will be carried and the Kaddish prayer and Psalms will be recited.
From there, the caskets will be transported to Israeli territory and taken to be identified at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. Following the identification process, the families and thereafter, the public, will be notified.
The IDF stressed that before Saturday (22nd) and the release of the six living hostages, no terrorists would be released from Israeli prisons.
Argentina’s Milei To Decree A National Day Of Mourning For The Bibas Brothers
Argentinian President Javier Milei has declared a national day of mourning for the Bibas brothers, who will be returned to Israel on Thursday (20th). In a post on X, President of the Argentinian Commission for Human Rights, Sabrina Ajmechet mourned Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who held dual citizenship through their father, recently released hostage Yarden Bibas.
“Two Argentinian babies, assassinated because of Hamas terrorism,” Ajmechet wrote. “I hope that never again, after this, I have to hear that what happens in Israel and Gaza is not the concern of all Argentines.”
“A huge hug to the Bibas family today, all Argentines are with you.”
The Argentine President Javier Milei has a strong history of supporting Israel. He has strongly condemned the October 7 attack, and has visited Israel several times since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Silence is complicity, and it compels us to condemn the brutal and cowardly terrorist attack on October 7,” he wrote in a December, 2024 letter.
Woman Wounded In Jerusalem Axe Attack, Police Hunt Assailant
An Israeli woman was attacked by an axe-wielding assailant late Wednesday night (19th), with the manhunt for the perpetrator still ongoing.
The victim, reported by Hebrew-language media as being in her 70s, was moderately wounded in the attack, which occurred at her home in the Old City.
According to Ynet, the suspect, armed with an axe, broke into the woman’s home.
After the attack, he reportedly removed the hoodie he had been wearing – likely due to blood stains – and fled the scene.
The victim, fully conscious, was lying on the floor with upper injuries to her body, when she was treated by a senior Magen David Adom paramedic.
In a media statement the paramedic said, “I gave her life-saving medical treatments and we transferred her to the special MDA ATV that evacuated her through the narrow alleyways of Jerusalem… to an ambulance that was waiting at the Zion Gate. From there we evacuated her, while continuing her treatment, to the hospital with her condition moderate, but stable.”
The Jerusalem Police District Commander “conducted a situational assessment, during which he directed the use of all means in order to locate the suspect, who fled.”
As of Thursday (20th) the police have yet to locate the attacker.
IDF Strike Kills Hezbollah Member In Southern Lebanon, Day After Withdrawal
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday (19th), carried out a strike in southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah operative.
He was the first person killed by the IDF in Lebanon since Israel withdrew from most of the border area a day earlier.
The official National News Agency reported the “enemy drone struck a vehicle… in the town of Ayta ash-Shab,” near the southern border.
An IDF statement said the Hezbollah member was targeted in the town after he was seen handling weapons.
In a separate incident on Wednesday (19th), the IDF said it fired warning shots in the Kfar Kila area in southern Lebanon after a group of suspects gathered close to the Israeli border. The suspects withdrew after the shots were fired, the military added.
A November 27 ceasefire deal had halted more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war, that was started by the Iran-backed terror group, some of whose supporters on Wednesday (19th) hoisted Hezbollah flags in several Lebanese villages near the border following the IDF pullout.
Under the terms of the deal, brokered by the United States, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group since early October.
Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period. The original withdrawal deadline was January 26, but was extended until February 18.
Israel announced just before the February deadline that it would temporarily keep troops in “five strategic points” near the border.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also warned in November that Israel would maintain “full military freedom of action” in case of any truce breach.
Egypt’s Sisi To Visit Riyadh For Talks On $20 Billion Gaza Reconstruction Plan
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is expected to visit Riyadh on Thursday (20th), according to two Egyptian security sources quoted by Reuters on Tuesday (18th).
During the trip, he is set to discuss an Arab initiative for Gaza that could include up to $20 billion from the region for reconstruction, the report said.
Arab nations are preparing to outline a post-war strategy for Gaza as a countermeasure to US President Donald Trump’s proposal, which seeks to redevelop the enclave under US administration and relocate its residents, which has sparked concern among regional leaders.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are scheduled to review the Arab plan in Riyadh before formally presenting it at an Arab summit in Cairo on March 4th, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
A gathering of Arab leaders – including those from Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar – is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on Friday (21st). While Saudi Arabia is leading efforts among the Arab nations regarding Trump’s plan, some sources indicated that the date for the meeting has not yet been confirmed.
Earlier on Tuesday (18th),the Egyptian state-run Al-Ahram newspaper provided some details on the Egyptian plan to reconstruct the Gaza Strip without relocating its residents to other countries.
The report said the plan will temporarily relocate Gazans to “secure areas” in the Strip while Egyptian and other foreign construction firms rebuild Gaza.
The Associated Press cited two Egyptian officials who noted that the plan envisions the creation of a Palestinian administration, “unaligned with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run the Strip and oversee reconstruction efforts.
Last week, Egypt announced that it intends to present a “comprehensive proposal” for rebuilding Gaza while ensuring that Palestinian Arabs remain on their land.
Egypt firmly rejected any proposals that would involve relocating Gaza residents outside the Strip.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State stated last week that, “All the Arab countries say how much they care about the Palestinians, but none of them want to take any Palestinians into their countries – none of them have a history of doing anything for Gaza.
The World Doesn’t Care About Gazans – Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch
The lives of Gazans don’t matter to the fake “humanitarian” community unless they can be weaponized against the Jews and the Jewish state. These humanitarians accused Israel of imposing a “siege” on Gaza. Despite the siege, the Gazan terrorists never seemed to run out of mortars and rockets to launch indiscriminately at Israel’s civilian population. The Gazans were also able to build modern high-rise buildings and exclusive villa communities, and were miraculously capable of importing heavy construction and engineering equipment to dig hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels.
6,000 marauding Gazans invaded Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and took over 250 people hostage. The terrorists also fired thousands of rockets, destroyed nine out of the ten power lines carrying electricity into the Strip, and destroyed the land crossings.
In stark contrast to any other war, the international community never seriously called on Egypt to open its doors to the fleeing Gazan refugees. The world was oblivious to the fact that the Gazans were trapped. The fact is that the fake humanitarians, the states that allegedly care about the Gazans, and the UN mechanisms, do not care at all about the Gazans. They would be more than content to see the Gazans living in a demolition site. Their only concern is that the Gazans continue to suffer so that they can be weaponized against Israel.
The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center.
(jcpa.org)
Comments 2
Our Lord is not surprised by any of this craziness. We should support and pray for Israel. The battle for mankind’s soul rages on. President Trump’s surprising announcement caught many by surprise. There is no mistake it caused the Arab world to take action. Iran must be held responsible. Our God will, even if there is a failure to act by the nations. Our Lord reigns.
There will never be any kind of peace as long as Khomeini and his tyrants are alive. There is no moderation when you are dealing with the Devil.