Author: David Leibermann

As the last of the Israeli hostages were released from Gaza, President Donald Trump addressed the country’s parliament — and was given a hero’s welcome. Trump’s speech to the Knesset on Monday offered effusive praise for the state of Israel, warm — but not unguarded — praise for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and an outline […]

All 20 of the Israeli hostages still alive two years after being taken hostage by Hamas have returned to Israel, following an emotional morning that commanded the attention of Jews around the world who had lobbied for their release. Unlike in past hostage releases, Hamas did not stage release “ceremonies,” a condition of the deal […]

Hours before Monday’s expected hostage handover, Tal Shoham, who spent more than 500 days in Hamas captivity, and Ilan Dalal, father of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal — with whom Shoham was held — expressed gratitude to both President Donald Trump and, in a rare moment for hostage families, to the Israeli government. “Thanks to President Trump […]

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis poured into Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Saturday night in what everyone present was hoping would be the final vigil on behalf of the hostages taken to Gaza two years ago. Massive posters showing the 48 hostages expected to be returned imminently, 20 alive, under the terms of a ceasefire […]

RAMALLAH, West Bank — As a teacher at a school in the Galilee in northern Israel, peace activist Shoshana Lavan says students often told her during the war, “Don’t talk to me about peace.” But just hours after a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, she was beaming with hope. “I feel like […]

President Donald Trump says he is planning to head to Israel to mark the ceasefire deal he brokered in the Gaza war. The Israeli government officially approved the agreement late Thursday, triggering a 72-hour clock for the return of the 48 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Of them, 20 are presumed to remain alive […]

Jewish freelance journalist Emily Wilder, reporting for Jewish Currents, a progressive Jewish publication, was detained by the Israeli military on Monday while covering an aid flotilla bound for Gaza. Wilder set sail from Italy last week aboard The Conscious, one of dozens of boats that aimed to reach Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the […]

TEL AVIV — The mood at Tel Aviv’s upscale Gindi Fashion Mall was divided between anticipation and disbelief on Thursday afternoon, in the wake of news of a hostage deal that could end the Gaza war and bring the remaining hostages home. At a kiosk across from a Chanel boutique, fruit vendor Amit Bonen said […]

When the news broke in Tel Aviv that Israel and Hamas had, at long last, reached a deal that would return their sons, Einav Zangauker and Michael Ilouz embraced. Then Ilouz picked Zangauker up and danced, his unbridled joy commanding his body. It was one of dozens of displays of jubilation captured on video of […]