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Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger, Gadi Mozes Home After 482 Days in Gaza Captivity

Released Israeli hostage, Agam Berger, a soldier who was seized from her army base in southern Israel during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, is reunited with her parents following her release, in a handout photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 30, 2025. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

JNS.org — Three Israelis and five Thais were redeemed from terrorist captivity in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as part of Hamas’s truce with Jerusalem, 482 days after they were taken captive during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Israeli civilians Arbel Yehud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80, were handed over by Hamas to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday afternoon in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

Mozes was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz alongside his wife, Margalit, who was one of the first captives released in the 2023 truce.

The five released Thais — all foreign workers who taken hostage during the Oct. 7 cross-border assault — were named by the Israel Defense Forces as Thaenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakhan, Sriaoun Watchara, Saethao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.

“According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages, including an Israeli male and female hostage and five foreign nationals, were handed over to it and are making their way to the IDF and [Israel Security Agency] forces in the Gaza Strip,” the military confirmed.

The army subsequently confirmed that the seven returnees have “now crossed the border into Israeli territory with IDF and ISA forces.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Jerusalem appealed to mediators Qatar and Egypt following the “horrific scenes” of Yehud and Mozes being publicly taunted by their captors and a mob of thousands of Palestinians as they were transferred to the Red Cross.

“This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization,” Jerusalem’s Prime Minister’s Office stated, demanding that Doha and Cairo work to “guarantee the safety of our hostages.”

Yehud and Mozes had been held by Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 attack alongside Hamas.

Islamic Jihad issued a statement on Thursday morning saying that it had “completed the procedures for handing over the hostages Arbel Yehud and Gadi Mozes,” in what Hebrew media interpreted as the terror group having transferred the two to Hamas ahead of their release.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, who was kidnapped from the IDF field observers’ base in Nahal Oz, was transferred into Red Cross custody following a Hamas handover ceremony in Gaza’s north.

“Agam Berger, accompanied by IDF and [Israel Security Agency] forces, recently crossed the border into the territory of the State of Israel,” the military stated. Berger was reunited with her family at the reception point near the border before being evacuated to a hospital, it said.

“Thank God we have reached this moment and our heroine Agam has returned to us after 482 days in the hands of the enemy,” the family said in a statement after the reunion. “Our girl is strong, believing and brave.”

“We would like to thank the security forces and the entire people of Israel for all the support and prayers,” added the family’s statement.

Netanyahu’s office stated, “The government, together with all security officials, will accompany her and her family. The Israeli government is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing.”

The PMO statement concluded with a quote from the Bible: “And I will return the captivity of My people Israel” (Amos 9:14).

Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, director of Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital, told Israel’s Channel 12 News that the four IDF soldiers kidnapped alongside Berger and who were released by Hamas on Saturday screamed with excitement when they saw her being freed.

As Berger was being released, US President Donald Trump”s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met in Jerusalem with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri to discuss the implementation of the hostage deal.

Witkoff, who arrived in the Jewish state on Wednesday, met on Thursday afternoon with the four previously freed soldiers at Beilinson Hospital. The presidential envoy also visited “Hostage Square” in central Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem is preparing to free several high-profile Palestinian terrorists in exchange for the hostages, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday. Among the 110 terrorists scheduled to be released are Zakaria Zubeidi, Mohammad Abu Warda and Sami Jaradat, according to Channel 12.

Zubeidi led Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the Samaria city of Jenin and briefly escaped from Israel’s high-security Gilboa Prison in 2021.

Since Zubeidi was not convicted of murder but of other terror offenses, he will not be deported and is expected to be released back to Samaria.

Abu Warda and Jaradat were responsible for terrorist attacks that combined killed 66 Israelis in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Both are scheduled to be deported and banned from returning to Israeli territory.

However, an Israeli security source told the country’s Kan News that Jerusalem’s political echelon had decided to freeze the release of the Arab terrorists in response to the way Yehud and Mozes were treated on Thursday.

