Israel has retrieved the bodies of six hostages from the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza, the military said yesterday, as negotiations continued in an effort to bring back more than 100 who remain in the besieged enclave.
The return of the six bodies leaves 109 hostages still believed to be in Gaza, about one-third of whom are thought to be dead, with the fate of the others unknown.
The return of the bodies came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet officials in Egypt, as he continues a visit to the region aimed at bridging differences between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas over a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and return the hostages.
Photo courtesy of the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via Reuters
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Abraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri were recovered from tunnels under Khan Younis in southern Gaza after a “complex operation.”
“We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war — returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas,” he said in a statement.
The Hostages Families Forum, an organization that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news, but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with Hamas.
“The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table,” it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced heavy criticism from many of the hostage families for failing to secure a deal, said the government would keep working to bring back the hostages still left in Gaza.
“The state of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our hostages — the living and the dead,” he said in a statement.
Most of the hostages in Gaza were seized by Hamas gunmen as they rampaged through communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, last year, killing about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and abducting about 250 as hostages.
In addition, Hamas was already holding two Israeli citizens who entered Gaza about a decade ago, as well as the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
Since Oct. 7, Israel’s military has leveled swathes of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes and killing at least 40,000, Palestinian health authorities said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS