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Israeli Army Recovers Bodies of Three Hostages in Gaza
A woman holds an Israeli flag near the posters of hostages, killed during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas or while being held hostage in Gaza, outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, May 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military said on Friday it had recovered the bodies of three hostages taken into the Gaza Strip after they were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists.
It said the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux were recovered overnight in a joint operation by the army and the intelligence services in Jabalia, in northern Gaza where there has been intense fighting in recent days.
Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel was determined to bring back the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
“We will not stop fighting for their freedom,” he said in televised statement, announcing the recovery of the three bodies. “Every decent country would do the same.”
Yablonka, 42, and Hernandez Radoux, 30, were both killed at the Nova music festival, an outdoor party near Gaza where Hernandez Radoux’s girlfriend, Shani Louk, was also killed, the military said. Her body was recovered with two others last week. Nisenbaum, 65, was killed while going to take care of his granddaughter.
Hernandez Radoux held French nationality. President Emmanuel Macron said on X/Twitter that he had learned of the death with sadness.
“I think of his family and those close to him. We are at their side. France remains more than ever committed to the release of all the hostages.”
The bodies were identified by medical officials at the Israeli National Forensic Institute and the Israeli police, the military said.
The Families Forum, a group that represents families of the hostages, called on the government to increase efforts for an agreement to get back the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
“The recovery of their bodies is a silent but resolute reminder that the State of Israel is obligated to immediately dispatch negotiation teams with a clear demand to bring about a deal that will swiftly return all the hostages home: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial,” it said in a statement.
Talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal have stalled. Israel says it is willing to negotiate only a temporary pause to the fighting, while Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war with a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas-led terrorists abducted around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages and killed 1,200 people during the attack on southern Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip on Oct 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared securing their return as one of Israel’s main war aims.
Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the hostages’ families in a statement following news of the three recovered bodies.
“We have a national and moral duty to do everything we can to return our hostages, and that is what we are doing,” he said. The Israeli premier also praised the Israeli security forces’ courage in the operation.
Around 130 hostages remain in Gaza after a deal that secured the release of around half of them in November. Many of those still in Gaza are believed to be dead.
The post Israeli Army Recovers Bodies of Three Hostages in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.