Skip next section EU top diplomat ‘horrified’ at Israeli hostages’ murder
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
EU top diplomat ‘horrified’ at Israeli hostages’ murder
The top diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has condemned the killing of six Israeli hostages by the
“These young innocent men, women should have long been brought to safety & to their loved ones,” Borrell said on X, formerly Twitter. He stressed standing on the side of all hostages.
“We need a cease-fire to end this tragedy & bring all hostages home,” he wrote.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k9Jj
Skip next section Three Israeli policemen shot dead in West Bank
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Three Israeli policemen shot dead in West Bank
Palestinian militants shot and killed three Israeli police officers in the occupied on Sunday, Israel has said, following several days of large-scale Israeli raids in the territory.
Israeli police said the assailants opened fire on a vehicle driving through a road near the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, adding that the shooters managed to escape.
A little-known militant group calling itself the Khalil al-Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamist militant group meanwhile, praised the attack as a “natural response” to the war in and called for more of such attacks.
Hundreds of Israeli forces have been engaged in raids across the West Bank this week, in what is among the largest military actions in the area in months. Israel says the raids aim to root out Islamist militants.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k9Jb
Skip next section Hostages’ families, Lapid call for strike
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Hostages’ families, Lapid call for strike
The families of Israeli hostages being held in have called for a nationwide strike to begin from Sunday night to push the government toward a hostage-release deal.
The calls were also echoed by Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who urged for strikes to shut down the country’s economy and put pressure on the government.
Lapid, who is also a former prime minister, called on every Israeli “whose heart was broken this morning” to join a major protest in Tel Aviv later in the day. He also urged Israel’s main labor union, businesses and municipalities to go on strike.
“They were alive but [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his Cabinet of death decided not to save them,” Lapid wrote on his Facebook page. “There are still hostages alive. We can still make a deal.”
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it calls on the “public to join a massive demonstration, demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages.”
It also called for Israelis to join protests in Tel Aviv later on Sunday and asked the country’s powerful Histadrut union to take part in the strike.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k9J6
Skip next section Israeli defense minister calls for Israeli exit from key border corridor
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Israeli defense minister calls for Israeli exit from key border corridor
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the government to reverse its decision to keep Israeli soldiers along a border corridor with Egypt.
The presence of Israeli forces along the Philadelphi Corridor has been a key point of contention in negotiations for a cease-fire. The Palestinian militant group has said it would not agree to a deal to pause fighting and release hostages until Israeli troops withdraw from the corridor.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Gallant said the Israeli Cabinet must immediately convene and reverse a Thursday decision to keep forces in the corridor.
“It is too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood. We must bring back the hostages that are still being held by Hamas,” Gallant wrote.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k9JB
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
UN calls for warring parties to respect temporary pause as polio vaccinations begin
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Phillipe Lazzarini announced that the first phase of the campaign was underway in central Gaza.
“This is a race against time to reach just over 600,000 children across the Gaza Strip in the coming days,” he said in a post on X.
For the campaign to work, he called on warring parties to “respect the temporary area pauses.”
“For the sake of children across the region, a durable cease-fire is overdue,” he added.
The vaccination campaign comes after the first case of polio in 25 years was discovered in Gaza as people are forced to live together in overcrowded camps with poor sanitation.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k9GP
Skip next section ‘Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,’ Netanyahu says in video statement
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
‘Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,’ Netanyahu says in video statement
“Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message after the recovery of the bodies of six hostages amp up pressure on the prime minister to secure the release of remaining hostages in Gaza.
“This is a difficult day for us,” he said, adding that the nation was mourning.
He vowed to “settle the score” with Hamas, telling the militant group’s leaders, “We will hunt you down, we will catch you, and we will settle the score.”
Netanyahu accused Hamas of killing hostages in “cold blood” and said he will not rest until he catches those responsible for their deaths.
The Israeli leader also said that he is committed to achieving a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages and ensure Israel’s security.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k99q
Skip next section Polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza
The World Health Organization on Sunday morning, immunizing some 640,000 children.
It comes after the first case of polio in 25 years was discovered in Gaza amid poor hygenic conditions there. Many Palestinians in Gaza live in cramped conditions, and there is little clean water.
