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Israeli soccer player detained in Turkey over message marking 100th day since Oct. 7
(JTA) — An Israeli who plays for a Turkish soccer team was detained by police and suspended from his squad after displaying a message marking the passage of 100 days since Oct. 7.
Sagiv Jehezkel, 28, who plays for the top-tier Antalyaspor club, wrote “100 days” and “7.10” on a bandage on his left wrist at a game on Sunday, accompanied by a Star of David, referring to the day when Hamas invaded Israel, killing and wounding thousands and taking hundreds of hostages. He showed the message to the camera after he scored a goal.
Pro-Palestinian sentiment is widespread in Turkey, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to Hamas as a “liberation group” following Oct. 7. After the game, Jehezkel was detained by Turkish authorities for “instigating hatred and enmity among the public,” the country’s justice minister said.
Antalyaspor’s president said Jehezkel “insulted the values of Turkey,” and the team has said it will release him from his contract.
Jehezkel was held for 10 hours and released after questioning from police and court officials. According to the Associated Press, he told police that he was “not pro-war” and said, “I want this 100-day process to come to an end. I want the war to end.” He added, “I have never engaged in anything related to politics since my arrival. I have never disrespected anyone since the day I arrived.”
After his release, Jehezkel returned to Israel, where he was met by fans who cheered and waved Israeli flags to greet him. In Israel, his gesture is being widely interpreted as a call for the release of the hostages taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7, more than 100 of whom remain held in Gaza.
Jehezkel, who was wrapped in an Israeli flag upon descending from the airplane, reinforced that sentiment after coming home.
“This was the hardest day of my life, but we will be strong,” he said, according to the Israeli publication Ynet. “It is most important that our hostages return and that our heroic soldiers stay healthy, and that the wounded heal. It is most important that the nation of Israel lives.”
Israeli officials slammed Turkey over its detention of Jehezkel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Turkey “the executive arm of Hamas” in a tweet, while Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Turkey a “dark dictatorship, which works against humanitarian values and the values of sports.”
“Whoever arrests a football player for a show of solidarity with 136 captives who are more than 100 days with the terrorists of a murderous terrorist organization, represents a culture of murder and hate,” Katz said.
Jehezkel is the latest in a string of athletes who have been caught in the storm of the Israel-Hamas war and its ripples around the world. Last week, Jewish South African cricket player David Teeger was removed as the captain of his country’s Under-19 national team, which cited the potential for anti-Israel protests against him.
Earlier this month, Algerian soccer player Youcef Atal, who plays for the French club Nice, received an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a fine after he was convicted of inciting religious hatred for sharing an Instagram post calling for “a black day over the Jews.” Atal, who was also suspended by his club, has since apologized for the post.
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The post Israeli soccer player detained in Turkey over message marking 100th day since Oct. 7 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.