Freed Israeli Hostages Were Weeks Away from Cardiac Arrest - Avi Ashkenazi (Jerusalem Post)
    The three Israeli hostages released on Saturday by Hamas were in critical condition due to severe starvation and were "weeks away from cardiac arrest," a security source told Maariv on Wednesday.

Hostage Accounts Raise Alarm about How Long Those Left in Gaza Can Survive - Anat Peled (Wall Street Journal)
    Two Israeli hostages held alongside Alon Ohel, 24, said he was kept shackled in an underground tunnel, shrapnel stuck in his eye and shoulder, and subsisting on one piece of pita bread a day.
    Alon Ohel isn't expected to be released until the second phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Israel Preparing for Renewed Warfare in Gaza - Lilach Shoval (Israel Hayom)
    Israel is preparing for a return to combat in Gaza.
    An Israeli source told Israel Hayom on Wednesday that this time the war will look different, similar to the first months after Oct. 7, with renewed weapons shipments, no commitment to humanitarian aid, and complete American backing in the UN Security Council.
    Israeli officials clarified that no talks will be held on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement without ensuring Hamas intends to complete the current phase.

Jewish Federations Thank Trump for Strong Stance Against Hamas Hostage Threat (Jerusalem Post)
    Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) Chair Julie Platt and President and CEO Eric Fingerhut said Tuesday:
    "With the undeniable evidence of the criminal mistreatment of the hostages and Hamas's new threat to stop releasing hostages, Jewish Federations of North America thank President Trump for taking a strong position against this reprehensible threat."
    "We cannot stand idly by while a terrorist group continues to hold innocents in horrific conditions, in violation of both international law and all norms of human decency."

American Jewish Leader: If Some Gazans Want Out, Why Not Let Them Leave? - Maayan Hoffman (ILTV-Ynet News)
    U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to encourage Gazans to relocate is "a breath of fresh air" and "a positive thing," William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told ILTV.
    He asked, "Why is Egypt somehow able to put up a big wall and say that the Gazans must stay in harm's way?"
    Citing polling data from before Oct. 7, Daroff noted that more than 40% of Gazans preferred to live elsewhere. "Why not encourage them? Why not incentivize them?"
    He added, "I'm very much a supporter of...the U.S. and Israel having no daylight between them. I think that it makes Israel stronger and makes America stronger for our adversaries to see that we speak as one."
    He concluded that Oct. 7 had clarified for many people "what's important, who's important, and who they can count upon."

Two Australian Nurses Say They Would Kill Israeli Patients - Claire Lehmann (Quillette-Australia)
    Two nurses at Bankstown Hospital, located in Sydney's suburbs, have been removed from their positions after declaring on video they would refuse to treat - and would kill - Israeli patients who presented for care.
    New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park on Wednesday described the nurses' behavior as "vile and disgusting," emphasizing they will "never, ever, ever" work for NSW Health again.
    The nurses responsible are from a minority group themselves.

Palestinians Who Returned to Northern Gaza Encounter Widespread Destruction
(Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)
    On Jan. 27, as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israel allowed displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza and more than half a million people headed north.
    While initially participating in the "victory" narrative promoted by Hamas, after encountering the widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure in northern Gaza, thousands of Gazans returned south, where basic services exist and there is a steady supply of humanitarian aid.
    Given public frustration, the extensive destruction in Gaza will make it difficult for Hamas to sustain its "victory" narrative over time, and it may seek to shift responsibility to a committee for managing the Strip which Egypt is trying to promote, while striving to maintain its military strength.

Gazans Fear the Return of War - Nagham Zbeedat (Ha'aretz)
    Sliman al-Joud, 37, a Gaza taxi driver, told Ha'aretz of his struggle for daily survival: hours-long searches for clean water, standing in endless lines for bread. "My daughters finally stopped asking me if we're going to die in our sleep. They ask me now if we'll have dinner tonight. What kind of life is this?"
    Thaer Ghirbawi, 31, a lawyer, said, "Gaza has been erased. We are traumatized, and we have no idea how to survive. For 31 years, all I remember is one war after another. Every time I have to start over again. We don't dream of a future anymore. We stopped making plans, because we don't know if we'll be here tomorrow."

The Strange Reluctance to See Jews as Victims - Brendan O'Neill (Spiked-UK)
    As those three weak, skeletal, stolen Jews finally tasted freedom after 16 months of bondage in Gaza, it became clear that Hamas is guilty of the very crime it accuses the Jewish state of committing.
    Famine. The use of hunger as a weapon of war. The infliction of humiliating malnourishment on those judged a lesser people. The Jews are starving us, Hamas cried, when in truth Hamas was starving Jews.
    Our opinion-forming classes have an instinctual aversion to empathy for Israelis. Jews, alone among minority groups, are ruthlessly deprived of victim status.
    Those three stricken Jews were stark, gaunt proof of the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, which were the source of this war that our cultural elites shamelessly blame on Israel.
    Tell us what you accuse the Jewish state of, and we'll tell you what you are guilty of.