Yeshiva World News

LAST MINUTE TERROR DRAMA: Last-Minute Gaza Talks: Hamas Proposes Earlier Hostage Release

LAST MINUTE TERROR DRAMA: A new round of talks between Israel and Hamas began Sunday morning, with Hamas reportedly offering to move up the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza to tonight—one day earlier than planned—if Israel agrees to free at least two of seven senior Palestinian prisoners it has long refused to release. According to the BBC, Hamas is signaling new flexibility, suggesting the exchange could happen as soon as tonight if Israel accepts the offer.

IDF Shows Troop Positions in Gaza Under Ceasefire, Retains 53% Control

The IDF released footage showing its forces deployed across the Gaza Strip under the current ceasefire, saying troops remain positioned along updated lines in line with the hostage deal. Under the agreement, Israel retains control of about 53% of the territory—mostly non-urban areas—though many positions are concentrated near the Israeli border rather than across the entire zone.

Ahead of Hostage Swap, IDF Raids Families Of Security Prisoners, Warns Against Celebrations

Israeli forces have begun raiding the homes of Palestinian prisoners slated for release under the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement, according to Palestinian media reports Sunday. The IDF reportedly conducted searches and arrests across the West Bank, warning families not to hold public celebrations or hoist Palestinian flags upon the return of released inmates. Troops also cautioned relatives against organizing receptions that glorify terrorism or praise the prisoners as heroes, the reports said. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office, IDF units entered the homes of eight prisoners in and around Nablus and three in the Hebron area overnight. All eleven are among the 250 security prisoners expected to be released in exchange for the 48 Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza. The list of prisoners includes individuals serving life sentences for deadly terror attacks. Of the total, 115 are expected to return to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while 135 will be deported to Gaza or sent abroad. In addition, roughly 1,700 Gazan detainees arrested during the war are to be freed as part of the agreement. Hebrew media reported that prisoners designated for release have already been transferred to two separate facilities. Those set to return to the West Bank are being held at Ofer Prison, north of Jerusalem, while those bound for Gaza or foreign countries were moved to Ketziot Prison in Israel’s southern Negev Desert. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Netanyahu Says Israel Ready to Receive Hostages as Release Could Begin Within Hours

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is “ready and prepared for the immediate reception of all our hostages,” amid mounting signs that the long-awaited release of captives held in Gaza could begin as early as tonight. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that security and medical teams have completed the final phase of preparations to receive the hostages at designated bases and hospitals across the country. The announcement comes as negotiators work to finalize the first stage of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal with Hamas, which includes the release of roughly 48 remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners. An Israeli official told Kan that the IDF expect the hostages to be back on Israeli soil by the time U.S. President Donald Trump lands in Israel on Monday morning. “The IDF has completed its preparations for the release of the hostages and assesses that all of them will be released before Trump’s arrival,” the official said, adding that coordination with American and Egyptian mediators is ongoing to ensure the transfer proceeds without delay. If the timeline holds, the return of the hostages could coincide with Trump’s high-profile visit to Jerusalem, where he is expected to deliver a brief address to the Knesset before departing later in the day — marking a symbolic moment in the fragile truce’s implementation. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hamas Offers Earlier Hostage Release in Exchange for High-Profile Terrorist Prisoners

A new round of talks between Israel and Hamas opened Sunday morning, with the terrorist group offering to advance the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza to today—one day earlier than planned—if Israel agrees to free at least two of seven prominent Palestinian prisoners it is demanding, according to a report from the BBC. The negotiations, mediated by regional and U.S. officials, are focused on resolving the final disputes over the prisoner list for the first phase of Washington’s Gaza ceasefire deal. A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told the BBC that Hamas is continuing to press for the release of seven long-term inmates serving multiple life sentences for orchestrating mass-casualty terror attacks, including Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah figure once viewed as a potential successor to Mahmoud Abbas, and Ahmad Saadat, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected releasing those figures since the earliest stages of the negotiations. But the BBC report says Hamas is now signaling flexibility—proposing that if Israel frees just two of the seven, the hostages could be released as early as tonight rather than Monday morning. It remains unclear how Israel will respond to the proposal, or what will happen if the demand is rejected. The talks are also addressing logistical questions surrounding the release of the roughly 20 surviving Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as well as the recovery and repatriation of the bodies of hostages believed to have been killed. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

