Hamas airs video purporting to show two Israeli hostages killed in captivity

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(From left to right): Yossi Sharabi, Noa Argamani & Itai Svirsky. (Photo/Social media)
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Updated 16 January 2024
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Hamas airs video purporting to show two Israeli hostages killed in captivity

  • Aragamani said in the video that they were killed by Israeli strikes, while she was injured
  • Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that Hamas carries out “psychological abuse” with its handling of the hostages

DOHA/GAZA/JERUSALEM: Hamas appeared to show the dead bodies of two Israeli hostages on Monday after warning Israel they might be killed if it did not stop its bombardment of Gaza.
A new video released by the Palestinian militant group purportedly showed the bodies of Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38, who had appeared in an initial video on Sunday.
It also showed a third Israeli hostage, university student Noa Argamani, 26, seemingly reading a script in front of a blank white wall, saying the two were killed by Israeli strikes.
Israel’s military spokesperson said there was serious concern regarding the fate of the hostages purported to be dead in the video, while specifying that one of them, whom he identified as Svirsky, was not killed by Israeli fire.
“Itai was not shot by our forces. That is a Hamas lie. The building in which they were held was not a target and it was not attacked by our forces,” said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who did not give the name or any details about the second person as per the family’s request.
“We don’t attack a place if we know there may be hostages inside,” he said, adding that areas nearby had been targeted.
Reuters was unable to verify what had happened to the three, who were among some 240 people taken hostage by Islamist Hamas militants during a surprise cross-border rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Around half of those hostages were released during a short-lived November truce, but Israel says 132 remain in Gaza and that 25 have died in captivity.
The three Israelis were shown in a Hamas video on Sunday in which the group urged the Israeli government to halt its aerial and ground offensive and bring about their release.
It ended with the caption: “Tomorrow (Monday) we will inform you of their fate.”
Israeli officials have generally declined to respond to Hamas’ public messaging on the hostages.
Forensic officials have said that autopsies of slain hostages who had been recovered found causes of death inconsistent with Hamas’ account they had died in air strikes.
Israel has also made clear it is aware of the risks to hostages from its offensive, and is taking precautions.

BOMBARDMENT INTENSIFIES
As night fell, residents said Israeli planes and tanks intensified their bombardment again across Gaza.
In Al-Bureij in central Gaza, medics said an Israeli missile strike killed four people and wounded others, while in the Tel Al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City in the north, they said two people were killed and others wounded by an Israeli strike.
Israel’s military said it had withdrawn another division of troops as part of plans for more targeted operations against Hams leaders in the south after an initial all-out offensive centered on the heavily built-up northern end of the Strip.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking around the same time as the latest hostage video was shown, said intense military operations in southern Gaza were almost over, but that Hamas would not agree to release any more hostages without military pressure.
The armed wing of Hamas said its fighters had ambushed and killed five Israeli soldiers in the southern city of Khan Younis. Palestinian health officials said earlier that seven people had been killed and others hurt in an Israeli air strike near the city’s Nasser hospital.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas assault has turned much of the Palestinian territory into a wasteland and killed, health officials say, some 24,100 people and wounded nearly 61,000.
Health officials said 132 were killed in the past 24 hours, suggesting to Palestinians that there has been little let-up in the intensity of Israel’s offensive despite its announcement of a shift to the new, more targeted phase.
Almost two million displaced people are sheltering in tents and other temporary accommodation in southern Gaza amid the fighting, and are facing increased risks of starvation and disease due to chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

VIOLENCE SPREADS
The more than three-month-old conflict has intensified violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the wider Middle East and on Monday it reached further into Israel.
Palestinians carried out coordinated car-rammings in the central Israeli town of Raanana, killing a woman and injuring 12 other people, police and medical officials said. France said two of its nationals were among the injured.
The two suspects were from the same family in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and at least one of the vehicles used in the attacks had been stolen, police said.
Sami Abu Zuhri, head of Hamas’ political unit in exile, told Reuters the incidents were linked to Israeli “crimes” and were further evidence that the conflict was expanding.
Violence has also flared in the West Bank, run by the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority, where the health ministry says 351 people have been killed as Israel conducts raids that it says are aimed at flushing out militants.
A man and a woman were killed on Monday by Israeli gunfire in Dora near Hebron during what Palestinian official news agency WAFA said were stone-throwing clashes that erupted after Israeli forces raided the town. Separately, WAFA said a Palestinian security officer, Mahmoud Abdullah Khalifa, was killed near the West Bank town of Tulkarm.
Further afield, Houthi fighters who control much of Yemen have stepped up attacks on ships in the Red Sea it says are linked to Israel out of what they say is solidarity with the people of Gaza.
On Monday they damaged a US-owned vessel carrying steel products with an anti-ship ballistic missile south of the Yemeni port of Aden, saying they were expanding their targets after US and British air strikes on their positions in Yemen.

