Israeliprime ministerBenjamin Netanyahusaid on Thursday the bodies of two Israeli-Americans killed inHamas’s 7 October 2023 attack and held inGazahad been returned toIsrael.
Netanyahu said the remains ofJudih Weinstein HaggaiandGad Haggaiwere recovered and returned to Israel in a special operation by the army and theShin Betinternal security agency. According to the Associated Press (AP). He said in a statement:
Nir Oz kibbutzannounced the deaths of Weinstein, 70, and Haggai, 72, in December 2023. The military said they were killed in the 7 October 2023 attack and that their bodies were recently recovered from the southernGazacity ofKhan Younis.
The Israeli-American couple were taking an early morning walk near their home in Nir Oz kibbutz on the morning of 7 October 2023 whenHamasmilitants stormed across the border and rampaged through several army bases and farming communities.
In the early hours of the morning, Weinstein was able to call emergency services and let them know that she and her husband had been shot and send a message to her family.In other developments:
A US- and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in Gaza pushed back the reopening of its facilites set for Thursday, as the Israeli army warned that roads leading to distribution centres were “considered combat zones”. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) closed its aid distribution centres after a string of deadly incidents near sites it operates that drew sharp condemnation from the United Nations.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in the battered Palestinian territory on Thursday as the military keeps up an intensified offensive.“Ten martyrs so far resulting from Israeli strikes since dawn,” agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that they had targeted an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis and houses in Gaza City and the central town of Deir el-Balah.
UN security council members criticised the US on Wednesday after it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington said undermined ongoing diplomacy. “Today, the United States sent a strong message by vetoing a counterproductive UN security council resolution on Gaza targeting Israel,” secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement after Wednesday’s 14 to 1 vote.
Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 48 people across the Gaza Strip, including 14 in a single strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, the civil defence agency said.A day earlier, the civil defence and the International Committee of the Red Cross said 27 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF site in southern Gaza. The military said the incident was under investigation.
Donald Trumphas signed a sweeping order banning travel from 12 countries and restricting travel from seven others, reviving and expanding the travel bans from his first term.
The nationals ofAfghanistan,Myanmar,Chad,Republic of the Congo,Equatorial Guinea,Eritrea,Haiti,Iran,Libya,Somalia,SudanandYemenwill be “fully” restricted from entering theUS, according to the proclamation. Meanwhile, the entry of nationals ofBurundi,Cuba,Laos,Sierra Leone,Togo,TurkmenistanandVenezuelawill be partially restricted.
The US president said that he “considered foreign policy, national security, and counter-terrorism goals” in deciding the scope of the ban. Trump had cued up the ban in anexecutive ordersigned on 20 January, his first day back in theWhite House, instructing his administration to submit a list of candidates for a ban by 21 March.
Trump has cited a range of justifications for the bans, including national security and concerns that visitors from those countries are overstaying their visas.
But advocates and experts have said that blanket travel bans discriminate against groups of people based on ethnicity alone. They will likely result – as the travels bans did during Trump’s first term – in the separation of families. The bans on travel from Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela could be especially impactful in US communities with huge immigrant populations from those countries.
AUS- andIsraeli-backed group operating aid sites inGazapushed back the reopening of its facilites set for Thursday, as theIsraeliarmy warned that roads leading to distribution centres were “considered combat zones”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
TheGaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)closed its aid distribution centres after a string of deadly incidents near sites it operates that drew sharp condemnation from theUnited Nations.
Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 48 people across theGaza Strip, including 14 in a single strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, thecivil defence agencysaid.
A day earlier, the civil defence and theInternational Committee of the Red Crosssaid 27 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF site in southern Gaza. The military said the incident was under investigation.
TheUKcalled for an “immediate and independent investigation”, echoing a demand from UN secretary generalAntónio Guterres.
UKMiddle EastministerHamish Falconersaid the deaths ofPalestiniansas they sought food were “deeply disturbing”, calling Israel’s new measures for aid delivery “inhumane”.
Israel recently eased its blockade of Gaza, but the United Nations says the territory’s entire population remains at risk of famine.
The Associated Press (AP) has some more background on the couple:
Judih Weinstein Haggai, 72, taught English to children with special needs atNir Oz kibbutz, a small community near theGazaborder. The kibbutz said she also taught meditation techniques to children and teenagers with anxiety as a result of rocket fire fromGaza.Gad Haggai, 73, was a retired chef and jazz musician.The couple, who were US citizens while Judih Weinstein Haggai was originally from Canada, were survived by two sons and two daughters and seven grandchildren, the kibbutz said.
Also, my colleague,Caroline Davies, spoke to theBritishnephew of Judih Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai in 2023, when the family did not know if couple were alive, kidnapped or dead after attack on Nir Oz kibbutz. You can read the interview here:
Israeliprime ministerBenjamin Netanyahusaid on Thursday the bodies of two Israeli-Americans killed inHamas’s 7 October 2023 attack and held inGazahad been returned toIsrael.
Netanyahu said the remains ofJudih Weinstein HaggaiandGad Haggaiwere recovered and returned to Israel in a special operation by the army and theShin Betinternal security agency. According to the Associated Press (AP). He said in a statement:
Nir Oz kibbutzannounced the deaths of Weinstein, 70, and Haggai, 72, in December 2023. The military said they were killed in the 7 October 2023 attack and that their bodies were recently recovered from the southernGazacity ofKhan Younis.
The Israeli-American couple were taking an early morning walk near their home in Nir Oz kibbutz on the morning of 7 October 2023 whenHamasmilitants stormed across the border and rampaged through several army bases and farming communities.
In the early hours of the morning, Weinstein was able to call emergency services and let them know that she and her husband had been shot and send a message to her family.In other developments:
A US- and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in Gaza pushed back the reopening of its facilites set for Thursday, as the Israeli army warned that roads leading to distribution centres were “considered combat zones”. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) closed its aid distribution centres after a string of deadly incidents near sites it operates that drew sharp condemnation from the United Nations.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people in the battered Palestinian territory on Thursday as the military keeps up an intensified offensive.“Ten martyrs so far resulting from Israeli strikes since dawn,” agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that they had targeted an area where displaced civilians were sheltering in the southern city of Khan Younis and houses in Gaza City and the central town of Deir el-Balah.
UN security council members criticised the US on Wednesday after it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington said undermined ongoing diplomacy. “Today, the United States sent a strong message by vetoing a counterproductive UN security council resolution on Gaza targeting Israel,” secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a statement after Wednesday’s 14 to 1 vote.
Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 48 people across the Gaza Strip, including 14 in a single strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, the civil defence agency said.A day earlier, the civil defence and the International Committee of the Red Cross said 27 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF site in southern Gaza. The military said the incident was under investigation.