“Stomp On Their Heads”: Israel Discovers Yahya Sinwar’s Blueprint To Target Civilians In Oct. 7 Massacre

Israeli military and intelligence officials say they recovered a handwritten six-page memo believed to be from Yahya Sinwar that lays out explicit orders to target Israeli soldiers and civilians and to broadcast atrocities to sow fear and instability. The document, dated Aug. 24, 2022, was discovered this spring on a standalone computer inside an underground compound used by Muhammed Sinwar, the senior Hamas commander whom Israel killed in May 2025, according to seven Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The New York Times obtained a copy of the memo and reviewed it with Israeli experts who say the handwriting matches other samples attributed to Yahya Sinwar. Israeli intercepts of battlefield communications from Oct. 7, 2023 — previously unreported hours of audio reviewed by The Times — contain commands that officials say echo the memo’s brutal directives. If authenticated, the memo would provide rare written evidence tying senior Hamas leadership to a campaign that explicitly targeted civilians, Israeli officials said — undercutting Hamas’s public claims about the nature and intent of the Oct. 7 assault that killed about 1,200 people and spurred a two-year long retaliatory war in Gaza that devastated large parts of the territory. “What the material shows is a deliberately planned, shock-value operation aimed at terrorizing the civilian population and destabilizing Israel,” said one Israeli official describing the memo and the intercepts. A confidential report prepared by the Gazit Institute, an Israeli military intelligence-linked think tank that reviewed the materials, concluded the leadership “planned and carried out an attack that featured acts of ‘extraordinary brutality.’” The memo — written in Arabic and found as an image file on a computer not connected to any online network — urges fighters to break through the Gaza-Israel fence, enter civilian neighborhoods, burn homes “with gasoline or diesel from a tanker,” and film violent acts to broadcast widely. It contains graphic language instructing commanders to “stomp on the heads of soldiers,” “slit their throats,” and “slaughter” at point-blank range. Israeli intercepts captured on Oct. 7 by Unit 8200, the military’s signals intelligence arm, include on-the-ground commands that mirror the memo’s language. In one passage cited by Israeli sources, a Gaza City commander identified only as “Abu Muhammed” is heard telling subordinates just before 10 a.m.: “Start setting homes on fire. Burn, burn. I want the whole kibbutz to be in flames.” Another interlocutor, “Abu al-Abed,” is recorded saying: “Set fire to anything.” Other messages recorded that day urged terrorists to take many hostages and to film and broadcast scenes of violence to mobilize sympathizers across the region. “Document the scenes of horror, now, and broadcast them on TV channels to the whole world,” a commander heard in the intercepts says. Hamas officials did not answer questions from The New York Times about the memo. Izzat al-Rishq, director of Hamas’s media office in Qatar, did not respond to a request for comment. A Palestinian analyst close to Hamas, Ibrahim Madhoun, told The Times he doubted the memo’s authenticity and said many of the acts described — such as burning entire neighborhoods — did not match his view of how the assault unfolded, even while acknowledging that many homes were set ablaze. Israeli authorities asked a former police document-expert, Sima Ankona, to compare the memo with samples collected over time that […]

Trump Set to Visit Israel Monday for Four-Hour Trip, Will Meet Netanyahu and Hostage Families, Address Knesset

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday morning for a brief but highly anticipated four-hour visit that will include meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, families of the Israeli hostages, and an address to the Knesset, according to Channel 12. The network reports that Trump is expected to land at Ben Gurion Airport at 9:20 a.m., where a short welcoming ceremony will be held before he proceeds directly to the Knesset. At 11:00 a.m., the president is slated to deliver an address to the Knesset plenum — a speech that will mark his first official visit to Israel since returning to office. Before the address, Trump will hold a private meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the premier’s Knesset office. The two will then meet with families of hostages inside the Knesset’s Chagall Hall, according to the report. Trump is expected to depart Israel at approximately 1:00 p.m., wrapping up what Israeli media is calling a “symbolic but historic” visit. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Witkoff Warns Families: “Some Hostage Bodies May Be Difficult to Locate”

