After two years in Hamas captivity, hostages Eitan Horn and Nimrod Cohen returned to their hometowns, reuniting with family and friends, as communities in Kfar Sava and Rehovot celebrated their release

Ariana Harwicz's blazing novel 'Unfit' tells the story of Lisa, a Jewish Argentine immigrant in rural France battling for custody of her children as her mental health unravels. Harwicz tells Haaretz how her own 'Kafkaesque' experience in court informed her story – and why she considers cultural boycotts against Israel as an attack on Diaspora Jews.

At Israel's state memorial for soldiers killed during the Gaza war, Netanyahu said that 'the struggle is not yet over.' President Isaac Herzog said in his speech that Israel must 'create a vision for the future, for the "day after'' – both domestically and internationally'

Kevin Spacey, Michael Rapaport, Azealia Banks: What do artist still willing to come to Israel have in common? And how classical and Greek music may save the country from isolation

With a cease-fire in Gaza, and a Supreme Court deadline, Netanyahu will look for ways to circumvent the the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the failures leading to October 7 – and any accountability. Israelis must hope the courts are still strong enough to stand up to him

As Israel celebrates the hostages' return from Hamas captivity, Prime Minister Netanyahu's inner circle is using the moment to attack the courts, weaken the rule of law and tighten its grip on power

'We reached every corner of the earth to speak about you, to tell the world what an amazing man you are, and that we must not give up on you,' said Nimrodi's father. A senior commander said of al-Atrash that he 'showed courage and love and was a bridge of mutual responsibility in our country'

The wars of the last two years saw a surge in money and arms to Israel. But it seems the president, the Republicans and Americans in general want to tighten the spigot

One foreign official said Israel is still committed to the agreement and had also been aware in advance that Hamas would have difficulty returning the bodies of deceased hostages within days, but expected Hamas to return more than nine bodies by Thursday

In the face of propaganda and applause, we raised a sign to remind the world who's still paying the price

As politicians and dignitaries take part in Trondheim Synagogue's centennial celebrations later this month, for the city's small but growing Jewish population it has become a safe haven from post-October 7 antisemitism

Israel had earlier warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid into the Gaza Strip as Hamas was returning the bodies of dead hostages too slowly. Two sources told Reuters that the Rafah crossing was expected to open for the movement of people on Thursday

Trump's plan for Gaza leaves an opening for Hamas to become an unarmed political movement. Israel must prepare for the possibility that, just as Trump legitimized Al-Sharaa's terrorist militias in Syria and signed agreements with the Taliban in Afghanistan, he might well view Hamas, too, as a 'deserving' organization if it just agrees to disarm

'It's beginning to look like a massacre there,' one IDF officer said. According to another officer, Israeli soldiers can see from observation posts that armed Hamas members are shooting at Palestinians who have tried to resist them – or who are suspected of assisting Israel – but have been instructed not to intervene

From Qalqilya to Petah Tikva, between Marjayoun and Safed, without fences and borders: The first Hebrew translation of a travelogue by young Ottoman elites reveals rich cultures and a shared life just before everything changed

Even arms smuggling doesn't disturb the calm and quiet of Kadesh Barnea, an isolated moshav on Israel's border with Egypt. Just three sirens in two years – the Israeli version of the end of the world

Throughout the Gaza war, foreign journalists have only been allowed to enter areas controlled by the army, and only when accompanied by IDF spokesmen, who prevented them from freely covering the war

Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli invited Tommy Robinson amid criticism from British Jews, who condemned the visit as 'a slap in the face' after the deadly Manchester synagogue attack. Robinson, a convicted far-right agitator, called the U.K.-Israel struggle 'the same fight'

The bodies of hostages hostages Inbar Haiman and Muhammad al-Atrash were returned to Israel as U.S. advisers vowed: 'We will not leave until everybody comes home.' They warned that locating 19 additional bodies will be difficult amid rubble and unexploded ordnance – and said Washington is preparing a cash-for-tips program to help locate them

The public euphoria following the hostages' return is accompanied by a desire by Israelis to return to business as usual, ignoring the destruction on the other side of the border

Israeli speeches and rallies over the past days have demonstrated complete disregard for pain and suffering in Gaza, and the destruction that the IDF has left behind

Newly freed hostage Matan Angrest left his hospital bed to eulogize his former commander, Daniel Peretz, as he was laid to rest at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem. Peretz fought alongside Angrest and Itay Chen, whose body is still held in Gaza, on October 7

In August 2024, Haaretz reported that Palestinians have been used by Israeli army units in the Gaza Strip as human shields for soldiers during operations. A senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the body was an IDF soldier abducted during a Hamas operation in May 2024

