I’m really not that good at math. But I can do simple addition. And there are just way too many things that are not adding up. That are just not making sense or are way out of the ordinary capabilities of my thinking.

Last Sunday, all of Israel sat tensely, gnawing their fingernails as the ceasefire with Gaza was to go into effect. A list of names of the hostages to be released was delayed for over 18 hours. No one knew who the captives would be or whether they would be alive or dead. It wasn’t until just before that the names of the three girls was released.

What has come to be known as “Hostage Square” in downtown TelAviv was packed with people watching the live footage on the big screens of the hand off. The rest of us were glued to the televisions. Nervous. Anxious to see in what shape the girls would be. Why did AlJazeera get the exclusive news coverage? Why was no other news agency allowed in to film the events in Gaza?

First take (by everyone): if there was a true genocide taking place in Gaza, then why were the streets crammed full of hundreds of thousands of people? All angry men and young boys chanting ‘Khaybar Khaybar, yo Yahud….” basically ‘Death to the Jews(remember the Khaybar massacre)” How could there be that many people?

If there were only civilians, innocent civilians, then why were all these men in Hamas uniforms? Why did they all carry guns? Where did all those white trucks come from carrying all these militants? This was an entire army. There seemed to be very few if any ‘civilians.’ This doesn’t add up to all those narratives we’ve been told.

The Red Cross was unavailable to the hostages. They never once saw the hostages while in captivity. No assessments of conditions, no humanitarian aid given, no medications sent by Israel delivered to the captives. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. So why was the Red Cross involved in checking the girls beforehand, handing them officially from Hamas to waiting IDF helicopters, taking credit for their impeccable care of Romi, Emily and Doron?

If there was a famine, a complete crisis where people were actually starving to death, then why did all these people jumping around on the tops of cars, chanting in the streets, waving guns and Hamas flags for the cameras…why did everyone look so well fed? How could they have that much energy? Last I heard, a starving person is quite lethargic, having to conserve vital energy in order to live. How come???

O.K. I understand that these Gazans would want to make their hostages appear to look good, but swag bags were given to each of the girls as they were put into the Red Cross SUV’s. Each bag had a cute little Hamas sticker on it. Each bag contained a Palestinian flag lanyard, photos of the girls in captivity (as a remembrance of those good times they had???), a map of Gaza (in case they wanted to return?). Is this some kind of a perverted trick or what? It just doesn’t add up.

To make things even more surreal, each hostage had to pose with a smile (look at their faces as they run to the car – sheer terror) as they received a certificate from their Hamas captors!! No this is not a joke! It was the weirdest, sickest thing ever! Each certificate was signed by…. a Red Cross official. Just so weird…. Can anyone make sense of this for me?

https://youtu.be/MCxGJ5gi98o?si=piUUHyb8uErqrw-6

Back to these innocent Gazans. Why were their uniforms pristine if they had been fighting in tunnels and on land in the choking Gazan dust for 484 days? Could it be that when they are walking about the streets of the city, they wear civvies? Could they disguise themselves as civilians, not terrorist Hamas operatives so they won’t get shot? The math does not work.

When you begin to add everything up, the thing that just does not compute is three innocent girls who had been taken captive as they were in their apartments or at a dance festival were traded for 100. 100 caught in the act, tried and convicted felons. Convicted for murder, attempted murder, planning a terrorist attack, attempted terrorism, illegal entry into a sovereign nation, kidnapping, rape. Nothing works out here if you do the math, no matter how hard you try to rearrange the columns or make those numbers fit. I think we’re dealing with exponents now?

We all know there is absolutely no water and no electricity in Gaza. It’s what we’ve been told for years. Israel controls the utilities. Israel withholds basic food, water, medicine and power. We know this. Right? So can someone please explain to me just why all these men were filming the hostage release on their cell phones, because they all had cell phones, and they were all charged. How did they obtain such luxuries? How could they find enough electricity to charge all those phones? I cannot for the life of me make these figures add up-

So. Now. We wait. Once again. This time more anxiously than the last. Tomorrow Hamas is supposed to release the names of the next four women to be released. Saturday. Or maybe Sunday(these guys just don’t seem to want to follow any of the set rules of the game)? Tomorrow is the day the list of the remaining 26 captives is handed over… with their state of beingness. Who is alive and who is dead? The four members of the Bibas family will be included on that list. Those are the two babaies taken, now ages 1 1/2 and 5. We hope. We pray. We wish. We “please, G-d.” We steel ourselves and brace for the worst. Please, G-d, let them be alive!

Midnight addendum: Friday 23 Jan

Hamas has refused to give a list of names of who is alive and who is dead. They will only give numbers of live bodies and corpses to be released. This was not part of the plan, it is just more psychological warfare on their part. How long can this go on?????