The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | February 20th, 2025: Hamas Holds Sick Propaganda Ceremony For Dead Israelis & White House Designates Latin American Cartels As Terrorist Organizations
Thu, 20 Feb 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, Hamas provoked international outrage with a barbaric display as they returned the bodies of four deceased hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest captives taken during the 7 October 2023 terror attack, parading their coffins in front of a crowd of cheering spectators who shouted anti-Israel taunts. Later in the show, the Trump administration moves to designate Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and a number of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in their latest crackdown on transnational crime. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Ramp: Get $250 when you join Ramp. Go to ramp.com/PDB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened during the Hamas propaganda ceremony?
First, Hamas provoked international outrage with a barbaric display as they returned the bodies of four deceased hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest captives taken during the 7 October 2023 terror attacks, parading their coffins in front of a crowd of cheering spectators in Gaza who shouted anti-Israeli slogans.
Later in the show, the Trump administration moves to designate TDA, MS-13, and a number of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in their latest crackdown on transnational crime. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.
We'll begin in Gaza, where Hamas turned the release of four deceased Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two young children, into a bizarre and barbaric spectacle. As we've been tracking on the PDB, Hamas announced earlier this week that they would be returning the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest captives taken during the 7 October attacks.
Hamas decided to use the somber moment to stage a propaganda ceremony, inviting local Gazans and militants to spectate and broadcasting the scenes across Arab television channels. That's according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The Iranian-backed terror group built a stage where they displayed four coffins containing the remains of Shiri Bibas, a 33-year-old mother taken on 7 October, along with her two sons, Ariel and Kefir, who were just four years old and nine months old when they were kidnapped by Hamas, as well as 83-year-old Oded Lifshiz, a peace activist.
On the backdrop of this stage was a banner with photos of all four victims. Above that was a bloody picture of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, depicted as a vampire, with an inscription that read, quote, War criminal Netanyahu and his army killed them with missiles and Zionist warplanes.
The coffins also had a picture of each victim, with text reading, Date of arrest, October 7th, 2023, along with a photo of Netanyahu over which was written, quote, The killer. There was also a banner that threateningly read, quote, the return of the war equals the return of your prisoners in coffins, as well as a placard that said, quote, we never forgave nor forgot, end quote.
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Chapter 2: How did the international community react to the Hamas spectacle?
Chapter 3: Who are the victims involved in the Hamas ceremony?
The Iranian-backed terror group built a stage where they displayed four coffins containing the remains of Shiri Bibas, a 33-year-old mother taken on 7 October, along with her two sons, Ariel and Kefir, who were just four years old and nine months old when they were kidnapped by Hamas, as well as 83-year-old Oded Lifshiz, a peace activist.
On the backdrop of this stage was a banner with photos of all four victims. Above that was a bloody picture of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, depicted as a vampire, with an inscription that read, quote, War criminal Netanyahu and his army killed them with missiles and Zionist warplanes.
The coffins also had a picture of each victim, with text reading, Date of arrest, October 7th, 2023, along with a photo of Netanyahu over which was written, quote, The killer. There was also a banner that threateningly read, quote, the return of the war equals the return of your prisoners in coffins, as well as a placard that said, quote, we never forgave nor forgot, end quote.
As the coffins were placed on stage, crowds of spectators cheered and shouted anti-Israeli taunts. Among the crowd were reportedly Palestinian prisoners recently released in the current hostage ceasefire deal, and they were supposed to be exiled from Gaza under the terms of the agreement.
Among those spotted was Mohammed Abu Woda, who orchestrated a 1996 bus bombing that killed more than 40 Israelis. The remains were then transferred into the custody of officials with the International Committee of the Red Cross, though the transfer was complicated by Hamas's display.
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Chapter 4: What was the role of the Red Cross in the hostage transfer?
On Wednesday, ahead of the handover, the Red Cross called for privacy and dignity in the release, saying, quote, we must be clear, any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable. When Hamas made it clear on Thursday that they intended to turn the transfer into a depraved spectacle, officials with the humanitarian group initially refused to participate.
But Hamas subsequently threatened not to transfer the slain hostages at all. While Red Cross workers initially attempted to shield the remains from view with large white screens, an official eventually signed Hamas documents on the stage and Khan Yunus put an end to the ordeal.
Chapter 5: How did the transfer of bodies back to Israel occur?
The Red Cross then transferred the bodies to the custody of IDF and Shin Bet forces within the Gaza Strip, who brought the remains back to Israel for official identification. Upon arriving in Israel, the coffins were wrapped in Israeli flags and a rabbi recited Psalm 83. In a statement, Netanyahu said, "...we embrace the families and the heart of the entire nation is torn.
My own heart is torn, so is yours. And all the world's heart should be torn because this demonstrates who we are dealing with, what we are dealing with, with such monsters." Hamas's actions even provoked outrage in the Arab world.
Chapter 6: What was the Arab world's response to Hamas's actions?
Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, the country's highest Muslim religious authority, condemned Hamas's barbarity, saying, quote, "'What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah and a sin,' end quote. All four of the victims had been taken during the brutal 7 October attacks from a kibbutz in southern Israel and spent 503 days in Hamas captivity."
Many Israelis had clung to hope that Shiri Biba's two sons might still be alive, but those hopes were dashed on Thursday. Israeli officials are currently examining the remains of the victims at a forensic lab in Tel Aviv, though for now, the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
Up next, the Trump administration moves to designate TDA, MS-13, and a number of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. I'll be right back. Running a business isn't easy, I know that firsthand. As a business owner, I've seen how managing finances can turn into a time-consuming headache with endless receipts, approvals, and expense tracking slowing everything down.
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Cards are issued by Sutton Bank, member FDIC, and as they say, terms and conditions apply. Welcome back to the Afternoon Bolton. The U.S. State Department has officially designated eight transnational crime syndicates, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Venezuelan gang Trendo Agua, or TDA, as foreign terrorist organizations, all part of the White House's ongoing crackdown on transnational crime.
The move follows President Trump's executive order signed on his first day in office, which instructed federal agencies to prioritize the classification of violent criminal syndicates as foreign terrorist organizations.
The order set a 14-day deadline for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to coordinate with top national security officials, including the Secretaries of Treasury and Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence to develop a framework for these designations.
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