Author: David Leibermann

This is a developing story.  The Israeli military has confirmed that the two deceased children released by Hamas Thursday are the hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas. But the military said that a third body is not that of their mother, Shiri. The military said the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in collaboration with police, […]

Thousands of Israelis flooded Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, their grief echoing in silence and sobs in a ceremony marking the return of the bodies of four hostages earlier in the day. Several well-known Israeli artists and public figures took part in the ceremony, including popular singers Omer Adam, Ivri Lider and […]

Some of the mourners clutched Israeli flags. Others held orange balloons.  On Thursday, hundreds of Israelis stood across the road from the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, the sky shifting between rain and sun, while they paid their final respects to four hostages who, after more than 500 days of captivity, had returned […]

As she watched a cascade of seemingly conflicting news reports about the three highest-profile Israeli hostages, Noam Nisim didn’t know what to think. First, a popular Israeli news program posted on Instagram that the Bibas family had received official word that their relatives — Shiri and her children Kfir and Ariel — had been killed […]

This is a developing story.  A Hamas official has announced that the terror group will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday, among them the Bibas family. Hamas is also due to release six hostages on Saturday, the final captives who are expected to come back alive during the initial phase of the […]

Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli told a gathering of American Jewish leaders on Sunday that he will vote against future stages of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. Israel is currently negotiating the second stage of the ceasefire, in which all remaining living Israeli hostages are meant to be released while Israel fully withdraws from Gaza. Today, […]

Three Israeli hostages were released from captivity in Gaza Saturday, including Sagui Dekel-Chen, an American citizen. Dekel-Chen was freed along with Yair Horn, an Argentine-Israeli, and Sasha Trufanov, a Russian-Israeli. All three were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on the Gaza border during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Dekel-Chen and Horn were held by Hamas, […]

An American-Israeli released from Gaza during the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire is exhorting President Donald Trump to press for the release of the remaining hostages. “President Trump, you are the reason I am home alive. You are the reason I was reunited with my beloved wife, four children and five grandchildren. Thank you,” Siegel says in […]

After days of brinksmanship in which both Hamas and Israel threatened to breach their current ceasefire, Hamas has named three more Israeli hostages that it will release in accordance with the ceasefire’s terms on Saturday. The hostages set for release include the only remaining American citizen set to be freed during the current phase of […]

Hamas said that it will release three more Israeli hostages on Saturday, a sign that the ceasefire in Gaza may hold despite a crisis earlier this week. Israel has not confirmed that its dispute with Hamas was resolved. But negotiations are ongoing, signaling that both sides may be retreating from demands that seemed to imperil […]