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Israel’s AM Radio Pierces Gaza Tunnels in Bid to Soothe Hostages
Israeli soldiers operate at the opening to a tunnel at Al Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, November 22, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
After conquering a Hamas tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip, a group of Israeli soldiers went down it with some unusual kit in hand – not explosives, robot probes or pistols for close combat, but rather: old-style, dial-operated transistor radios.
Their mission was to descend until the devices could no longer receive AM transmissions from Israel. That point, they found, was at about 10 to 12 metres depth, generally the upper “storeys” of Palestinian terrorists’ subterranean network.
The Jan 4 experiment was ordered by their commander at the behest of Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who had just expanded the country’s most popular broadcaster, Army Radio, from industry-standard FM into complementary AM channels.
AM’s greater range meant emergency updates would have a better chance of being heard by civilians in bomb shelters. Troops in Gaza would also benefit, as they were being allowed transistor radios to keep themselves informed while being asked to surrender their cellphones lest those be geolocated by Hamas.
The tunnel experiment dangled another possibility for a country tormented with worry for 132 people held hostage by Hamas-led gunmen in the enclave: reaching out to them with custom-composed, morale-raising Army Radio broadcasts.
“It suddenly occurred to me that maybe some of those hostages also had access to transistor radios,” Karhi told Reuters. “If they had the means to hear their families’ voices it would have a huge value in terms of morale – and for their relatives, too.”
The gambit would likely need Hamas’ cooperation, a prospect its initiators hope is within the bounds of possibility.
Hamas officials in Gaza were not immediately available for comment on the idea – a testament to Palestinians’ shattered infrastructure under an Israeli offensive, as well as their reluctance to release information on the hostages’ conditions.
ACCESS TO TVS, RADIOS
Of scores of hostages freed in a November truce, several said captors had allowed them limited access to TVs or radios.
One of them learned from the radio that her husband and daughter, from whom she had been separated during the Oct. 7 cross-border Hamas killing and kidnapping spree that sparked the war, had survived. For another, an Israeli broadcast was the first notification that two relatives were among the dead.
But the accounts often left unclear whether the hostages were kept just under the surface, or in tunnels well out of range, or in above-ground safe houses with regular reception. Tunnels shown to journalists by advancing Israeli forces have sometimes included upper levels of about 10 metres depth.
Asked to respond to the Army Radio initiative, ex-hostage Nili Margalit said part of her captivity was spent 40 metres underground. “It is too deep,” she told Reuters, declining to discuss the matter further for fear “that the terrorists will use my words to hurt the captives that are still there”.
Dan O’Shea, a former Navy SEAL and hostage coordinator for U.S. forces in Iraq, said that while he “completely agrees” with the AM-radio initiative he saw scant chance of Hamas cooperating while Israel pursues search-and-rescue operations in Gaza.
“If Hamas knew that these radios could be picked up by Israeli forces, it’s the last thing they would want,” he said. “They’re paranoid about anything that’s going to track an IDF bomb to their position.”
Peter Duffett-Smith, emeritus reader in astrophysics at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, said AM transistor radios, which are designed to passively receive broadcasts, cannot easily be traced. But he did not rule it out.
Most such radios use oscillators which emit faint signals, he said, “and it is possible that (these) could be detected at a distance using specialised equipment. These signals decrease rapidly with distance, especially through ground.”
Asked whether Israel could mount such location operations, Army Radio director Danny Zaken said: “We cannot. It (a broadcast received by the radio) is not coming back. I mean, it’s not like sonar … It’s only one-way, unfortunately.”
STAVING OFF DESPAIR
Karhi said he knew of neither Israel nor Hamas being able to track passive AM reception – hence the permission for troops in Gaza to use transistor radios.
Staving off despair or rebelliousness among the hostages might prompt captors to consider taking a risk on the radios.
But Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, a clinical psychology professor with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said if Hamas felt it would weaken its control of captives it would prevent them listening.
Army Radio‘s shift into AM is backed by the Defence Ministry’s National Emergency Management Authority and Israel’s largest telecom group, Bezeq. The station has been pre-recording messages by hostage families for airing several times a day.
“They’re telling them: ‘Stay strong. We are fighting for you. Don’t worry. We’ll get to you. Stay strong,” Zaken said.
At a Tel Aviv rally to mark the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, the youngest of the hostages, an Army Radio reporter approached one of the baby’s relatives, Yosi Shnaider, to explain the station’s new reach and ask to record an interview.
He agreed: “If they are hearing us … We want to tell you that the families love you, that no one has forgotten you.”
The post Israel’s AM Radio Pierces Gaza Tunnels in Bid to Soothe Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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