ToI must-reads from 2nd month of war: Anguish, joy, outrage over partial hostage release * Huge DC rally * Silence on crimes against Israeli women

[Times of Israel]( Thursday, December 7, 2023 Times of Israel in Gaza [In Gaza’s Shati camp, senior officer says ‘nothing’ can stop IDF advance on Hamas]( By Emanuel Fabian Speaking to ToI in a crumbling school building converted into temporary army headquarters, commander of Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion says Hamas terrorists ‘fighting like mice’ Reporter's notebook [Inside a Gaza bedroom, soldiers searching for tunnels find how low Hamas can go]( By Emanuel Fabian Reporter's notebook David Horovitz [Weeks after the onslaught, a quietly inspiring visit to a bloodied Gaza-border kibbutz]( I was last at Kibbutz Alumim 40 years ago, months after moving to Israel. I never gave a thought to Gaza’s proximity [Reporter's notebook / The sole avenue of coexistence that became a Hamas killing field]( By David Horovitz United States [Who came and why: Radically diverse Jewish communities briefly unite at DC Israel rally]( By Sarah Rosen Many different opinions, motivations, thoughts on Israel, ways to be Jewish came together in the 290,000-strong crowd in the National Mall on Tuesday [Liberal Jewish groups lament DC rally’s rightward bent, say progressives pushed away]( By Charlie Summers [Reporter's notebook / Massive pro-Israel rally spotlights anxieties around surge of antisemitism in US]( By Charlie Summers Inside story Jacob Magid [Behind the scenes of the intense talks that led to the Israel-Hamas hostage deal]( A multilateral group set up by Qatar shortly after Hamas onslaught proves effective, thanks to personal involvement from Biden throughout rollercoaster US-brokered negotiations [Analysis / Hostage deal, even if it fails, shows Hamas’s desperation]( By Haviv Rettig Gur [As released hostages return home, they learn of relatives killed, homes destroyed]( By Jessica Steinberg In limbo, together [‘Life has stopped in the middle’ for families of 3 hostages, connected by teens’ love]( By Jessica Steinberg Ofir Engel, Yossi and Eli Sharabi were all abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri by Hamas terrorists on October 7; their families, working tirelessly to get them back, finally meet at Dead Sea [RELEASED: Ofir Engel, 18, captured at Be’eri while visiting his girlfriend]( By ToI Staff [Together, in limbo / For 46 days, a refugee Kfar Aza family ‘sits shiva’ for its dead and awaits its hostages]( By Jessica Steinberg [RELEASED: Mother Chen & kids Agam, Gal and Tal Goldstein-Almog; father & daughter killed]( By ToI Staff Interview [9 years after Hadar Goldin’s capture in Gaza, fight to declare him ‘kidnapped’ continues]( By Tal Schneider Reporter's notebook [Grandfather of two children released from Gaza: ‘We thought we would lose our minds’]( By Jeremy Sharon Abducted in Kibbutz Be’eri and freed on Nov. 25, Alma, 13, and Noam, 17, will soon visit mother Yonat Or’s grave for the first time – but their father is still held hostage [Be’eri community shouts for joy as kibbutz’s Gaza hostages make their way home]( By Jeremy Sharon [Those We Are Missing]( [The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown]( [Read Here]( Antisemitism [Amid Israel-Hamas war, students say antisemitism is ‘new normal’ at Columbia University]( By Cathryn J. Prince Jewish and Israeli students fear for their safety in a campus climate that’s allowing rampant, bitter anti-Israel rhetoric to cross red lines [ToI round-table with US Jewish students: ‘Everyone hates you and wishes you dead’]( By Cathryn J. Prince [Antisemitic incidents surged globally since Oct. 7 but most aren’t reported. Here’s why]( By Matt Lebovic United Kingdom [UK Jews say govt not protecting them from Islamic extremism amid Israel-Hamas war]( By Robert Philpot ToI podcast [What Matters Now to Oct. 7 survivor Adele Raemer: Telling the world]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan She’s lived near Gaza at Kibbutz Nirim for almost five decades and while sadly accustomed to rocket attacks, the thought of terrorists entering her home was always ‘inconceivable’ [Testimony of Hamas massacre survivors compiled from social media posts on new website]( By Mati Wagner Top Ops Ruth Efroni [Paul my love and Belle my love]( Someone from the morgue greets them. He takes one look at her face and another at her round belly and refuses to let her in Adele Raemer [Returning home: The long road ahead]( How will the government and the IDF convince me that security is available to my Western Negev kibbutz at a moment’s notice? Michael Oren [Israel’s choice: Body or soul]( Israel will almost certainly have to decide whether to destroy Hamas completely or save the remaining hostages Yossi Klein Halevi [The lonely people of history]( When even Israel’s allies begin to lose moral clarity about the justness of this war, Jews will stand and proclaim our truth Inside story [Return to Gush Katif: A determined movement emerges to resettle Israelis in Gaza]( By Mati Wagner Warning: Graphic content Carrie Keller-Lynn [Amid war and urgent need to ID bodies, evidence of Hamas’s October 7 rapes slips away]( ToI investigates how a mass-casualty event in a war zone made forensic determination impossible [Warning: Graphic content / Police start building Oct. 7 rape cases, focusing on footage and testimonies]( By Carrie Keller-Lynn Inside story [Archaeologists sift through devastation to help families of Oct. 7 victims gain closure]( By Melanie Lidman For weeks, archaeologists have been searching the burned homes of the Gaza border communities to help try to identify modern remains [ToI podcast / What Matters Now to Dr. Joe Uziel: ID’ing Oct. 7 victims via forensic archaeology]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan [Those We Have Lost]( [Those We Have Lost]( [Stories of civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel]( [Read Here]( Health [Grieving their fallen soldier sons, families donate their organs, spread life]( By Renee Ghert-Zand These are the stories of 5 regular and reserve IDF soldiers whose hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys have given 25 people a new lease on life, during dark days of war [Interview / Why doctors come volunteer in Israel at war: ‘I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t’]( By Renee Ghert-Zand [Shepherding life into the world following catastrophe brings hope to Israeli midwives]( By Renee Ghert-Zand [At an exclusive Cyprus retreat center, Supernova rave survivors get help to move on]( By Gavriel Fiske Op-ed Ksenia Svetlova [With all eyes on Gaza, Hamas might send the West Bank up in flames]( The terror group’s popularity jumps as Palestinians lose confidence in Abbas, while IDF operations have killed hundreds and settler violence is at a high. Something has got to give [Analysis / Are prisoner releases pushing West Bank Palestinians into Hamas’s arms?]( By Gianluca Pacchiani [Inside story / Netanyahu stances frustrating US attempts to rally Arab support for post-Hamas Gaza]( By Jacob Magid Reporter's notebook [All quiet on the eastern front? Jerusalem Old City sits empty — and heavily patrolled]( By Gianluca Pacchiani So far, East Jerusalemites aren’t staging mass protests against the war following Hamas’s murderous onslaught, amid strict police measures and fears of jeopardizing social order [Israel’s tiny Druze community punches above its weight to help]( By Sue Surkes Interview Sharon Wrobel [In wartime, a US investor scouts for more battle-tested Israeli tech]( US venture capitalist Aaron Kaplowitz launches 1948 Ventures to invest in technology for military and civilian applications, as Israel wages war on Hamas terror group [Cowboys of the wild West Bank: The visiting US volunteers who ‘own guns, love Israel’]( By Gavriel Fiske The Christian Zionist group behind the recent viral images of American farmhands now in Israel eschews tourist sites in favor of agricultural work [As crops wither, farmers say fields will soon be barren without foreign workers]( By Mati Wagner [Truck dashcam footage shows farmer dodging bullets as he saved 120 from music festival]( By Sue Surkes From the blogs [Dear Shiri Bibas]( By Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar If you, your children, and the remaining hostages are not returned, we will not be able to look ourselves in the mirror [The daily edition]( [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]( [Unsubscribe]( from this List © 2023 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved