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Canadian relatives of Israeli hostages share emotional reactions at the start of the ceasefire deal with Hamas
Iris Weinstein Haggai watched the release of three Israeli women hostages from Gaza on Jan. 19 while in Washington, D.C.
In one word, she found the experience “bittersweet.”
Her parents were killed in the Oct.7, 2023 Hamas attacks on their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The bodies of Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein Haggai were taken to Gaza, where they have been kept as bargaining chips for over 15 months.
Gadi had American and Israeli citizenship, while Judih was born in the U.S. but grew up in Canada.
Under a negotiated ceasefire and hostage deal, the first three hostages—Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher—were returned to Israel. The IDF also recovered the body of soldier Oron Shaul, who was killed in Gaza in 2014.
The agreement states that 33 hostages—women, children and the elderly—are to be released over the next few weeks. Not all of them have been confirmed to be alive.
The timing of the release of the remaining 65 hostages, including the bodies of Iris’s parents, are to be negotiated in a second round, which has yet to begin.
“I have to be cautious. My heart is breaking every single day,” she said in a phone interview with The CJN on Jan. 19. “Even today, I was expecting to see my friends on the list and I’m very happy for the ones who are coming out, for their families. Of course, I’m happy for everyone who is free from that hell, but it’s bittersweet because you want your own people to come out.
“There are still 29 people from my community, Kibbutz Nir Oz, who are still held hostage, so this is far from over.”
Iris’s parents were killed Oct. 7, during their regular early morning walk near the kibbutz. While the family knew that Gadi had been killed that morning, it was not until December, 2023, several months after the attacks, that they learned that Judih had also died that day.
“If I’m completely honest, of course I’m happy that whoever gets out of that nightmare, the underground torture dungeons in Gaza. I’ve come to know the families, it’s been 471 days. But it also brings me back to the last (hostage release) deal in November 2023 when I waited every single night for my mom’s name to be on the list and every night I would get a ‘no’. Not only my parents are held hostage, but my friends are currently there.
“So while I’m so, so happy to see Romi and Emily and Doron come out, I’m also heartbroken that my friend Shiri Bibas and her two children are not coming out.”
Bibas and her two sons, Kfir, who celebrated his second birthday this week, and Ariel, now 5, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with Shiri’s husband Yarden. Her parents were killed in the attack.
Weinstein Haggai, who now lives in Singapore with her young family, was in D.C. this weekend for the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. She has travelled numerous times to Washington, as well as Ottawa, to press for the release of her parents and other hostages since Oct. 7, 2023.
She found American politicians have been willing to listen to the hostage families—and that it was “inspiring” that the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump one worked together to get Hamas to the negotiating table.
Trump had said “all hell will break out” if the hostages were not released before his Jan. 20 inauguration.
“There’s a reason this deal is happening, and hopefully we’ll see its completion, because of what President Trump said. This is not me taking a political stance,” Iris said. “Once he finally said something about these terrorists releasing these hostages, things started happening. It’s very sad to me that this is the first world leader to hold these terrorists accountable.”
Iris has met with Justin Trudeau and Mélanie Joly, pleading with the top Ottawa offices to pressure the International Red Cross to visit the hostages, and confirm who was even alive. However, the Liberal politicians have been less transparent and helpful than their American counterparts—even in the case of her mother, who is the only remaining Canadian hostage.
“Even a few days ago when Trudeau put out a statement about how he accepts the ceasefire, he didn’t even mention my mom. It’s been very, very disappointing.”
The fate of the young Bibas family and Judith Weinstein was also on the mind of Maureen Leshem, the Canadian cousin of hostage Romi Gonen, kidnapped from the Nova music festival.
In a news conference in Toronto on Sunday, she reflected on the family’s gratitude for Romi’s return—after over a year of tireless advocacy—as well as the plight of the remaining hostages.
“We are grateful to at last be liberated from 15 months of agonizing torment and uncertainty—a gruelling path that has pushed us beyond our limits, both physically and emotionally. Hope became our greatest source of power, as well as our heaviest burden. It has been an exhausting and punishing experience that I would not wish on anyone,” Leshem said, reading a prepared statement.
