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  • Who are the hostages Israel believes are still alive?

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    TEL AVIV, Israel — Their faces stare down from every street corner in Israel on posters now sun-faded and ripped. Their stories, told by anguished family members, are almost as well-known as celebrities. They are civilians and soldiers, fathers and sons. Some were at the Nova music festival, where almost 400 people were killed and dozens kidnapped.

    The latest ceasefire, which began Friday, marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped.

    The fighting has killed 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children, and displaced around 90% of the Gaza population of some 2 million. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties in Gaza.

    There are currently 48 hostages being held in Gaza, including the body of one soldier from a previous war. Israel has determined that at least 25 of the hostages were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, or died while in captivity. It is unclear how many of the remaining around 20 hostages are still alive and will return to Israel. There is only one remaining female hostage, who Israel believes was killed in captivity.

    This combo of images provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, shows Israeli hostages.

    Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP, File

    With the start of the ceasefire on Friday, the remaining hostages are expected to be released within 72 hours. Israel is set to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

    Here is a look at 22 hostages Israel believes are still alive.

    Matan Angrest, 22

    Matan Angrest, an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped from his military tank in southern Israel. He is the oldest of four children from Kiryat Bialik, outside of Haifa. His family has been among the most vocal protesters and very critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday’s two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, his mother, Anat Angrest, addressed her son at a rally. “I know you’re in pain, and I can’t hug you. I hear you whisper, ‘Come for me, Mom,’ and I can’t protect you,” she said.

    Gali Berman & Ziv Berman, 28

    The fraternal twins were taken from their homes in kibbutz Kfar Aza, on the border with Gaza, during the Oct. 7 attack. Seventeen others were also abducted from Kfar Aza, but the Berman twins are the only hostages from the kibbutz who remain in captivity. The family has heard from hostages who returned in a previous deal that, as of February, the brothers were alive but being held separately. Liran Berman, their older brother, said it’s the longest the two have ever spent apart. In Kfar Aza, the twins lived in apartments across from each other. Gali is more outgoing, while Ziv is more reserved and shy with a sharp sense of humor, their brother said.

    Elkana Bohbot, 36

    Elkana Bohbot was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. In the past year, Hamas has published multiple videos of Bohbot, filmed under duress, including one where he has a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Reem; his mother and his brother – pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza. His son made binoculars in kindergarten which he often uses to go out and “look for his father,” according to Bohbot’s mother, Ruhama.

    Rom Braslavski, 21

    Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova festival. He attempted to help festival goers evacuate and was wounded in both hands before being kidnapped, witnesses said. In August, the Islamic Jihad militant group released a video of a skeletal Braslavski sobbing and pleading for his life, adding that injuries to his foot prevent him from standing. The videos of Braslavski and Evyatar David digging his own grave horrified Israelis, sparking some of the largest attendance in months at weekly protests. His father, Ofir, said Rom is usually a strong, happy-go-lucky kid, and that video is the first time he’s seen his son cry.

    Nimrod Cohen, 21

    Nimrod Cohen was kidnapped from a tank where he was stationed as a soldier in southern Israel. Cohen is obsessed with Rubik’s cubes, his family said, and a burned Rubik’s cube was found in the tank he was abducted from. This year, his mother, Viki Cohen, illustrated a Passover haggadah, the text laying out the rituals and story recited during the Passover holiday, in honor of hostages, partly because her family has stopped celebrating holidays since the attack. “We don’t gather as a family, because it reminds us how much he is missing,” Cohen said. The only time the extended family gathers is at protests, she said.

    Ariel Cunio, 28

    The youngest of four Cunio brothers, Ariel was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, and her brother, Dolev, a married father of four who was later killed in captivity. According to news reports, Cunio and Yehoud had returned from an extended trip to South America weeks before the attack and had just adopted a puppy. Yehoud was released during the ceasefire in January.

    David Cunio, 35

    David Cunio, brother of Ariel Cunio, was kidnapped with his wife, Sharon, and their 3-year-old twins from the Nir Oz kibbutz. Sharon’s sister Danielle and her 5-year-old daughter, who were visiting, also were kidnapped. All were released in November, except for David Cunio. In July, Sharon shared a photo of the twins marking their fifth birthday, their second without their father, writing on Facebook that the girls have changed so much while he’s been in captivity that “they’re not the same little girls he knew.”

