Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

With the return to Israel of the three most recently released hostages, several hostage families are receiving the first signs of life from their loved ones, including hostage Alon Ohel. Horovitz discusses the heartbreaking descriptions shared by Idit Ohel, Alon Ohel's mother, on the Sunday night news. Ohel broke down crying as she described her son's injuries and abuses, now known by the family as Ohel was held until Saturday with released hostages Or Levy and Eli Sharabi.

Horovitz talks about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's return home to Israel, where he and his cabinet summarily postponed the discussion of convening a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, a commission that would presumably cause his government to fall.

Horovitz also reviews Netanyahu's reactions to US President Donald Trump's ideas about the Gaza Strip, a plan that the prime minister seemingly didn't know about before arriving in the US last week, and how Trump's support of Israel is pushing Netanyahu forward on his goals in Gaza.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

For further reading:

Pleading for his release, mother says hostage Alon Ohel is wounded, chained in Hamas tunnels

At rowdy meeting, cabinet delays for 3 months decision on state inquiry into Gaza war

PM returns to court for criminal trial testimony, says he faces medical ‘challenges’

Trump’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Gaza Edition’ has many flaws. One of the worst is its absent morality

IMAGE: In Kfar Saba in February 2025, a protestor holding images of hostages, Tsahi Idan, left, included in the first stage of the exchange, while hostage Alon Ohel, right, is not (Credit: Danor Aharon)

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