Hamas Says It's Ready to Hand Over 20 Living Israeli Hostages - Summer Said (Wall Street Journal)
    Hamas has told Israel it has 20 living Israeli hostages in hand and is ready to begin releasing them as early as Sunday, in a message sent through Arab mediators.
    Israel is preparing to receive the hostages as early as Sunday night, though it still expects the handover is more likely to happen Monday, when President Trump is slated to visit Israel and Egypt, an Israeli official said.

Who Are the Palestinian Terrorists Being Released? - Danielle Greyman-Kennard (Maariv-Jerusalem Post-Ha'aretz)
    Jihad a-Karim Azziz Rom, who participated in the lynching of IDF reservists Vadim Norzitch and Yosef Avrahami in 2000 and the abduction and murder of Yuri Gushchin in 2001, is set to be released as part of the Gaza peace deal, Maariv reported Friday.
    Baher Badr, one of the terrorists responsible for a suicide bombing in Tzirifin in 2004 and given 11 life sentences, is also reportedly set to be released.
    Israel has reportedly refused to release any child murderers, life prisoners who have served less than a decade in prison, and those defined as "terror symbols."
    250 prisoners serving life sentences will be released, as well as 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza who did not participate in the Oct. 7 attack.
    22 Palestinian minors from Gaza will be freed as well as 360 bodies.
    Security officials estimate that the prisoners released now will assume leadership roles in Hamas and Fatah in the coming years.
    "We are now releasing the next Yahya Sinwar, so we must know who these people are and what they are capable of," a senior security official said. "There are some very brilliant and dangerous minds among them." 
    See also These Are the Notorious Killers Israel Will Release - Shachar Kleiman (Israel Hayom)
    Israel's Justice Ministry on Friday released a list of 250 prisoners serving life-sentences for murder and involvement in deadly attacks who are set to be released as part of the deal with Hamas.
    They include Hamas operative Imad Qawasmeh, 52, who has been serving 16 life sentences since 2004 for involvement in a suicide bombing that killed 16 Israelis.
    Hamas operative Qassem Aref Khalil al-Asafreh, 36, was arrested in 2019 after being involved in a stabbing attack in Gush Etzion in which soldier Dvir Sorek was murdered.
    Muhammad Aref Samhan, 55, dispatched several suicide bombers, and is responsible for the attack on Bus Line 2, in which 23 people were murdered and 130 others were wounded.
    Ibrahim Muhammad al-Raai, 46, is responsible for a bombing attack in the Casbah in Nablus in which Osher Damari fell in 2006. He participated in dozens of shooting attacks against Israeli forces.

Gazans Return to Gaza City - Hazem Balousha (Washington Post)
    As a ceasefire in Gaza takes hold, tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians headed home to Gaza City.
    Dramatic changes took place after Sep. 15, when Israel's military launched a push to occupy the city and demolished more than 14 towers, each at least 10 floors high.
    The Israeli military notified occupants shortly before bombing their buildings, often through social media or by calling some residents and telling them to spread the word.
    Israel said Hamas used them to deploy "intelligence-gathering systems, cameras, sniper and anti-tank firing positions, and in some structures established observational command rooms and command-and-control compounds."

U.S. to Send 200 Troops to Israel in Support Roles - Tyler Pager (New York Times)
    The U.S. is sending 200 troops to Israel to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, American officials said Thursday.
    U.S. Central Command will establish a civil-military coordination center in Israel to provide security and humanitarian support. U.S. troops are not intended to go into Gaza, one official said.
    The troops are mostly military planners and specialists in logistics, security and other support fields.
    The center will be a hub for military, political and aid experts to help coordinate humanitarian assistance, security support, and the execution of the ceasefire agreement.

How Some Gazans See Hamas - Sheren Falah Saab (Ha'aretz)
    According to S., a member of Hamas's political wing, "Many people are convinced that Oct. 7 was a fatal mistake, and even longtime supporters are casting doubt."
    Mohammed, 43, who has uprooted his wife and children six times, said, "The more time goes by, the more people are having a hard time believing that the organization [Hamas] is acting for them."
    "It wasn't like that at the beginning of the war. During the first days there was euphoria, there were people who thought our situation would change, that the invasion of Israel would liberate Palestine. But they didn't imagine that the response would come with so much force."
    Nabil, 47, a high school teacher, recalls: "At first I didn't know about the hostages and the harm to families and children, but I know Hebrew, so I started to look for what they were saying on the news in Israel, and I immediately realized that the situation was very grave."
    "People around me were talking about Hamas's bravery in attacking Israel that way, but I expected a harsh Israeli response."
    When Israel's first evacuation order came, Nabil said, "The operatives disappeared into hiding places and turned their backs on us. I realized that Hamas had abandoned us, that we'd have to manage on our own."
    "Anyone who had money fled during the first few months. People like me who don't have money or couldn't leave because of their circumstances realized that the attack had brought a disaster down on us and no victory at all."
    The bottom line is: Hamas will remain part of Gaza's social and emotional infrastructure as long as there is no sustainable alternative.

After the War, the Reckoning - Jake Wallis Simons (Substack)
    It looks like the war in Gaza is drawing to a close. The West - meaning the democracies aside from the U.S. - must embark upon a soul-searching.
    How can it be that almost every single leader allowed himself or herself to be brainwashed by Hamas and its international sympathizers to the extent that all the pressure and condemnation was directed at Israel?
    How can so many countries have grown so damnably confused between enemies and friends?
    We are possessed by a weakling and bloodless worldview which flows from two beliefs. Firstly, that an enemy is simply a friend you have not made yet. Secondly, that appeasement is the best route to peace.
    You'd have thought that the entirety of history, particularly the Second World War, have adequately demonstrated the opposite.
    The truth is the same as it has always been: evil exists in the world and sometimes the only alternative is to defeat it. Israel has never had the luxury of forgetting this.

Israeli Civilians at War - Hannah Brown (Jerusalem Post)
    Edut 710, an organization that collects and presents digital documentation of the Oct. 7 massacre (www.edut710en.org), has launched a new interactive project called Civilians at War: public testimonies of rapid-response squad members and civilians who stood on the frontline to defend their families, homes, and communities.
    To date, more than 1,700 personal stories have been collected, with over 800 testimonies already published online.
    Micha Livne, head of the project, said, "It tells the story of ordinary people who leapt from their beds on the morning of Oct. 7, threw on a shirt, shorts, and sandals - and in a moment became unwilling but courageous fighters."