2024-08-21 18:05:31
Jerusalem: The Israeli army has said that it has recovered the bodies of six people who were taken hostage during the Hamas attack on October 7 last year. The army said in a statement on Tuesday that its soldiers have recovered these bodies during an operation in southern Gaza last night. According to the army, the dead have been identified as Yagaev Bushtab, Alexander Dankig, Avraham Mander, Yoram Metsgar, Nadav Popplewell and Haim Peri. However, the army did not say when and how they died. These bodies have been recovered at a time when the US, Egypt and Qatar are trying for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The agreement also includes the release of people held hostage by Hamas. About 110 people are still believed to be held hostage by Hamas after the October 7 attack. Israeli officials estimate that about one-third of them have died. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding a ‘private meeting’ with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office here. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office gave information on Monday afternoon. Netanyahu’s office said, ‘After this an extended meeting will be held, in which the Minister of Strategic Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, the Deputy Director of the National Security Council, the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, Foreign Policy Advisor, Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons, the US Ambassador to Israel and the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson will participate.’
Hezbollah terrorists attacked with drones
Blinken is on a three-day visit to Egypt and Israel. The purpose of his visit is to find ways to advance Washington’s ‘intensive diplomatic efforts’ towards an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages and detainees through a proposal presented by the US with the support of Egypt and Qatar. The US State Department said last week that this proposal would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza, ensure the release of all hostages, ensure that humanitarian aid can reach all over Gaza, and create conditions for broader regional stability. Earlier in the day, Blinken met Israeli President Isaac Herzog. This was his ninth visit to the region since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
“In the last 24 hours we have seen terrorist attacks by Palestinian terrorists. We have lost Gideon Peri (38), a father of three, a husband and a music lover, who went to work at a plant and was killed by a friend at work simply because he was a Jew and an Israeli. This is a huge tragedy,” Herzog said before the meeting began. The Israeli president said his country is surrounded by terror from “the four corners of the earth” and is responding to it as a resilient and strong nation. “Last night we saw a suspected major terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, which is being investigated, including a possible suicide bomber. This morning our soldiers were attacked in Ya’ara. Ya’ara is on the Lebanese border. Hezbollah terrorists attacked with a drone and there is some information that there may have been some casualties. We are reviewing it. This is how we live these days,” he said.