IDF retrieves bodies from Gaza, 'Hamas obstacle to hostage deal,' sources charge
IDF kills PIJ commander • Yasser Arafat's nephew and Ehud Olmert reportedly signed agreement to achieve peace, partition Jerusalem, two states
Gaza polio vaccine campaign to start Sunday, PMO says no ceasefire will occur
The PMO stressed that Israel is committed to preventing an outbreak of the disease in the Gaza strip, as well as in the entire region.
Reports of a ceasefire in Gaza for the purpose of distribution and administration of polio vaccines to residents are false, the Prime Minister's Office said on Saturday night, after COGAT had announced earlier that a vaccination campaign will start on Sunday.
Go to the full article >>‘Hamas obstacle to deal,’ sources charge amid reports talks may collapse
While Israel has been willing to go a long way to return the remaining hostages, negotiators say that the real obstacle is Hamas' demands, as protests in Israel continue to demand a deal.
Hamas is attempting to pressure Israel to abandon its fundamental principles by warning that the Gaza hostage talks are close to collapse, Israeli sources said Saturday, after the security cabinet voted 8-1 to retain IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor in any agreement with the terror group.
Go to the full article >>IDF finds more bodies underground, likely of hostages
The exact location of where the bodies were found remains under gag order.
The IDF has found more bodies underground in Gaza, likely of Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas.
Despite rumors on social media of possible identities of the potential hostage bodies, the IDF will not be able to confirm any specifics until the bodies have been returned to Israel and checked by the relevant professional experts, likely later on Sunday.
IDF sources did say that if the bodies are indeed those of hostages, that they were not killed by any recent fight with Hamas in the area since the military did not use force nearby.
THE IDF’s Alexandroni Brigade in northern Gaza. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)Location under gag order
The exact location of where the bodies were found remains under gag order.
Go to the full article >>IDF St.-Sgt Elkana Navon killed battling Hamas in Jenin, West Bank
He was killed while battling terrorists, and two of his fellow soldiers were also injured in the fighting and were evacuated to the Emek Hospital in Afula.
St.-Sgt. Elkana Navon was killed in battle while fighting in the West Bank Palestinian city of Jenin, the IDF announced on Saturday.
St.-Sgt. Navon, 20, from Petah Tikva, served in the 906th Battalion in the Bislach Brigade.
He was killed while battling terrorists, and two of his fellow soldiers were also wounded in the fighting and were evacuated to the Emek Hospital in Afula.
Go to the full article >>IDF eliminates PIJ brigade commander Muhammad Katrouy
Katrouy was responsible for some of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's rocket attacks against Israel and operated from the central Gaza Strip, the IDF said.
The IDF eliminated the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Central Camps Brigade commander, Muhammad Katrouy, on Saturday in a targeted strike in central Gaza, the military announced.
Katrouy was responsible for some of PIJ's rocket attacks against Israel and operated from the central Gaza Strip, the IDF said.
Within the terrorist organization, Katrouy held positions such as Deputy Brigade Commander and Intelligence Officer, the military added.
Go to the full article >>WATCH: IAF strike on Hezbollah terrorists operating within a structure in southern Lebanon
'Hamas always was and remains the obstacle to a deal,' hostage negotiators say - KAN
"Hamas was and remains an obstacle" to a ceasefire-hostage release deal, KAN quoted officials involved in negotiations as saying on Saturday.
The officials said this in response to claims by Hamas leaders saying Israel was preventing a deal from happening.
This is a developing story.
Go to the full article >>Schalit deal mediator says he reached agreement with Hamas to release remaining hostages
Baskin, like in his efforts to release Schalit in 2011, worked in a "system" or a "secret channel," as he described in his post, that allowed him to develop communication with those Hamas is holding.
Gershon Baskin, a former mediator in the Gilad Schalit release deal, claimed on Saturday in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he obtained an agreement with Hamas for a three-week deal that would see the release of the remaining 107 hostages in Gaza, which includes an end to the war, an Israeli withdrawal of the Gaza Strip, and a release of a number of Palestinian prisoners.
Baskin did this after the Hostages and Missing Families Forum contacted him earlier this month to encourage him to negotiate with the terrorist organization on their behalf directly, he wrote.
However, the Forum disputed Baskin's statements, saying that "the headquarters of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum did not contact any party to conduct negotiations for the return of the hostages on its behalf," Israeli media reported.
Go to the full article >>Some 14 terrorists killed as IDF, Hamas exchange fire in Jenin after Gush Etzion attacks
Hamas later reported the death of one of its operatives in the al-Damj neighborhood.
The IDF and terrorists exchanged heavy fire in Jenin in the West Bank on Saturday, with about 14 terrorists eliminated, Israeli media reported.
Explosions were heard in the al-Damj neighborhood, according to Maariv.
A source in Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades leadership told Qatari state-run media giant Al Jazeera that the terror organization had prepared itself for long days of confrontations and battles.
"We reassure our people that the resistance, with all its formations in the West Bank, is in the best stages of coordination," the source said.
Go to the full article >>Polio vaccination operation begins in central Gaza Strip
A vaccination campaign against polio has started in central Gaza, according to reports in Arab media outlets.
Go to the full article >>Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know
- Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re'im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities
- 107 hostages remain in Gaza
- 48 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says