 


Palestinian detainee says he was tortured in Israeli detention center

Updated 11 sec ago
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Palestinian detainee says he was tortured in Israeli detention center

KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinian medic and ambulance worker Tarek Rabie Safi, freed from an Israeli jail as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, said he was underfed and abused during almost a year in captivity.
Safi, a 39-year-old father of two, was released along with 368 other Palestinian detainees on Saturday, after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages from Gaza.
Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages have both complained of harsh treatment in the hands of their captors.
“I was held by the Israeli army in the Gaza ‘envelop’, which is Sde Teiman where I stayed for four months (and I was subjected to) torture of our bodies (physical torture) and hunger,” a gaunt-looking Safi said.
“(There was) no (decent) food, or drinks, or (medical) treatment. My arm was broken, and they did not treat me, and they did not get me checked by a doctor.”
The Israeli military rejected the claims in an emailed response to Reuters’ queries, saying detainees are given food and drink regularly and have access to medical care, and that if necessary, they are transferred to a medical facility with advanced capabilities.
Safi, who was detained in March last year near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said a detainee who was in the same room with him had died as a result of his treatment.
“A young man who was with me was martyred, Mussab Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, in the same room. This young man was strong, but due to the lack of food, lack of drinks and frequent torture, he was martyred in front of our eyes,” Safi said.
After four months in the detention center, Safi was moved to other Israeli jails until his release in Khan Younis, where he was reunited with his family in emotional scenes.
The Israeli military said it is aware of incidents of detainee deaths, but cannot comment since investigations are pending.
The Palestinian Prisoner Association, which documents Israeli detentions of Palestinians, said that Israel is carrying out “systematic crimes and revenge attacks” against prisoners, most recently in the Israeli-occupied West Bank’s Ofer prison.
Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the association, said that the group had documented horrific testimonies, including severe beatings and shackling prisoners for days and weeks without food or water.
Reuters is unable to independently confirm the reports.
Human rights group Amnesty International said last year that 27 released detainees it had interviewed consistently described being subjected to torture on at least one occasion during their arrest.

Israel will leave troops in 5 locations in Lebanon after Tuesday deadline, military spokesperson says

Israeli army forces patrol in the village of Kfarshuba in southern Lebanon on February 17, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 25 min 36 sec ago
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Israel will leave troops in 5 locations in Lebanon after Tuesday deadline, military spokesperson says

  • “We need to remain at those points at the moment to defend Israeli citizens, to make sure this process is complete,” military spokesperson said
  • Lebanon’s President Aoun said Monday he was “afraid that the complete withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow”

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israel will keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past a February 18 deadline for them to withdraw, a military spokesperson said on Monday, as Israeli leaders sought to reassure northern residents that they can return home safely.
Under a truce deal brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah since early October.
That deadline was extended to February 18, but Israeli and Lebanese officials as well as foreign diplomats had anticipated that the military would retain some troops on parts of the Lebanese side of the border.
“We need to remain at those points at the moment to defend Israeli citizens, to make sure this process is complete and eventually hand it over to the Lebanese armed forces,” military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters, adding that the move was in accordance with the mechanism of the ceasefire agreement.
He said the locations were close to Israeli communities or occupying strategic vantage points overlooking Israeli towns like Metula, at the northernmost point of Israel.
“Basically the security situation is very, very complex,” he said.
A Lebanese official and two foreign diplomats said Israeli troops would likely leave villages in south Lebanon but stay in overlook points to reassure residents of northern Israel who are set to return home on March 1.
Tens of thousands of people were displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire and more than a million people in Lebanon fled Israeli air strikes in the year-long war conflict playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
The fighting ended in late November with a truce ordering Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon, Hezbollah fighters and arms to leave and Lebanese troops to deploy.
The ceasefire deal stipulates that only “official military and security forces” in Lebanon can carry arms and that the Lebanese government must prevent any transfers of arms or related material to non-state armed groups.
Its language — sharper than previous United Nations Security Council Resolutions — appears to spells out ways that the Lebanese state will be expected to constrain Hezbollah, diplomats and analysts said.
The deal’s implementation is being overseen by a committee chaired by the US and France.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, who has said Israeli troops should leave by the February 18 deadline, said on Monday he was “afraid that the complete (Israeli) withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow.”
The two diplomats said talks were still underway on alternatives to Israeli troops staying, including possibly deploying more UN peacekeepers to the border.
France has proposed that UN forces including French troops replace Israeli forces at key border points.
Hezbollah said on Sunday that Israeli forces still in Lebanon after Tuesday would be considered an occupying force.
Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years, withdrawing in 2000 after continued attacks on its positions in occupied Lebanese territory by Hezbollah, founded in 1982 to counter Israel’s invasions.
In the latest war, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire for nearly a year, mostly around the border. Israel significantly escalated in September, eliminating much of Hezbollah’s top leadership in air strikes and sending ground troops into south Lebanon.


