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Israeli Military Recovers Bodies of Six Hostages From Gaza
People walk past images of hostages kidnapped in the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
JNS.org — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday morning recovered the bodies of six hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, from a tunnel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In an operation involving the IDF and Israel Security Agency, the bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri, and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
A combination picture shows undated handout images of Israeli hostages Alex Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Yagev Buchshtab, Chaim Peri and Abraham Munder and hostage Nadav Popplewell, who were kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Photo: Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/The Hostages Families Forum/Handout via REUTERS
The total number of hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas in Gaza now stands at 109.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that every effort will continue to be made to return all of the abductees, both alive and dead.
“Our hearts grieve over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. I would like to thank the brave IDF and ISA fighters and commanders for their heroism and determined action,” the premier stated.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “We must not stop for a moment from working in every way possible to bring back all the hostages — the living to the embrace of their families, and the dead to be laid to rest. This is Israel’s highest moral duty.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called it a “daring and dangerous operation in the Hamas tunnels in Khan Younis.”
“I share in the mourning and the heavy sorrow of the families,” he said, adding that the operation was “another expression of the determination and courage of the fighters, alongside the operational freedom of action that we have achieved all over the Gaza Strip. We will continue to expand it and realize the goals of the war — the dissolution of Hamas, and the fulfillment of our commitment to return all abductees to Israel.:
Munder, 79, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife Ruthi, their daughter Keren and 9-year-old grandson Ohad. Ruthi, Keren and Ohad were released in the November hostage deal. Their son, Roi, was murdered during the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7 along with some 1,200 others.
“We will always remember Munder, with his clear voice, his warm smile and his endless love for his family and the kibbutz,” the kibbutz said in a statement.
Metzger, 80, also a member of Nir Oz, was kidnapped alive and the IDF announced his death about two months ago. His wife, Tamar, who was also kidnapped to Gaza, was released in November.
“He worked at the Nirlat factory and in recent years in a garage. Member of the Kibbutz Winery. Father of three sons and grandfather of seven grandchildren. Yoram will be remembered in all of our hearts as a pleasant and smiling man, who always made everyone feel immediately at home,” the kibbutz said.
Peri, 80, was also kidnapped from Nir Oz, of which he was a member.
“Chaim was 80 years old, father of five children and grandfather of 13 grandchildren. An entrepreneur, humanist and peace activist. On the day of the massacre at the kibbutz, Chaim managed to save his wife Asanat before being kidnapped himself. He survived in inhumane conditions in the Hamas tunnels for months, until he was brutally murdered in captivity,” the kibbutz said.
Buchshtav’s death was announced on July 22. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim, where the 34-year-old resided. His wife, Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, was abducted with him and then released on Nov. 28 as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Dancyg, 76, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. The IDF announced his death in late July, along with that of Buchshtav.
“Alex Dancyg was a historian, educator, and farmer. Born to Holocaust survivors, he became one of the founders of educational delegations to Poland. Alex worked at Yad Vashem for about 30 years, where he trained thousands of guides in Holocaust education,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a volunteer group focused on bringing the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza back to Israel, said at the time.
“Hostages who were held captive with him reported that Alex spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives. Alex was an avid reader with a passion for history and enjoyed various sports. Yesterday would have been his 76th birthday,” the statement continued.
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan paid tribute to Dancyg, saying, “Alex’s essence embodied both in spirit and substance his love for the land and thirst for knowledge. His vast library at his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz reflected his deep connection between his cherished Israeli and Jewish identity and his Polish birthplace.”
“Alex successfully integrated these perspectives into his teaching of the events of World War II in general and of the Holocaust in particular. The news of his tragic death strengthens our commitment to ensure that Alex’s legacy and the stories he passionately preserved are never forgotten.”
The forum said of Buchshtav that he “was a humble and unassuming man who loved life in Kibbutz Nirim. A sound technician by profession, Yagev had a deep passion for music. From a young age, he played guitar and flute, later expanding to other instruments, some of which he built himself. Together with his wife Rimon, Yagev cared for five dogs and five cats, several of which they had rescued and rehabilitated.”
Popplewell’s death was announced on June 3. The 51-year-old British Israeli was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nirim by Hamas terrorists. His mother, Channah Peri, 79, was released in November.
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Before His Ouster, Syria’s Assad Told Iran that Turkey Was Aiding Rebels to Unseat Him
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad attends the Arab League summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
In the final days leading to his ouster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad complained to Iran’s foreign minister that Turkey was actively supporting Sunni rebels in their offensive to topple him, two Iranian officials told Reuters this week.
