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Israeli Government Approves Increased Payments to Returned Gaza Hostages
Mia Leimberg, a hostage who was abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, holds her dog Bella while she and others are handed over by Hamas terrorists to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as part of a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel amid a temporary truce, in an unknown location in Gaza, in this screengrab taken from video released Nov. 28, 2023. Photo: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via REUTERS
Israel on Friday approved an amendment to a law providing payments to returned hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, increasing the aid the former captives are due to receive.
The original law, which was passed in 2005, stipulates monthly payments to “a person who was captured by the enemy.” This week’s amendment increases the monthly stipend given to Israelis who were released from captivity from 1,375 NIS ($365) per month to 2,600 NIS ($691) per month.
“The change in the legislation is welcome, and there is no doubt that it brings another layer of assistance to the abductees and their families,” said Zvika Cohen, the director-general of Israel’s National Insurance. “As those who take an essential part in the care of the victims of terrorism, this comprehensive envelope brings immediate help both financially and mentally, saves bureaucracy, and helps in the recovery process that we all wish for.”
Yaron Cohen — who leads the Hostages, Missing Persons, and Returnees Division in the Prime Minister’s Office — said his team worked with the “Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice to provide an appropriate response to the kidnapping of citizens from their homes and their captivity in inhumane conditions, with the understanding that they face physical and mental difficulties which have no precedent in the history of the State of Israel.”
He added, “We will continue to work together with the families and all government officials to study the needs and gaps and do everything to give them a proper and supportive environment.”
Alongside the monthly stipend, all released hostages will become eligible for disability status, meaning they will receive substantial discounts on housing, car purchases, and medical care.
The approved change in the law came over six months after Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others as hostages.
The legal changes only apply to those captives who have been released. So far, 112 hostages have been returned alive to Israel, though not all of them are Israeli citizens and therefore not eligible for the payments.
Mounting evidence, including testimonies from some of the released captives, has revealed that many hostages endured sexual abuse at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
It is unclear how many of the hostages still in Gaza are alive. Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining abductees. Hamas has to this point rejected several ceasefire proposals.
“The disaster of Oct. 7 brought with it human and civil complexities that the State of Israel has never known before,” Israeli Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur said of the latest amendment. “Redemption of captives is not only a Jewish obligation, but a human obligation, and this law is intended to provide relief for those who returned to Israel after a severe trauma and to ensure that they receive not only financial assistance but a package of rights and treatments that will help them return to normal as much as possible.”
Now that the changes have been approved by the relevant government bodies, including the Defense Ministry, the measure will be sent to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, for a vote. The change is expected to be passed into law.
It is stipulated in the wording that the payment changes will apply retroactively, meaning that the released hostages will see an extra payment from the months they were released until now.
The post Israeli Government Approves Increased Payments to Returned Gaza Hostages 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.