'Etched in our hearts forever': Netanyahu, Israeli officials mourn five soldiers killed in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the loss of the five Kfir Brigade soldiers killed by an explosive device in Beit Hanun in Gaza on Tuesday morning, offering his condolences to the families.
The military said that St.-Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, 20, from Jerusalem; Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, 20, from Jerusalem; St.-Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, 20, from Jerusalem; Sgt.-Maj. Benyamin Asulin, 28, from Haifa; and St.-Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, 21, from Beit Shemesh, were killed in the incident.
"On this difficult morning, the entire People of Israel bows its head in mourning for the fall of our heroic fighters, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages," Netanyahu said.
"We embrace the families who have lost their dearest ones, and we pray for the complete recovery of the wounded in the incident. Their sacrifice and bravery will be etched in our hearts forever."
Defense Minister Israel Katz also offered his condolences, writing, "Moshe, Noam, Meir, Benjamin, and Moshe fought heroically and courageously against the Hamas murderers to protect the citizens of Israel and bring back our hostage brothers and sisters.
"I want to express my heartfelt sympathy to the families. A whole nation embraces you.
"May their memory be a blessing," Katz concluded.
President Isaac Herzog stated, "The heartbreaking news of the fall of five heroic sons in Gaza – most of them fighters from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) battalion 'Netzah Yehuda' – pierces the heart.
"Our heroic sons continue to fight day and night with bravery, facing unimaginable human challenges. It is our sacred duty to learn all necessary lessons to protect the lives of our brave fighters – even deep in the heart of battle."
Herzog said that he was praying for the recovery of the wounded soldiers and sent his condolences to the grieving families.
Opposition chief and chairman of Yesh Atid Yair Lapid called this morning "a difficult and painful morning with the deaths of five IDF soldiers in Gaza."
"The entire State of Israel mourns with the families." He also wished a quick recovery for those wounded.
Democrats chairman MK Yair Golan mourned the loss of the soldiers while calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war that has seen the deaths of many IDF soldiers.
"A difficult morning with the news of the fall of five fighters last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
"It has already been 641 days that 50 hostages have been held by Hamas. It has already been 21 months that our sons and daughters have been fighting in the Gaza Strip. Today, we must implement a comprehensive hostage exchange deal, bring back our brothers and sisters, and end the war."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called the loss an "unfathomable pain" and said that the soldiers "gave their lives so that we can continue to live here."
"No words can describe the pain. Sending condolences and a big hug - to the families and friends. And praying for the recovery of the wounded and the safety of the soldiers," Ben-Gvir said.
Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz said he "is with the grieving families in this difficult hour" and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.
"Another difficult morning in which an entire nation mourns the loss of five heroes, the best of our sons, who fell to secure our future and our safety."
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Transcript: José Andrés on "Face the Nation"
The following is the transcript of an interview with Chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 17, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports that the total number of starvation-related deaths has now risen to 250, including 110 children, seven of those deaths in the last 24 hours. World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés joins us this morning from Jerusalem. He visited Gaza late last week. Good morning. It is rare to get a look inside of Gaza. The IDF does not allow journalists in to freely report, but they let you in. What did you see? JOSÉ ANDRÉS: It was a day trip. I was able to go early in the day and leave before sunset, and I visit our main- one of our two main kitchens inside Gaza in Deir al-Balah. And I was able to visit the few warehouses we have there, the bakery, the kitchens, and spending a day trying to see what else the teams need, what else we need to be doing, how we are going to be increasing the hot food and bread that we are producing right now. So this was a day, again, to show support, to see on my own and assess the situation of our own kitchens. And that's what I have to report about that. MARGARET BRENNAN: The U.N. says that there is starvation happening in Gaza, Israel's Prime Minister says there is no starvation. What's real? ANDRÉS: Obviously, there is always a gray area, but we are making boxes for children that we know they are in very- a special need situation. I saw those boxes being made with the name of every one of the children. We need to remember that during many weeks, no food was going inside Gaza, and this is two- two million people. So in the places we know we are feeding, we are doing around 200,000 meals a day, but this is only 10 percent of the need. That's what we are trying to increase. I can say that where we are, obviously, people are- are being fed at the bare minimum. It's not everything they should be