The IDF said on Thursday morning that its Judea and Samaria Division had completed “preparations for the next wave of released terrorists, by reinforcing defense at checkpoints and in various sectors.”

The IDF voted to take immediate action against expected “disturbances and terror activities” surrounding the release of terrorists into the area.

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also made “warning calls” to families of terrorists who are expected to be released, it noted.

The post Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger, Gadi Mozes Home After 482 Days in Gaza Captivity first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media after he met former prisoners following the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West in decades, at the military area of Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany, August 1, 2024. Photo: Christoph Reichwein/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a strong rebuke on Saturday to US Vice President JD Vance’s attack on Europe’s stance toward hate speech and the far right, saying it was not right for others to tell Germany and Europe what to do.

Vance lambasted European leaders on Friday, the first day of the Munich Security Conference, accusing them of censoring free speech and criticizing German mainstream parties’ “firewall” against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

“That is not appropriate, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that,” Scholz told the conference on Saturday, adding there were “good reasons” not to work with the AfD.

The anti-immigration party, currently polling at around 20% ahead of Germany’s February 23 national election, has pariah status among other major German parties in a country with a taboo about ultranationalist politics because of its Nazi past.

“Never again fascism, never again racism, never again aggressive war. That is why an overwhelming majority in our country opposes anyone who glorifies or justifies criminal National Socialism,” Scholz said, referring to the ideology of Adolf Hitler’s 1933-45 Nazi regime.

Vance met on Friday with the leader of AfD, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.

Referring more broadly to Vance’s criticism of Europe’s curtailing of hate speech, which he has likened to censorship, Scholz said: “Today’s democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats.

“And this is why we’ve created institutions that ensure that our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies, and rules that do not restrict or limit our freedom but protect it.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot added his voice to the defense of Europe’s stance on hate speech.

“No one is required to adopt our model but no one can impose theirs on us,” Barrot said on X from Munich. “Freedom of speech is guaranteed in Europe.”

UKRAINE

The prospect of talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war had been expected to dominate the annual Munich conference after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, but Vance barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine in his speech to the gathering on Friday.

Instead, he said the threat to Europe that worried him most was not Russia or China but what he called a retreat from fundamental values of protecting free speech – as well as immigration, which he said was “out of control” in Europe.

Many conference delegates watched Vance’s speech in stunned silence. There was little applause as he delivered his remarks.

Asked by the panel moderator if he thought there was anything in Vance’s speech worth reflecting on, Scholz drew laughter and applause in the crowd when he responded, in a deadpan manner: “You mean all these very relevant discussions about Ukraine and security in Europe?”

The post Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports

US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar

Senior officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration will start peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, Politico reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the plan.

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, the report said. Special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, Keith Kellogg, will not be in attendance, according to the report.

The post Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut

FILE PHOTO: A UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicle is seen next to piled up debris at Beirut’s port, Lebanon October 23, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

The outgoing deputy force commander of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon was injured on Friday after a convoy taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport was “violently attacked,” UNIFIL said.

The mission demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, it said in a statement.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack on Saturday, saying that security forces would not tolerate anyone who tries to destabilize the country, according to a statement from his office.

The French government also condemned the attack.

“France calls on the Lebanese security forces to guarantee the security of blue-helmet peacekeeping forces, and calls on Lebanon’s judicial authorities to shed all light on this unacceptable attack and to go after those responsible,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar called for an emergency meeting before noon on Saturday to discuss the security situation, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

“He affirmed the Lebanese government’s rejection of this assault that is considered a crime against UNIFIL forces,” NNA reported, citing the minister.

He also gave instructions to work on identifying the perpetrators and referring them to the relevant judicial authorities.

The minister told reporters on Saturday that more than 25 people had been detained for investigation over the attack.

The United States earlier condemned the attack. A State Department statement said the attack was carried out “reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters”, referring to the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

The post UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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