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told families of the hostages on Saturday evening that locating some of the bodies of those killed in captivity could prove extremely difficult, according to a Channel 12 report. Under the terms of the recently approved agreement, Hamas is obligated to return all 48 hostages — both living and deceased — by Monday. However, Hamas has reportedly informed mediators that it may not be able to locate every body within that timeframe, and Israeli officials are said to be aware of this possibility. The Channel 12 report notes that the families were “deeply troubled” by Witkoff’s comments and are urging the Israeli government “to do everything to return every hostage.” According to Israeli assessments, there are currently 20 living hostages and 28 who are believed dead. CNN reported earlier this week that Israeli intelligence suggests Hamas may be unable to recover all of the bodies. Three Israeli officials told the network that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been aware of this situation for months. One official estimated that “seven to nine bodies might not be retrieved,” while another placed the figure between “10 and 15.” Those estimates were reportedly based on intelligence findings and discussions held in Egypt, though Israeli authorities have not publicly confirmed the numbers. Meanwhile, some families expressed disappointment after a portion of the crowd at Hostages Square booed Netanyahu’s name when Witkoff publicly praised both the Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer for their roles in securing the hostage-ceasefire agreement. Families told Channel 12 that such reactions were “inappropriate.”

HY’D: IDF Soldier Succumbs To Wounds From Accidental Grenade Blast In Gaza

Tragic news from the IDF this weekend: a reservist soldier who was critically injured earlier in the week in an accidental grenade explosion in southern Gaza has passed away from his wounds. The fallen soldier has been identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Shmuel Gad Rahamim, 31, of the Southern Brigade’s 7015th Battalion, a resident of Givat Ze’ev. The incident occurred around 8 a.m. Tuesday at an IDF post in the Khan Younis area when a grenade detonated under unclear circumstances inside a room where soldiers were resting. Two other reservists were also wounded in the blast, one of them seriously. The IDF says the circumstances of the tragic incident remain under investigation. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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HY’D: IDF Reservist Killed in Gaza Grenade Accident

HY’D: A reservist soldier who was seriously wounded in an accidental grenade explosion in southern Gaza earlier this week has succumbed to his wounds, the IDF announced. The fallen soldier has been identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Shmuel Gad Rahamim, 31, of the Southern Brigade’s 7015th Battalion, from Givat Ze’ev. The incident occurred around 8 a.m. Tuesday at an IDF post in the Khan Younis area, when a grenade detonated under unclear circumstances inside a room where soldiers were resting. Two other reservists were injured in the blast, one of them seriously.

Producers Gear Up For Sold-Out ‘Benny & Friends’ Concert

SING Entertainment has announced that sales for this Sunday’s concert starring Benny Friedman have soared beyond 90%, with tickets expected to be bought out by Motzei Shabbos. Anticipation is through the roof for this Sunday’s mega concert starring Benny Friedman, with sales topping 90% already.  “Benny & Friends” will include an unparalleled lineup of surprise guest singers, promising an afternoon of Simchas Yom Tov like no other. On Sunday, October 12 “Benny and Friends” will take the stage for an afternoon concert titled “Whee Want To Sing With You” live at the Newark Symphony Hall brought to you by Whee, a product of SR. The afternoon concert will also feature a top-notch band led by musical director Gershon Freishtat. October 12 at the Newark Symphony Hall. Doors open at 2:00, show begins at 3:00. Final tickets are available here : https://t.ly/sing.ywn 

Trump: US to Hit China with Tariffs Over Rare Earth Export Controls

Trump warns that China is imposing new export controls on rare earths and other materials, calling it a hostile move to monopolize global markets. He says the U.S. will respond with major new tariffs on Chinese goods to “financially counter” Beijing’s actions.

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