The Gaza War Day 519; The War in the North

Saturday

Yom Shabbat

8 Adar 5785

March 8 2025

The Thought=Provoking Photo of the Day

Oketz Unit members Soldier N. and his dog both lost a leg fighting side by side in Gaza. After months of pain and rehabilitation, Soldier N. adopted his dog (who also had been through months of pain and rehabilitation) and brought him home to his house.

Two brave fighters wondering what their next assignment will be . . .

UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME

On the Ground in the North

In Lebanon:

In an especially busy day, IAF aircraft struck 25 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon including dozens of missiles and missile launchers.

These were the heaviest attacks that the IAF has carried out since the ceasefire agreement went into effect.

The simple and unsurprising fact is that Hezbollah is using the time to rearm and ready itself for a renewal of the war.

In Syria:

What a “projected” Syria may look like with Rojava (Kurdish) in the north and an Israeli-Druze corridor in the south:

As you may know, a rebellion of sorts is taking place against the new government of Syria by former members of Assad’s forces who are positioned along the Mediterranean coast. Most of these forces are, like Assad, Alawites.

In the past few days, the Islamists have not only been attacking former soldiers but also been massacring Alawite civilians. Social media is awash with gruesome photos of the slaughter (which we wlll not post here). By the way, the Islamists are not only butchering Alawites but are also murdering Christians.

The world has been silent.

Except for Israel.

Defense Minister Israel Katz yesterday:

“[Syrian President] Julani took off his glabia and put on a suit and presented a moderate face – now he has taken off his mask and revealed his true face: a jihadist terrorist from the Al-Qaeda seminary who commits atrocities against the civilian population.

Israel will defend itself against any threat from Syria. We will remain in the security zones and on Mount Hermon and defend the Golan and Galilee communities.

We will keep southern Syria demilitarized from weapons and threats and protect the Druze population that lives there – whoever harms them will be harmed by us.”

On the Ground in Gaza

The new IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and his deputy visited Gaza for the first time since taking command. Zamir again declared that IDF forces are ready to resume the war:

Interestingly, both Zamir and and his deputy have Yemeni ancestry.

On the Hostage Front: Lest We Forget

Below we are publishing the following article, in abridged form, written by Kalman Libeskind and his team of researchers. In it, they give the names of the 639 Israelis who were murdered by the Palestinian terrorists who have so far been released by the government to get hostages back:

“The Reality Hidden from Us: The List of Names of the 639 Israelis Whose Murderers Were Released in the Current Deal | Kalman Libeskind

https://www.maariv.co.il/journalists/article-1178217

The government chose not to make the list of victims public. The media also made no effort to provide the data. One can support the deal, one can oppose it, but one cannot sweep aside the important discussion about its costs.

The road to this data was difficult, and it required the complicated work of collecting names, one by one. A great deal of credit for this work goes to Elhanan Groner, Yossi Sari, and the staff of the Jewish Voice website, who dug through the lists of released terrorists, and who rummaged through past articles, news websites, court rulings, and archives. Given the challenge and the government’s efforts to make it as difficult as possible and to reflect reality as little as possible, this was a complex task . . .

We did not count those who commanded terrorist infrastructures, and no specific murder could be attributed to them personally. As mentioned, one can oppose the deal, one can support it, but one must not ignore its prices. They are crying out from every corner:

Avia Malka (9 months old) ˙ Israel Yahya ˙ Konstantin Danilov ˙ Maayan Naim ˙ Pnina Hikari ˙ Anat Termoporush ˙ Edna Cohen Dabach ˙ Israel Shikar ˙ Haim Rafael ˙ Dalia Mesa ˙ Esther Bablar ˙ Yitzhak Bablar ˙ Avi Baez ˙ Malka Regina Buslan ˙ Noah Hinawi ˙ Nir Loveton ˙ Shoshana Maguri ˙ Sharoch Rasan ˙ Rahamim Kimhi ˙ Yair Mordechai ˙ Habib Yosef ˙ Victor Tatarinov ˙ Arkady Wieselman ˙ Rivka Pink ˙ Xinyang Chai ˙ Chunmel Lin ˙ Suheila Khushi ˙ Nissan Cohen ˙ Yelena Kornev ˙ Danit Dagan ˙ Dan Imani ˙ Baruch Lerner ˙ Orit Ozrov ˙ Uri Felix 

