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IDF Confirms Deaths of Two More Israeli Hostages in Hamas Captivity in Gaza
A woman holds a photo of Israeli hostage Yagev Buchshtab as people hold up pictures of other hostages while attending a protest calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, outside the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, April 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday that it confirmed the deaths of two more Israeli hostages being held in captivity by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, were abducted from their homes in kibbutzim near the border with Gaza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. According to the Israeli military, the two were believed to have been held together by Hamas in Khan Younis, where they died some months ago while the IDF was operating there.
The military is still investigating their deaths and did not release further details on the exact circumstances surrounding them. According to Israeli media reports, the investigation is looking into the possibility that they were killed accidentally by Israeli fire.
“Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. “Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations.”
The IDF’s announcement came as Egypt, Qatar, and the US continued to broker ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, and release at least some of the hostages.
Dancyg, a historian, and Buchshtav, a sound technician, were among the approximately 250 people kidnapped as hostages and brought back to Gaza by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state. About 1,200 people were murdered during the onslaught.
Mounting evidence has revealed that the terrorists perpetrated systematic sexual violence, including torture and gang-rape, during their rampage across southern Israel. Meanwhile, released hostages have recounted suffering sexual assault and abuse during their time in captivity.
The International March of the Living, an annual Holocaust education program founded in 1988, released a statement mourning the death of Dancyg, who was one of the founders of youth trips to Poland and a person “who promoted Israeli-Polish dialogue and educated generations of teachers and students about Holocaust remembrance.”
The March of the Living brings people from around the world to Poland each year for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day — known as Yom HaShoah — to march on the path leading from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, visiting the site of the infamous Nazi concentration camp to commemorate the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust by the Nazis.
“In the 2024 March of the Living, his [Dancyg’s] son Yuval participated in the delegation of victims of Oct. 7, alongside Holocaust survivors, released hostages, and family members of hostages still in captivity,” the organization said in a statement. “During the march, we prayed for his return and the return of all the hostages. On this difficult day, we wish to share in the deep sorrow of the family, who moved mountains to bring Alex home alive. May his memory be blessed.”
Dancyg also had Polish citizenship, and Poland’s foreign ministry commented on his death.
“Poland will continue to demand the unconditional release of all the abductees from Gaza,” the ministry said.
The IDF has now confirmed the deaths of 44 of the roughly 120 remaining hostages in Gaza. Over 100 of the hostages were released as part of a temporary truce in November. Others have been freed during Israeli rescue operations, some dead and others alive.
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Trump Fires Doug Emhoff, Other Biden Appointees From Holocaust Memorial Council
Former US Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff listens during a panel discussion with women entrepreneurs during his visit to Mi Casa Resource Center in Denver, Colorado, US, March 11, 2022. Photo: Jason Connolly/Pool via REUTERS
The Trump administration has dismissed many of former President Joe Biden’s appointees to the board that oversees the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, including Douglas Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Emhoff, who is Jewish and served as second gentleman of the US from 2021 to early 2025, lashed out at President Donald Trump’s decision to fire him and others appointed by Biden from the board, arguing his removal was political and undermined the mission of Holocaust remembrance.
“Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” Emhoff said in a statement on Tuesday. “Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous — and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.”
Emhoff has been outspoken against antisemitism. He became more outspoken about his Jewish identity in the aftermath of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Beyond Emhoff, the Trump team also removed other members of the Biden administration, including Ron Klain, Biden’s first chief of staff; Tom Perez, former labor secretary and senior adviser to the president; Susan Rice, who served as Biden’s top domestic policy adviser; and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to former First Lady Jill Biden.
The Biden White House announced their appointments in January. Presidential appointments typically last 5 years.
“President Trump looks forward to appointing new individuals who will not only continue to honor the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, but who are also steadfast supporters of the State of Israel,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Former US Rep. David Cicilline (D-MD), a member of the board who was also dismissed Tuesday, called Trump’s decision “deeply disappointing.”
“The museum’s work has always been nonpartisan and should remain so. It is meant to challenge us all to think critically and clearly about our role in society, to confront antisemitism and all other forms of hate,” he continued.
Since returning to the White House in January, the Trump administration has moved to overhaul cultural institutions under the administration of the federal government. In February, Trump fired the entire board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and installed himself as the new chairman. In March, Trump signed an executive order mandating a review of the programming offered in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Netanyahu to Visit Azerbaijan in Effort to Deepen Strategic Ties Amid Regional Tensions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Photo: Facebook.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Azerbaijan next Wednesday for a five-day visit to meet with President Ilham Aliyev and further strengthen bilateral cooperation amid regional tensions.