    Evyatar David, 24

    Evyatar David was taken hostage at the Nova music festival along with his childhood friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. In August, Hamas released a video of David, gaunt and pale, who said he was digging his own grave. The condition of the hostages in the videos horrified Israelis and led tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and demand a ceasefire deal, in one of the largest turnouts for the weekly hostage protests in months.

    Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24

    Guy Gilboa-Dalal was among those abducted from the Nova music festival, while his brother managed to escape. In the past year, he’s appeared in two videos released by Hamas. In one, he appears alongside his childhood friend, David, with militants filming them pleading for their freedom in a vehicle while they watch three other hostages on stage being released to the Red Cross.

    Maksym Harkin, 37

    Maksym Harkin was abducted from Nova, which was the first festival he had ever attended, according to his family. Harkin was born in Ukraine and moved to Israel with his family, where he lived in Tirat HaCarmel in the north. He has a 3-year-old daughter and was the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother. Just before he was taken, his mother said he sent a final text message that said, “I love you.” In July, Hamas released a video of him filmed under duress several months prior.

    Eitan Horn, 38

    Eitan Horn, originally from Kfar Saba, was visiting his brother Iair at the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7. Both were kidnapped. For most of the war, the two were held with three other hostages in a filthy cell underground. In early February, militants filmed the emotional interaction between the brothers as they were told that Iair would be released and Eitan would stay in Gaza. Since his release, Iair Horn has campaigned for his brother and the other hostages, flying frequently to the United States and meeting with politicians.

    Bipin Joshi, 24

    Bipin Joshi arrived in Israel from his native Nepal a month before the attack. He is the only non-Israeli hostage believed to be alive in Gaza. He came to Israel on a student exchange to work and study agriculture at kibbutz Alumim on the Gaza border. Ten of the 17 Nepali students in the program were killed during the attack. Joshi, who was able to throw a number of live grenades out of the bomb shelter where they were hiding, was injured and kidnapped. Joshi’s sister, 17-year-old Pushpa Joshi, regularly travels eight hours each direction on buses to Kathmandu from her home in western Nepal to lobby officials to secure her brother’s release. In August, his family traveled to Israel to meet with President Isaac Herzog and join families demonstrating in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

    Segev Kalfon, 27

    Segev Kalfon was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was last seen attempting to flee militants along the highway. Before the attack, he worked at his family’s bakery in Dimona, in southern Israeli. The middle child of three, Kalfon had recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, a condition his family has highlighted in urging his release. Kalfon’s family received a sign of life from him after the last ceasefire, when some of the hostages said they were held with him for months. Kalfon’s family has focused on religious rituals in their fight for his release, including traveling to the grave of prominent rabbis and dedicating a Torah scroll in his honor.

    Bar Kupershtein, 23

    Bar Kupershtein was working at the Nova festival as a security guard when he was abducted. Witnesses said Kupershtein stayed at the festival to try to provide first aid to people who had been shot and injured. Kupershtein was the main financial support for his family after his father was severely injured in an accident several years ago, his aunt, Ora Rubinstein, told reporters. She said that his father worked with a physical therapist to regain the ability to speak, so he could meet with politicians to advocate for his son’s release. He has told the family that he will walk again when his son comes home, she said.

    Omri Miran, 48

    Omri Miran was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz. During the attack, militants held his family, including his two daughters, ages 2 and 6 months, hostage in the kitchen of a neighbor’s house and then broadcast it on Facebook Live. Miran and the father of the other family, Tsachi Idan, were kidnapped. Idan’s body was released during the last hostage exchange after he was killed in captivity. Lishay Miran Lavi, Miran’s wife, said their younger daughter knows “daddy Omri” only through photos and videos, and doesn’t really understand what a father is.

    Eitan Mor, 25

    Eitan Mor was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival, where he helped evacuate people injured in the attack. Mor’s parents helped found the Tikva Forum, a loosely organized group of hostage families. They advocated for military pressure, not an immediate ceasefire or hostage release deal, as the best chance for bringing the hostages home. That stance has put Mor’s father at odds with many of the other families of hostages.

    Tamir Nimrodi, 20

    Tamir Nimrodi was kidnapped from Erez, a crossing on the northern border of Gaza that had been the main route for people entering and leaving the territory. He had been serving with the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza. Nimrodi was kidnapped with two other soldiers by militants who walked them to the Gaza gate and forced them to cross. Israel confirmed the deaths of the two soldiers who were kidnapped with Nimrodi. There has been no sign of life from Nimrodi in the two years since he was seen in footage walking into Gaza in shorts and a T-shirt without his glasses. Herut Nimrodi, his mother, has said she doesn’t know what is worse: to think he has been killed in captivity, or that he’s alive but being held in terrible conditions. “I’m scared to even imagine,” she said.