The vaccinations are set to first commence in central Gaza. The vaccinations are given in two doses separated over four weeks.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k8yR
Skip next section Families of hostages call for nationwide protests in Israel
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Families of hostages call for nationwide protests in Israel
An umbrella group representing the families of Israeli captives in Gaza called for a massive protest on Sunday.
The Hostages Families Forum called for a countrywide protest demanding a “complete halt of the country” to pressure the Israeli government to agree to a cease-fire deal and ensure the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses, those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive. It’s time to bring our hostages home,” it said.
“The Hostages Families Forum demands that Prime Minister Netanyahu address the nation and take responsibility for abandoning the hostages,” it added.
About 250 people were captured by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack. A November deal resulted in the release of 105 hostages.
Before news broke about the bodies of hostages recovered in Gaza on Sunday, Israel said it . About one-third of them were believed to be dead.
Meanwhile, international mediators in return for the release of hostages.
Qatar, Egypt and the US presented a bridging proposal to close the gaps of disagreements between Israel and Hamas, but there was no concrete proposal to move forward with.
Hamas once again said without a complete withdrawal of troops from Gaza.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k92r
Skip next section Group representing hostage families express anger and anguish at news
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Group representing hostage families express anger and anguish at news
Hostage Families Forum, a group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, issued a statement announcing the news.
“With deep sorrow, we once again announce the murder of 6 hostages. These 6 individuals were taken alive, endured the horrors of captivity, and were then coldly murdered,” it said.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses, those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive. It’s time to bring our hostages home — the living for rehabilitation and the fallen and murdered for burial in their homelands,” it said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k92i
Skip next section Family of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s issues statement
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Family of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s issues statement
The family of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin issued a statement after his body was discovered by Israeli military in Gaza along with the bodies of five other hostages.
“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” the statement read. “The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.”
Biden, who had met with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, said they “have been courageous, wise and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4k92U
Skip next section Biden vows ‘Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes’
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Biden vows ‘Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes’
US President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” at the news of the bodies recovered from a tunnel in Gaza that included young Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
militants took Goldberg-Polin hostage on Israel.
Goldberg-Polin went on to become one of the most well-known captives held by Hamas as his parents met with world leaders to campaign for his release, including Biden.
“He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, “have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable,” Biden said.
“They have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions. I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express,” the president said.
Biden vowed that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement: “I strongly condemn Hamas’s continued brutality, and so must the entire world.”
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, said she and Biden would never waver in their commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k92P
Skip next section Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s ties to Germany
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s ties to Germany
Among the six hostages found dead in the Gaza tunnel was Hersh Goldberg-Polin — an Israeli-American with ties to Germany.
An avid football fan of top-flight Israeli side Hapoel Jerusalem, Goldberg-Polin had visited Hapoel’s sister club, Werder Bremen, in Germany on numerous occasions.
Werder Bremen and several of its fan groups have played a key role in raising awareness of Goldberg-Polin’s situation.
There’s a longstanding friendship between Bremen’s most famous fan group, the Infamous Youth, and Hapoel Jerusalem’s fans, known as the Malcha Brigade.
Goldberg-Polin’s family also spoke at the last month.
His parents wore the number 320 on stage, representing the number of days their son had been held.
You can read the full story here:
https://p.dw.com/p/4k92F
Skip next section Israeli army announces 6 hostages recovered in Gaza
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
Israeli army announces 6 hostages recovered in Gaza
Israel has identified the bodies of six hostages found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and brought them to Israel, the military said.
The army identified them as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi and Alexander Lobanov, all of whom were abducted during a music festival during the .
The sixth hostage, Carmel Gat, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be’eri.
“According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them,” military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in a briefing.
is designated a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states.
https://p.dw.com/p/4k91i
Skip next section White House says bodies of 6 hostages discovered by IDF in Gaza
09/01/2024September 1, 2024
White House says bodies of 6 hostages discovered by IDF in Gaza
The White House said that the bodies of 6 hostages have been recovered by the Israeli military in Gaza, including US-Israeli man Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. “We have now confirmed that one of the hostages… was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
mf, dh, wd/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)
https://p.dw.com/p/4k8y2
The post Israel-Hamas war: Israelis angry as hostages found dead appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