Netanyahu’s trip, facilitated by Baku’s mediation that led Turkey to approve his transit through Turkish airspace, comes just days after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Azerbaijan amid ongoing nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Last year, Turkey barred Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s aircraft from flying over its territory, which prevented him from attending the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku.
During the upcoming visit, Netanyahu and Aliyev are expected to address Turkey’s role in Syria and the recent Israeli-Turkish discussions held in Baku, focused on avoiding potential clashes or misunderstandings over military operations in the region.
Scheduled from May 7 to May 11, Netanyahu’s visit will also include a series of high-level meetings focused on strengthening Israeli-Azerbaijani relations, covering areas such as defense cooperation, energy, trade, and regional security. The Israeli leader will also meet with representatives of Azerbaijan’s Jewish community.
Azerbaijan’s ties with Israel have long been significant, with the country serving as the Jewish state’s most vital ally in the Caucasus and Central Asia for more than three decades, fostering a partnership that spans energy security, defense, and intelligence.
As a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country that shares a lengthy border with Iran while maintaining strong ties with both Israel and Turkey, Azerbaijan holds a unique strategic advantage in stabilizing regional tensions and supporting efforts to normalize relations.
Earlier this month, for example, Azerbaijan positioned itself as a regional mediator by hosting talks between Turkish and Israeli officials in Baku, aimed at preventing unintended incidents in Syria, where both countries maintain a military presence.
“Azerbaijan plays a unique role in Israel’s broader strategy by serving as a potential bridge for normalizing relations between the Jewish State and other Muslim-majority countries,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, told The Algemeiner in an exclusive interview.
He explained that Baku has contributed to regional normalization efforts in the past, notably by facilitating the restoration of full diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel in 2022, even though the relationship between the two countries has since gone downhill.
According to Schneier, as a strong ally of both Jerusalem and Ankara, Azerbaijan is well-positioned to mediate further diplomatic breakthroughs.
Baku’s strategic importance stems not only from its role at the crossroads of a growing pro-Western bloc countering the regional ambitions of Iran, but also from its economic influence in the region.
Azerbaijan and Israel have continued to expand their cooperation and strengthen their bilateral ties, especially in the energy sector, highlighting the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim country’s emerging role as a strategic player in the Middle East.
Earlier this year, Jerusalem and Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, struck a major energy deal. In March, SOCAR also signed a gas exploration license agreement with the Jewish state.
As of 2019, Azerbaijan supplied over a third of Israel’s oil. Last year, Jerusalem was the sixth-biggest buyer of oil from Baku, with sales totaling $713 million.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has acquired advanced Israeli defense systems, including the “Barak MX” missile system and surveillance satellites, and remains a leading buyer of Israeli military hardware, which was crucial in its 2020 war with Armenia.
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UK Prosecutors Say Knifeman Who Tried to Enter Israeli Embassy Carried ‘Martyrdom Note’
Illustrative: A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
A man armed with two knives who tried to enter the grounds of Israel‘s London embassy was carrying a “martyrdom note” and told police he wanted to send a message to end the war in Gaza, prosecutors said after charging him with a terrorism offence.
Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 33, appeared in the dock at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, having been charged with preparation of a terrorist act and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
He is accused of having attempted to gain unauthorized access to the grounds of the embassy in West London on Monday evening.
Prosecutor Kristel Pous said Albadri had been seen by police trying to scale a wall outside the embassy on April 28.
Albadri was carrying what Pous described as a martyrdom note, without giving further details. She said Albadri had told police officers he wanted to “do something to send a message to the Israeli government to stop the war” in Gaza.
Judge Tan Ikram remanded Albadri in custody ahead of a hearing on May 7, to give prosecutors the chance to get the Attorney General’s consent to proceed with the terrorism charge.
“We remain in close contact with those based at the Embassy of Israel and we appreciate that these charges will be concerning to them,” Commander Dominic Murphy, head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in an earlier statement.
“I would like to reassure the public, however, that from our enquiries so far, we are not seeking anyone else in connection with this matter and we do not believe there is any wider threat to the public.”
The Israeli embassy said in a statement that British security forces had prevented “an attempted terror attack” from a man armed with a knife, and no staff or visitors had been injured.
“We thank the British security forces for their immediate response and ongoing efforts to secure the embassy,” the statement posted on X said.
“The embassy of Israel will not be deterred by any terror threat and will continue to represent Israel with pride in the UK.”
The Community Security Trust, which provides safety advice to Britain’s Jewish communities, said it was speaking to police but was not aware of any related threats.
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