Hostages

The US government's top hostage negotiator is in Beirut in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for 12 years, the State Department said on Monday. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, is talking to officials in the region following the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government to find out where Tice is and get him home as soon as possible, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday. Lebanon has been involved for years in mediating talks about Tice. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that we have no direct evidence of his status. Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war intensified. A video released weeks aft

It's the latest twist in Netanyahu's frustrated attempts to deliver on pledges to the families of hostages to bring home those seized when Hamas militants attacked Israel more than a year ago

Over the past two weeks, the political landscape around the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza have undergone a dramatic transformation. The American elections, the firing of Israel's popular defense minister, Qatar's decision to suspend its mediation, and the ongoing war in Lebanon all seem to have pushed the possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza further away than it has been in more than a year of conflict. Still, some families of the dozens of hostages who remain captive in Gaza are desperately hoping the changes will reignite momentum to bring their loved ones home though the impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House and a hard-line new defense minister in Israel remains unknown. I think maybe there is new hope, said Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, 20, a soldier kidnapped from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Alexander's parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, who live in New Jersey, met

A delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their relatives met Thursday with Pope Francis and expressed hope that the incoming and outgoing US administrations would work together to bring the remaining hostages home. The freed hostages included Yelena Troufanov, who was released last November but whose son Sasha remains in Gaza and appeared in a video released Wednesday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. You see in the picture how my child has changed over the course of this year, Yelena Troufanov told a news conference in Rome after the papal audience. I am very worried about his condition, I see that he is not in a good mental state and not in a good physical state. She and the other former hostages and relatives renewed their calls for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, especially with winter approaching. They said they hoped the incoming Trump administration would work with the outgoing Biden administration to push the process forward. The war star

Three terrorists were killed in a gunbattle when they attacked a polio vaccinators' team in Pakistan's restive northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday. In another incident, unknown militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at a dispensary in the same province, sources said here. The attack on polio vaccinators came a day after Pakistan on Monday started its third nationwide polio campaign to vaccinate 45 million children. In the first incident in Aurakzai tribal district, bordering Afghanistan, a policeman also killed in the shootout while frustrating the attack on the polio vaccinators. At least three terrorists were mowed down by the police in the fierce gunbattle and a fresh team has been rushed to the site, sources added. No group claimed responsibility for the brutal attack. In the second incident in North Waziristan's tehsil Shewa, unidentified militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at the Mamet Kot dispensary in the restiv

Such memorial events were laced with controversy as the families of victims blamed the Israeli government for failures that enabled Hamas to carry out the attacks. The families also blamed

Two youths who were held hostage by armed men in Manipur's Kangpokpi district were released and handed over to police on Thursday morning, seven days after they were abducted, an officer said. The two Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Th Thoithoiba Singh are being escorted back to Imphal, the police officer said. "The youths were handed over to Kangpokpi Superintendent of police at Gamgiphai naka and and left for Imphal," the police said. The two on September 27 had accompanied another youth N Johnson Singh who was appearing for SSC GD recruitment test at New Keithelmanbi. However, they lost their way in Kangpokpi district. While Johnson was rescued by the army and handed over to the police, the two youths remained in the captivity of armed men. The state government with the assistance of the Centre carried out negotiations to secure the release of the two youths. Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in a post on social media said, "The two young men abducted in Kangpokpi on ...

The strike was called by the Histadrut labor federation, though a court order ruled Monday that it should end at 2.30 p.m.