“I am deeply grateful to every single person who embraced Romi and stood by us in our fight for her freedom—everyone who followed her plight closely, shared her story widely, sent heartfelt messages of hope, and prayed tirelessly for her safe return. I am thankful for every person who recognized and validated the undeniabletruth of what she has endured.”
Leshem also recalled some of the other hostages. “And we must remember that there are still 94 hostages trapped in Hamas captivity—among them, Canadian citizen Judih Weinstein, a 2-year-old toddler and a 5-year-old child—in urgent need of rescue. We must speak up and demand their freedom, too. What kind of world do we create if we fail to fight for the innocent?”
The Bibas children were also on the minds of roughly 80 people who came to the Run For their Lives rally in Thornhill, Ont., a weekly walk to keep the hostages’ plight in the public eye. Many in the group carried pictures of the boys, or orange balloons reminiscent of the children’s bright-red hair.
“There are no prerequisites required for supporting this cause, no prerequisite required for being outraged that a baby who was stolen at 9 months old will soon turn two in captivity,” organizer Michelle Factor told the group gathered in the lobby of the Promenade Shopping Centre, preparing to walk a kilometre in the frigid temperatures.
One of the walkers, Avishag Campbell, said she was buoyed by the news the three women had been freed. “It’s exciting news, but I think the price is very high. I’m happy for the family, I’m not really sure of the damage it’s caused. It’s going to be a very, very long rehabilitation, if it can be rehabilitated.”
As part of the hostage release agreement, Israel is set to free up to 1,900 prisoners and detainees, some of who have been convicted of serious crimes against Israelis.
“But we’re a people of life,” Campbell said. “We have to sacrifice a lot for one life.”
The hostage release agreement has been controversial in Israel, as some fear it will let Hamas regain control of the Gaza Strip.
“The deal is horrible,” Iris Weinstein Haggai agrees. “But you cannot have a good deal with terrorists,” she says about the agreement that she hopes will eventually see her parents’ bodies returned to Israel for burial.
“Israel is releasing prisoners who murdered not only Israelis, but also Palestinians. They are horrible terrorists but that’s the price Israel is willing to pay. It’s just crazy to me that we are demanding two babies and my friend Shiri Bibas and the other side is demanding murderers and rapists to come back to them.”
Negotiations for the second and third phase of hostage releases, which would include Israeli men and the bodies of those who were killed, have yet to even begin. Iris says she’s hopeful, but is aware that Israel is negotiating with a terrorist group and the situation can change rapidly.
“We don’t even know if the whole first phase will even happen. Every second you’re waiting for something to go wrong,” she said. “It’s the beginning of the end. I’m very optimistic that the process has begun. It’s more than anything that happened for the last 471 days.”
Weinstein Haggai has returned to Kibbutz Nir Oz several times since the attacks, that saw 117 members killed or taken hostage. Nearly every home on the kibbutz was damaged.
A few weeks ago, she took her family to Israel, the first time they have visited since Oct. 7. Her eldest daughter, who is 8, was heartbroken when she fully grasped that she was not going to be able to visit her grandparents on their kibbutz again.
“Being there really emphasized that she’s not going to see them again, yet she kept asking me, ‘Mommy, if we don’t have a grave how do you know they’re dead?’” said iris.
“I should not have to answer that question and I’m going to have to answer that question until they come back.”
The post Canadian relatives of Israeli hostages share emotional reactions at the start of the ceasefire deal with Hamas appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Iran Says It Has Replaced Air Defenses Damaged in Israel War
The S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran has replaced air defenses damaged during last month’s conflict with Israel, Iran’s Defah Press news agency reported on Sunday quoting Mahmoud Mousavi, the regular army’s deputy for operations.
During the conflict in June, Israel’s air force dominated Iran’s airspace and dealt a heavy blow to the country’s air defenses while Iranian armed forces launched successive barrages of missiles and drones on Israeli territory.
“Some of our air defenses were damaged, this is not something we can hide, but our colleagues have used domestic resources and replaced them with pre-arranged systems that were stored in suitable locations in order to keep the airspace secure,” Mousavi said.
Prior to the war, Iran had its own domestically-made long-range air defense system Bavar-373 in addition to the Russian-made S-300 system. The report by Defah Press did not mention any import of foreign-made air defense systems to Iran in past weeks.
Following limited Israeli strikes against Iranian missile factories last October, Iran later displayed Russian-made air defenses in a military exercise to show it recovered from the attack.
The post Iran Says It Has Replaced Air Defenses Damaged in Israel War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Calm Reported in Syria’s Sweida, Damascus Says Truce Holding
Members of Internal Security Forces stand guard at an Internal Security Forces’ checkpoint working to prevent Bedouin fighters from advancing towards Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Walgha, Sweida province, Syria, July 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Residents reported calm in Syria’s Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a US envoy signaled that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented.
With hundreds reported killed, the Sweida bloodshed is a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes against government forces last week as it declared support for the Druze. Fighting continued on Saturday despite a ceasefire call.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab said on Sunday that internal security forces had managed to calm the situation and enforce the ceasefire, “paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate.”
Reuters images showed interior ministry forces near the city, blocking the road in front of members of tribes congregated there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city.
US envoy Tom Barrack said the sides had “navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities”. “The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion, and lasting de-escalation, is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process,” he wrote on X.
Kenan Azzam, a dentist, said there was an uneasy calm but the city’s residents were struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.
Another resident, Raed Khazaal, said aid was urgently needed. “Houses are destroyed … The smell of corpses is spread throughout the national hospital,” he said in a voice message to Reuters from Sweida.
The Syrian state news agency said an aid convoy sent to the city by the government was refused entry while aid organized by the Syrian Red Crescent was let in. A source familiar with the situation said local factions in Sweida had turned back the government convoy.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Sunday that Israel sent urgent medical aid to the Druze in Sweida and the step was coordinated with Washington and Syria. Spokespeople for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Ministry and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Druze are a small but influential minority in Syria, Israel and Lebanon who follow a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi’ite Islam. Some hardline Sunnis deem their beliefs heretical.
The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters. Damascus sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were drawn into the violence and accused of widespread violations against the Druze.
Residents of the predominantly Druze city said friends and neighbours were shot at close range in their homes or in the streets by Syrian troops, identified by their fatigues and insignia.
Sharaa on Thursday promised to protect the rights of Druze and to hold to account those who committed violations against “our Druze people.”
He has blamed the violence on “outlaw groups.”
While Sharaa has won US backing since meeting President Donald Trump in May, the violence has underscored the challenge he faces stitching back together a country shattered by 14 years of conflict, and added to pressures on its mosaic of sectarian and ethnic groups.
COASTAL VIOLENCE
After Israel bombed Syrian government forces in Sweida and hit the defense ministry in Damascus last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had established a policy demanding the demilitarization of territory near the border, stretching from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to the Druze Mountain, east of Sweida.
He also said Israel would protect the Druze.
The United States however said it did not support the Israeli strikes. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for two days.
A Syrian security source told Reuters that internal security forces had taken up positions near Sweida, establishing checkpoints in western and eastern parts of the province where retreating tribal fighters had gathered.
On Sunday, Sharaa received the report of an inquiry into violence in Syria’s coastal region in March, where Reuters reported in June that Syrian forces killed 1,500 members of the Alawite minority following attacks on security forces.
The presidency said it would review the inquiry’s conclusions and ensure steps to “bring about justice” and prevent the recurrence of “such violations.” It called on the inquiry to hold a news conference on its findings – if appropriate – as soon as possible.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said on July 18 it had documented the deaths of at least 321 people in Sweida province since July 13. The preliminary toll included civilians, women, children, Bedouin fighters, members of local groups and members of the security forces, it said, and the dead included people killed in field executions by both sides.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another monitoring group, has reported a death toll of at least 940 people.
Reuters could not independently verify the tolls.
The post Calm Reported in Syria’s Sweida, Damascus Says Truce Holding first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pope Leo Calls for End to ‘Barbarity of War’ After Strike on Gaza Church
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Pope Leo called for an end to the “barbarity of war” on Sunday as he spoke of his profound pain over an Israeli strike on the sole Catholic church in Gaza.
Three people died and several were injured, including the parish priest, in the strike on the Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City on Thursday. Photos show its roof has been hit close to the main cross, scorching the stone facade, and shattering windows.
Speaking after his Angelus prayer, Leo read out the names of those killed in the incident.
“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population,” he said.
The post Pope Leo Calls for End to ‘Barbarity of War’ After Strike on Gaza Church first appeared on Algemeiner.com.