Browsing: Middle East

The families of Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Omer Sham Tov, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed have been informed that they will be released alive from Hamas captivity this Saturday. Here are their stories as they prepare to leave the horrors of captivity behind. Ziv Abud, the girlfriend of hostage Eliya Cohen, celebrated the news of his return Tuesday, writing on Instagram, “Eliya is coming home!” Cohen had attended the Nova music festival with Abud, his nephew Amit ben Avida, and Amit’s girlfriend, Karin Shwarcman. When the Hamas terror attack began, the four took cover in a rocket shelter…

The United Nations and Israeli officials condemned Hamas on Thursday after the terror group publicly displayed the bodies of four Israeli hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called the act “abhorrent” and a violation of international law. “Under international law, any handover of remains must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” Türk said in a statement. The hostages, including Israeli infant Kfir Bibas, his 4-year-old brother Ariel, their mother Shiri Bibas and 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz, were…

The IDF is preparing for various scenarios as the ceasefire deal with Hamas deteriorates, formulating battle plans based on ground, air, and naval forces, in addition to its other capabilities. Israeli forces have already been reinforced, with more reserve troops called up and left suspended in the Southern Command until further notice. There are no changes in the Home Front instructions, besides a memorial tree-planning event in the south that was canceled. Two IDF divisions are currently in charge of defending Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip—the 162nd and 143rd. Since Monday, the area has been reinforced with regular forces…

With five rounds of hostage-prisoner releases completed in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal, there are 17 Israeli hostages still supposed to be set free in the first phase. The three latest hostages who were released from Gaza after 491 days of captivity are suffering from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass, heart disorders, and prolonged infection, according to health officials quoted by Hebrew media on Sunday. Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami, and Eli Sharabi were released by the Hamas terror group Saturday looking gaunt and unsteady on their feet, 16 months after they were kidnapped from…

Yemen’s Houthis will immediately take military action if the US and Israel try to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, the Iran-backed group’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday. An Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza’s devastating 15-month-old war took effect on January 19 but has appeared close to collapse this week amid mutual accusations of violations. US President Donald Trump has infuriated the Arab world by presenting a plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and take over the enclave to turn it into a beach resort. Continue reading this article on jpost.com

Hamas forced the former Israeli hostage Daniella Gilboa to stage and film her own death, her mother Orly revealed in an interview on Wednesday with Israeli Channel 12. Gilboa was one of several female IDF soldiers who were brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from their military base Nahal Oz close to the Gaza border on Oct. 7, 2023. “One of the captors simply came with a camera and told her: ‘Today we’re filming you dead.’ She begged for her life and asked him not to do it,” Orly recalled. “When she saw me and my husband for the first time,…

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear centers but they cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones. He made his comments following a Washington Post report that U.S. intelligence believes Israel may launch a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites in Fordow and Natanz by mid-year, aiming to exploit damage to Iranian air defenses from an IDF attack in October. “They threaten us that they will hit nuclear facilities … If you (the enemy) strike a hundred of those we will build a thousand other ones…

A rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza the IDF announced. The projectile fell short of Israeli territory and landed inside Gaza. “A few minutes ago, a rocket launch was identified in the Gaza Strip. The rocket fell inside the Gaza Strip,” the IDF stated. “The IDF is committed to fully implementing the conditions of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” the military stated. At the same time, a 14-year-old boy was reportedly killed in what has been described as a rocket explosion in central Gaza. A short time later the IDF updated that it struck the launcher…

Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas were transferred Saturday morning, February 1, by the Hamas terror organization to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis, and joined up with IDF forces, who brought them to a reception point in Re’im. Two hours later, Keith Siegel was released from Gaza Port. He ascended the stage briefly, wearing a hat and waving to the crowd. At the transfer point, Hamas gave him two bags. Reports said that one of them was for his wife, Avivah, who was freed in a November 2023 prisoner swap deal. He was later transferred to the IDF and crossed…

On October 7, 2023, when IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi left his house to go to IDF military headquarters, it was not a foregone conclusion that his destination should be Tel Aviv. Rather, Halevi had a strong inclination to travel straight to the Gaza border to personally manage the fight against Hamas’s invasion up close. After all, Halevi spent his career in the special forces in hairy and complex combat situations, specifically in Gaza during the 2008-09 invasion, and always preferred being close to the action to feel the pulse of his troops and of the enemy. Continue reading this…