Israel's military has rescued its eight hostage from Gaza since the 10-month-old war began. While the rescue Tuesday set off celebrations, it also renewed calls from the families of hostages who are still being held in Gaza for a deal that would bring home their loved ones before it's too late. They say an agreement, not military rescues, is the best hope. International mediators have tried for months to broker a deal that would see scores of hostages still held by Hamas exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a cease-fire. But Israel and Hamas cannot agree on key portions of the deal. Of some 250 hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, around 105 were released in a cease-fire last November. Israel says 108 remain in Gaza, at least 36 of whom are believed dead. After 10 months, the IDF managed just to release a small number of hostages from Hamas and the rest of them must be released by negotiations and by ending this war, said Mazen Abu Siam,

Some protesters held signs demanding early elections, and others held banners calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza

Russian security forces stormed a detention centre in southern Russia, ending a hostage standoff, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday. The hostages at the facility in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service. It said that the hostage takers had been liquidated, with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to the Middle East this week as a proposed Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal hangs in the balance after the dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza in a major military raid and turmoil in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. With no firm response yet from Hamas to the proposal received 10 days ago, Blinken on Monday will start his eighth diplomatic mission to the region since the conflict began in October. He will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo before travelling to Israel, Jordan and Qatar. While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other US officials have praised the hostage rescue, the operation resulted in the deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians that may complicate the cease-fire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas' resolve to carry on fighting in the war it initiated with its October 7 attacks in Israel. It's hard to say how Hamas will process this particular ...

Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas called for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by US President Joe Biden to end the nearly 8-month-long war and bring their relatives home, but Israel's government said conditions for a cease-fire still must be met. Biden outlined a three-phase deal Friday proposed by Israel to Hamas, saying the militant group is no longer capable of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel. He urged the Israelis and Hamas to come to an agreement to release some 100 remaining hostages, along with the bodies of around 30 more, for an extended cease-fire. Cease-fire talks ground to a halt last month after a major push by the US and other mediators to secure a deal in hopes of averting a full Israeli invasion of Gaza's southern city of Rafah. Israel says the Rafah operation is vital to uprooting Hamas fighters responsible for the October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war. Israel on Friday confirmed its troops were .

Scuffles between Israeli police and protesters erupted in Tel Aviv after thousands gathered to demonstrate against the government and demand that it bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, a small US military vessel and what appeared to be a strip of docking area washed up on a beach near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, not far from the US-built pier on which the Israeli military said humanitarian aid is moving into the Palestinian territory. Also on Saturday, Israeli bombardments were reported in northern and central Gaza. Some protesters in Tel Aviv carried photos of the female soldiers who appeared in a video earlier in the week showing them soon after they were abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 started the war between Israel and Hamas. Some held banners reading Stop the war and Help. They called on the government to reach a deal to release the dozens of hostages still in captivity. The protesters also called for the resignation

This comes after Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo, Egypt without a deal earlier this week

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. They urged the government to reach a deal to free dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to hold early elections. Nearly six months of war have renewed divisions in Israeli society. The Hamas militant group killed some 1,200 people during its cross-border attack on October 7, and took 250 others hostage. Roughly half the hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November, but repeated attempts by international mediators to broker another cease-fire deal have failed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home. But those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact, and hostages' families believe time is running out. After six months, it seems like the government understands that Bibi Netanyahu is an ..

Aid convoys carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, Israeli officials said on Wednesday, the first major delivery in a month to the devastated, isolated area, where the UN has warned of worsening starvation among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amid Israel's offensive. The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fuelled international calls for a cease-fire as the US, Egypt and Qatar work to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack. Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands. Increasing the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal, families of hostages on Wednesday launched a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to demand their loved ones be set free. Some of the around 100 hostages freed .

President Joe Biden said Monday that he hopes a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities and allow for remaining hostages to be released can take effect by early next week. Asked when he thought a cease-fire could begin, Biden said: Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend. The end of the weekend. My national security adviser tells me that we're close. We're close. We're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire. Biden commented in New York after taping an appearance on NBC's Late Night With Seth Meyers. Negotiations are underway for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by the militant group in return for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The proposed six-week pause in fighting would also include allowing hundreds of trucks to deliver desperately needed aid into Gaza every day. Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim holy mo

The Israeli military said it rescued two hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip early Monday. It identified the men as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70. It said both men were kidnapped by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Nir Yizhak in the Oct. 7 cross-border attack that started the 4-month Israel-Hamas war. The rescue took place in the southern border town of Rafah. The army says both men are in good medical condition. They are among the 136 hostages that Israel says remain in Hamas captivity.