Families of hostages who were freed from Hamas captivity on Monday thanked Israelis who protested with them, the Trump administration, and Netanyahu, for securing the return of their loved ones, as they vowed to continue the fight to bring back all remaining deceased hostages

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told Defense Minister Israel Katz that his failure to sign essential documents has delayed the indictment of Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv for violating a privacy law related to the Shin Bet, and 'disrupts the integrity of the legal process'

Now that a cease-fire is in place, one of Israel's many reckonings must address the belief that good hasbara can distract the world from bad policies, like the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or the suppression of Palestinian self-determination

Karin Prien, Germany's first Jewish minister in decades, talks to Haaretz about Israel-Germany relations after Gaza and what it means to be a German-Jewish politician when 'an atmosphere leading to a pogrom could arise'

After Bipin Joshi's family struggled for two years to gather any information on his condition in Gaza captivity, they are now left to grieve and commend his heroic actions on October 7, 2023. 'Words cannot describe the void left within us, which first opened two years ago and has now deepened forever'

Michel, Guy's father, spoke at the funeral, which was held two days after his son's remains were returned alongside three other deceased hostages. 'You've returned to the soil and roots, to the landscape of your homeland that you loved so much,' he said

The hominin P. boisei had the theoretical dexterity to make tools but had hands as strong as a gorilla, which wasn't expected

Yosef Chaim Ohana's father said that his son was forced to stand and was deprived of sleep for days before his release ■ Eitan Horn's mother said he had yet to share details of his separation from brother Iair, who was freed from captivity eight months earlier

Traffic at Ben-Gurion International Airport remains brisk even after the holiday season, with 70,000-80,000 flyers passing through daily. British Airways, Iberia and Swiss are due to begin flying again at the end of October. Others, including ITA, Ryanair and easyJet, have not returned

Two men on a motorcycle opened fire on a car, wounding two passengers in a crime family feud. Israeli soldiers mistook the shooting for a terror attack, shot at the motorcycle and killed one rider. A bystander was also killed, according to initial police reports

Israel saves 450 million shekels a year by no longer having to feed 2,000 prisoners, plus billions more with the expected release of thousands of IDF reservists ■ These are just two of the cost-saving measures from the temporary agreement for Israel ■ In the long term, the country's economic gains will depend on decisions about Gaza's future

Haaretz returns to six immigrants interviewed in the aftermath of October 7 to find out how the two-year war in Gaza, growing divisions within Israeli society and the global rise in antisemitism have affected their new lives

People aren't born cruel; they become so. Palestinian cruelty toward Israelis is widely covered, while our cruelty, that of Israeli society, is getting ever more sophisticated to protect our spoils

The victim was shot at close range by masked assailants while students played in the schoolyard; at the same time, two men in their 40s were shot dead on Route 443 in central Israel

The co-creator of new Israeli series 'Red Alert,' says the initial idea was an attempt to restore faith in kindness and human goodness. Some families of survivors and victims feel differently. 'The media is trying to force us to move on,' says a sister of an Israeli murdered at Nova

Yair Golan and his Democrats Party must act on all fronts and on media platforms to implant and instill in the discourse and the consciousness of the sectors of the Israeli public the connection between Zionism and the two-state solution. This mission is not beyond reach

The legislation, proposed by a Likud lawmaker, would let the defense minister limit court hearings in a criminal case if 'they are liable to cause real harm to national security.' Netanyahu's corruption trial testimony resumed Wednesday morning and was cut short due to 'a cold that won't go away'

For visitors to Jerusalem's Mount Herzl on the anniversary of October 7, 'time passes and your strength runs out,' as one mother puts it. But they summon more strength all the same

Abed Yassin's unexpected choice to play for Palestine left Bnei Sakhnin soccer club feeling betrayed, even as Palestinian media hails him as a trailblazer

In the coming months, conferences will tackle Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But as long as Netanyahu's right-wing government refuses to recognize a Palestinian state, the region's future will continue to be transformed by Trump and his allies, Turkey and Qatar, who have little love lost for Israel

Zamir Chaimi, uncle of Tal Chaimi, whose body is held in Gaza, says Israeli decision-makers have forgotten the families of the deceased hostages. 'Let people have a few days to rejoice, then we'll keep fighting for those who remain,' he says

The family of Staff Sgt. Nimrodi, who served at an IDF base in southern Israel where he was kidnapped, was notified of his death after two years during which his fate was unknown. According to his family, he was killed in an IDF strike in Gaza. Baruch and Levy were killed on Oct. 7 and their bodies were taken hostage. A fourth body was received; however, the IDF says it does not match any hostage

Canine 'toy junkies' may activate the same neural pathways that drive humans into craving cocaine, study finds