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After Brutal Executions, Will IDF Operations to Rescue Hostages Continue?
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on September 1 that they had recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, including the body of US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin. According to reports, the hostages were shot at close range multiple times, just days before they were discovered by the IDF.
Since the Hamas atrocities of October 7, when the terrorist group abducted 250 women, children, and men, the IDF has rescued or recovered the remains of 45 hostages from Gaza through military operations. These missions are morally and strategically imperative: Each hostage that Israel brings home weakens Hamas’ grip on the enclave, and brings us closer to the war’s end.
Since the November 2023 US-brokered ceasefire deal that saw the release of 105 hostages, Hamas has repeatedly refused subsequent ceasefire agreements and hostage proposals. Despite feverish diplomatic efforts by Israel and the United States, Hamas has not freed a single hostage from Gaza since the November deal.
With 97 hostages from the October 7 attacks reportedly remaining in Gaza and Hamas’ intransigence, the only way besides a deal to bring hostages back is through military operations. Since the November deal, the IDF has rescued or returned the remains of over a third of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The continued success of IDF rescue missions in Gaza is critical for several reasons.
First and foremost, Israel must bring the hostages home to begin the healing process from the trauma of October 7. The plight of the hostages is a scar on Israeli psyches, and Hamas uses them as weapons to torment Israeli society. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar spent over a decade in an Israeli prison, and speaks Hebrew fluently; he understands Israelis well and knows how to get under their skin. By releasing hostage videos at strategic moments and spreading misinformation about the hostage negotiations, Sinwar is intentionally antagonizing Israelis.
Second, ending the hostage crisis is a strategic imperative for the IDF. Since October 8, the IDF has been fighting an active kinetic war on at least seven fronts. After failing so terribly to save the 1,200 men, women, and children killed on October 7, the IDF cannot fully focus its attention on other fronts — or a potential wider regional war that might be launched by Hezbollah or Iran — until it completes the mission in Gaza and brings the hostages home.
Third, military rescue operations are tactically important because each hostage who comes home deprives Sinwar of physical protection. For 10 months, Sinwar has been hiding in tunnels and terror hideouts above ground, reportedly surrounded by living hostages. The hostages serve as a life insurance policy for Sinwar, who understands that Israel is unlikely to make an attempt on his life while he uses hostages as a human shield.
Finally, the IDF’s return of hostages deprives Sinwar of precious bargaining leverage in the hostage negotiations. Sinwar has demanded the release of Hamas terrorists from Israeli jails in exchange for the hostages — and that Hamas remain in power in the Gaza Strip after the war (something that most Israelis, and even Vice President Kamala Harris now oppose).
Multiple Palestinian prisoners that were released in the November deal have already returned to terrorism. Sinwar himself was released from prison in a hostage for prisoner deal in 2011 when over 1,000 terrorists were released from Israeli prisons in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Without hostages, Sinwar has fewer negotiating chips to make such demands.
There is no denying that a negotiated deal is by far and away the best option for bringing home the hostages. After all, IDF military operations have only returned 8 living hostages in ten months of war. However, in the absence of a deal, the IDF must push forward with intelligence collection and special operations to rescue and recover hostages, as these operations place additional pressure on Sinwar to finally accept a deal that ends the war.
The one complicating factor is that Israel’s past success in hostage rescue operations may give Hamas an incentive to murder Israeli hostages if they feel the IDF is close to freeing them. (Israeli forces were reportedly operating in the area near where the tunnel was found prior to the execution of the six hostages — and just one kilometer away from where a Bedouin Israeli hostage was rescued last week). It’s unclear if those past successes led Hamas to change its strategy, and execute hostages rather than letting them be rescued by Israelis.
But as long as Hamas insists it remain in power — which would put nine million Israelis at risk of kidnapping — and refuses to negotiate a deal with Israel, the US, and the international community, then Israel has no choice but to continue these operations.
To its credit, the Biden administration has reportedly provided Israel with special technology and intelligence for its missions in Gaza. However, the administration has also attempted to significantly limit IDF operations in Gaza, particularly in Rafah, where at least 9 hostages were held.
Any future administration should continue Washington’s support for Israel’s recovery efforts in Gaza and back Israel’s right for full operational freedom in the enclave to return the hostages held by terrorists in Gaza, including several American citizens.
Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow her on X @EKrivine.
The post After Brutal Executions, Will IDF Operations to Rescue Hostages Continue? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival

Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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