Uncategorized
Hamas releases remains of just 4 deceased hostages, leaving 24 still unaccounted for
(JTA) — Hours after freeing 20 living hostages to a jubilant Israel, Hamas released the remains of four deceased hostages — far fewer than the 28 it is holding and obligated under the terms of the ceasefire to release.
The group had already indicated that it was not prepared to release all of the deceased hostages’ remains immediately, following two years of war in Gaza, and Israel and negotiators had accepted that it could take some time. Still, the small number of bodies released on Monday represented a disappointment for many who had hoped that Monday would bring closure to those who have spent years lobbying for the hostages’ release.
Hamas said the hostages released on Monday were Guy Illouz, Bipin Joshi, Daniel Perez and Yossi Sharabi. Subsequent DNA testing confirmed that Illouz and Joshi were in the group; the identities of the other two remains were not immediately confirmed at their families’ instruction.
- Illouz, 26, was injured during the attack on the Nova music festival. A returned hostage said he had been killed.
- Joshi, 23, was a Nepalese agriculture student who had arrived in Israel just weeks before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. He had not previously been confirmed dead, though Israel had expressed “grave concern” about his life. His family had joined lobbying efforts on behalf of the hostages and last week released a video produced by Hamas that showed him alive in Gaza at least a month after he was taken hostage.
- Perez, 22, was a soldier who responded to the Hamas attack. The IDF announced in March 2024 that he had been killed on Oct. 7, along with two other soldiers in his tank. A fourth soldier in the tank, Matan Angrest, was released alive on Monday and paid tribute to Perez in his first message to Israelis.
- Sharabi, 53, was abducted from Kibbutz Beeri. He was likely killed in an IDF airstrike, the IDF said in February 2024. His brother Eli, whose wife and daughters were killed on Oct. 7, was released during the first phase of the current ceasefire and has become a prominent voice among freed hostages.
Israel reportedly believes that Hamas is in possession of at least some additional hostages’ remains but chose not to release them. It is pressing for their swift release, but especially with U.S. President Donald Trump emphasizing that he views the war as permanently over, has no way to apply pressure on Hamas.
The post Hamas releases remains of just 4 deceased hostages, leaving 24 still unaccounted for appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Arson Attack on Governor’s Mansion
Cody Balmer appears in a booking photograph after his arrest on suspicion of an attack on Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro’s official residence, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. April 14, 2025. Photo: Dauphin County District Attorney/Handout via REUTERS.
A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempting to murder Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in an April arson attack on the governor’s residence in which he scaled a fence and ignited part of the house with gasoline-filled beer bottles as Shapiro and his family slept inside.
Cody Balmer also pleaded guilty to terrorism, 22 counts of arson, 21 counts of reckless endangerment, burglary, aggravated assault, and loitering, according to records from the Dauphin County Court in Pennsylvania.
A Pennsylvania judge sentenced Balmer to 25 to 50 years in state prison, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, who prosecuted the case.
The April attack was part of a surge in political violence in the United States. There were about 150 politically motivated attacks in the first half of 2025, nearly double the number from that period last year, according to political violence researchers.
In an emotional press conference on Tuesday, Shapiro said the attack had taken a profound toll on him and his family, and that despite rising levels of political violence in the US, nobody should “grow numb” to it.
“We need real accountability for acts of political violence, and today is real accountability for the violence that came here to Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro, who is seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028.
After the attack, Balmer told police he “harbored hatred” toward Shapiro and would have beaten him with a hammer if he had encountered the governor inside the residence.
According to a police search warrant released in April when Balmer called 911 to confess, he told police he believed Shapiro, who is Jewish, was encouraging the war in Gaza, and that he “needs to stop having my friends killed,” and “our people have been put through too much by that monster.”
Since the attack on Shapiro’s residence, other acts of political violence in the United States have targeted figures on the right and left.
In June, a Christian nationalist murdered a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota, and wounded a second Democrat.
In July, a group of at least 11 militants in black military-style clothing attacked an immigration detention center in Texas. The group set off fireworks, spray-painted “traitor” and “ICE Pig” on vehicles, and shot a responding police officer in the neck, wounding him, while another sprayed gunfire at detention guards, according to the FBI.
Uncategorized
Hamas to Start Handing Over Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages Tuesday Night, Official Says
Trucks carrying aid move, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri
Hamas has informed mediators it will begin transferring bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages to Israel at 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.
Earlier, Israeli officials said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed at least through Wednesday and the flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave would be reduced to put pressure on the terrorist group to hand over the bodies of the hostages it is holding.
Uncategorized
Hamas Executes Dozens of Gazans Accused of ‘Treason’
Hamas fighters on Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: Majdi Fathi via Reuters Connect
i24 News – Hours after the release of the final Israeli hostages under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hamas gunmen executed more than 30 Palestinians accused of treason and collaboration, in what security sources and witnesses described as a brutal bid to reassert control over the war-torn Gaza Strip.
According to various reports and videos, at least 33 people were shot dead across several neighborhoods after being accused of spying for Israel or belonging to rival armed groups.
Videos shared on social media showed masked fighters forcing men to kneel before executing them at close range, as crowds gathered, chanting “Allahu Akbar.” Reuters and other outlets were unable to independently verify the footage or its location.
The wave of executions comes as Hamas, weakened by months of Israeli military strikes, cautiously redeploys members of its Qassam Brigades into Gaza’s streets.
The executions took place just hours after US President Donald Trump, en route from Jerusalem to Sharm el-Sheikh for ceasefire talks, said he had authorized Hamas to “manage internal security in Gaza as it sees fit” under the current agreement.