Life in Israel often mirrors the emotional ebbs and flows of rabbinic work—you can go from an emotional high to the lowest of lows in mere moments—and the war has only exacerbated this reality.

I’m blessed to serve as a mohel. These happy occasions feel like brief vacations from the relentless waves of rockets and bad news that have been plaguing the country. Shabbat Chanukah was much the same. Sirens blared at 2:15 a.m., jarring us awake, as part of the Houthis plan to ruin the “Festival of Lights.” As my family and I huddled in the safe room, we felt lucky. This was our first major disruption, whereas central Israel had sirens in the middle of the previous three nights. What would the remainder of the holiday be like?

The Shabbat attack made the next day’s brit milah that much sweeter. The event overlooked a breathtaking view of the Judean hills. All who were present sang together as the new baby was brought into the covenant. But as with all happy occasions, the time came to return to normal life. I had a shiva call to make.

Most days, I pray the afternoon service at the mall below my home. Many of the shop owners attend this gathering, and I’ve gotten to know them. One afternoon recently, someone pointed out that one of the shops was closed and that there was a sign attached to the window.

The owner's son had fallen in Gaza.

As I made my way from the bris to the shiva home, I worried about what the experience might be like. My first encounter with tragedy like this was many years beforehand when I was studying to be a rabbi. The Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem was ravaged by a gun-wielding terrorist who murdered many of the teenage students. One of the families who suffered that unthinkable loss lived near the school I attended. The students and faculty came to pay their respects, as did many across the country.

The parents of the murdered boy were long divorced but still lived next door to one another. We went from one home to the next and sat with both. Jewish law dictates that the mourner sets the pace. Those who come to comfort do not initiate conversation. The intention is to give mourners space to open the dialogue as they see fit, setting aside our own assumptions about what they might need.

We visited the mother’s home first. There were many people in attendance, both family members and visitors. There was an air of heaviness but much love as we heard stories of her late son. When the time came, we offered her the traditional condolences and made our way to the father’s home.

The two experiences couldn’t have been more opposite.

The father sat alone in a dimly lit room. No one else was there. He stared at us with pain-filled eyes for what felt like an eternity. Not a word was said. When it came time to leave, we offered the traditional condolences and made our way back to school. That particular interaction remains in the back of my mind when I now make shiva calls, especially tragic ones.

When I arrived at the fallen soldier’s home, I waited to see what conversation would ensue. Unlike the time I sat in silence, there was a constant stream of people approaching the parents and offering condolences. There was only one point when the father was able to tell us anything about his son.

Just then, an unassuming elderly gentleman entered and sat down. The mother turned to him and asked: “Does it ever get any easier?”

He must have lost a child in one of Israel’s wars. “You need to keep living. You have to keep living,” the man repeated. You could see the pain in his eyes as he instructed them. There was a momentary pause. Then he said, “one of my great-grandchildren just enlisted.” Not long after this back and forth, I offered condolences before heading to my next emotionally charged event.

As I drove away, I realized that I had been living in a state of denial since our first child was born. Through all that’s happened since Oct 7, 2023, this shop owner is the first person I’ve known to lose a child in war. Having lived in this bubble, I’ve never truly faced the reality of my own children’s fates. Of course, I knew it was coming, but it always seemed distant—like it was happening to someone else, somewhere else. I had this foolish vision of a peaceful world just beyond the horizon that would be ushered in before my firstborn’s induction into the army.

The combination of the shop owner and the elderly gentleman made everything clear. The time is coming when I’ll spend sleepless nights wishing I could protect what I hold most dear, though it will be entirely beyond my control. All I’ll have left is prayer. I’ll beseech the Almighty that they’ll return home safely and that one day soon this rollercoaster we’re all on will reach its final destination, and we‘ll find some respite.

Over a thousand prisoners, including many serving life sentences, will be released by Israel as part of its ceasefire agreement with Hamas, according to details reported by Palestinian and Israeli media on Wednesday night.

Prisoner and hostage exchange

The deal includes the release of prisoners from Gaza detained on Oct. 8, 2023, following the Hamas-led massacre that initiated the war. These individuals were not involved in the Oct. 7 attack.

A total of 33 hostages, out of the 98 held by Hamas in Gaza, are set to be released during the first phase. The agreement specifies that nine sick and injured captives will be exchanged for 110 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.

Hostages over the age of 50 from the list of 33 will be freed according to a ratio of 1:3 for life sentences and 1:27 for other sentences.

Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, Israelis held in Gaza since 2015 and 2014, respectively, will be released under a 1:30 exchange ratio, along with 47 prisoners freed under the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal who were later re-arrested. Additional Palestinian prisoners abroad or in Gaza will be freed based on lists agreed upon by both sides.

Philadelphi Corridor

Israeli forces will gradually withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border. The withdrawal will begin on the 42nd day of the first phase, after the release of the final hostage for the phase, and is to be completed by the 50th day.