Five decades of rule by Assad’s family ended on Sunday when he fled to Moscow, where the government granted him asylum. Iran had backed Assad in Syria’s long civil war and his overthrow was widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance,” a political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.
As rebel forces from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly aligned to al Qaeda, seized major cities and advanced towards the capital, Assad met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Damascus on Dec. 2.
At the meeting, Assad voiced anger over what he said was Turkey’s intensified efforts to unseat him, according to a senior Iranian official. Araqchi assured Assad of Iran’s continued support and promised to raise the issue with Ankara, the official said.
The next day, Araqchi met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to express Tehran’s deep concerns over Ankara’s support for rebel advances.
“The meeting was tense. Iran expressed its unhappiness with Turkey’s alignment with US and Israeli agendas and conveyed Assad’s concerns,” a second Iranian official said, referring to Ankara’s support for rebels and cooperation with Western and Israeli interests in targeting Iran’s allies in the region.
Fidan, the official said, blamed Assad for the crisis, asserting that his failure to engage in genuine peace talks and his years of oppressive rule were the root causes of the conflict.
A Turkish foreign ministry source familiar with Fidan’s talks said that those were not the exact remarks by Fidan, and added that Araqchi did not bring and convey any messages from Assad to Turkey, without elaborating.
Fidan told reporters in Doha on Sunday that the Assad regime “had precious time” to address Syria’s existing problems, but did not, instead allowing “a slow decay and collapse of the regime.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Assad’s toppling was the result of a plan by the United States and Israel.
He said that one of Syria’s neighbors also had a role and continues to do so. He did not name the country, but appeared to be referring to Turkey.
NATO member Turkey, which controls swathes of land in northern Syria after several cross-border incursions against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, was a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
Assad’s downfall stripped Iran and its ally the Lebanese group Hezbollah of a vital ally. Tehran’s ties to Damascus had allowed Iran to spread its influence through a land corridor from its western border via Iraq all the way to Lebanon to bring arms supplies to Hezbollah.
Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.
Hezbollah also played a major part, sending fighters to support him, but had to bring them back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel – a redeployment that weakened Syrian government lines.
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US General Discusses Syria, Other Regional Issues in Israel Visit
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi salutes fallen soldiers at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem in a picture published on Oct. 27, 2024. Photo: IDF.
A top US military officer visited Israel from Wednesday to Friday, meeting with Israeli defense officials and discussing the situation in Syria, among other regional topics, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
Army General Michael Kurilla, CENTCOM’s commander, met Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, along with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, CENTCOM said.
Washington has urged Israel to be in close consultation with the US over events unfolding in Syria, where days earlier Syrian rebels led by rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani brought an end to more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family, as ousted President Bashar al-Assad fled the country.
The world has been watching to see if Syria’s new rulers can stabilize the country in which more than a decade of civil war killed hundreds of thousands and sparked a refugee crisis.
Following the collapse of Assad’s regime, the Israeli military said its jets conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria and destroyed the bulk of its strategic weapons stockpiles.
Katz has ordered Israeli troops to prepare to stay over the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic location overlooking Damascus, adding to signs that Israel is planning a prolonged military presence in Syria.
“The leaders discussed a range of regional security issues, to include the ongoing situation in Syria, and preparedness against other strategic and regional threats,” the CENTCOM statement said.
CENTCOM said Kurilla also visited Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in recent days.
While Israel welcomed the removal of Assad, an ally of arch rival Iran, it is suspicious of the rebel groups that toppled him, many of which have origins linked to Islamist groups.
In Lebanon, Kurilla visited Beirut to monitor withdrawal of the first Israeli troops under a ceasefire reached last month for a war that killed thousands and displaced over a million.
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HTS Leader Says ‘No More Excuses’ for Israel to Strike in Syria
An Israeli tank crosses the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli Golan Heights, Dec. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
i24 News – The leader of the Islamist rebel army that overthrew the government of Bashar Assad declared that Israel had “no more excuses” to carry out airstrikes in the war-ravaged country.
“There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now after the Iranians have left,” Ahmed al-Sharaa, or Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, told Syrian state media. “We are not in the process of engaging in a conflict with Israel.”
The leader of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) pointedly referred to the Jewish state by its name, rather than “the Zionist entity” or “the enemy.”
“We have ready plans for development and rebuilding in Syria, to address all its crises, and we are currently in the information-gathering phase,” Jolani further added. “Syria needs law and a state of institutions, the state must not be governed with a revolutionary mindset.”
Regarding the manufacture of Captagon, the jihadists’ drug of choice, for which the regime of Assad was renowned, Jolani pointed out that “the Assad regime deserves a global award for manufacturing Captagon, and we will put an end to its production in Syria.”
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