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Released Hostages Speak at World Economic Forum, Urge Action
Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden (34) was taken hostage with his wife Shiri (32) and 2 children Kfir (10 months) and Ariel (4), holds with her friend Tal Ulus pictures of them during an interview with Reuters, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas continues, in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 13, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A group of released hostages spoke on Thursday before the World Economic Forum, currently underway in Davos, Switzerland.
“Hamas terrorists desecrated the most peaceful place and turned it into a bloodbath. On the way to Gaza I was beaten, I thought my life was over, I prayed that I would die quickly and without suffering,” said Moran Stela Yanai, a 40-year-old who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in Re’im on October 7 and released as part of the November hostage deal. “Every minute we thought we would be raped. We couldn’t sleep, we couldn’t breathe, we weren’t allowed to speak. The captivity in Gaza included never-ending anxiety attacks and nightmares. Every day left a scar on the soul,” she continued.
Another former hostage, Niki Margalit, a 41-year-old nurse at Soroka Hospital in the south who was reported to have acted in her professional capacity taking care of fellow hostages in Gaza, said “By profession I am a nurse in a children’s emergency room, and I realized that there too I have to help and take care of those around me. But without medical supplies, this is an almost impossible task. In addition to the injuries and the sick, there is not enough air to breathe, not enough food, and [lack of] basic hygiene. The body is so weak that any disease can kill you. The abductees can die every day! Every hour is dangerous for them.”
Hamas terrorists kidnapped more than 240 civilians when they broke into southern Israel on October 7, also killing more than 1,200 Israelis, 364 of whom were murdered at the Nova music festival Yanai was taken captive from. After a global campaign reaching the capitals of most major countries, a hostage deal was brokered between Israel and Hamas, with mediation by Qatar and the United States, that led to the release of 110 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Still, 132 remain held by terrorists in the Strip.
Other former hostages and families of those held spoke to Israeli media on Thursday, 104 days since the massacre of the 7th.
The youngest hostage taken, Kfir Bibas, 9-months-when he was kidnapped, celebrated his 1st birthday on Thursday. A cousin of his mother Shiri, told Israel media, “This is the saddest birthday in the world, and the world is doing nothing and nothing. There is a tiny baby in the captivity of Hamas for 104 days.” Hamas has claimed that Shiri, Kfir, and her 4-year-old, Ariel, were all killed in an Israeli airstrike, even posting a psychological warfare video telling the patriarch of the family, Yarden, that his wife and children were killed. The IDF has denied this story.
63-year-old Clara Marman, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and whose husband and brother are still being held, told Israeli television on Thursday “I don’t exactly feel like I’m back. In my head, I’m still there. Right now I’m making every effort to get [my husband and brother] back. The slogan, ‘The heart is there,’ for me it’s not a slogan, my heart is really captive.”
The hostages who attended the global forum of the top world leaders, diplomats, and business people were brought as guests of Israeli President Isaac Herzog in hopes of broadcasting their plight to the world. The specific meeting the hostages spoke at was hosted by Palantir and one of its co-founders, billionaire Peter Thiel. Palantir, the US-based defense and data analytics company, held its first board meeting of 2024 in Tel Aviv in an act of solidarity with the Jewish state — a meeting that led to the signing of a strategic partnership deal with the Defense Ministry.
The post Released Hostages Speak at World Economic Forum, Urge Action first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.