Qatar has sent Israel “a positive message” regarding Hamas’s intentions to move forward in negotiations on a hostage and ceasefire deal, according to a Friday report from Israeli public broadcaster KAN. The “positive message” in question reportedly concerns the list of hostages that would be released, as well as other points of disagreement between … Read more
Capt. Omer Neutra, 21, died on October 7 of last year, and his body was taken by Hamas back to the Gaza Strip, the IDF confirmed on Monday. New intelligence information that came to light allowed a special military commission of rabbis, scientists, and lawyers to finally confirm his death around 14 months later, … Read more
Paul Whelan was in Moscow that day at the storied Metropole Hotel, getting ready for the wedding of a fellow U.S. Marine, when a longtime Russian friend, a junior officer in the frontier guards, dropped by unexpectedly. The friend handed him a thumb drive that he said contained souvenir photos and videos from a trip … Read more
Through eight months of war in Gaza, the issue of the hostages has obsessed the Israeli public above all else but the dramatic operation to rescue four Israelis held captive in Gaza last week – which resulted in a massacre of more than 270 Palestinians – has revealed that a ceasefire deal remains the best … Read more
There was a euphoric response in Israel to the special forces’ rescue of four hostages from Hamas captivity in central Gaza on Saturday. But for the parents of one of those hostages, Russian-Israeli Andrey Kozlov, it was nothing short of “a miracle.” Speaking to the BBC, Eugenia and Michael Kozlov gave an emotional account of … Read more
The Hamas armed wing announced on Sunday that three Israeli hostages were killed, including a US citizen, during the Israel hostage freeing operation in Gaza on Saturday. “In exchange for them [the four Israeli hostages], your own army killed three of your own captives in the same attack; one of them holds a US … Read more
Hamas is sticking to its original ceasefire and hostage negotiations demands that Israel must halt all military operations in the Gaza Strip, Hamas leader abroad, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a Wednesday speech, according to Arab media sources. Speaking on International Quds (Jerusalem) Day, Haniyeh said, “We are adhering to our demands for a permanent … Read more
30 March 2024, 10:03 GMT Updated 3 hours ago Image caption, The suspect was arrested nearly six hours after the siege began A hostage situation at a nightclub in an eastern Dutch town has come to an end after a man was arrested. Four people had been taken hostage when he entered Café Petticoat, in … Read more
Israel plans to expand the framework for a hostage deal, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk ahead of the latest pending summit on the captives led by CIA Director Willian Burns. “We will widen the mandate for the officials involved in the negotiations on the hostages,” Gallant said when … Read more
As the end of the fragile four-day pause in fighting nears in Gaza, officials on both sides have said they are open to extending it to exchange more of the hostages taken by Hamas for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, said that if Hamas is “willing … Read more