receiving, but at the very least they're receiving a piece of bread and a piece of food. But we need much more aid. We need to make sure that the aid is never interrupted again. We need to make sure that the flow of trucks keeps happening. We need to make sure that we have safe roads so those trucks can reach their intended delivery place. We need to make sure that all the NGOs that are actively trying to do the best they can to take care of people inside Gaza- and this is beyond food, obviously, medicines, etc., etc. We need to make sure that the aid is massive enough that we don't get to those moments where- in some areas, like in the north, that is still very difficult to reach, that we know that people are desperate for food. MARGARET BRENNAN: You mentioned for many weeks no food was allowed in. That was a government policy. There was a blockade for many months. That is now lifted officially. But as you say, your organization wants to scale up. You are trying to produce one million meals a day in Gaza. Can you get the fuel in to do that? Can you get the food in? Are Israeli officials giving you a green light? ANDRÉS: Well, it's a million because we are an organization that we specialize in emergencies and in food, but obviously we are requesting that all the NGOs that are participating in feeding are given more access, including us and other organizations like Anera, which was one of the organizations we work with that they've been in Gaza for many, many decades- and many others. We need to make sure that everybody has access. For that, we need a lot of things, the trucks inside Gaza. We need to remember that the trucks come from outside Gaza, and there they are put aside. And then we need to reload the trucks that are inside Gaza. This takes time. We need more trucks inside so the trucking company can have enough people and enough trucks to have a constant flow. I have to report that, yes, I saw a good flow of trucks going in. I don't- around 150 to 250 trucks are going in every day. But even I will say that this is not enough. We need to make sure that we massively increase- that we massively make sure that nobody has to be walking for miles to try to reach a place where they can find a plate of food or use a bag of rice. We need to make sure- like what World Central Kitchen does, at one moment we had, you know, 100, 200 kitchen partners. We need to make sure that we are cooking where people live. We need to make sure that we are feeding them where people are, so the people don't have to be, again, leaving their neighborhoods, leaving their tents and walking for hours back and forth only to try to bring little bit of food back home. MARGARET BRENNAN: In terms of walking to designated areas for food, you're referring to the model that the Israelis have set up with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. You are saying that their preferred method of feeding people is not sufficient. ANDRÉS: Well, it takes a village, right? To feed 2 million people and more in a- in a situation like the people of Gaza are facing. That's why the model we are- we are pushing for is the more kitchens we have, the better. Right now, we have 80 partner kitchens on top of the two main World Central Kitchen kitchens, but that's not enough. We need to make sure that we increase the numbers of World Central Kitchen, the big ones that people can see on the webpage of World Central Kitchen or in my Twitter account. We need to make sure that our partner kitchens, that they produce between 500 and two, three, four thousand meals each. We need to make sure the bakeries are fully loaded with bread. We need to make sure that we have the fuel. That's why we need to be bringing pellets, because we have hundreds of kitchens firing up every day. We need the fuel to be able to cook the food. The big bakery we have, a bakery that was in partnership with the Kingdom of Jordan that is doing almost 50,000 loaves of bread a day. We need diesel to make sure that we are able to move the machinery to be very effective, but that's only one bakery doing 50,000 pitas a day. We need many more bakeries to make sure that we are able to- to cover the demand of 2 million people. MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, I have to ask you about an incident that happened a few days ago. World Central Kitchen issued a statement saying the Israeli government told you armed people were posing as workers for your organization. Is that the first time that you've heard bad actors are trying to pose as humanitarian workers? Have you experienced exploitation by Hamas? ANDRÉS: Obviously, World Central Kitchen, we are a young organization. Gaza is a very complicated place. I know this is still kind of under investigation on our side and everybody else. But doubly, we are there to be next to the people of Gaza, next to the Palestinians. At the end, what we have is Palestinians feeding Palestinians. Only in our kitchens, we have around 600 Palestinians doing amazing work just trying to feed their fellow citizens, and that's what we plan to continue to make sure that Palestinians feed Palestinians, that Palestinians take care of themselves, and we're going to be giving them all the support we can to achieve that. MARGARET BRENNAN: And I understand you met with a former hostage while you were in- in Israel, whose brother is still being held in Gaza. What did you learn? ANDRÉS: Yeah, I've been- I've been- I've been- I've been meeting with- with different- but these- I met with Iair Horn. His brother is still in Gaza. You know, we had a two hour conversation. You know, was hard to listen to the story. Obviously, he wants his brother- his brother out. Today is a very massive strike in- in Israel, and everybody is asking for the return of the hostages. That's what should be happening. That's what should be- let's hope that this happens, obviously, alongside of a cease-fire, of peace, where nobody is under bombs, where nobody has their loved ones away, where nobody is losing their loved ones in the middle of- of- of this- of this war, where everybody is fed, where we can start the reconstruction of Gaza, where every children can receive a plate of food that they can go back to school, where, obviously, the hostages are released, where the people of Palestine and Gaza can live in peace and where the people of Israel can live in peace. What is good for you must be good for me. Let's hope that you at least will cover the basic minimums right now of feeding everybody, hopefully also the hostages being released as soon as possible. MARGARET BRENNAN: José Andrés, thank you very much for your time this morning. Full interview: José Andrés on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" José Andrés on what he saw on a recent trip to Gaza Alaska Sen. 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Police said they arrested 38 people. 'The only way to bring (hostages) back is through a deal, all at once, without games,' former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Her boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still held by Hamas. One protester carried a photo of an emaciated Palestinian child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations but now appear more often as outrage grows over conditions for Palestinian civilians after more than 250 malnutrition-related deaths. Netanyahu opposes any deal that leaves Hamas in power An end to the war does not seem near. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing competing pressures including the potential for mutiny within his coalition. 'Those who today call for an end to the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas' position and delaying the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will be repeated,' Netanyahu said, referencing the Hamas-led attack in 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and sparked the war. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages earlier this year, far-right members of his cabinet threatened to topple Netanyahu's government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the demonstrations 'a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas' hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.' The new offensive would require the call-up of thousands of reservists, another concern for many Israelis. Another 17 aid-seekers killed in Gaza Hospitals and witnesses in Gaza said Israeli forces killed at least 17 aid-seekers on Sunday, including nine awaiting U.N. aid trucks close to the Morag corridor. Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away. He saw two people with gunshot wounds. 'It's either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,' he said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported distribution points that have become the main source of aid since they opened in May, said there was no gunfire 'at or near' its sites, which are located in military-controlled areas. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions. Israel's air and ground war has displaced most of Gaza's population and killed more than 61,900 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Two children and five adults died of malnutrition-related causes Sunday, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. The United Nations has warned that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Most aid has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after ending a ceasefire. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organizations say the flow is far below what is needed. Fears of the coming military offensive It is not clear when Israel's military will begin the new offensive in the crowded Gaza City, Muwasi and what Netanyahu has called the 'central camps' of Gaza. The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, this weekend noted plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones to southern Gaza 'for their protection.' Designated 'safe zones,' however, also have been bombed during the war. War-weary Palestinians on Sunday insisted that they won't leave, arguing that there is 'no safe place' in Gaza. 'There are no humanitarian zones at all,' said Raghda Abu Dhaher, who said she has been displaced 10 times during the war and now shelters in a school in western Gaza City. Mohamed Ahmed also insisted that he won't move south. 'Here is bombing and there is bombing,' he said. Airstrike on power plant in Yemen Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital Sunday, escalating strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who since the war in Gaza began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah Television said the strikes targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service. Israel's military said the strikes were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel. While some projectiles have breached its missile defenses — notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen. Its military later Sunday said it had intercepted another, and the Houthis claimed they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. ___ Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel and Magdy from Cairo. Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