UN appeals for $6 billion for Sudan crisis aid in 2025

Updated 17 February 2025
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UN appeals for $6 billion for Sudan crisis aid in 2025

  • The aim is to provide assistance to nearly 26 million people this year, UN bodies say
  • Civil war has displaced 12 million people, of whom around 3.5 million have fled the country

GENEVA: The UN appealed Monday for $6 billion to provide desperately-needed aid to people in war-ravaged Sudan and millions of refugees fleeing “appalling” conditions.
The aim is to provide assistance to nearly 26 million people this year, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA and refugee agency UNHCR said in a joint appeal.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been locked in a brutal conflict between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The UN agencies said the civil war has displaced 12 million people, of whom around 3.5 million have fled the country.
They stressed that at the same time, nearly two-thirds of Sudan’s population needs emergency aid, as swathes of the country face famine conditions.
“Sudan is a humanitarian emergency of shocking proportions,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.
“Famine is taking hold. An epidemic of sexual violence rages. Children are being killed and injured. The suffering is appalling.”
Famine conditions have already been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including in displacement camps in Darfur and in the western Nuba Mountains, the UN statement said.
And “catastrophic hunger is expected to worsen by May when the lean season begins,” it warned.
The UN said it was appealing for $4.2 billion to reach nearly 21 million people inside Sudan with life-saving aid and protection.
Fletcher said the UN plan would provide “a lifeline to millions.”
The United Nations said it would also need $1.8 billion to support 4.8 million people – both Sudanese refugees and their host communities – in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.
“Today, one-third of Sudan’s entire population is displaced,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in the statement, highlighting that “the consequences of this horrific and senseless conflict spread far beyond Sudan’s borders.”
The UN cautioned that without immediate funding, two-thirds of refugee children would be denied access to primary education, “threatening an entire generation.”
And “up to 4.8 million refugees and host community members will continue to face severe food insecurity, with at least 1.8 million going without food assistance,” it said, warning that “already strained health systems may collapse.”
Last year, humanitarian organizations received $1.8 billion for Sudan – 66 percent of the $2.7 billion requested – and managed to reach more than 15.6 million people across the country.
They also provided life-saving food assistance to over a million people in neighboring countries, as well as medical support to half a million and protection services to over 800,000, the statement said.


Israel kills Hamas official in southern Lebanon

Civil defence workers and Lebanese soldiers gather next to remains of burned car that was hit by an Israeli drone strike.
Updated 55 min 39 sec ago
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Israel kills Hamas official in southern Lebanon

  • Israeli military said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon
  • A Hamas official confirmed Shaheen’s killing to Reuters

BEIRUT: Israel killed on Monday a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon’s Sidon area, the Israeli military and a Hamas official said.
The military said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon and that he had recently been involved in promoting “terrorist plots” with Iranian direction and funding from Lebanese territory against Israeli citizens.
A Hamas official confirmed Shaheen’s killing to Reuters.
An Israeli strike on a car in Lebanon’s southern port city of Sidon targeted an official in the Palestinian militant group, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters earlier.
Lebanon’s state news agency said rescuers had removed one body from the car but did not identify the victim.
The Israeli military has been carrying out strikes against members of Hamas, allied Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and other factions in Lebanon, in parallel with the war in Gaza.
Those armed groups have launched rockets, drones and artillery attacks across the border into northern Israel.
Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October.
That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel’s military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week.


Cairo building collapse kills 10: state media

Updated 17 February 2025
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Cairo building collapse kills 10: state media

  • Eyewitnesses told the state-owned outlet that “a gas cylinder explosion” caused the collapse

CAIRO: A building collapse in the Egyptian capital killed 10 people and injured eight more on Monday, with several others believed to be missing under the rubble, state media reported.
Ambulances were dispatched to the scene in the working class neighborhood of Kerdasa, where civil defense teams searched for people thought to be missing under the rubble, according to the Al-Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper.
Eyewitnesses told the state-owned outlet that “a gas cylinder explosion” caused the collapse, and a police investigation was under way.
Building regulations are unevenly enforced in the sprawling metropolis of Cairo, home to over 26 million people.
The city has seen a number of deadly building collapses in recent years, both due to the dilapidated state of some and, at times, failure to comply with building regulations.