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was working as a bartender. Witnesses saw him attempting to help others escape before he was kidnapped. He is the oldest of three brothers, one of whom previously died from an illness.

    Alon Ohel, 24

    Alon Ohel, who also has German and Serbian citizenship, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival from a mobile bomb shelter along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli who was killed in captivity in August 2024. A talented pianist, his family has placed pianos across Israel and several sites around the world to raise awareness of his plight. Three other hostages who had been held with Ohel for more than a year were released during the previous ceasefire, including Eli Sharabi, who said Ohel was like his adopted son. Sharabi said they were kept chained for the entire period of their captivity and subsisted on a moldy pita per day. Ohel has shrapnel in his eye from the attack on the bomb shelter and his family is worried he may be partially blind.

    Avinatan Or, 32

    Avinatan Or was kidnapped from the Nova music festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024. On Oct. 7, Hamas released a video of the pair that has become one of the most well-known videos from that day. It showed Argamani on an all-terrain vehicle crying, “Don’t kill me!” and reaching out her arms to Or, who is being marched away from her by militants. Or worked in hi-tech in Tel Aviv before his abduction.

    Matan Zangauker, 25

    Matan Zangauker was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz along with his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky. The two met while working on a medical cannabis farm there. Gritzewsky was released after 55 days and has since advocated tirelessly for his release, wearing a hat of Zangauker’s she rescued from their burned home. His mother, Einav, has been a constant presence at protests, giving impassioned speeches and even being hoisted in a cage above the crowd to draw attention to the hostages’ plight. Zangauker, who said she was previously a Netanyahu supporter, has emerged as one of his harshest critics. ___

    Associated Press writer Sam Metz contributed from Jerusalem.

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Israel’s army says it will advance preparations for the first phase of Trump’s plan

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    TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s army said Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages.

    The army said it was instructed by Israel’s leaders to “advance readiness” for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.

    This announcement came hours after Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan. Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.”

    Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group. Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Trump to end the conflict. The official told the AP that Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Trump’s plan due to pressure from the U.S. administration.

    The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.

    A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians. The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position toward Gaza’s future.

    On Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas’ response to the Trump plan. The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.

    Also on Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians. The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

    Progress, but uncertainty ahead

    Yet, despite the momentum, a lot of questions remain.

    Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages – around 20 of them believed to be alive – within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.

    In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.

    Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its official statement also didn’t address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing, a key part of the deal.

    Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn’t lay down its arms.

    Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.

    This “yes, but” rhetoric “simply repackages old demands in softer language,” said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smoke screen than a signal of true movement toward resolution, he said.

    Unclear what it means for Palestinians suffering in Gaza

    The next steps are also unclear for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms.

    “What we want is practical implementation. … We want a truce on the ground,” said Samir Abdel-Hady, in Gaza’s Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down like they’ve done in the past.

    Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City, which is the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday Israel’s army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a “dangerous combat zone”.

    Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.

    Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful.

    There are concerns from all sides, said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza. Hamas and Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Trump could lose interest, he said. Still, he says, if it’s going to happen it will be because of Trump.

    “We’re putting our trust in Trump, because he’s the only one who’s doing it. … And we want to see him with us until the last step,” he said.

    ___

    Magdy reported from Cairo

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Rubio arrives in Israel as Israeli strikes intensify in northern Gaza

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    JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Sunday, as Israel intensified its attacks against northern Gaza, flattening another high-rise building and killing at least 12 Palestinians.

    Rubio said ahead of the trip that he will be seeking answers from Israeli officials about how they see the way forward in Gaza following Israel’s attack on Hamas operatives in Qatar last week that upended efforts to broker an end to the conflict.

    His two-day visit is also a show of support for the increasingly isolated Israel as the United Nations holds what is expected to be a contentious debate on commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly opposes the recognition of a Palestinian state.

    Attack on Qatar

    Rubio’s visit went ahead despite President Donald Trump’s anger at Netanyahu over the Israeli strike against Hamas leaders in Doha, which he said the United States was not notified of beforehand.

    On Friday, Rubio and Trump met with Qatar’s prime minister to discuss the fallout from the Israeli operation. The dual, back-to-back meetings with Israel and Qatar illustrate how Trump administration is trying to balance relations between key Middle East allies despite the attack’s widespread international condemnation.

