An Israeli American soldier who was thought to have been seized alive by Hamas during their October 7, 2023, attack was murdered on Monday, according to the Israeli military, and his body was transported into the Gaza Strip.
About 100 captives are still being held by Hamas within Gaza; at least one-third of them are thought to be dead. Following over a year of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas that have repeatedly stalled, the Biden administration says it is attempting once more to secure a truce and the release of the remaining hostages.
Following last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group—an ally of Hamas that started launching rocket strikes and exchanging gunfire with Israel the day after the October 2023 attack—diplomats perceive a possible window of opportunity.
Despite several Israeli bombings that have infuriated Lebanese officials but have not yet caused Hezbollah to respond, the precarious ceasefire has persisted. Israel claims to have taken action to prevent possible assaults.
When Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, they killed over 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and took about 250 hostages, sparking the start of the Gaza War. During a week-long ceasefire in November 2023, almost 100 hostages were freed.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel’s current retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,429 Palestinians, with over half of them being women and children. The ministry does not specify the number of combatants who died. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants, but it offers no proof.
90% of the 2.3 million residents have been uprooted by the war, which has frequently destroyed large portions of the coastal enclave.
This is the most recent:
Days after a precarious ceasefire, Israeli drone attacks were reported in Lebanon.
BEIRUT The Lebanese army reported that an Israeli strike on a military bulldozer at an army facility wounded a soldier, while the state-run National News Agency of Lebanon reported Monday that an Israeli drone strike struck a motorcycle, killing one person.
Days after Israel and Hezbollah reached a truce agreement to stop nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting, the Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes.
Israel has launched multiple strikes in response to what it claims are Hezbollah ceasefire violations since the truce went into effect on Wednesday. Although Hezbollah has not yet resumed its missile fire, Lebanon has accused Israel of breaking the agreement.
Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, denied claims on Monday that Israel is breaking the shaky ceasefire deal, claiming instead that it is reacting to Hezbollah’s transgressions.
Saar stated in a post on X that he brought up that argument during a phone conversation with Jean-No l Barrot, his French colleague. Together with the United States, France mediated the agreement and is a member of an international oversight group designed to make sure the parties keep their end of the bargain.
According to Israel, it maintains the right under the agreement to react to alleged violations of the truce.
An Israeli-American soldier believed to have been kidnapped is now believed to be dead.
Israel’s Tel Aviv On Monday, the Israeli military announced that an American Israeli soldier who was thought to have been captured alive on October 7, 2023, was really murdered during a Hamas raid and his body was transported into Gaza.
When Hamas assaulted southern Israel, Neutra, a 21-year-old New York native, joined the Israeli soldiers and was taken prisoner. While Neutra was believed to be alive, his parents, Ronen and Orna, spearheaded a public effort to secure their son’s freedom. In their fight for their son’s release, they spoke at demonstrations in the US and Israel, gave a speech at this year’s Republican National Convention, and maintained their relationship with the Biden administration.
The military did not specify how it arrived at its decision regarding Neutra’s destiny in a statement announcing her death. Four of the seven American Israelis who are currently being imprisoned in Gaza are reportedly dead, including him. Over the weekend, Hamas published a video of Edan Alexander, proving he was still alive.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another well-known Israeli American hostage, was executed by Hamas in late July, along with five other hostages, the bodies of whom were found by the Israeli military.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants invaded southern Israel, murdering around 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and seizing about 250 hostages, sparking the start of the Gaza War. Approximately two-thirds of the 100 prisoners still detained inside Gaza are thought to be alive.
Iraqi militias backed by Iran support the Syrian government’s counteroffensive against rebels.
According to a militia official and a war monitor, Iraqi militias backed by Iran arrived in Syria on Monday to bolster the government’s counteroffensive against an unexpected insurgent advance that took control of Aleppo, the country’s largest city.
Before advancing on nearby Hama province, insurgents led by the Islamic organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged onslaught last week on Aleppo and the surrounding countryside of Idlib. While jets bombarded rebel-held positions on Sunday, government troops in northern Hama constructed a hardened defensive line in an effort to slow the militants’ momentum.
In a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared Tehran’s unwavering support for his regime. Later, he traveled to Ankara, Turkey, one of the insurgents’ principal supporters, for negotiations.
One of Assad’s main political and military backers, Iran sent military advisers and troops as anti-Assad protests in 2011 descended into full-scale conflict.
The Iraqi militia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, claimed that Tehran-backed Iraqi militias already in Syria had mobilized and that more soldiers had crossed the border to support them.
Overnight, over 200 Iraqi gunmen on pickups entered Syria through the strategically important Bou Kamal, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor based in Britain. According to the monitor, they were anticipated to go to Aleppo to bolster the Syrian army’s resistance to the rebels.
In the Gulf of Aden, the US Navy eliminates Houthi drones and missiles that are aimed at US ships.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched seven missiles and drones at the warships and three American commerce boats they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden, which were shot down by U.S. Navy destroyers. There were no reported casualties or damage.
The destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O Kane fired down and destroyed three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three drones, and one anti-ship cruise missile, according to a statement released by U.S. Central Command late Sunday. There was no identification of the merchant ships.
In a statement, the Houthis took credit for the strike and claimed that they had targeted three American army supply ships and warships in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
For months, Houthi strikes have targeted shipping in a waterway that transports $1 trillion worth of commodities annually over Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Last week, a ceasefire was declared in Lebanon.
On November 12, the USS Stockdale took part in a similar strike.
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