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Hamas frees 2 additional hostages from Gaza; at least 220 remain
(JTA) — Hamas has freed two women, ages 79 and 85, whom it was holding hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.
The release of Nurit Yitzhak and Yocheved Lifshitz comes after the terror group released two other hostages, Natalie and Judith Raanan, who are American citizens from the Chicago area, on Friday. Israel has since said Hamas still holds 220 people hostage following its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7.
Hamas released Yitzhak and Lifshitz “for compelling humanitarian and health reasons,” according to a statement reported by the Israeli publication Ynet. Their husbands, who are also missing, have not been released. Hamas released the two hostages via a border crossing with Egypt, where Israeli authorities will meet them.
The release comes amid reports that Hamas is prepared to release 50 hostages with dual citizenship, but the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that “Israel will not be a party to a ‘selection’ for holders of foreign passports for release.” (The Hebrew word “selektzia” typically refers to the Nazis’ practice of choosing Jewish prisoners for murder during the Holocaust.)
Both Lifshitz and Yitzhak come from founding families of Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was hit hard during the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas terrorists killed and wounded thousands. Between a quarter and a third of the kibbutz’s 350 residents were killed or kidnapped, according to Haaretz.
Lifshitz and her husband, Oded, were known as peace activists who transported patients from Gaza to receive medical care in Israel. Yitzhak, who also goes by the name Nurit Cooper, disappeared from her home’s safe room along with her husband Amiram. Their son Rotem, who traveled from California to Israel after the attack, said the lack of blood in the room gave him hope that they had been abducted and without serious injury.
Hostage negotiations are reportedly ongoing via Qatar, where Hamas’ leadership is based, as Israel readies for a large-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes following Hamas’ invasion.
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The post Hamas frees 2 additional hostages from Gaza; at least 220 remain appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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250 Hezbollah Terrorists Including 21 Commanders Eliminated in Ground Op
DF operating in southern Lebanon. Photo: IDF Spokesperson
i24 News – The Israeli military eliminated 250 Hezbollah terrorists including 21 commanders in four days of ground combat, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday.
IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon have uncovered vast caches of weapons and munitions in civilian residences, showing how central embedding within civilian population is to Hezbollah’s mode of warfare.
Meanwhile, heavy strikes targeting the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh in southern Beirut were ongoing, Lebanese media reported.
The post 250 Hezbollah Terrorists Including 21 Commanders Eliminated in Ground Op first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Airstrikes Launched on Several Parts of Yemen, Houthi Al Masirah TV says
Illustrative. Hodeidah, Yemen, July 20, 2024. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
Airstrikes were launched on Friday at several parts of Yemen including its capital Sanaa and Hodeidah airport, Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthi movement controlling much of Yemen, and residents said.
Strikes also targeted the south of Dhamar city and the southeast of al-Bayda province, the channel added.
Residents said that the attack on al-Bayda province targeted several Houthi military outposts.
Al Masirah TV reported that the strikes had been carried out by the United States and British forces, but a British government source said Britain was not involved.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel‘s war with Hamas.
The attacks have drawn US and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
Following the airstrikes, a Houthi spokesman called the attack “a desperate attempt,” adding that “Yemen will not be deterred by these attacks and will continue its steadfastness in confronting the enemies.”
The post Airstrikes Launched on Several Parts of Yemen, Houthi Al Masirah TV says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Kills Hamas Commander in Tulkarem
Illustrative. Israeli troops during counterterrorism activity in Tulkarem, northwestern Samaria, September 2024. Photo: IDF.
JNS.org – An Israeli Air Force fighter jet conducted a rare strike in Tulkarem in the West Bank on Thursday night, targeting top Hamas terrorist Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.
The Palestinian Authority reported at least 18 fatalities in the strike, with a local security source telling Agence France-Presse it was the deadliest in Judea and Samaria since the Second Intifada.
Ayyth Radwan, the head of Islamic Jihad’s Tulkarem branch, was also reportedly killed.
Oufi was planning a terrorist attack “in the immediate time frame,” according to the Israel Defense Forces, and directed the thwarted car bombing last month near Ateret in the Binyamin region of Samaria.
There were no casualties in the incident, which Israel Ganz, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council, called a “great miracle.”
The IDF said Oufi was involved in smuggling weapons to terrorists who perpetrated several recent attacks against Israelis, including some that resulted in injuries to civilians.
He also “worked to establish terrorist networks on behalf of Hamas and assisted terror operatives in the area to carry out significant shooting and explosive attacks,” added the military.
The post IDF Kills Hamas Commander in Tulkarem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.