WarSclerotic

Sister of slain IDF soldier Goldin outraged truce doesn’t include release of captives

Ayelet Kaufman, the sister of slain IDF soldier Hadar Goldin whose body is believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, decries the fact that the ceasefire doesn’t include the return of her brother’s remains and other captives.

“We have been waiting seven years for a phone call that should have come at 2 a.m.,” she tells Army Radio, referring to the time when the truce entered effect.

“They didn’t talk to us, they didn’t even say ‘we tried,’” Kaufman laments, saying the country’s leaders are “unworthy.”

“I feel like we have lost it, that the truth has come out — the emperor doesn’t have any clothes.”

Officials say ceasefire has no conditions regarding Jerusalem

Army Radio cites unnamed officials involved in the negotiations for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire as saying the truce that entered effect at 2 a.m. has no conditions.

The report comes after the terror group reportedly had demanded that any truce include Israeli concessions in Jerusalem regarding the Temple Mount and/or planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.

The officials add that Egyptian mediators will arrive in the coming days to try and lower tensions in Jerusalem.

IDF says restrictions on daily life likely to be removed in coming hours

IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says that in the coming hours, the IDF Home Front Command is expected to remove some of its restrictions on daily life in southern and central Israel, some of which have been in place since the outbreak of fighting on May 10.

However, the IDF ground troops and other reinforcements deployed to the Gaza border will largely remain in place over the weekend, Zilberman says.

IDF says it warned Hamas not to fire major barrage ahead of ceasefire

Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says that before the ceasefire went into effect at 2 a.m., the military passed a message to Hamas that if it conducted a large-scale rocket attack by Hamas on central Israel, the IDF would retaliate with a massive airstrike on dozens of targets.

According to Zilberman, Israeli jets and other aircraft were kept in the air, hovering over Gaza in the hours before the ceasefire to carry out this threat if necessary.

“But we didn’t need to fulfill our plans. There was no final barrage,” Zilberman says.