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Actress Debra Messing, Writer Lee Kern Among Latest Celebrities Visiting Israel to Show Solidarity Amid Hamas War
Debra Messing during the Will & Grace 25th Anniversary Celebration at The Paley Center for Media in New York NY on June 5, 2023. Photo: Usphotography/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
American actress Debra Messing and British writer-comedian Lee Kern have joined a slew of Hollywood celebrities who are visiting Israel this week to view first-hand the atrocities that unfolded on Oct. 7 during Hamas’ deadly rampage in the country and to meet with families affected by the massacre.
On Tuesday, Messing and the Oscar-nominated writer visited and went inside a tunnel in the Gaza Strip that has been used by Hamas terrorists to infiltrate Israel. They also met with Israeli soldiers to thank them for protecting Israel and gave them words of encouragement.
“Spent the morning in Gaza exploring a Hamas terror tunnel that [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar has been in,” Kern wrote in a post on X/Twitter that included a photo of himself inside the tunnel. “It’s insane. You don’t build kilometres, spend millions, take years doing the most tedious work unless you REALLY want to kill Jews. This war is all about the racist intent of Hamas.”
Messing additionally shared on her Instagram Story on Wednesday that she met and spoke with Ofelia Roitman, a 77-year-old from Argentina who was among the hostages released by Hamas. The former Will & Grace star also had a sit-down meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, First Lady Michal Herzog.
Messing told them, “As soon as Oct. 7 happened, it just felt like I had to be here. I had to show everyone here that you’re not forgotten, that we care, and that we are working day and night to get the hostages out in any way that we can.” Hamas kidnapped 240 people during its invasion of southern Israel, in addition to murdering 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Messing additionally said it’s “unconscionable” how women’s rights groups, feminist organizations, and human rights groups have been silent about the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, which included rampant sexual violence against Israeli women and girls.
Others from Hollywood who are in Israel this week include record executive Scooter Braun, and actors Brett Gelman, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Rapaport, and Gregg Sulkin. Several of them were photographed wearing the symbolic “Bring them home” dog tag around their necks, which draw attention to the campaign pushing for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7.
On Wednesday, Sulkin shared on Instagram a photo of him praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. In the caption, the British actor talked about hoping for peace in the region.
“Returning to the Western Wall, years after my Bar Mitzvah, I felt a profound connection to my heritage,” he said. “Standing here, I am reminded of the enduring spirit and resilience of the Jewish people. In the shadow of these ancient stones, I reflect on our everlasting prayers for peace. Proud of my roots, humbled by our history, and committed to a future where peace reigns supreme.”
Seinfeld and his family this week met family members of civilians still held hostage by Hamas as well as hostages who returned home from captivity.
“Seinfeld told the families that he feels a deep commitment to raising awareness around the world about the issue of the hostages, whose lives are in immediate danger,” according to the Bring Them Home Now campaign. “Hearing the stories, Seinfeld and his family were very moved, and it was evident that they were deeply affected by the experiences they heard from the family members and the released hostages.”
The former Seinfeld star also visited the Sheba Medical Center to talk with those wounded in the Oct. 7 attack.
The post Actress Debra Messing, Writer Lee Kern Among Latest Celebrities Visiting Israel to Show Solidarity Amid Hamas War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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