Avraham Rahamim ˙ Netanel Kochavi ˙ Nir Borochov ˙ Limor Ben Shoham ˙ Livnat Dvash ˙ Tali Eliyahu ˙ Yechiel Emil Tovul ˙ Yehya Shafik Kerem ˙ David Shimon Avizdris ˙ Nava Appelbaum ˙ David Appelbaum ˙ Gila Moshe ˙ Alon Mizrahi ˙ Keinan Tzumi ˙ Haim Amram ˙ Daniel Golani ˙ Alexandra Germitzky ˙ Elia Rahi Rosen ˙ Kirill Shramko ˙ Hassan Tuatcha  

Avraham Zarihan ˙ Ruthie Peled ˙ Sinai Keinan (1 year old) ˙ Itzik Dori ˙ Tirza Damari ˙ Revital Ohayon ˙ Matan Ohayon (5 years old) ˙ Noam Ohayon (4 years old) ˙ Shmuel Miloshevsky ˙ Inbal Weiss ˙ Yechiav Elshad ˙ Leah Baruch ˙ Helena Lela Ivan ˙ Ayman Kabaha ˙ Yelena Pelgov ˙ Tatiana Breslavsky ˙ Galila Bugla ˙ Gila Nakve Goldman ˙ Baruch Gruani ˙ Boaz Aluf ˙

Alfo Haile ˙ Shani Avitsedek ˙ Shiri Nagari ˙ Raphael Berger ˙ Rachamim Tzedekyahu ˙ Raisa Dickstein ˙ Moshe Ze’ev Halevi Gottlieb ˙ Mendel Mikhail Barzon ˙ Michal Biazi Marciano ˙ Leah Liat Yagen ˙ Semyon Sonia Klik ˙ Mark Hotimliansky ˙ Michael Zaraisky ˙ Leah Strik ˙ Yitzhak Ringel ˙ Yelena Lumkin ˙ Tatiana Borovik ˙ Ina Frankel ˙ Faina Zbigiello ˙ Mara Fishman ˙ 

Rasim Sfiulin ˙ Ronen Aharon Kahlon ˙ Rosalia Reis ˙ Rivka Ricky Hadad ˙ Cecilia Kuzmin ˙ Rahamim Doga ˙ Netanel Habsush ˙ Lior Azoulay ˙ Yaffa Ben Shimol Matlov ˙ Yuval Ozana ˙ Yehuda Haim ˙ Benya Yehonatan Zuckerman ˙ Ilan Israel Avisidris ˙ Salomon Hennig ˙ Yoni Gesner ˙ Rosina Shoshana Siso ˙ Ofer Singer ˙ Yaffa Shem Tov ˙ Yossi Memistlov ˙ Lilach Karadi 

Issachar Dov Reinitz (age 9) ˙ Yaakov Issachar Dov Binder ˙ Hanoch Segal ˙ Goldi Taubenfeld ˙ Benjamin Bergman ˙ Eliezer Wisfish ˙ Avraham Bar Or (age 12) ˙ Shmuel Wollner ˙ Shalom Mordechai Reinitz ˙ Feige Dushninsky ˙ Mordechai Leifer ˙ Rachel Weitz ˙ Liba Schwartz Tefilinski ˙ Menachem Lovel ˙ Elisheva Meshulami ˙ Tova Lev ˙ Miriam Eisenstein ˙ Nechama Chava Rechnitzer ˙ Tehila Natanzen (age 3) ˙ Shmuel Taubenfeld (age 5 months) ˙ 

Shmuel Zargari (11 months old) ˙ Prosper Toitou ˙ Felix Nikoliczuk ˙ Mazi Grego ˙ Yaakov Ben-Shabbat ˙ Yonatan Peleg ˙ Chaim Alfasi ˙ Yael Kfir ˙ Efrat Schwartzman ˙ Yitzhak Boanish ˙ Gadi Rachamim ˙ Alex Tzvitman ˙ Alex Duchan ˙ Igor Drobitsky ˙ Dror Weinberg ˙ Tomer Nov ˙ David Marcus ˙ Samih Suidan ˙ Danny Cohen ˙ Netanel Machloff 

