Gaza Update: Prisoner exchange interrupted by Israel

Today is a hostage exchange and a prisoner exchange in Gaza. Again, Hamas fighters are out in the Gaza rubble, supporting the Palestinians and making sure that these two exchanges happen without mishap.  Again, the Israelis are torn, as they were told that Hamas is a conquered force, but playing out on their TV screens is that of an organized and well-presented Hamas fighting force.  Again, the Israeli hostages are healthy and look absolutely fine.  Netanyahu and others are trying their best to mute the joy in Gaza, where literally in the rubble stages are set up to receive Gazan prisoners.  Today’s exchanges were set up in different venues.

Israeli Media: Israel sent a strong complaint to the ceasefire mediators over the scenes in Khan Yunis, where Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses (hostages being exchanged) were made to pass through a howling and hostile mob.

Netanyahu: I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages.

This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.

I demand that the mediators ensure that such horrific scenes do not occur again, and to guarantee the safety of our hostages.

The crowds are howling, cheering, dancing, and celebrating, not as howling, hostile mobs but delirious with joy and happiness, firstly because they won and secondly because they are welcoming their prisoners back. They wish the hostages all the best.

There are still killings, indiscriminate shootings, and other acts of hatred against the Palestinians. The West Bank is under aggression.

News just in:  (Attempt to mute the joy) Israeli Army Radio reported that the Israeli political leadership had instructed the prison administration to suspend the release of Palestinian prisoners today until further notice.  Netanyahu absolutely must get the images of Hamas fighters and happy Gazans off the Israeli television sets.  But this bird has flown;  they now know.  We will have to wait and see what effect this suspension has on the complete ceasefire.  Israel prohibits their returned hostages from speaking to the press so that they cannot testify to good treatment.

The exchange of Israeli captives is complete, and Israel desperately needs to do something, anything, to try and regain a winning position.  The mediators have urgently been called again.

Netanyahu is still dealing with major dissent and internal strife, which is not the norm for Israel. In addition, he must still regularly appear in court. Alastair Crooke, in one of his video interviews, said that Netanyahu has quite severe health problems, his wife is in Miami, seemingly not returning, and his son as well, his son having been sent out of Israel because of disagreement with Netanyahu, even up to physical altercations. Photos of IDF soldiers have been distributed to major airports worldwide in order for countries to arrest them should they appear as visitors or tourists. Chile has just arrested one and a mob attacked more. Despite major efforts to clean up the Israeli mystique in the rest of the world, it is not happening as we all saw the war and experienced the horror albeit 2nd hand.

Legal challenges are mounting up for Netanyahu locally in Israel and international legal action is mounting up.  An Israeli attorney lodged a new case of genocide against Netanyahu and a sizable list of his cohorts.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-01-24/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-israeli-lawyer-filing-a-landmark-genocide-case-against-israel-at-the-icc/00000194-59bf-d76e-a7dd-7bff42610000

This case does not get sufficient attention:  100 Chilean lawyers lodged yet another case:  https://www.palestinechronicle.com/100-chilean-lawyers-lodge-icc-case-against-netanyahu-for-gaza-war-crimes/

Trump has announced that Netanyahu would be the first ‘international leader’ that he would meet with, since his inauguration.  I would bet that a large part of this discussion will be Trump’s initiative to remove all Gazans, mentioning Jordan and Egypt as countries where the Gazans can be ethnically cleansed removed to.   Both Jordan and Egypt categorically refused, and subsequently, the League of Arab States, consisting of 22 countries, rejected Donald Trump’s plans.  https://www.arabnews.com/node/2588046/amp.

Malaysia, one of the new BRICS countries, has just announced that they will build a school, hospital, and mosque as an initial effort to assist in the reconstruction of Gaza.  Prime Minister Anwar announced: “This is a part of our efforts, the sacrifices of the communities and the people. May Allah protect us and guarantee the safety of Gaza and Palestine”.  Anwar said the reconstruction of Gaza would involve joint efforts by the Japanese and Malaysian governments, which intend to establish and launch funds through the East Asia program.