The Palestinian terror group Hamas has reportedly dropped a key demand that Israel agree never to fight it again, as a condition for releasing its remaining hostages, according to media reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Hamas remains the obstacle to a hostage deal because the terrorist group is insisting on an “unacceptable” clause that would force Israel to end the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Tuesday on a report in the New York Times that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is low on ammunition and prepared to seek a ceasefire in Gaza that allows Hamas to survive.
Liora Argamani, 61, the mother of freed Israeli hostage Noa Argamani, passed away on Tuesday in Israel after a lengthy battle with cancer. It had been her fervent wish to see her daughter again before she passed away.
“Since the massacre on October 7th, multiple decisions by your administration have undercut Israel’s efforts to bring U.S. Hostages home…”
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told soldiers on Sunday night in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, that they have nearly succeeded in dismantling Hamas’s remaining battalions in the area.
In light of the recent dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages held by Palestinian civilians, a legal expert and military specialist are urging a reevaluation of use of the term “Palestinian civilian,” arguing that those participating in hostilities, such as hostage-taking and other Hamas crimes, lose their civilian status under international law.
The office of Russia’s Prosecutor General announced on Thursday that American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been held for over a year without charges, has been formally accused of espionage and will be tried in Yekaterinburg. The date of the trial has not yet been announced.
Israeli agents — including women — infiltrated into the city of Nuseirat in central Gaza and gathered intelligence for weeks before the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a successful raid on Saturday to rescue four Israeli hostages.
The mother of 19-year-old Israeli hostage Liri Albag told the media Friday that freed hostage Noa Argamani said that female Israeli hostages, including Albag, were used as slaves in a “luxury villa” in Gaza, doing forced domestic labor.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly says that there were 104 Palestinians killed in Saturday’s successful hostage rescue in Nusierat, Gaza — all of whom were combatants.
“No one has any idea” how many of the remaining 116 Israeli hostages are still alive, a senior Hamas official told CNN in an interview that aired Thursday.
President Joe Biden told reporters at the G7 summit in Italy that Hamas was responsible for blocking a proposed ceasefire and hostage deal that had the approval of the United Nations Security Council and the Israeli government.
Israeli hostages who were freed in a rescue operation Saturday reportedly confirmed that they had been held by Palestinian journalist Abdallah Aljamal — but a CNN story about the claim continues to say it is “without … evidence.”
Left-wing Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo repeated pro-Hamas propaganda about four rescued Israeli hostages on Saturday, using the phrase “4 for 274” to claim that the cost in Palestinian lives during the operation was too high.
Israeli hostages were forced by their Palestinian captors to recite the Quran and Islamic prayers every day, according to one of the hostages freed in a daring raid on Saturday.
The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel may have committed war crimes when it rescued four hostages from Hamas.
Pro-Hamas protesters targeted an exhibition in New York City on Monday about the Supernova (or Nova) music festival, where terrorists murdered roughly 400 people and took dozens of hostages during the October 7 attack.
The BBC is facing significant backlash for suggesting the Israeli military should have warned Palestinians before rescuing four hostages.
NBC News on Monday quoted four current and former senior U.S. officials who said the Biden administration has been working on a “unilateral deal with Hamas to secure the release of five Americans being held hostage in Gaza.”
The Israel Police released dramatic helmet camera footage Monday of the daring hostage rescue on Saturday that saw Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, freed and returned to Israel.
The annual “Walk with Israel” march in Toronto posted a record-breaking attendance of over 50,000 on Sunday, its numbers apparently boosted by the rescue of four Israeli hostages from Hamas terrorists on the previous day.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office has released video footage showing a Special Operations Unit sniper neutralizing a hostage-taker in February.
The Israeli government said Monday that the U.S. should investigate the “Palestine Chronicle” news website, which is officially listed as a charitable organization, after one of its contributors was allegedly found to be holding Israeli hostages.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is arriving in Israel and the Middle East Monday just after Benny Gantz, an opposition leader who is the main rival to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has left the government.
Abdallah Aljamal, a journalist for the Palestine Chronicle — a 501(c)3 non-profit in the U.S. — was killed in Israel’s hostage rescue in Gaza Saturday and was revealed to have been a spokesman for a Hamas government department.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Sunday that all three of the male hostages rescued on Saturday were held by Abdallah Aljamal, a “journalist” who contributed to the Palestine Chronicle and Al Jazeera.
Yossi Meir Jan, 57, the father of freed Israeli hostage Almog Meir Jan, 21, died just hours before his son was rescued by Israeli forces Saturday. The cause of death, his family said, was a broken heart after eight months of his son’s captivity.
Vice President Kamala Harris told a Democratic Party dinner in Michigan on Saturday evening that she mourned the “innocent lives” lost among Palestinians in Gaza during an Israeli rescue mission that freed four hostages.
Egypt and Jordan, two countries that have peace treaties with Israel, condemned the Israeli rescue of four hostages on Saturday — as did officials from the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) — over Palestinian casualties.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned an Israeli raid Saturday in Gaza that led to the rescue of four Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists, saying that Israeli forces had committed a “horrific massacre.”
Israel released photographs Saturday of the happy reunions of four rescued hostages with their families after a daring special forces raid in Nuseirat, in central Gaza — and a photograph of one of the Israeli soldiers who was killed in the operation.
The Biden administration called for Israel and Hamas to engage in ceasefire talks after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rescued four hostages.
Leftist political commentator Briahna Joy Gray, the former national press secretary to Bernie Sanders, was fired from the Hill days after repeatedly demeaning an Israeli hostage’s sister and dismissing her pleas, while pushing common pro-Hamas talking points, including Israel’s culpability for the stall in hostage talks, denial of October 7 atrocities, and even the suggestion that support for Israel led to the 9/11 terror attacks in a “disturbing” interview.
Yayha Sinwar, the Gaza-based leader of Hamas, has reportedly rejected any ceasefire that would require the terror group to disarm, according to the Wall Street Journal — making a new hostage deal almost impossible.
Leftist political commentator Briahna Joy Gray demeaned an Israeli hostage’s sister while pushing pro-Hamas talking points in a “disturbing” interview.
The Biden administration is attempting to impose its “deal” for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza through the United Nations Security Council, where it introduced a resolution on Monday supporting the proposal.
Four Israeli hostages were confirmed dead Monday, as the Israeli military concluded that they had died months before in the city of Khan Yunis, site of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas during the winter months.
The Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas terror organization released a video on Friday providing another indication that hostage Noa Argamani, a young Israeli woman abducted by Palestinians during the October 7 massacre, is still alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that U.S. President Joe Biden’s description Friday of Israel’s proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal was “partial,” and not an accurate description of Israel’s position.
