VFI News Hamas Puts One-Third of Israeli Hostages at Risk of Death, Kills Gazan Civilians

Discover the latest developments in Israel with VFI News! Join us as we delve into a myriad of crucial events unfolding in the region. From Israel facing charges at the ICJ over alleged genocide in Gaza to ongoing IDF operations, escalating violence on the northern border, and the Red Sea transforming into a hot warzone involving global powers. Stay informed on the complex dynamics shaping the Middle East.

As tensions rise, Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi's controversial statement adds another layer of complexity, emphasizing the need for careful diplomacy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu counters, emphasizing Israel's commitment to fighting terrorism and compliance with international law.

In Gaza, IDF operations reveal the discovery of an underground tunnel where hostages were held, with uncertain prospects for their safe return. Meanwhile, ISIS criticizes Hamas for sacrificing Palestinians in pursuit of an Iranian agenda.

Amidst these challenges, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses support for Israel, dismissing baseless charges at the ICJ. Yet, concerns linger over potential shifts in international alliances.

The Red Sea emerges as a focal point, with Houthi rebel attacks on ships raising alarms. The geopolitical landscape becomes increasingly intricate, requiring careful navigation. In the midst of it all, the Israeli government grapples with an influx of healthcare professionals, presenting both opportunities and challenges.

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At least a third of the 136 hostages remaining in Hamas captivity suffer from chronic illnesses, each at immediate risk of death, according to a report published Tuesday, January 9, by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.

The testimonies from those who have been released from captivity reveal severe cases of both mental and physical abuse. “This includes brutal sexual assault, which also affects men, mutilation, torture, enforced starvation, and dehydration,” the report says.

“On top of that, there is a lack of medical care and denial of access to Red Cross representatives. With each day that passes, the health and lives of all the hostages, both men and women, are increasingly at risk.”

According to the report, about a third of the Israelis remaining in Hamas captivity are dealing with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, osteoporosis, anemia, asthma, cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, hypertension, and other conditions.

For instance, Dolav Yehud, 35, is grappling with kidney disease and thyroid issues. Youssef Alziadna, 53, suffers from diabetes and hypertension, while Omer Wenkert, 22, suffers from ulcerative colitis. Michel Nisenbaum, 59, has Crohn’s disease and desperately needs consistent treatment, including intravenous therapy.

“Without treatment, he faces severe complications and an immediate threat to his life,” the report states. “The hostages are held in conditions of poor nutrition and inadequate hygiene, affecting everyone, but especially those with complex medical backgrounds and specific nutritional needs. One infant, Kfir Bibas, and one toddler, Ariel Bibas, are at risk of death or severe complications if they do not receive nutrition that meets their specific dietary requirements,” states the report. (YNet / VFI News)

“Lord, we pray for the well-being and health of our hostages. We humbly ask that You take care of them and provide them with the nutrition and medical aid they deserve so they can survive the horrifying conditions they are forced to live in. We pray that the Red Cross will be granted access to them and that they will be rescued soon and brought back home.”

The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.

Gazan civilians have testified to officers of the IDF’s Unit 504 how Hamas murdered Gazan civilians who tried to get help from UNRWA, and that Hamas terrorists steal food from US aid organizations and seize civilian properties for military use.

In one recorded call, a Gazan civilian testified that Hamas murdered his cousin because he tried to seek help from UNRWA. “When will you get rid of [Hamas]? They killed my cousin yesterday because he went to UNRWA. They killed him in Rafah,” the civilian is heard on a recording telling the IDF officer.

In another conversation, a civilian said he does not leave his home because he fears Hamas will seize it and use the property to fire toward Israel and destroy his house. “[Hamas] want us to leave our homes so they can take control of them in order to shoot at you,” the man tells the IDF. “We keep our houses so that no one takes them over.”

A different civilian is recorded telling the IDF how Hamas terrorists steal food from civilians. “I work at the American organization called WKSA [The American World Kitchen], when I was preparing a dish, some of [Hamas] came. They tried to steal food from me but I prevented them. They steal from the warehouses of UNRWA. When the supplies arrive, they try to steal,” the civilian stated. (JPost / VFI News)

“Lord, we pray for the safety and prosperity of all innocent Gazan civilians. We pray that You would comfort the families of those who lost their lives at the hands of Hamas and we extend our sincerest condolences. Lord, we ask that You help us defeat all terrorist organizations for good so that we can all live peacefully and prosper alongside each other.”

From the start of the war against Hamas, 13,000 Israelis, including more than 2,500 soldiers, have been wounded. This was reported by Health Minister Uriel Bosso to the Knesset Health Committee on Monday, January 8.

Committee chairman Yonatan Mashriki said that the budget for rehabilitation of the wounded will be increased from 900 to 1,500 beds with a real increase of about NIS 2 billion to the budget of the four public health funds. The budget for resilience centers to treat people with psychological trauma is also being increased by NIS 180 million, and what they do with the money will be monitored.

Bosso added that the plan for mental health has been budgeted for NIS 2b. to strengthen the community, especially in the periphery. The multi-year hospital bed plan includes an addition of about 2,300 until 2028.

Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov praised medical personnel and their heroism during the fighting and emphasized plans to promote human capital, prevent chronic disease, and boost infrastructure technologies and the availability and quality of services.

Meanwhile, Israeli media recently reported that 25 Hamas terrorists, who were captured alive since October 7 and needed medical treatment, were evacuated and have received treatment in hospitals in Israel. According to the report, in some cases, Hamas terrorists were lying in beds near IDF soldiers who were also injured in Gaza. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we thank You for guiding our leaders into allocating funds wisely and prioritizing Israeli citizens’ mental and physical health. We are extremely grateful for our dedicated healthcare workers and we trust that the public health system will become even more robust and accessible from now on. We pray for everyone who is currently wounded while fighting terrorism and we hope that they will recover as soon as possible and feel Your grace and mercy.”

A senior Hezbollah commander responsible for a series of drone attacks across northern Israel since October 7 was ironically taken out by a drone strike, according to reports.

Ali Hussein Barji, chief of Hezbollah’s aerial forces in southern Lebanon, was killed on Tuesday, January 9, in an explosion in the town of Khirbet Selm, where members of the Iranian-backed terror group were attending the funeral of senior officer Wissam al-Tawil, Israeli media reported. Al-Tawil was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon the previous day.

Barji was believed to have been the mastermind behind the drone attacks that have plagued northern Israel since the Lebanese terrorists with Hezbollah launched their own assault on the Jewish state in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Those attacks included a strike against the IDF’s Northern Command headquarters in Safed on Tuesday — before Barji died the same day. The key Israeli base was hit with an explosives-laden drone, with Hezbollah claiming responsibility for the attack in response to al-Tawil’s death Monday, as well as the killing of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut last week.

The IDF said the attack on the Safed base triggered rocket sirens across multiple cities in northern Israel. The Israeli military said there were no casualties in Tuesday’s attacks. The IDF did not comment on the drone strike that killed Barji, however, the Israeli military did acknowledge that it carried out a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah on Tuesday morning across southern Lebanon. (NYP / VFI News)

“Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.” - Psalm 21:11

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The IDF is focusing its military efforts in Gaza on the tunnel system below the southern city of Khan Yunis, based on the Israeli military’s belief that senior Hamas leaders remain hidden in the vast underground complex.

The IDF has reportedly withdrawn thousands of its soldiers from northern Gaza amid discussions over the military’s transition to the third phase of the war against Hamas in the Strip. However, it has deepened military efforts in the center and south, while close to two full IDF divisions are operating across Khan Yunis, focusing operations on the tunnel complex underneath the city.

According to some estimations, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar may have surrounded himself with hostages and used them as human shields, which would tie the mission to locate and kill Sinwar together with the IDF’s stated war goal of freeing the hostages.