    The Doha attack also appears to have ended attempts to secure an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the release of hostages ahead of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session, at which the Gaza war is expected to be a primary focus.

    Deadly airstrikes mount

    On Sunday, at least 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in multiple Israeli strikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals.

    Local hospitals said Israeli strikes targeted a vehicle near Shifa hospital and a roundabout in Gaza City, and a tent in the city of Deir al-Balah that killed at least six members of the same family.

    Two parents, their three children and the children’s aunt were killed in that strike, according to the Al-Aqsa hospital. The family was from the northern town of Beit Hanoun, and arrived in Deir al-Balah last week after fleeing their shelter in Gaza City

    The Israeli military did not have immediate comment on the strikes.

    As part of its expanding operation in Gaza City, the Israeli military destroyed a high-rise residential building on Sunday morning, less than an hour after an evacuation order posted online by the military spokesman Avichay Adraee.

    Residents said said the Kauther tower in the Rimal neighborhood was flattened to the ground. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

    “This is part of the genocidal measures the (Israeli) occupation is carrying out in Gaza City,” said Abed Ismail, a Gaza City resident. “They want to turn the whole city into rubble, and force the transfer and another Nakba.”

    The word Nakba is Arabic for catastrophe and refers to when some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by Israeli forces or fled their homes in what is now Israel, before and during the 1948 war that surrounded its creation.

    Israeli strongly denies accusations of genocide in Gaza.

    Starvation in Gaza

    Separately, two Palestinian adults died of causes related to malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry reported Sunday.

    That has brought the death toll from malnutrition-related causes to 277 since late June, when the ministry started to count fatalities among this age category, while another 145 children died of malnutrition-related causes since the start of the war in October 2023, the ministry said.

    The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, abducting 251 people and killing some 1,200, mostly civilians. There are still 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of whom 20 Israel believes are still alive.

    Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,803 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says around half of those killed were women and children. Large parts of major cities have been completely destroyed and around 90% of some 2 million Palestinians have been displaced. ___

    Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Israeli protesters block highways, call for cease-fire to return hostages 9 months into war in Gaza

    Israeli protesters block highways, call for cease-fire to return hostages 9 months into war in Gaza

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    TEL AVIV, Israel — Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire to bring back scores of hostages held by Hamas.

    The demonstrations come as long-running efforts to broker a truce gained momentum last week when Hamas dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war. The militant group is still seeking a permanent cease-fire, while Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

    Sunday’s “Day of Disruption” started at 6:29 a.m., the same time Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of government ministers.

    Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those fellow citizens who were killed and abducted.

    Hannah Golan said she came to protest the “devastating abandonment of our communities by our government.” She added: “It’s nine months today, to this black day, and still nobody in our government takes responsibility.”

    Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack and took 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

    About 120 hostages remain captive after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November cease-fire deal. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and there are fears that the number will grow as the war drags on.

    The United States has rallied the world behind a proposal for a phased cease-fire in which Hamas would release the remaining captives in return for a lasting cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Hamas wants guarantees from mediators that the war will end, while Israel wants the freedom to resume fighting if talks over releasing the last batch of hostages drag on.

    Netanyahu has also said Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing abilities, and that it would resume the war after a pause to release hostages.

    Israel continues to battle pockets of Palestinian militants across Gaza after months of heavy bombing and ground operations that have devastated the territory’s main cities and displaced most of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. On Sunday, Israel issued new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza City, which was heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war.

    Bodies found with hands tied

    The Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis said the bodies of three Palestinians were retrieved from the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. A hospital statement said they were handcuffed, and an Associated Press reporter saw one of the bodies with bound hands.

    Abdel-Hadi Ghabaeen, an uncle of one of the deceased, said they had been working to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments through the crossing. He said he saw soldiers detain them on Saturday, and that the bodies bore signs of beatings, with one having a broken leg.

    The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

    Thousands of Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war, and many of those who have been released, as well as some Israelis who have worked at detention facilities, say detainees have been tortured and held under harsh conditions. Israeli authorities have denied abusing prisoners.

    Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Sunday meanwhile killed at least 13 Palestinians, including the undersecretary of labor in the largely dismantled Hamas-run government.

    Ihab al-Ghussein was among four people killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders group under the Hamas-run government. Hamas mourned his loss in a statement and said a strike earlier in the war had destroyed his house and killed his wife and daughter.

