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‘Fauda’ Star Idan Amedi Declines Invite to Israel’s Independence Day Ceremony
Idan Amedi gives a statement following his release from Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, January 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Israeli singer and actor Idan Amedi declined an invitation to light a ceremonial torch in Israel’s upcoming state ceremony to mark its 76th Independence Day, which will take place in May.
The Fauda star wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that he will instead stay at home to remember those killed in the Israel-Hamas war that began following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in the Jewish state.
“There is no greater honor than that, but unfortunately I will not be able to receive it this year,” Amedi said about being offered to light one of the torches at the Independence Day celebration, which this year will be themed “Israeli heroism.”
“We have encountered so many heroes since that black Saturday [Oct. 7], and I have fought alongside some of them, both in the past and during the current war,” Amedi added. “This year, I will stay at home and join in their memory like many people in Israel. I hope in the future to maybe have the right to light a torch thanks to the words I write, and not because of the war.”
Amedi was seriously injured in an explosion on Jan. 8 while fighting in the Gaza Strip as a reservist in the combat engineering unit of the Israel Defense Forces. Six soldiers were killed in the incident. After being discharged from the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan on Jan. 25, Amedi said, “I will come back to singing and acting and, with G-d’s help, I will also return to fight for my country.”
In his Instagram post on Wednesday, Amedi wrote it was clear to him that he was doing the right thing by joining IDF soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip.
“Everywhere I went (in Gaza), I was met by surprised soldiers. Some of them asked me, ‘what are you doing here?’ Something in the picture didn’t add up for them,” he recalled. “But laying on the ground, dusty, with equipment and weapons, I felt more than ever that I belonged to my people. I was fortunate to meet the best of the nation’s sons and daughters, real heroes. But before that, people with dreams and passions, who were hungry and homesick.”
“I am proud of the choices I have made,” he noted. “It was clear to me that this time I was fighting for the future of my children, Yaeli and Jonathan, and that gave me strength and helped me give others the strength, even in the darkest of places.”
Many in Israel, including a number of mayors and local authority leaders, have said they believe Independence Day celebrations should be toned down this year considering those killed on Oct. 7, the 134 hostages who remain held against their will by Hamas in Gaza, and the IDF soldiers still fighting in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Israel’s Independence Day, known as Yom Haatzmaut in Hebrew, will begin this year on May 13 in the evening and end on the evening of May 14.
The post ‘Fauda’ Star Idan Amedi Declines Invite to Israel’s Independence Day Ceremony first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.