Yeshayahu Davidov ˙ Yossi Attia ˙ Ariel Buda ˙ Shimon Edrei ˙ Mahntu Mogos ˙ Bella Schneider ˙ Alon Goldenberg ˙ Michael Altapiro ˙ Aaron Ravivo ˙ Meir Fahima ˙ Yaakov Yosef Dickstein ˙ Hani Dickstein ˙ Shuval Dickstein ˙ Elazar Leibowitz ˙ Oded Volk ˙ Shalom Yochai Sharki ˙ Naama Henkin ˙ Eitam Henkin ˙ Aya Malachi ˙ Keren Rothstein 

Sarah Lisha ˙ Amit Zana ˙ Gabriel Zaguri ˙ Elad Wallenstein ˙ Roy Yaakov Salomon ˙ Erez Idan ˙ Elad Pollak ˙ Sasson Gad Nouriel ˙ Gadi Rajwan ˙ Salim Barakat ˙ Yosef Habi ˙ Eli Dahan ˙ Eliyahu Nakash ˙ Edith Fried ˙ Sarah Levy ˙ Shimon Ben Aroya ˙ Shulamit Abramowitz ˙ Michael Karim ˙ Dvora Karim Palestian ˙ Hannah Rogan Dorfman 

Eliezer Korman ˙ Avraham Beckerman ˙ Clara Rosenberger ˙ Frida Britewitz ˙ Amiram Hammi ˙ Sivan Wider ˙ Miriam Gotzegan ˙ Marian Lehman Zawi ˙ Lola Levkowitz Hamburger ˙ Yulia Talmi Beigelman ˙ Andrey Fried ˙ Perla Harmela ˙ Furuk Naimi Katirai ˙ Irit Rashel ˙ Yehudit Korman ˙ Hava Weiss Friedman ˙ Zeev Wider ˙ David Anchovitz ˙ George Jacobowitz ˙ Anna Jacobowitz

Alter Breitbich ˙ Avraham Ernst Weiss ˙ Ziv Daus ˙ Netanel Kahalani ˙ Yossi Avrahami ˙ Vadim Norzhitz ˙ Shalom Mordechai ˙ Yael Sorek ˙ Eyal Sorek ˙ Noam Leibowitz (7 years old) ˙ Adva Fischer ˙ Rotem Weinberger ˙ Angelina Shachirov ˙ Noam Leibowitz ˙ Zvika Ziman ˙ Noam After ˙ Yehuda Bamberger ˙ Gabriel Hotar ˙ Hadas Turgeman (4 years old) ˙ Linoi Saroussi 

Orna Eshel Ben Shaul ˙ Hanit Aram ˙ Avi Ben Harosh ˙ Shalhevat Pes ˙ Piki Machloff ˙ Golan Turgeman ˙ Sabiha Nissim ˙ Michael Kaufman ˙ Larissa Grishchenko ˙ Yaakov Rahmani ˙ Jamil Kaedan ˙ Pinchas Tokatli ˙ Rachel Levy ˙ Haim Smadar ˙ Tom Hershko ˙ Qamar Abu Hamed ˙ Smadar Firstetter ˙ Mark Tekach ˙ Miriam Otar ˙ Meital Katab 

Moran Shoshan ˙ Moti Hershko ˙ Yuval Mendelevich ˙ Tal Kerman ˙ Daniel Harush ˙ Barry Oved ˙ Assaf Tzur ˙ Anatoly Biryukov ˙ Elizabeth Katzman ˙ Eliyahu Lehem ˙ Abigail Leitel ˙ Shem Tov Sheik ˙ Raya Davashvili ˙ Uzi Cohen ˙ Stephens Gidi ˙ Naomi Zargari ˙ Marian Garfian ˙ Mircea Giffa ˙ Maya Birkan ˙ Yoni Levy 