In Khan Yunis, IDF Soldiers of the 55th Brigade have recently uncovered Hamas equipment and proof that the group has exploited civilian areas.

Meanwhile, the IDF revealed on Thursday, January 11, that using the information collected by IDF troops on the ground and analysis of the tunnels exposed by the forces up until now, it is estimated that over 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of metal were used by Hamas to build the hundreds of kilometers of underground infrastructure, at a total cost of tens of millions of dollars. (JPost / VFI News)

“The Lord said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hands, along with his whole army and his land.’ ” - Deuteronomy 3:2

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, met with the Permanent Observer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the UN, Laetitia Courtois, on Wednesday, January 10, in New York and strongly criticized the organization for its failures over the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

“The Red Cross refuses to publicly condemn Hamas, which even denies access to the hostages or the transfer of medication to them and carries out the most serious war crimes,” Erdan said at the meeting.

“Hamas is committing heinous and abhorrent war crimes, and the Red Cross covers it up, refusing to condemn its actions publicly and not presenting to the world the monstrous behavior of Hamas towards the captives.”

Erdan detailed to Courtois that Hamas had planned from the beginning to use international law against Israel and, immediately after committing the massacres of October 7, to manipulate the UN and international organizations to pressure Israel for a ceasefire that would allow Hamas to remain in power.

Erdan also criticized UN agencies for using the privileges they receive from Israel for their employees to identify and spread falsehoods against Israel. He emphasized that the day after the war, he would recommend to the government to cancel residence permits and immediately expel many UN employees until fundamental changes and reforms occur in the motivated UN bodies. (JPost / VFI News)

The BBC apologized Friday, January 5, for a Christmas Eve report containing an unverified Hamas claim that Israelis were committing “summary executions” – or executions based on guilt without a fair trial – on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

“In overnight output, we ran a story about Hamas accusing the Israeli army of carrying out summary executions in the Gaza strip,” the apology, posted to the outlet’s corrections and clarifications page, read.

“This was a Hamas statement, but although the accusations were attributed and our story contained a response from the Israeli military saying they were unaware of the incident and that Hamas was a terrorist organization that did not value truth, we had not made sufficient effort to seek corroborating evidence to justify reporting the Hamas claim. We apologize for this mistake,” it continued.

Afterward, the BBC told American media that it had no further comment on the matter. It should be noted that this is not the first time the BBC has apologized for false reporting against the IDF since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

On November 15, the news organization apologized for falsely claiming that IDF forces were targeting medical teams in battles in and around the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza where the Hamas terrorist organization has made a command and control center. (FN / VFI News)

“My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.” - Psalm 109:1-3

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a harsh reaction to the three-hour deliberation at the International Court of Justice in the Hague on Thursday morning, January 11, on the petition by South Africa against Israel on charges of “genocide” during the war in Gaza.

“Today we were witness to one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history, compounded by a series of false and baseless claims,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.

“South Africa, which is functioning as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorist organization, utterly distorted the reality in Gaza following the October 7 massacre and completely ignored the fact that Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, murdered, executed, massacred, raped and abducted Israeli citizens, simply because they were Israelis, in an attempt to carry out genocide. South Africa seeks to allow Hamas to return to commit the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and sexual crimes they committed repeatedly on October 7, as its leaders have stated," it added.

Meanwhile, while South Africa sues Israel, its President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting a mass murderer in the country - and held a meeting with him. Ramaphosa met with the leader of the RSF in Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Dagalo is responsible for mass murders and reignited the civil war in Sudan a few months ago.

In support of Israel, more than 1,000 Christians gathered in the Hague on Thursday to march for it and against the opening of South Africa’s trial. Further, British Tory MP Sir Michael Ellis denounced South Africa in the Parliament for its decision to accuse Israel of genocide. (INN / VFI News)

“Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” - 1 Timothy 4:2

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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