At Last—All Surviving Hostages Return Home

Good morning!

It’s a big day: Hamas actually (mostly) followed through with its promise, returning Israel’s last 20 living hostages today (but not most of the bodies of the dead—about which their Israeli families are furious). Jubilation among many Israelis, as well as gratitude toward Donald Trump and hope for future peace, is soaring.

For these people who for over two years have been languishing in captivity to these demonic terrorists to be freed is truly wonderful. But as our first story covers this morning, their freedom did come at a terrible cost—one that will not be fully known for some time.

[BRIEF]

At last—all surviving hostages return home: Hamas has released all 20 of the remaining living Israeli hostages it has held in captivity for the past two years. The anguish of uncertainty gripping the nation since these people were stolen during the October 7 attack is finally past. Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square was packed with thousands of onlookers celebrating, crying, sighing relief.

• President Trump insists the war is over. He spoke before Israel’s Knesset this morning, saying, “Now at last, not only for Israel but also for Palestinians and many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over.” He said that as “the day that breaks on a region transformed, … a beautiful and much brighter future appears suddenly within your reach.”
• Trump told Axios that this deal “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in.”

Yet the day is bittersweet. The deal requires Hamas to return the bodies of 28 deceased hostages, including two Americans, but Hamas says it will return only four of them. It claims it doesn’t know where all the bodies are because those responsible for guarding them were killed or the bodies were lost beneath rubble. This detail is being brushed aside amid the jubilation and claims of victory.

More importantly, as part of the deal, Israel is freeing 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,722 Gazans detained since October 7. Many of these people have significant blood on their hands.

• One is Iyad Abu al-Rub, leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (pij) in part of the West Bank. He has orchestrated and supervised several high-profile terror attacks, including suicide bombings in 2003, 2004 and 2005 that killed 13 people.
• Another is Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a senior Hamas leader who was released in a hostage swap in 2011 and later arrested as part of the Gaza war.
• Though not as high-profile as these two, all 250 have been convicted of murder or similar charges.

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 terror attack, was released from captivity in the same 2011 swap that Qawasmeh was. Many of the current prisoners have been behind bars for decades and may no longer seem to be severe threats like Sinwar was. But Sinwar, when he was released, wasn’t the mastermind of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust; he became that. Who is to say some of those being released now won’t follow Sinwar’s path?

Trump is promising a new era of peace. Prime Minister Netanyahu says the nation is on a path to healing. Israel is rejoicing. Sadly, however, the Bible prophesies that today’s hostage swap will bring only temporary relief. It has done nothing to cool the hatred of the Jews’ enemies. Until Israelis learn to trust God and turn to Him, prophecy warns that Israel’s problems with the Palestinians are only getting started.

NATO starts annual nuclear drill: nato’s annual nuclear deterrence exercises, “Steadfast Noon,” commenced today in the Netherlands with around 2,000 military personnel and 71 aircraft from 14 nations. Though the training is routine, rising global tensions mean that the worst-case scenario the pilots are practicing for may soon become reality.

• The exercise includes American F-35s and surveillance and tanker aircraft.
• The German Air Force is participating with three Tornado aircraft, which are equipped to drop U.S. nuclear bombs, and four Eurofighters.

The prospect of nuclear war has been present for so long that we are desensitized to the threat. But we must face this reality: The Bible warns emphatically of a coming nuclear war. It even reveals that one nation that is participating in these so-called deterrence exercises will be the one to initiate this war.

In “America’s Naive Trust in Germany,” Gerald Flurry explained where today’s nuclear war preparations are leading:

In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus Christ Himself warned of the frightening prospect of mankind wiping itself out: “[E]xcept those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.” The Moffatt translation clarifies this by translating it “saved alive.” This isn’t talking about spiritual salvation but human survival.

No human mind at that time could have foreseen the development of weapons so deadly that mankind would risk destroying itself.

Mr. Flurry then put this together with several prophecies showing the role Germany will play in these destructive end-time events. He continued:

America has forgotten what Hitler-led Germany and Mussolini-led Italy did in World War ii. But this problem isn’t just confined to World Wars i and ii. The partnership of Germany and Italy is really the heart of the “Holy” Roman Empire, which has risen up six times to cause bloodshed like no other empire in history! Six times—so far!

Germany’s alliance with Italy against America and Britain in World War ii, just seven decades ago, was the sixth resurrection of this centuries-long, destructive church-state combine.

History and Bible prophecy show that we need to closely watch Germany’s preparations for nuclear war.

Meet France’s ‘new’ prime minister: Last week, Sébastien Lecornu went down in the history books as France’s shortest-lived prime minister. On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron named his replacement: Sébastien Lecornu.

It seems an appropriate choice for the country that gave the world surrealism.

Lecornu has until the end of today to set a budget for next year before Parliament.

Four parties have promised to censure the new government, but they are still 25 votes short of a majority. But they might find supporters among the many within other parties who are also unhappy with the stunt.

• “France has now moved beyond a political crisis. I think it’s a regime crisis,” veteran commentator Alain Duhamel said. “France is trapped between two systems,” he explained. “We have a president who behaves like a monarch but depends on a parliament he does not control. The two halves of the machine are pulling in opposite directions.”
• “The French are always dissatisfied,” Duhamel continued. “And now they are more than dissatisfied. They are furious.”

Once again, the end of the Fifth Republic is being discussed. These are uncharted and fast-changing times for French politics. Watch for them to end with a strong leader from Germany dominating Europe.

IN OTHER NEWS

Chinese Coast Guard rams Philippine vessel: Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels bullied Philippine boats near Pag-asa Island in the South China Sea yesterday, with one intentionally ramming a Philippine boat. Pag-asa lies well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone as defined by international law, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and reinforced by a 2016 international court ruling. But China rejects international law when it doesn’t serve its purposes and claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, including sections belonging to the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. China enforces its claims partly by antagonizing the vessels of these other nations in their own waters. Though yesterday’s ramming caused only minor damage and no injuries, it marks yet another instance of China’s illegal and destabilizing aggression in one of the world’s most important maritime regions. Watch for China to increase its belligerence in this area as it keeps pushing the world toward war.