Haim Amid ˙ Valeria Krasium ˙ Daniel Petkna ˙ Dmytro Kokursku ˙ Dominik Lonka ˙ Gabriel Shamshilshvili ˙ George Younan ˙ Anna Shangeloff ˙ Angel Soriani ˙ Imer Ambrose ˙ Sharon Hanuka ˙ Sarah Rachel Docker ˙ Peretz Gantz ˙ Semyon Brickashvili ˙ Celine Zagouri ˙ Svetlana Zheleznyak ˙ Navon Shabu ˙ Matthew Eisenfeld ˙ Moshe Reuven ˙ Merav Nachum 

Masudi Amar ˙ Michael Yrigin ˙ Yitzhak Yachin ˙ Yitzhak Weinstein ˙ Yitzhak Elbaz ˙ Yonatan Barnea ˙ Zhania Kushnirov ˙ Vail Kuasma ˙ Daniel Biton ˙ Gad Shiloni ˙ Gabriel Kraus ˙ Boris Sharanopolsky ˙ Arik Gabi ˙ Aryeh Barashi ˙ Anatoly Kushnirov ˙ Ilya Nimvitin ˙ Shimon Ostinsky ˙ Roni Israeli ˙ Nelly Prov ˙ Marina Tsakhbirshvili 

Yitzhak Moyal ˙ Galeb Twil ˙ Olga Brenner ˙ Shimon Timshit ˙ Zion Agmon ˙ Zvika Gelbard ˙ Adi Dahan ˙ Liron Avitan ˙ Yigal Nevipour ˙ Vladimir Marri ˙ Violetta Hizgeyyev ˙ Dennis Blyumin ˙ Dotan Reizel ˙ David Stanislavsky ˙ Gadi Isakov ˙ Eliyahu Timshit ˙ Avraham Barzilai ˙ Sivan Wiener ˙ Shariel Katz ˙ Eliran Buskila 

Erez Hershkowitz ˙ Amaziah Nisnevich ˙ Aliza Malka ˙ Tamir Massad ˙ Matan Zagron ˙ Amihud Hasid ˙ Avraham Seton ˙ Gilad Stieglitz ˙ Netanel Riachi ˙ Yuri Goshchin ˙ Yosef Hayon ˙ Tamara Debrashvili ˙ Shoshana Amos ˙ Roman Sokolovsky ˙ Rosita Leman ˙ Raisa Forer ˙ Karin Malka ˙ Emmanuel Joseph ˙ Nargiz Ostrogorsky ˙ Maria Sokolov 

Larisa Gomenenko ˙ Tiroiant Tekla ˙ Tatiana Korotchenko ˙ Vitaly Brodsky ˙ Denise Hadad ˙ Eliyahu Ozan ˙ Aviel Yitzhak Atsh ˙ Amir Zimmerman ˙ Aaron Abedian ˙ Tomer Almog ˙ Sharbel Matar ˙ Ruth Almog ˙ Keren Zer Aviv ˙ Noya Zer Aviv ˙ Bruria Zer Aviv ˙ Bezalel Zer Aviv ˙ Liran Zer Aviv ˙ Tsiki Bahat ˙ Naomi Biano ˙ Mark Biano 

Nir Regev ˙ Matans Kerkevi ˙ Moshik Almog ˙ Zeev Almog ˙ Hanna Francis ˙ Assaf Steyer ˙ Irena Sofran ˙ Osama Najjar ˙ Yitzhak Cohen ˙ Zipora Shemesh ˙ Gadi Shemesh ˙ Tomer David ˙ Lev Pischob ˙ Rosalia Basnei ˙ Piroska Buda ˙ Philip Belhassan ˙ Marcel Cohen ˙ Victor Erez ˙ David Shaulov ˙ Lily Younes 

