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In New Year’s Message in 10 Languages, Israel’s President Pleas for World to Demand Release of Hamas Hostages
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog delivers a speech during a tribute ceremony at the Halle aux Grains in Toulouse, southern France, on March 20, 2022. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
In a New Year’s message shared on social media before the start of 2024, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called on the international community “to demand and work for the immediate, unconditional release” of the 133 hostages who are still being held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that took place in southern Israel.
“Babies, the elderly, women, men, are being held in brutal captivity by Hamas, without vital medication or visitation from the Red Cross,” Herzog tweeted in the Sunday message, which was posted on X/Twitter in 10 languages.
“Their immediate release is at the core of our battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” he added. “May the light dispel the darkness, and may the New Year bring peace, hope, and healing for all.”
The message was posted on Herzog’s X account in Hebrew, English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, French, Italian, Hindi, German, and Portuguese.
As we enter 2024, I call on the entire family of nations, on all world leaders, to demand and work for the immediate, unconditional release of our 133 hostages.
Babies, the elderly, women, men, are being held in brutal captivity by Hamas, without vital medication or visitation…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 31, 2023
The temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which ended on Dec. 1, resulted in the release of over 100 of the 240 hostages taken by the Palestinian terrorist organization during its surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which the terrorists also slaughtered 1,200 people. Israeli soldiers mistakenly killed three hostages during combat in Gaza.
In exchange for the release of some hostages, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
At least 6,900 others have been injured in Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists since Oct. 7, according to figures from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The IDF also said that a total of 506 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Of that total, most died during the Oct. 7 massacre, and 172 have been killed in combat in Gaza.
Israel launched its ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza in late October.
The post In New Year’s Message in 10 Languages, Israel’s President Pleas for World to Demand Release of Hamas Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional the Trump administration’s actions to deport international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to block enforcement of two executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in the first month of his term.
The lawsuit comes after the detention of a Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, whose arrest sparked protests this month.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that the US government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio on Friday said the United States will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days.
Trump vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian terrorists.
The ADC lawsuit was filed on behalf of two graduate students and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who say their activism and support of the Palestinian people “has put them at serious risk of political persecution.”
“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC.
Chris Godshall-Bennett, the group’s legal director, said the litigation seeks immediate and long-term relief “to protect international students from any unconstitutional overreach that stifles free expression and deters them from fully engaging in academic and public discourse.”
The lawsuit centers on three Cornell University plaintiffs: a British-Gambian national and PhD student with a student visa; a US citizen PhD student working on plant science; and a US citizen novelist, poet, and professor in the Department of Literatures in English.
The post Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week
Israel’s Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at Reichman University in Herzliya on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, that he will bring a vote before his government to dismiss him next week.
The post Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and other vessels in the northern Red Sea with 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the US-led attacks against the Houthis on Saturday comprised of more than 47 airstrikes on seven governorates, with the death toll expected to rise.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea in retaliation to the aggression against our country,” Saree said, vowing the Houthis “will continue to impose a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy and ban its ships in the declared zone of operations until aid and basic needs are delivered to the Gaza Strip.”
The post Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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