A Hostage Deal? We're Mainly Negotiating with Ourselves - Nadav Shragai (Israel Hayom)
    Through our tears over the six murdered hostages, there's a sobering truth that cuts through the emotion: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar doesn't want a deal right now.
    He needs the hostages to ensure his survival and to keep extorting us. His strategy is to wear us down.
    Israel should pursue Hamas leaders in Gaza and worldwide, just as we did the murderers of the Munich Olympics athletes in former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's time - terrorists who also killed their hostages.
    A deal, as much as we wish for it, exists only in our imagination right now.
    There's no agreement on the table. We're mainly negotiating with ourselves.

Who Are the Remaining Gaza Hostages? - Michael Blum (AFP)
    According to an AFP database, 64 captives in Gaza are still believed to be alive and held there by Hamas.
    57 are Israelis, six are Thai nationals and one is Nepalese.
    They comprise 52 men, 10 women, and two children.
    Eleven are military personnel, including five women.
    35 out of 70 dead hostages were already dead when they were taken to Gaza. They include 10 Israeli soldiers. The 35 other hostages died in Gaza.

Poll: 78 Percent of Jewish Israelis Doubt Hostage Release Deal - Sam Sokol (Times of Israel)
    According to the Israel Democracy Institute's August 2024 Israeli Voice Index, conducted Aug. 26-28, 78.5% of Jewish respondents doubt the likelihood of a hostage release deal with Hamas in the near future.
    Only 24% of Jewish Israelis agreed with a statement attributed to American government sources that "Israel has achieved all that it can militarily in Gaza."

A Deal to Return All the Hostages Was Never on the Table - Naveh Dromi (Ynet News)
    Hamas is responsible for the deaths of the six Israeli hostages. Hamas is the terror group that kidnapped, held and murdered them.
    Beyond the sadness that gripped many, there was also a sharpened resolve that this war is more justified than ever.
    Some have deluded themselves into believing that a deal was genuinely on the table - that Sinwar was just about to sign an agreement.
    That all it would take was for Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor to get all the hostages back.
    Sinwar and those orchestrating this conflict, primarily Iran, aim to wear us down in a prolonged war, keeping hostages until the very last moment.
    But at no point, from the first deal onward, were we ever close to an agreement for the hostages' return.
    The only thing that might have advanced the hostages' return would be a surrender agreement, where the war ends, Israel withdraws from Gaza, military achievements are nullified, and Sinwar returns to leadership.
    Perhaps then we'd get some hostages back, but not all - because Hamas's interest is always to keep some hostages.

Saudi News Portal: Hamas Are Cowards Who Hide behind Gaza Civilians (MEMRI)
    In an article titled "Fighting from Behind Civilians" on the Saudi news portal Elaph on Sept. 1, Kurdish writer Kamil Salman criticized Hamas operatives for hiding behind the civilian population in Gaza and thereby placing hundreds of thousands of people in mortal danger.
    "Is this hiding [among civilians] a sign of military wisdom, or of growing stupidity? Is it courage or cowardice?"
    "Either perfect your courage by confronting your enemy face to face, and thus prevent the danger from reaching your family, your loved ones, your neighbors and those dear to you, or else put down your weapon."
    "Insisting on exposing civilians to danger is recklessness and ignorance....Don't delude yourself that you did the right thing when you hid behind hundreds of thousands of people and saved your own life but placed their lives in danger."

Iron Beam Laser Air-Defense to Be Operational in 2025 - Dean Shmuel Elmas (Globes)
    Yoav Tourgeman, CEO of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, told Globes that Rafael's laser-based air defense system, Iron Beam, is expected to enter operational service next year.
    Rafael reported a record backlog of NIS 59 billion ($16 billion) in orders at the end of the second quarter of 2024, and has hired 1,100 employees since the start of the year.

Hamas Falsified Gaza War Poll Results to Exaggerate Public Support - Fadi Amun (Ha'aretz)
    The IDF said on Aug. 29 that Hamas manipulated public opinion poll results it sent to a respected polling institution in order to falsely inflate public support.
    Documents found in tunnels in Gaza indicated Hamas efforts to change results before returning them to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, headed by political scientist Khalil Shikaki.
    Shikaki's polling center is one of the leading authorities on Palestinian public opinion, holding significant credibility around the world.
    One of the documents details how Hamas edited its survey results and returned them to the research institute for publication.
    In a March survey, the polling institute reported that 62% of Gaza's population was satisfied with Hamas's performance in the war. The original survey indicated only 32% support.
    The published results stated that 71% believed Hamas's decision to attack Israel on Oct. 7 was correct, while in the original document, only 31% supported Hamas's decision.