Rafah Crossing

The Rafah Crossing to Egypt will be prepared for civilian and medical evacuations immediately after the agreement is signed.

• Israeli forces will redeploy around Rafah according to agreed maps.

• Daily passage of 50 wounded Hamas fighters, accompanied by three individuals each, will be allowed, subject to Israeli and Egyptian approval.

• All sick and injured Palestinian civilians will be permitted to exit via Rafah, in line with Clause 12 of the May 27, 2024 agreement.

The crossing’s operation will follow consultations held with Egypt in August 2024.

IDF redeployment

Israeli forces will withdraw eastward from populated areas along Gaza’s border, including Wadi Gaza, the Netzarim Route and Kuwait Circle, and redeploy to a perimeter along the Gaza border 700 meters deep. Five exceptions extending up to an additional 400 meters will be determined by Israel.

Return of displaced persons

• On the seventh day, displaced individuals may return to northern Gaza on foot, without weapons or security checks, via Al-Rashid Street.

• By the 22nd day, returns will also be permitted via Salah al-Din Street, without checks.

• Vehicles may return northward via the Netzarim Route on the seventh day, subject to inspection by a private company designated by mediators and coordinated with Israel.

Second-phase goals

The agreement seeks to finalize the terms of the May 27, 2024 framework for a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange and a durable ceasefire. Measures implemented in the first phase will continue, and mediators will ensure negotiations progress toward a final agreement.

The announcement on Wednesday of a ceasefire agreement being reached between Israel and Hamas elicited contrasting reactions from two groups representing the families of those still being held in Gaza.

The Tikva Forum of Hostages' Families criticized the deal as a dangerous compromise with a terrorist organization that favors some hostages but fails most of them.

By contrast, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed "overwhelming joy and relief" at the agreement, describing it as a monumental step toward reuniting with their loved ones.

In its statement, the Tikva Forum called on cabinet members who will vote on the deal “to resign immediately, and not be part of a government that betrays dozens of hostages, leaving them in captivity.”

The deal, in which 33 hostages are to be returned in exchange for at least 990 Palestinian prisoners in the first phase, “leaves dozens of hostages behind in Gaza. It also sets the stage for the next massacre and future kidnappings of Israelis,” the Tikva Forum added.

Hamas has 98 hostages in total, according to Israel, and the remaining 64 are to be returned in later phases of the deal through an unspecified procedure, pending the completion of the agreement's first phase.

In its statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has been more critical of the government than Tikva and advocated making greater concessions to Hamas, wrote that its members “welcome the agreement with overwhelming joy and relief.”

However, the text added, “deep anxiety and concerns accompany us regarding the possibility that the agreement might not be fully implemented, leaving hostages behind.”

Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at southern Israel on Thursday morning, setting off sirens in Kibbutz Nir Am.

The rocket landed in an open area, according to the Israel Defense Forces. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Last week, a Palestinian terror rocket scored a direct hit in the southern Israeli border city of Sderot, causing minor damage to a home. It was the tenth rocket attack from Gaza in 11 days.

The IDF's year-plus-long offensive against Hamas has greatly curbed rocket fire from the Strip, although Palestinian terrorists still intermittently target the Jewish state.

An Egyptian convert to Christianity who had jet-skied to safety in Israel after being arrested, tortured and sentenced to death for his religious beliefs over a quarter century ago has returned to the Jewish state to make a documentary film about Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the dangers of Islamic extremism.

“God used Israel to save my life,” Majed el-Shafie, the president and founder of the Toronto-based One Free World International, told JNS this week in Jerusalem. “I felt that after Oct. 7 I had to do something.  I had to return the favor.”

The 70-minute film he produced, "Dying to Live: The October 7 Massacre," tells the story of the deadliest single attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust through the lens of a Muslim turned evangelical Christian who is now an outspoken supporter of Israel. 

The English-language documentary, which was supported by evangelical and Jewish groups, premiered in Israel this week after being shown in private settings in Canada last month.

El-Shafie says he is working to translate his film—which includes interviews with both Arab and Muslim officials in discussing how such an attack can ever be justified—into Arabic, Persian and Urdu.

“You can kill hundreds of Yahya Sinwars and Hassan Nasrallahs,” he said, referring to the Hamas and Hezbollah leaders eliminated by Israel last year, "but more will come.”

“You have to fight the ideology and change people’s minds and hearts.”

Closing a circle

His fifth wartime visit to Israel, for the nationwide screening of the movie, closes something of a circle for the 47-year-old human rights activist.

Born in Cairo to a well-off Muslim family, he was arrested in Egypt in 1998 for converting to Christianity and speaking out about his religious beliefs. He was imprisoned and tortured.  After receiving the death penalty and placed under house arrest, he managed to escape Egypt by driving a stolen jet-ski from Taba in Sinai to the nearby Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat, realizing that Israel was his only way out of the predominantly Arab Middle East.

