Wednesday
Yom Reva’ee
21 Shevat 5785
February 19 2025
SPECIAL NOTICE
OneIsrael resumes today. By way of explanation, your humble servant was traveling in remote parts of Vietnam where there is no internet, and other parts of Vietnam and later Cambodia where all internet is strictly monitored. Our final stop was Indonesia where publishing anything related to Israel can lead to very serious consequences and where Israeli websites are blocked by the government.
Thank you for your patience during these past weeks.
On the Hostage Front
Rumors abound this morning; among them:
*Hamas leader Khalil Al-Haya in an official statement: “On Saturday we will release 6 live hostages, in addition to 4 bodies of hostages who will be released on Thursday.”
*Other reports are that 5 bodies of Israelis who were killed in captivity will be returned tomorrow.
*It is believed that the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel will be released tomorrow.
*The six live hostages apparently to be released on Saturday:
*The body of Hadar Goldin who was killed in the 2014 war will apparently be returned next week.
Developments In And Around Gaza
*A massive shipment of 1800 “heavy bombs” which had been blocked by the Biden Administration has arrived in Israel:
Are these bombs destined for Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or elsewhere?
*The “urgent emergency” Arab conference which was supposed to take place early next week in Cairo to discuss a plan to counter President Trump’s Gaza Plan has been postponed until early March.
Why?
The Egyptians have yet to develop and alternative plan, and some of the Arab countries which were supposed to participate have gotten cold feet.
Developments in the North
*The IAF struck Hezbollah assets in sothern Lebanon yesterday:
*At the same time, the IDF has completed its planned withdrawal from southern Lebanon. When we say “planned withdrawal”, we allude to the fact that the IDF will not be withdrawing from 5 strategic locations–circled below (graphic: Alma Center):
*Elsewhere, our planes attacked weapons of the former Syrian army, west of Daraa.
In and Around Jerusalem
The Headquarters for the Land of Israel announced yesterday the mikvah project in the Western Wall area and the appointment of Dr. Ravit Yaska Rotenberg as project manager. According to the announcement: “The goal of the initiative is to make mikvahs accessible to men and women near the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, in response to the growing need of thousands of worshippers who wish to purify themselves before praying at the holy sites.”
The announcement continues:
“The project aims to collaborate with all relevant government ministries, including those in the fields of infrastructure, tourism, and religious services, with the goal of locating, preserving, and utilizing existing mikvahs, along with constructing new ones, while adapting them for contemporary, daily use. Special emphasis will be placed on the Southern Wall area, where the remains of dozens of mikvahs from the Second Temple period were discovered, with the aim of restoring them to operation in a way that will allow visitors to use them today.”
Dr. Rotenberg: “The Temple Mount and the Western Wall are central prayer centers for the Jewish people, and the demand for purification services near them is only increasing. Returning the ancient mikvahs to contemporary use and building new ones will provide a real solution for tens of thousands of worshipers who are interested in purification before prayer, as has been the custom throughout the generations.”
*Elsewhere in Jerusalem, Fiji has opened its new embassy–joining the U.S., Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras, and Kosovo.
Kolakevod to Fiji!
And so it goes this morning in a chilly Israel . . . so far . . .
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.