Benjamin Haputa ˙ Ariel Darhi ˙ Gabriela Weiss ˙ Moshe Yedid Levi ˙ Ido Cohen ˙ Yoni Korganov ˙ Georg Baruch Dov Weiss ˙ Shaul Zilberstein ˙ Mordechai Avraham ˙ Yaakov Larry ˙ Chaim Amar ˙ David Peretz ˙ Ehud Yehuda Yosef Avitan ˙ Richard Leikin ˙ Chaim Habib ˙ Alon Govberg ˙ Dina Carter ˙ David Diego Ladowski ˙ David Gritz ˙ Janice Ruth Kotler 

Benjamin Blutstein ˙ Marla Bennett ˙ Revital Brashy ˙ Levina Shapira ˙ Dafna Shafroch ˙ Elia Rieger ˙ Sami Samer Afan ˙ Odelia Chovra ˙ Aryeh Nagar ˙ Yael Orbach ˙ Ronen Reubenov ˙ Timor Azizov ˙ Yitzhak Itzik Bozaglo ˙ Amos Amit Mantin ˙ Sarah Hamburger ˙ Simcha Ron Manshadi ˙ Shahar and Keret ˙ Rafael Suisa ˙ Rami Zuari ˙ Reuven Shmerling 

Amir Simhon ˙ Sami Alkamlat ˙ Stanislav Sandomirsky ˙ Mordechai Yekuel ˙ Masoud Alon ˙ Menachem Stern ˙ Malachi Rosenfeld ˙ Lior Kaufman ˙ Yosef Tabja ˙ Yaron Pickholz ˙ Yoela Chen-Brashy ˙ Yehoshua Sofer ˙ Yehudit Ostren ˙ Yair Nebenzel ˙ Tuvia Yanai Weissman ˙ Hadar Cohen ˙ Danny Gonen ˙ Dina Guetta ˙ David Shriki ˙ Dvir Yehuda Sorek ˙ 

Ari Fuld ˙ Assaf Hershkowitz ˙ Eliyahu Amid ˙ Eliyahu Amsalem ˙ Elhai Taharlev ˙ Lyubov Razdolskaya ˙ Tomer Yosef ˙ Matan Elmaleh ˙ Eli Biton ˙ Elazar Akiva Pashkus ˙ Yaniv Ben Shalom ˙ Sharon Ben Shalom ˙ Doron Sviri ˙ Meir Wieshuys ˙ Ora Svetlana Sandler ˙ Uri Binmo ˙ Tomer Hazan ˙ Eliyahu Asheri ˙ Asher Palmer ˙ Jonathan Palmer (1 year old) 

Erez Levanon ˙ Shlomo Adser ˙ Mordechai Adser ˙ Idit Mizrahi ˙ Hodiya Nechama Assulin ˙ Mary Jane Gardner ˙ Sariya Ofer ˙ Galit Arbiv ˙ Matan Gadari ˙ Selait Sheetrit ˙ Eliyahu Naaman ˙ Dana Dina Itach Lavan ˙ Hanna Anya Bondar ˙ Rosa Boneh ˙ Avraham Albert Balhasan ˙ Yehezkel Isser Goldberg ˙ Natalia Gemaril ˙ Anat Darom ˙ Baruch Roman Khundiashvili ˙ Viorel Octavian Florescu 

Eli Tzfira ˙ Chapel pulpit and Walda Tzadik ˙ Zehava Oren ˙ Tzvia Cohen ˙ Nechama Lubovitz Amitai ˙ Moshe Shkedi Collinaire ˙ Rachel Tamari ˙ Mordechai Tuvia ˙ Oriya Ilan (1 year old) ˙ Lidor Ilan ˙ Yaakov Avraham Eliyahu (5 months old) ˙ Tzofia Yaarit Eliyahu ˙ Gafnit Nehmad ˙ Liran Nehmad (3 years old) ˙ Shaul Nehmad ˙ Shiraz Nehmad (6 years old) ˙ Shlomo Nehmad ˙ Avi Hazan ˙ Avital Wolansky 

Avi Volansky ˙ Boris Malikhov ˙ Avi Yazdi ˙ Anatoly Beksheev ˙ Edward Beksheev ˙ Dinur Dina Biniev ˙ Aharon Ben-Israel Ellis ˙ Hofit Aish ˙ Leah Stern ˙ Mark Rabinovich ˙ Valentina Kovalenko ˙ Simcha Permad ˙ Grigory Pesachovich ˙ Mukhei Othman ˙ David Nasko ˙ Shmuel Sami Malka ˙ Rachel Tzhgetriou Salomon ˙ Lilia Zheleznyak ˙ Lev Desyatnik ˙ Regina Giber Matushevich 