How Hamas Silences Mention of Its Gaza Combat Fatalities (Times of Israel)
    Throughout its war against Israel, Hamas has refrained from publishing the names of its slain operatives, according to a report published Tuesday in Ha'aretz on the group's intimidation campaign aimed at barring Gazans from any mention of such fatalities.
    Even family members of slain operatives refrain from public mourning.
    "There is fear to talk publicly about Hamas operatives, including operatives who have been killed," said one Gaza resident.
    There was fear of being branded a "traitor" or "collaborator" and of being harassed by Hamas.

How Did Britain's Foreign Secretary Think Suspending Arms to Israel Was a Good Idea? - Angela Epstein (Daily Express-UK)
    British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced a clampdown on arms sales to Israel. British arms account for only 1% of Israeli imports.
    The messaging propagates the falsehood that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law (when it actually goes to great lengths to uphold it).
    Little wonder the decision will give succor to the barbarians of Hamas who tortured, beheaded, raped and burned hundreds of innocents on Oct. 7.
    Here in Britain, Lammy's messaging is bound to fuel antisemitism - legitimizing acts of Jew-hatred which hit record levels in 2023 and experienced a grim surge in 2024.
    In what corner of his misguided mind could the impact of his decision play out in any other way?
    This is the same man who previously nominated Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. He has also restored funding to UNRWA, a UN agency that had housed Hamas terrorists.
    He has now given the green light to those who indulge in raging, violent, pro-Palestinian protest in the UK by suggesting right is on their side where arms to Israel are concerned.

UK May "Live to Regret" Arms Limits on Israel, Experts Warn - Paul Nuki (Telegraph-UK)
    The UK's decision to suspend some 30 arms licenses to Israel could put the lives of British citizens and soldiers at risk.
    "This is an unhelpful step, which might come back and bite the UK at some next conflict which cannot be currently foreseen," Assaf Orion, a retired Israeli brigadier general and defense strategist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the Telegraph.
    "History is famous for its unforgiving sense of humor...it's a decision which you will come to live to regret."
    For British special forces who operate on the ground in Syria and other Middle Eastern hotspots, these are not words to be taken lightly. Much of the human intelligence that keeps them safe is supplied by Israel, as are many of the "eyes in the sky" that operate overhead.
    Israeli intelligence is also vital for combating Islamist terrorist threats in the UK and Europe - threats that remain substantial.
    No one is suggesting Israel would now deliberately withhold information, but intelligence is by its nature a transactional business that works most efficiently when trust is high and relations are good.

Jerusalem Court Orders Seizure of Frozen PA Funds in Terror Victim Compensation Case - Jeremy Sharon (Times of Israel)
    The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday issued a temporary seizure order for NIS 160 million ($43 million) against Palestinian Authority funds frozen by the government, in response to a lawsuit by the families of Palestinian terror victims demanding compensation from the PA for supporting and encouraging the violence.
    The original compensation suit was submitted on behalf of 78 victims of Palestinian terrorism and the NIS 160 million addresses their claims.
    But 200 more victims and family members have since joined the suit, meaning that a further seizure order covering their claims could be issued.

Thousands of Israelis Have Joined Emergency Security Teams - Canaan Lidor (Times of Israel)
    Since Oct. 7, thousands of Israeli men and women have joined emergency teams, run by the police and the army, to defend their immediate communities.
    The police-run teams now number 1,000, compared to 66 on Oct. 7.
    The teams train under the assumption that they would need to fend off well-armed terrorists for hours without external assistance.

New Archaeological Find Confirms the Temple Mount's Jewish Roots - Moshe Phillips (JNS)
    Israeli archaeologists in Jerusalem found a 2,700-year-old stone seal last week near the Temple Mount's southern wall in Jerusalem.
    The writing on the seal is Hebrew - a Jewish name: Yeho'ezer ben Hoshayahu. That name is very similar to the name of one of King David's warriors mentioned in the Torah, and to a Jewish name mentioned in the book of Jeremiah.
    Filip Vukosavovic of the Israel Antiquities Authority said the seal, which dates to about 700 BCE, was used by someone who "held a senior position in the Kingdom of Judah's administration."
    It was only some 1,400 years after the creation of that seal, in the seventh century CE, that the Muslims of the Arabian Peninsula invaded and occupied the Land of Israel. The Muslim occupiers never called the country "Palestine."