IDF says bodies of 3 hostages recovered – DW – 05/24/2024

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages taken into the Gaza Strip after being killed during the October 7 attacks by Hamas-led militants. 

The IDF said the army and intelligence services collaborated on an overnight operation in Jabalia in northern Gaza, where there has been intense fighting in recent days. Families of the victims had been notified, it said.

The Israeli National Forensic Institute and Israeli police identified the bodies, the military said. 

Last weekend, Israel similarly said it recovered three dead bodies of hostages it said were killed on October 7 but still taken back to Gaza. It reported another hostage’s body, recovered as part of the same operation in Rafah, the following day.

Israel says that Hamas-led militants abducted around 250 people on October 7, roughly half of whom are thought to still be in Gaza, either dead or alive. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon address the United States Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

“We will soon be hosting Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Capitol for a joint session of Congress,” Johnson said, adding that the visit would mark “a very strong show of support to the Israeli government.”

Johnson is the top congressional Republican and a critic of Democratic President Joe Biden’s Israel policy. He did not specify a date for Netanyahu’s speech.

The United States has strongly backed Israel in its war against Hamas that was sparked by the cross-border attack on October 7 by Hamas militants that killed some 1,200 people. 

But amid a mounting civilian death toll, President Biden has increasingly been pushing Netanyahu to tame his operation in Gaza to protect Palestinian civilians. The White House has been frustrated in particular over Israel’s military operations in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than one million people are sheltering.

Biden has also threatened to halt arms supplies, a stance opposed by Republicans and many Democrats. 

A speech by Netanyahu at US Congress, however, could further anger progressive Democrats critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Biden’s support for it.

Police in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday arrested 23 individuals in connection with the ongoing occupation of a building at the city’s Humboldt University by pro-Palestinian students.

Roughly 100 students occupied rooms in the social sciences department on Wednesday. School administrators had given them until Thursday evening to leave the premises.

Additionally, 25 criminal cases were opened to investigate, among other things, the display of unconstitutional insignias, property damage, and resisting arrest.

Police say roughly 320 protesters were taking part in the occupation.

The students accuse Israel of “committing genocide in Gaza,” and are demanding the university pressure the German government to end all military, financial and diplomatic cooperation with Israel as well as push for a cease-fire.

Group organizers, calling themselves the Student Coalition Berlin said the protest was designed to signal, “unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

A spokesperson for the group said they intended to renegotiate a previous agreement to leave the buildings until Humboldt University President Julia von Blumenthal agreed to their demands.

Among those sharply criticizing such actions were Josef Schuster, president of the Central Committee of Jews in Germany; and Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, who said universities are places of knowledge and discourse, not “lawless spaces for anti-Semites and terrorist sympathizers.”

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said that it will issue a ruling Friday on whether further steps can be taken to prevent what South Africa describes as “the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip” as requested in an urgent appeal submitted by South Africa.

South Africa submitted the appeal to the UN high court in The Hague, Netherlands, on May 10, and is requesting that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) be ordered to withdraw from Gaza.

The ICJ has previously instructed Israel — which entered Gaza in response to an October 7, 2023, attack launched from the enclave by the governing Islamic militia Hamas — to take measures to prevent genocide and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Israel has accused South Africa of acting as Hamas’ legal arm, and says it will not be deterred from defending itself.

On Thursday, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman said, “No power on earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza.”

Although the ICJ’s rulings are binding, it possesses no mechanism with which to enforce them.

The court may, however, request that the UN Security Council take action on its behalf.

Egyptian security sources on Thursday told Reuters news agency that the country remains committed to negotiating the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza as well as the establishment of a cease-fire, despite growing uncertainty over Cairo’s continued role as a mediator in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants.

The sources said that Egyptian officials had been in contact with Israel over arranging a new date for talks between the conflicting parties.

Egypt, which for months has been working alongside Qatar and the US to facilitate such a deal, indicated Wednesday that it would withdraw from negotiations due to its frustration over a lack of progress as well as Israel’s military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Cairo was also angered by Israel’s decision to take control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt, wary of a mass displacement of Palestinians, has so far rebuffed US calls to facilitate aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing, saying a resumption will only take place after Israel relinquishes control of the Gaza side of the crossing.

Israel on Thursday summoned the ambassadors of Spain, Norway and the Republic of Ireland to be “reprimanded” for their countries’ “perverse decision” to recognize a Palestinian state, according to Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yaakov Blitshtein.

“There will be additional serious consequences for relations with their countries following the decision they made,” he said.

The ambassadors were first shown a three-minute clip of the kidnapping of five female Israel Defense Forces soldiers — footage that was taken by Islamist Hamas fighters during their October 7 attack on Israel — before being upbraided.

Blitshtein said the announcement of pending recognition made it, “more difficult to promote a deal for the release of hostages.”

“The twisted decision by your governments is a prize to Hamas,” Blitshtein reportedly told the ambassadors on Thursday, “Hamas congratulates you.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez previously said his government’s decision would help facilitate the implementation of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinian leaders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected the idea, called the decision, “a reward for terror.”

js/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)