world news
Can Hamas locate remaining hostages in mayhem of Gaza war?
Ever since it seized more than 200 people in the deadly rampage through southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war, Hamas has hoped to use hostages as bargaining cards with Israel in order to win freedom for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
But as mediators try to secure extensions to a truce between Israel and Hamas to enable more hostage releases, the Palestinian terrorist group may struggle to locate more captives in the chaos of the conflict, Palestinian and Egyptian security sources familiar with the talks said.
While Hamas planned and launched the Oct. 7 attack, other terrorists quickly joined in, pouring into Israel and seizing more people. Hamas says it is working to locate them in a Gaza Strip shattered by weeks of Israeli bombardment.
Hamas may also be holding back information, the sources said. Mediator Egypt believes Hamas is concealing some of what it knows, and saying it needs to do so for security reasons and as a negotiating strategy, Egyptian security sources said.Network of tunnels
Hamas has said the hostages were being treated well, in line with Islamic teachings. They are believed to be in a vast network of tunnels that Hamas has built over the years.
But the Israeli air strikes, which flattened entire neighborhoods, may have cut off passages between tunnels, making it difficult for Hamas to find hostages.
One Palestinian source said the bombardment “complicated” the situation in the field.
The bodies of at least two hostages have been recovered by Israeli forces in Gaza and Hamas has said that more than 60 hostages were missing due to Israeli air strikes.
Islamic Jihad, another Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group, has said they have more than 30 captives, indicating there could be 20 who might be held by members of smaller groups.
The hostages have ranged from a baby and young children to grandmothers and soldiers, some taken from kibbutzim, others from a music festival.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad took part in a prisoner swap on Tuesday, which suggests that Hamas may be collecting hostages from other groups.
One Israeli source with knowledge of the issue said Hamas was estimated to be holding 90% of the hostages.
“It’s their responsibility to find the other 10%,” the source said.
Asked whether Hamas was capable of locating all the other hostages, the source said: “They are capable of anything inside the strip. The question is whether they want to.”
“It’s convenient for them to say that they’re not holding all of them so that they can buy time.”
Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya said the group would be able to meet conditions to extend a truce if they could locate more captives.
Even if Hamas is able to find all the remaining hostages, it is unlikely to turn over information because the captives give the terrorist group leverage, a Western source in the Gulf said.
Some may have perished in the fighting.
“It’s highly likely that there were a lot of hostages taken out in those air strikes,” the source said.
Hostages seized during rampage
The hostages released so far were among some 240 people seized by the terrorists during the Oct. 7 raid, which Israel says killed 1,200 people. Israel’s bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza in retaliation has killed more than 15,000 Gazans, Hamas-run health authorities there said.
The heads of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Israel’s Mossad met Qatar’s prime minister in Doha on Tuesday to discuss the truce between Israel and Hamas.
Officials in the meeting talked about a possible new phase of the truce agreement including Hamas releasing hostages who are men or military personnel, not just women and children, a source said.
Qatar spoke to Hamas before the meeting to get a sense of what the group might agree to, the source added.
About 159 hostages remain in Gaza.
Two Palestinian sources close to truce efforts said the talks are focused at present on swapping non-soldiers – meaning Israeli civilians, dual nationals, and foreigners, but no talks about the soldiers are underway.
The soldiers “have different types of prices,” Hamas says.
One of those prices would be for Israel to “clear all prisons,” meaning all Palestinians jailed in Israel.
About 5,000 Palestinians were being held by Israel before Oct. 7, but Israel has since rounded up around 3,000, almost all from the West Bank, said the Palestinian Prisoners Club, which documents and cares for all Palestinian detainees.
Some have been held without trial in what Israel calls “administrative detention.” Some are children, held for such actions as throwing stones, while others are accused of stabbing attempts on Israelis.
Hamas is well aware that it has in the past secured the release of large numbers of prisoners in return for one soldier.
In 2011, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was freed after five years in captivity in return for freedom for 1,027 Palestinians held in Israeli jails for carrying out attacks against Israelis.
Shalit was captured by Palestinian terrorists who tunneled into Israel and took him across the frontier into Gaza.
Hamas and Israel were expected to release more hostages and prisoners on Wednesday, the last day of an extended six-day truce in the Gaza war. Mediator Qatar is trying to negotiate another extension.
Israel has said the truce could be prolonged further, provided Hamas continues to free at least 10 Israeli hostages per day.
But with fewer women and children still in captivity, keeping the guns quiet beyond Wednesday may require negotiating to free at least some Israeli men for the first time.
Palestinian sources said Hamas was able to gather some hostages with smaller groups, but it is unclear whether the Islamic Jihad would carry its own swaps or conduct them through Hamas.
Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy said on Wednesday the government held Hamas fully responsible for the abduction of everyone held inside Gaza.
“We’re demanding that Hamas bring them back and do everything in order to bring them back,” he said.
The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel,” Biden said in the memo.
“While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States.”Increased attacks since Oct.7
Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a “support front” with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel’s military assault in Gaza.
The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.
Hezbollah is an Iran-backed terrorist group and the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.
world news
Preparing for war: Haifa mayor describes city’s infrastructure changes tensions in North escalate
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav spoke this past Monday with Lior Rosenfeld on Radio North 104.5FM about the escalation of the war in the North and his entry into political office amidst the security situation.
Yahav began, “I cannot speak on behalf of the North as I don’t know exactly what’s happening there. No one updates me, as if we are not the largest and most important city in the North. Tomorrow, the Home Front Command is coming to see us for the first time, and we will see what they have to say. We are doing everything to ensure that the city itself and our residents are safe and know what to do in case, God forbid, missiles fall on us. They are more accurate than those in 2006.”
Yahav also discussed the city’s preparations for a war in the North.
“We are now changing the entire method of building public structures,” Yahav said. “We are preparing them for prolonged stays. The minimum will be four consecutive days in shelters and such buildings, which require preparation. For example, installing toilets, which we don’t have today, and we have given instructions to build them in places close to where new houses are being built. This has been fully understood, and developers have begun to understand that the talk about evacuation and reconstruction has undergone drastic changes in light of the security situation. For example, road width needs to be maintained for the sake of evacuating residents on these roads. These are things that were not considered until now and must now be taken into account.”
Yahav’s plans for the success of Haifa’s future
Yahav then discussed his appeal to the transportation minister to stop the Highway 23 Carmel Tunnels’ toll charge.
“We called on the transportation minister to stop the discrimination. Haifa and the North are always discriminated against compared to central Israel, and there’s no reason for this. There are huge tunnels dug in Jerusalem that do not cost residents any money to pass through. There’s no reason why the tunnels dug in Haifa should include a toll. I speak on behalf of Haifa residents, and we are preparing to petition if we do not receive an answer.”
Regarding his entry into his mayoral role about three months ago, Yahav said, “I found a completely ruined city. They destroyed the municipality, and it’s very difficult to move things around. I don’t understand how residents sat idly by and kept quiet. We are trying to go to government offices to fix relations, to get funds, to move projects to bring in fees – and we are doing all this in a short time.
“The ministers are acting openly and with the goodwill to help. I am now waiting for the money on the table. The casino building in Bat Galim will be a luxurious hotel on the Bat Galim seashore. This neighborhood will undergo a complete transformation and will be the most beautiful neighborhood in the country. It will also be the only neighborhood facing a recognized beach. We came to make a change, and we will succeed.”
In conclusion, he touched on the issue of wild boars: “You won’t be able to follow them because soon you won’t see them anymore.”
world news
‘Psychological operation’: Turkey condemns FM Katz social media post depicting toddler Erdogan
Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement on Sunday condemning a social media post made by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, in which Katz presented Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a toddler on the lap of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Katz, in a Sunday post on X, wrote “Erdogan @RTErdogan finances and arms terrorist organizations of Hamas to carry out attacks and murder against Israelis. The General Security Service captured a squad of students from Bir Zeit who were employed by the Hamas headquarters in Turkey to carry out murder attacks in Israel, through training and weapons and tens of thousands of dollars provided to them.
“Erdogan turned Turkey into a state that supports terrorism and subjects Turkey to the Iranian axis of evil in the name of extreme ideology and blatant anti-Semitism.”
Katz’s comments were made in reference to a recently thwarted terror attack planned by the student Hamas cell in Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah. The attempted attack, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said, was directed by Hamas’s base in Turkey.ארדואן @RTErdogan מממן ומחמש ארגוני טרור של החמאס לביצוע פיגועים ורצח נגד ישראלים. שירות הביטחון הכללי לכד חוליית סטודנטים מביר זית שהופעלו ע”י מפקדת החמאס בטורקיה לביצוע פיגועי רצח בישראל, באמצעות אימונים ונשק ועשרות אלפי דולרים שסופקו להם.ארדואן הפך את טורקיה למדינה תומכת טרור… pic.twitter.com/R0SCjYdngN
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 21, 2024
Turkey condemns the social media post
The Turkish ministry responded “The Israeli Foreign Minister is trying to hide Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians behind a series of lies, slander and disrespect.
“Israel’s dirty propaganda targeting Türkiye and President Erdoğan, and psychological operation attempts will not bear fruit.
“The members of the Netanyahu Government, who have killed nearly forty thousand Palestinians in Gaza and are now trying to start a regional war in order to stay in power, will be tried in international courts and held accountable for their crimes.
“Türkiye will continue to speak the truth and defend the right of the Palestinian people to live in justice and peace.”
The ministry cited data provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Additionally, Turkey has repeatedly asserted that it does not categorize Hamas as a terrorist organization – despite its western allies acknowledging it as such and its proven attacks on Israeli civilians.
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