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Mother of Israeli woman in first Hamas hostage video pleads for captives’ release

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Keren Sherf Shem, whose daughter Mia is among those taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza, expressed both relief and profound concern after a video featuring her daughter was released by the terrorist group on Monday.

“I was overjoyed to see her alive,” Keren Shem told journalists on Tuesday in Tel Aviv. “But I’m very worried about her, I know that she needs medical care and I know about other health problems and that’s the thing that I’m thinking about all the time. Every moment is risking her life.”

Shem’s comments came during a briefing held by the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum, a group that has organized to press for the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The video, which Hamas titled “Taking care of one of the hostages,” features the 21-year-old Mia, who also holds French citizenship, receiving treatment for an injury to her arm before subsequently addressing the camera directly.

“I’m being cared for, I’m getting medications. I’m only asking to be returned home immediately, to my family,” she said in the video.

The video is widely understood as a move of psychological warfare at a time when Israel is preparing to invade Gaza. Hamas has reportedly offered to release “foreign” hostages if Israel stops bombing in Gaza, according to NBC News; it was not clear whether the offer, which Israel has not indicated it is considering, would apply to dual nationals such as Shem. There are also a number of foreign workers, including from Thailand and Nepal, known to have been taken hostage.

In all, Israel says it has notified the families of 199 hostages that their loved ones are in Gaza. Hamas says other groups operating in the territory are holding about 50 additional people.

The video, which Hamas released on Monday, marked the first proof of life for any hostage since the day of the attack. But the New York Times reported that an examination of the video file’s metadata suggested that some of the footage was captured at least six days prior.

“She looked very terrified,” Keren Shem said. “I can see that she is saying what they tell her to say, but I can see that she’s stable. I didn’t know that she is dead or alive until yesterday.”

Shem said she had cycled through many emotions since viewing the video.

“I started to shout, I fell to the floor and to scream, I didn’t even know what to think, I saw my baby and then we started to sing and to cry, ‘Wow! She’s alive!’ We were so happy, and then I started to feel scared. It was a rollercoaster. It still is.”

The press briefing, which took place in both Hebrew and English, was also attended by the head of the Shin Bet security agency head Yaakov Perry, and Hagai Levine, head of the medical team, both of whom are working with the families of the hostages.

Some relatives of hostages have criticized the Israeli government for not publicly taking more aggressive steps to rescue their loved ones. Answering a journalist about the Israeli government’s role in the aftermath of the attack, Keren Shem said she was optimistic.

“I’m confident that Israel will do all they can to bring Israel home,” she said.

Shem said she was appealing to the international community to advocate for the Israeli hostages.

“I am begging the world to bring my baby back home. She only went to a party to have some fun and now she’s in Gaza and she’s not the only one,” she said. “There are many children, and babies and Holocaust survivors that were kidnapped and their houses were burned. This is a crime against humanity and we should all gather and stop this terror and bring everybody back home.”

To her daughter, Shem delivered a different message, even as she could not be certain that Mia would hear it.

“My message to my daughter is that I love her so much and I miss her so much,” she said. “All these days I just thought about hugging her when she comes home and that’s what keeps me strong and focused.”


The post Mother of Israeli woman in first Hamas hostage video pleads for captives’ release appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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