    The Israeli military said it had struck a militant complex “in the area of a school building,” as well as a nearby Hamas weapons-making facility in Gaza City after taking steps to mitigate harm to civilians.

    Israel trades fire with Hezbollah

    The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said early Sunday that it launched dozens of projectiles toward northern Israel, targeting areas more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, Israel’s national rescue service reported.

    Another attack near the border wounded three people, one of them seriously, according to the Galilee Medical Center. Israeli media reported that the critically wounded individual was an American citizen. There was no immediate confirmation from the army.

    Hezbollah began launching rocket and mortar attacks after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The range and severity of the attacks and Israel’s counterstrikes have escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border.

    Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have intensified their efforts in the past week to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza.

    The compromise on Saturday by Hamas could lead to the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks, though all sides still warned that a deal is not yet guaranteed.

    Washington’s phased deal would start with a “full and complete” six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza.

    War-weary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip appeared pessimistic, after previous instances in which the two sides appeared to be closing in on a deal.

    “We have lived nine months of suffering,” said Heba Radi, a mother of six children living in a tent in the central city of Deir al-Balah, where she has been sheltering since they fled their home in Gaza City. “The cease-fire has become a distant dream.”

    ___ Magdy reported from Cairo.

    The video in the player above is from a previous report.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Israel says 2 hostages rescued from Gaza in special operation, 128 days after their capture

    Israel says 2 hostages rescued from Gaza in special operation, 128 days after their capture

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    GAZA, Israel — The Israeli military said Monday it has rescued two hostages during a special operation conducted overnight in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that came under sustained Israeli airstrikes throughout the night.

    The hostages are 60-year-old Fernando Simon Marman and 70-year-old Louis Har, who were both taken 128 days ago during Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel. They are dual Israel-Argentine nationals, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

    The two are in good medical condition and have been transferred for Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer, said the Israel Defense Forces. The joint operation was done with the Israeli Security Agency and Israel Police, it said.

    IDF spokesperson Danial Hagari told reporters on Monday the “covert operation with extraction under fire” began at 1:49 a.m. local time, followed by aerial strikes.

    The Israeli forces encountered resistance, with the hostages escorted out under fire from Hamas, before they were taken to a safe place within Rafah for medical attention, he said. They were then airlifted out of Gaza by helicopter.

    RELATED: Biden calls Israel’s military operations in Gaza ‘over the top;’ White House downplays comments

    The office of Argentina’s President Javier Milei praised Israel for the rescue, and thanked the Israeli forces behind the operation.

    Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hailed what he called an “impressive release operation” in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying he had followed the operation in the Command Center along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior commanders.

    Netanyahu released a statement Monday welcoming the two hostages back, and praising the Israeli forces. “Only the continuation of military pressure, until complete victory, will result in the release of all our hostages,” he said.

    Netanyahu has been under mounting pressure from the Israeli public to secure the release of captives in Gaza, with some families of those held hostage being openly critical of the government’s tactics.

    Both hostages had been kidnapped from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz, Gallant said. Nir Yitzhak was one of multiple kibbutzim close to the border with Gaza that came under attack by Hamas militants during their October 7 rampage which saw some 1,200 people killed and more than 240 taken hostage.

    After Monday’s rescue, the total number of hostages left in Gaza is 134, Hagari said. Of that number, 130 hostages are from the October 7 attack – with 29 dead and 101 believed to be alive. The other four had been held in Gaza prior to the attack.

    Most hostages are being held by Hamas, though some are also reportedly held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

    RELATED: Israel plans to evacuate Palestinians crammed into southern Gaza city ahead of expected invasion

    Israel’s response to the Hamas attack has wrought widespread devastation across Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said the cumulative toll since October 7 has risen to more than 27,500 killed.

    The sides have been unable to reach an agreement to release more hostages since one in November collapsed. That agreement resulted in a weeklong pause in fighting in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages, mostly elderly women and children.

    And previous attempts to rescue hostages in special operations have gone awry; in December, Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza after misidentifying them as threats.

    Rafah pounded by airstrikes

    The news of the hostage release comes as Rafah was being pounded by Israeli attacks. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Monday that more than 100 people were killed in overnight airstrikes on Rafah, and that the toll may increase as more people are still trapped under rubble.

    CNN cannot independently verify the numbers. The PRCS had previously said the city was experiencing “intense targeting.”

    At least two mosques and around a dozen homes were targeted in the strikes, the Rafah municipality said on Monday.

    The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Monday that they conducted “a series of strikes” on targets in the area of Shaboura, a district of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

    “The strikes have concluded,” the IDF said in a statement.

    Hamas condemned the strikes on Monday, calling them “forced displacement attempts” and “horrific massacres against defenseless civilians and displaced children, women, and the elderly.”

    It also accused US President Joe Biden and his administration of bearing “full responsibility” for the civilian deaths.

    On Sunday, Biden and Netanyahu discussed a deal to secure the release of hostages in Gaza, according to a senior administration official, as well as Israel’s anticipated ground assault on Rafah.

    According to the White House, Biden “reaffirmed his view that a military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there.”

    Rafah has become a last refuge for Palestinians fleeing south to avoid Israel’s air and ground campaigns across the rest of the crowded enclave. More than 1.3 million people are believed to be in Rafah, the majority displaced from other parts of Gaza, according to the United Nations.

    And they have no remaining escape route; the city borders Egypt, and the sole crossing into that country has been closed for months along with the rest of Gaza’s borders.

    Netanyahu has brushed off mounting criticism of plans for the ground assault – saying calls not to enter Rafah are like telling Israel to lose the war. He pledged to provide safe passage for civilians, but offered few details.

    (The-CNN-Wire & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)

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  • Senior Far-Right Israeli Official Admits Gaza Is A ‘Ghetto’ For Palestinians

    Senior Far-Right Israeli Official Admits Gaza Is A ‘Ghetto’ For Palestinians

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    A senior Israeli official from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government admitted on Saturday that the Gaza Strip is a “ghetto” and that Israel must reduce the enclave’s Palestinian population ― the latest example of Israeli authorities plainly stating their goals for the future of Gaza and Palestinians.

    In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that his “demand” was for Gaza to stop being a “hotbed where 2 million people grow up on hatred and aspire to destroy the State of Israel.” He did not specify why Palestinian civilians in Gaza would aspire to destroy Israel.

    According to a translation by Haaretz, the Religious Zionism party chairman also said that Israel must occupy and resettle Gaza in order to regain security.

    “If we act strategically, they will emigrate and we will live there. We won’t let 2 million stay. With 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza, the ‘day after’ debate will be different,” Smotrich said, as translated by an Israel analyst with the nonprofit Crisis Group. “They want to leave, they’ve been living in a ghetto for 75 years.”

    Comparing the plight of Palestinians to the suffering of European Jews during the Nazi regime has been a taboo subject, though human rights organizations and scholars have drawn similarities between the two struggles, particularly after Oct. 7. Just days ago, South Africa launched a case at the top United Nations court accusing Israel of carrying out the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

    Earlier this month, prominent Russian American journalist and writer Masha Gessen was almost not awarded the prestigious Hannah Arendt prize in Germany after they published an essay in The New Yorker comparing Gaza to the Jewish ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe.

    “For the last seventeen years, Gaza has been a hyperdensely populated, impoverished, walled-in compound where only a small fraction of the population had the right to leave for even a short amount of time ― in other words, a ghetto,” they wrote in their Dec. 9 essay. “Not like the Jewish ghetto in Venice or an inner-city ghetto in America but like a Jewish ghetto in an Eastern European country occupied by Nazi Germany.”

    “Presumably, the more fitting term ‘ghetto’ would have drawn fire for comparing the predicament of besieged Gazans to that of ghettoized Jews,” they continued. “It also would have given us the language to describe what is happening in Gaza now. The ghetto is being liquidated.”

    In this April 19, 1943, photo, Jews are forced from the Warsaw Ghetto by German soldiers.

    This is not the first time Smotrich has spoken offensively of Palestinians. In March, the minister delivered a speech in Paris claiming that there is no Palestinian “nation,” “history” or “language.” In February, he called for a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank to be “erased” after Jewish settlers rampaged through it in response to a shooting attack that killed two Israelis. Immediately after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, he reportedly told fellow Cabinet members that “it’s time to be cruel,” even if it means killing hostages in Gaza in the process.

    But Smotrich is not the only Israeli official saying the quiet part out loud about Gaza. Several of the country’s lawmakers have made comments appearing to support a second Nakba (when Palestinians were expelled from their homes and land en masse 75 years ago) in Gaza in order to feel a sense of security after the war.

    Last week, lawmaker Danny Danon told Kan Bet radio that it would be humane for Israel to “make it easier for Gazans to leave for other countries.” Intelligence Minister Gila Gamiliel published an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post last month suggesting that Western nations should take in Palestinians from Gaza as an act of “voluntary resettlement.”

    Netanyahu himself has made similar comments, telling members of his right-wing Likud coalition at a meeting last week that the mass expulsion of Palestinians out of Gaza would be a positive outcome of the bombardment.

    Nihad Awad, the national executive director for the Muslim rights group CAIR, released a statement on Sunday demanding that the Biden administration condemn the “latest open call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.”

    “Our nation’s leaders must finally acknowledge what has long been known and demonstrated daily by Israel’s genocidal actions,” Awad said. “That Israel’s racist government seeks to ethnically cleanse Gaza by slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians and making it unlivable for those it does not kill.”

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  • Former Israeli Minister Apologizes For Role In Polarizing Country Before Hamas Attack

    Former Israeli Minister Apologizes For Role In Polarizing Country Before Hamas Attack

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    Galit Distel Atbaryan, a member of the Knesset, said on Israeli TV that she “sinned against” the democratic, secular public and “caused pain” as well as fear.

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  • Israel-Hamas Truce Will Reportedly Be Extended For Two More Days

    Israel-Hamas Truce Will Reportedly Be Extended For Two More Days

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    The temporary Israel-Hamas truce will be extended for another two days, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

    The announcement comes on the final day of a four-day truce between the warring sides. The Israeli military said Monday evening that 11 hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and were on their way to Israeli territory, marking the start of the fourth swap under the original truce.

    The release came hours after Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their truce.

    RELATED: Detroit Becomes Largest U.S. City Calling For Ceasefire As Israel And Hamas Agree To Temporarily Halt Fighting

    Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every ten additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar — a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt — Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension “under the same terms.”

    Results Of The Israel-Hamas Truce So Far & What’s Next

    Of the roughly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war, 62 have been released. Israeli forces freed one, and two were found dead inside Gaza.

    Israel is set to release 33 Palestinian prisoners later Monday.

    With the truce deal has come increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — although aid groups say it’s still barely enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli siege and bombardment.

    RELATED: Police And Protesters Clash Outside Democratic HQ Following A Candlelight Vigil Calling For Ceasefire In Israel-Hamas Conflict

    More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will press ahead with the war after the ceasefire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mainly during the initial incursion by Hamas. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.

    Israel Claims Aid Has Entered Gaza Amid Truce

    Additionally, Israeli officials reportedly said around 200 container trucks brought humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday after being inspected by Israel. Some resources included “a small amount of fuel,” per the Israeli military body that handles civilian affairs.

    “Four containers carrying diesel fuel and four containers carrying cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to U.N. humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing,” COGAT said in a statement.

    The aid trucks brought “food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies,” the statement said.

    Associated Press’ live updates here contributed to this report in addition to TSR Staff.

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  • Journalist Disputes Congressman’s Account Of Violence At Gaza Cease-Fire Protest

    Journalist Disputes Congressman’s Account Of Violence At Gaza Cease-Fire Protest

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    A congressman’s claims that “pro-terrorist,” “pro-Hamas” protesters pepper-sprayed police and attempted to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington on Wednesday night are incorrect, according to a journalist who covered and recorded the protest.

    About 150 protesters organized by progressive groups gathered outside a fundraiser at the DNC to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. They laid out electric candles to symbolize the more than 11,000 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza since Israel began a bombing campaign after a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. A group of the protesters were seen engaged in civil disobedience by linking arms and blocking the entrance to the DNC.

    Their goal “was for people inside the building to come out and see our peaceful vigil and hear our songs and requests for a ceasefire,” IfNotNow, a progressive Jewish group, said in a statement. “We had a team prepared to speak with congress people on their way out, while the rest of us intended to continue singing and praying.” IfNotNow had organized the protest with Jewish Voices for Peace Action and the Democratic Socialists of America.

    However, videos show U.S. Capitol Police officers forcefully removing protesters from the building’s entrance.

    When Semafor reporter Dave Weigel, who was outside the DNC covering and recording video of the protest, got home that night, he was surprised to see a social media post from Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) claiming that “pro-terrorist, anti-#Israel,” “pro-terrorist” protesters had pepper-sprayed police officers and tried to break into the DNC.

    Sherman repeated his claim that protesters had pepper-sprayed police officers in a CNN interview on Wednesday night. Anchor Abby Phillip initially noted that she did not know who deployed the pepper spray but later repeated, without additional evidence, U.S. Capitol Police claims that protesters had sprayed officers.

    Sherman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “I had eyes on the door the whole time,” Weigel told HuffPost in an interview. Protesters “were standing in front of the door, they were trying to block the door. They were not trying to break in.”

    “When people try to break into the building, they usually don’t have their backs turned to the door,” Weigel added.

    Video posted by Weigel and protest organizers show demonstrators standing side-by-side with their arms linked and their backs facing the entrance, singing “Which Side Are You On?” More than 24 hours after the protest, no video or signs of an attempted break-in have emerged, Weigel noted.

    Weigel added that although he could not account for every protester present, he did not see any protester deploy pepper spray against a police officer. He did, however, see the police use pepper spray, which has been documented in photos.

    U.S. Capitol Police tweeted on Wednesday that it responded to people “illegally and violently” protesting near the DNC and evacuated all lawmakers. The police said that six officers were treated for injuries ranging “from minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched” and that one person was arrested for assaulting an officer. Because of how pepper spray disperses, it is possible that police officers could have been injured by their own pepper spray.

    IfNotNow spokesperson Eva Borgwardt said in a statement on Wednesday that Sherman was “spreading dangerous and reckless misinformation about our nonviolent movement.”

    “Calling hundreds of progressive Jews fighting for peace, many of whom have family members in Israel, ’pro-Hamas’ is beyond the pale and the Congressman should apologize for his remarks,” Borgwardt said.

    House Democratic leaders said in a statement that some protesters “exceeded a peaceful demonstration” but did not echo Sherman’s allegations of an attempt to break into the building.

    Weigel, who has extensively covered political protests, noted that the groups that organized this demonstration “are known quantities” that do not have a reputation of engaging in violence.

    Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which an estimated 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage, Israel has engaged in a devastating bombing campaign and ground operations in Gaza. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, including an estimated 4,600 children. The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, where supply shortages are so dire that doctors have been forced to remove premature babies from incubators and civilians in the Palestinian enclave face starvation.

    A majority of people in the U.S. support a cease-fire, according to recent polling, but just 24 members of Congress signed a Wednesday letter urging President Joe Biden to work to establish a cease-fire. The president has repeatedly rejected calls for a cease-fire, despite hundreds of administration employees urging him to do so.

    IfNotNow plans to continue protesting, the group said in a statement. “People of all faiths and backgrounds will continue as long as we need in order to pressure our elected officials to take action to save lives.”

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  • New York Times Slams GOP Senator For ‘Parroting Disinformation’ On Its Staff And Hamas

    New York Times Slams GOP Senator For ‘Parroting Disinformation’ On Its Staff And Hamas

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    The New York Times sent a letter to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Friday condemning him for suggesting that its employees were involved in Hamas’ attack on Israel last month, calling him out for “parroting disinformation.”

    The message came in response to a letter that Cotton sent to Times leadership Thursday citing “reports” that the newspaper’s journalists were “embedded with Hamas, knew about the attack, and … accompanied members of Hamas as they carried out the attack.”

    The “reports” Cotton referenced are completely unverified and irresponsible to share as valid sources of information, Times counsel David McCraw said in response.

    “As I am sure you agree, the spread of disinformation and incendiary rhetoric threatens the health of our democracy. Sadly, your letter to The New York Times of November 9 exacerbates those very problems,” McCraw wrote.

    Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) accused The New York Times of embedding its staff with Hamas.

    Tom Williams via Getty Images

    ″[Y]ou are merely parroting disinformation harvested form the internet based on a website that has conceded it had no evidence for its claims,” the letter continued, adding: “Falsehoods circulated on the Internet are many things, but they are most certainly not ‘reports.’ They also should not be abused by a U.S. Senator to falsely accuse fellow Americans of crimes.”

    In his letter, Cotton demanded that the Times say how many members of its staff have been embedded with Hamas, when the paper became aware of their involvement with the terrorist group and how much funding the Times has given to Hamas.

    “To make it plain for you,” the Times responded, “the only connection The New York Times has to Hamas is that we report on the organization fearlessly and at times at great risk, bringing essential information to the public about the terrorist attacks in Israel and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.”

    Cotton has made aggressive statements in support of Israel’s counterstrikes on Gaza, where members of the Hamas militant group are based.

    “As far as I’m concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza,” Cotton said on Fox News last month. The phrase refers to further damaging something that is already destroyed.

    After members of Hamas stormed Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking roughly 240 people hostage, Israel launched an all-out attack on Gaza, killing at least 11,000 people so far in the Palestinian territory.

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