The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Report: Iran sees ceasefire as a chance to take stock, rebuild Hezbollah
Iran sees the four-day-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah as a chance to rebuild the Lebanon-based terror organization, according to sources close to the group quoted by the Washington Post.
The sources say that the truce gives Iran a chance to take stock of what was previously its strongest proxy in the region, rebuild, and try to restore deterrence.
The sources quoted by the Washington Post say that Hezbollah was expecting more support from Iran’s other proxies in the region during Israel’s military campaign against its sites across Lebanon in recent months.
“Lebanon was at its most vulnerable during heavy bombings, yet support from other members of the resistance axis, including Yemen and Iraq, was minimal at best,” one of the sources close to Hezbollah is quoted as saying.
Israel dealt several significant blows to Hezbollah during the war, including killing the group’s long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah in September, as well as many other top-ranking officials.
“Iran is prepared to allocate funds for reconstruction and to ensure Hezbollah’s survival, as well as to maintain support within the Shiite community,” the source adds.
Iran welcomed the ceasefire when it came into force on Wednesday, while also indicating that the development could influence its plans to avenge an October Israeli strike on the country.
White House: Biden administration has been in touch with Edan Alexander’s family after hostage video
The White House says that the propaganda video released today of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander “is a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own.”
National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett says the Biden administration has been in touch with Alexander’s family amid the release of the clip in which the 20-year-old can be heard pleading to the leaders of Israel along with the incoming and outgoing leadership of the US to act to secure a deal for his release.
“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately — and would have ended months ago — if Hamas agreed to release the hostages. It has refused to do so, but as the President said last week, we have a critical opportunity to conclude the deal to release the hostages, stop the war, and surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Savett says in a statement.
“This deal is on the table now. President Biden and the United States will continue to work around the clock to secure the release of our citizens including through diplomatic efforts and by increasing pressure on Hamas terrorists through sanctions, law enforcement actions and other measures,” he adds.
“On behalf of the Alexanders and all the families of the hostages still being held by Hamas, we will never cease in our efforts to secure their immediate release,” Savett says.
Save the Children says staff member killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
International aid agency Save the Children says a staff member was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Khan Younis earlier today, the second staffer killed in the enclave since the war began in October 2023.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Released captive Emily Hand, father address rally marking hostage deal anniversary
Some 2,000 people attend the Hostages Families Forum central weekly rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, marking a year since the hostage deal last November, which negotiators have failed to replicate despite intensive efforts.
The rally features speeches from several people freed in last November’s deal, as well as Thomas Hand, father of 9-year-old Emily, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri and released on the second day of the week-long deal deal.
Hand, who is Irish, speaks in English.
“I am extremely lucky to have got my little Emily back in one piece,” he says to applause. “I cannot imagine how terrified she must have been.”
“When being taken from Be’eri, Emily saw dead people — people she knew and recognized, lying on the road,” he continues. “It was so bad she thought that everyone she knew — including me — were killed or being killed.”
Hand says his daughter told him the water she was given in captivity was putrid; that the hostages were forced to use the bathroom with the door open while a male terrorist watched them; and that “they were told to repeat words in Arabic, and at the end, they were told: ‘you’re Muslim now.'”
He urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a hostage deal.
“Make a deal, Bibi,” he says, using the premier’s nickname. “You have had more than enough time to get the job done.”
His speech is followed by brief comments in Hebrew by Emily herself.
“I know what it’s like to be there so I don’t want to imagine what it’s like for those who are there now,” she says.
The captivity survivor says she was held along with slain hostage Itai Svirsky and with Noa Argamani, who was rescued in June by security forces.
“Noa came back, but Itai won’t,” she says. “We have to bring the hostages back before it’s too late.” In English, she shouts: “Bring them home now!”
A block away, hundreds of anti-government activists protest in front of the Begin Street entrance to the IDF Headquarters.
At the entrance to the rally, a group urging “nonviolent civilian rebellion” holds an informational session about disobedience tactics and advice on what to do in case of arrest.
A seasoned activist, surrounded by some two dozen neophytes, advises against relying on their right to remain silent if they are detained: “If you use your right to remain silent, your condition in court ends up being worse,” he says.
The “civil rebellion” group is set to march to Dizengoff Square in central Tel Aviv, alongside several prominent anti-government activists, including Labor MKs Gilad Kariv, Efrat Rayten and Naama Lazimi, Democrats chairman Yair Golan, and Noam Dan, cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon.