CAIRO: The armed wing of Palestinian militant faction Hamas said on Saturday that more than 60 hostages were missing because of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
Late last month, Hamas said an estimated 50 captives held by the group were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble.
“It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the statement. The Israeli army declined to comment.
The United States has been flying surveillance drones over Gaza in search of hostages taken by Hamas when the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, two US officials said on Thursday.
Hamas, an armed Islamist group that governs Gaza, has so far released four civilians among the 239 believed to be held.
Hamas armed wing: More than 60 hostages are missing due to Israeli airstrikes
https://arab.news/5ve3f
Hamas armed wing: More than 60 hostages are missing due to Israeli airstrikes
- Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades said on Hamas’ Telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble
- Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group that governs Gaza, has so far released four civilians among the 239 believed to be held
UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port
UKMTO said a vessel in the area reported a small craft colliding with it and was seen attempting to collide with other vessels in the area, adding that all crew were safe.
Gaza war cannot be solved by military means, says German foreign minister in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM: The conflict in Gaza cannot be solved by military means and a political solution must be found to end the war permanently, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“I do not believe that this conflict can be permanently resolved by military means,” Wadephul said. “Nevertheless, it is urgently necessary that Hamas is disarmed and that it can no longer have military control over Gaza.”
He said that Germany would do whatever it takes to guarantee Israel’s security, but this does not mean that his country cannot criticize Israel’s course of action, adding that this “must not lead to antisemitism.”
Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israel. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
“I am not sure whether all of Israel’s strategic goals can be achieved in this way (through a military campaign) and whether this will serve Israel’s security in the long term,” Wadephul said. “That is why we are appealing for a return to serious negotiations on a ceasefire.”
Wadephul repeated that the return of hostages is the German government’s priority. He also said it was clear that Gaza is part of the Palestinian territory.
“We need a political solution for the reconstruction of Gaza without Hamas,” Wadephul said.
UAE launches 4th phase of Gaza water supply project
- The UAE-supported project focuses on maintaining and restoring central wells across Gaza’s municipalities, ensuring the continuity of essential water services
DUBAI: The UAE has launched the fourth phase of its humanitarian water supply initiative in the Gaza Strip this week.
The project is part of the ongoing “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3,” aimed at alleviating the suffering of Palestinian civilians amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.
The UAE-supported project focuses on maintaining and restoring central wells across Gaza’s municipalities, ensuring the continuity of essential water services.
This latest phase includes the repair of 28 non-operational wells across several governorates, a move expected to benefit nearly 700,000 residents.
Sharif Al-Nayrab, media director for Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, praised the long-standing support of Emirati humanitarian organizations for Gaza’s critical sectors.
“This initiative reflects the UAE’s firm commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, especially during times of acute need,” he said.
This is the fourth water-related project implemented under the UAE initiative.
Earlier phases included daily distribution of water via tankers, the drilling of emergency wells along southern coastal areas and the construction of submersible wells to increase supply.
Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has provided critical relief and development efforts across Gaza, delivering food, health and utility support.
Israeli army says body of soldier missing for 43 years found in ‘heart of Syria’
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Sunday that the body of a soldier missing for 43 years had been found in the “heart of Syria” and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency.
“In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel,” the army said in a statement.
Feldman went missing along with two other soldiers in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub that pitted Israeli and Syrian forces against each other in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria.
In a separate statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts to locate Feldman’s body, noting that the search for him and his comrades — Zachariah Baumel and Yehuda Katz — had been ongoing for decades.
“Approximately six years ago, we returned for a Jewish burial, Sgt. First Class Zechariah Baumel; today we have returned Tzvika, of blessed memory. We will not cease our efforts to return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, who is also an MIA from the same battle,” Netanyahu’s statement said, adding that the prime minister had personally notified Feldman’s parents.
The army statement said that Feldman’s body had been identified by the Genomic Identification Center for Fallen Soldiers of the Military Rabbinate but gave little details of how his remains were located deep inside Syria.
“The return of Sgt. Feldman was made possible through a complex and covert operation, enabled by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities that demonstrated ingenuity and courage,” the statement said.
“This concludes an extensive intelligence and operational effort that spanned more than four decades, involving close cooperation between the POW/MIA Coordinators in the Prime Minister’s Office, intelligence and operational units within the Mossad and IDF Intelligence Directorate, along with the Shin Bet and the IDF Human Resources Directorate,” the army said.
Iran and US begin 4th round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program in Oman
- Iran FM says hopes fourth round of talks with US reaches ‘decisive point’
- Araghchi said Tehran's right to enrich uranium was ‘non-negotiable’
DUBAI: Iran and the United States began a fourth round of negotiations Sunday over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, officials said, just ahead of a visit by President Donald Trump to the Middle East this week.
The round of talks, again happening in the sultanate of Oman, likely will see Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi mediating. American officials believe the talks will include both indirect and direct portions, as in previous rounds of negotiations, but like the other rounds in Muscat and Rome, details remain scarce.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities on their own if it feels threatened, further complicating tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Iranian state television announced the talks had begun. There was no immediate comment from the US side.
The fourth round comes ahead of Trump’s trip
The talks will again see Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff lead the negotiations. They have met and spoken face-to-face in the talks, but the majority of the negotiations appear to have been indirect, with Al-Busaidi shuttling messages between the two sides.
Iran has insisted that keeping its ability to enrich uranium is a red line for its theocracy. Witkoff also has muddied the issue by first suggesting in a television interview that Iran could enrich uranium at 3.67 percent, then later saying that all enrichment must stop.
“An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again,” Witkoff told the right-wing Breitbart news site in a piece published Friday. “That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, it means no weaponization, and it means that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — those are their three enrichment facilities — have to be dismantled.”
Araghchi, however, warned again that enrichment remains a red line for Iran.
“This is a right of the Iranian people that is not up for negotiation or compromise. Enrichment is one of the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi said before leaving Tehran. “A heavy price has been paid for this enrichment. The blood of our nuclear scientists has been shed for it. This is absolutely non-negotiable. That has been our clear stance that we have always voiced.”
Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers capped Tehran’s enrichment at 3.67 percent and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 pounds). That level is enough for nuclear power plants, but far below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and enriched uranium to up to 60 percent purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. There have also been a series of attacks at sea and on land in recent years, stemming from the tensions even before the Israel-Hamas war began.