He was arrested in Israel and served nearly a year in jail, but was able to fight off an Egyptian extradition request and was eventually freed through the assistance of various Christian organizations, including the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which helped him to obtain political asylum in Canada. His Egyptian family had disowned him.

Living in Canada over the last two decades, he became a respected voice for human rights but never forgot his road to freedom in the West via Israel. The Oct. 7 attack spurred him to action.

“I am returning the favor by speaking the truth and by saying what is happening,” he said.

The challenges he faces are evident toward the end of the film when he speaks in Arabic to a Palestinian living near Bethlehem who still questions the Oct. 7 attack—despite it being filmed live by Hamas terrorists themselves—and who levels the blame squarely on both sides. In another scene, el-Shafie, who interviews bereaved Israeli family members as well as families of the hostages still being held in Gaza, apologizes to one of them as a former Muslim, only to be rebuked by the Israeli, who says he has nothing to do with the likes of Hamas.

“It was very important for me as an Egyptian to come here and say I love you and will defend you,” he told JNS, noting that the cold peace that exists between Egypt and Israel is mostly only at the government level.

While expressing shock over the outburst of rabid antisemitism in the West, including in Canada, amid the 15-month-old war, el-Shafie said that Hamas and its acolytes have shown their true colors.

“I thank Hamas for showing the true face of terrorism and antisemitism in the West, and for also uniting the Jewish people—who have shown zeal and strength under attack—and showing them where their soul is.”

Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air, which returned to Israel in December with flights only to Larnaca, Cyprus, relaunched additional Israel routes on Wednesday. The renewed flights ended months of a de facto halt to its Israel operations.

Most airlines canceled flights to the Jewish state in recent months due to ongoing tensions in the region.

Wizz Air said it will operate flights to various destinations, including Bucharest, Rome, Milan, Abu Dhabi, Sofia, Warsaw, London, Katowice, Athens, Larnaca, Budapest, Vienna and more. The company's first flight today from Bucharest has already landed in Israel, and throughout Wednesday additional flights are expected to land from destinations such as Vilnius, Vienna, Budapest, London, Larnaca and more.

The return of the Hungarian budget carrier will expand flight options to and from Israel, which could affect ticket prices. Another budget carrier expected to join in the coming months, possibly even by the end of March according to ticket sales on their website, is Ryanair.

The airline plans to operate a full flight schedule to Israel this summer, when it expects travel to and from Tel Aviv to return to normal, a Ryanair executive announced on Sunday.

Last month, six airlines—Wizz Air, Biz Airlines, Air Europe, Lot, Air Baltic and Bulgaria Air—announced they would restore their Israel routes in the near future.

Several foreign airlines have resumed flights to Israel since the Nov. 27 ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, with major European carriers, including Air France, British Airways and the Lufthansa group, expected to restart service next month.

The three major U.S. legacy carriers, however, are still not flying to and from Israel at this time. This makes El Al the sole airline operating direct flights between the United States and Israel.

FireDome, a startup founded in Israel in 2024, is developing an AI-driven defense system to combat wildfires such as those currently ravaging the Los Angeles area. The system is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense technology.

The system utilizes eco-friendly fire retardants and AI technology to form protective barriers and extinguish spot fires caused by wind-blown embers. Initially designed to protect 100-acre areas, FireDome aims to expand its coverage to larger regions.

Testing is set to begin in Israel in 2025, with U.S. pilot programs planned for 2026.

With $3 million in seed funding and advisory support from Iron Dome co-founder Pinchas Yungman, FireDome seeks to enhance firefighting efforts and reduce the significant damage caused by wildfires, which cost the United States up to $900 billion annually.

A video released by the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday shows Hamas operatives documenting themselves as they position a rocket launcher inside an open grave at a cemetery in the Gaza Strip.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson, shared the video on X, commenting, "Look at the absurdity of these ISIS-like individuals from Hamas and their degraded values as they place a rocket launcher filled with explosives into an open grave, documenting themselves laughing together."

"Hamas shows no mercy even for the dead," he continued. "Islam is innocent of these ISIS-like individuals from Hamas. For them—these extremists—shame and disgrace await both in this world and the next."

In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit cited the cemetery footage as further evidence of Hamas's systematic exploitation of protected sites, which has included schools, UNRWA structures and hospitals. These actions constitute "a blatant violation of international law," the IDF statement added.

The IDF has documented multiple similar incidents of Hamas using civilian infrastructure for military operations across the Gaza Strip in recent months. One such incident took place in December when Hamas placed explosives near the medical facilities of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia. The IDF then captured hundreds of terrorists who were using the hospital as a base of operations. 

Overnight Tuesday, Israel carried out airstrikes on key Hamas terrorist figures and infrastructure in Gaza, including a senior terrorist in a former school in Daraj Tuffah used as a command and control center, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in Khan Yunis and Deir al Balah were also targeted.

Has Israel been Trumped?