Shalom Golan ˙ Ronen Landau ˙ Moshe Weiss ˙ Rami Koshovili ˙ Sivan Zarka (14 years old) ˙ Yael Betwin ˙ Smadar Elhanan Peled (14 years old) ˙ Esther Kleiman ˙ Hana Nae ˙ Rivka Cohen ˙ Johnny Davani Edelstein ˙ Lynchman Akunis ˙ Raz Mintz ˙ Ido Ben Ari ˙ Michael Feiga ˙ Amir Ben Aryeh ˙ Idan Suzin ˙ Shuli Har Melech ˙ Esther Galia ˙ Zion David 

Anat Shimshon ˙ Sergey Shevchuk ˙ Iris Lavie ˙ Suad Jaber ˙ Ofra Burger ˙ Ashti Andalo ˙ Osnat Abramov (16 years old) ˙ Sharon Tobul ˙ Ayman Sharoff ˙ Nir Nahum ˙ Eliezer Moskowitz ˙ Ilona Hanukkaev ˙ Liat Ben Ami ˙ Eti Pesachov ˙ Noam Isman ˙ Yona Melina ˙ Yossi Alfasi ˙ Betal Ohana ˙ Anna Orgel ˙ Roy Eliraz 

Avra Haile ˙ Ellen Beer ˙ Tamar Ben Eliyahu ˙ Eugenia Berman ˙ Elsa Cohen ˙ Zvika Cohen ˙ Miriam Levy ˙ Yaffe Mualem ˙ Malka Rene Sultan ˙ Yaniv Abeid ˙ Zipora Pesachovitz ˙ Alexander Kazaris ˙ Bianca Shirukh ˙ Berta Tita ˙ Yevgeny Ryder ˙ Michael Shereshevsky ˙ Ella Shereshevsky ˙ Yafit Revivo (14 years old) ˙ Kira Perlman ˙ Ilan Perlman (8 years old) 

Sima Novak ˙ Varga Mircea ˙ Dikla Zino ˙ Yelena Ben David ˙ Marina Bazarsky ˙ Hodiya Asraf ˙ Shmuel Matt ˙ Shlomo Almakiis ˙ Mordechai Shefer ˙ Michal Adto ˙ Avi Sabag ˙ Zion Bushrian ˙ Dvora Friedman ˙ Yair Har Sinai ˙ Moshe Magus Makonen ˙ Miri Ohana ˙ Yael Ohana (age 11) ˙ Rina Didovsky ˙ Eliyahu Ben Ami ˙ Amaziah Ben Haim ˙ Avner Yitzhak Mordechai

Elmar Dzbrailov ˙ Gary Tauziniansky ˙ Matat Rosenfeld Adler ˙ Kinneret Mendel ˙ Oz Ben Meir ˙ Aviad Manzur ˙ Avichai Levy ˙ Yossi Shuk ˙ Assaf Avitan ˙ Yossi Elezra ˙ Moshe Dahan ˙ Yaakov Danino ˙ Nir Haftsadi ˙ Adam Weinstein ˙ Guy Vaknin ˙ Moshe Yedid Levy ˙ Ido Cohen ˙ Yoni Korganov ˙ Shani Ladani ˙ Michi Mark ˙ Shai Shalom Cohen ˙ Ofir Roth ˙ Shmuel Ben Baruch ˙ Mila Mishiev ˙ Ilana Neba.

We are paying heavy prices, we are taking great risks, especially in light of the Shin Bet chief’s statement that 82% of those released under the previous deal returned to terrorism . . .” 

Imagine that you are a member of the family of one of these 639. How would you feel about the murderer of your family member being back on the street again?

And so it goes in Israel on this sunny Shabbat morning on which we wish our soldiers and you dear readers:

Shabbat Shalom!