Israel confirms death of hostage held in Gaza
An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, the government said early Friday.
Dror Or, 49, was killed and his body was held in Gaza since 7 October, said the Be’eri kibbutz where he had lived. It was one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
His wife, Yonat, was killed in the initial assault while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13, were abducted and then freed in November as part of a ceasefire and hostages-for- prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas.
“We are heartbroken to share that Dror Or who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, had been confirmed as murdered and his body is being held in Gaza,” the Israeli government said on X. The two children and their brother Yahli are now orphans, it added.
The government did not say how it learned of the death of Or.
Or’s death was announced as mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt waited for Hamas’s response to a new proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
In late November during a week-long ceasefire, 105 hostages were released including 80 Israelis and people from other countries in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held by Israel.
Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 35 of them are dead including Or.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Key events
Bryony Moore, Lucy Swan, Tural Ahmedzade and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to the pro-Palestinian US campus protests and the police response.
You can take a look here:
Turkey stops all trade with Israel over ‘humanitarian tragedy’ in Gaza
Jasper Jolly is a financial reporter for the Guardian.
Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister.
“Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday.
“Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, accused Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of acting like a “dictator” after the restrictions were first reported.
The row will probably deepen tensions between the two formerly close allies, which have deteriorated since the start of the crisis in Gaza.
You can read the full piece here:
The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast asks whether we are on the brink of a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
In Cairo a deal between Israel and Hamas has been tabled and the two sides are discussing whether to accept it. Julian Borger explains how such negotiations happen, what the deal includes and why there is pressure on both sides to make it happen.
Michael Safi asks how rumours that the international criminal court may issue warrants for the arrest of Israel’s leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamas leaders are playing into the ceasefire talks, and if more aid is finally being allowed into the strip.
You can listen to the podcast episode here:
Iran has released the crew of a seized Portuguese-flagged ship linked to Israel, but remains in control of the vessel itself, foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said, according to the Reuters news agency.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the container ship MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, in the strait of Hormuz on 13 April, days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route.
“The seized ship, which turned off its radar in Iran’s territorial waters and jeopardized the security of navigation, is under judicial detention,” Amirabdollahian said, according to a foreign ministry post on X late Thursday night.
He said the release of the crew was a humanitarian act and they could return to their countries along with the ship’s captain, reports Reuters.
Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier said the Aries was seized for “violating maritime laws” and that there was no doubt it was linked to Israel.
MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Israel confirms death of hostage held in Gaza
An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, the government said early Friday.
Dror Or, 49, was killed and his body was held in Gaza since 7 October, said the Be’eri kibbutz where he had lived. It was one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
His wife, Yonat, was killed in the initial assault while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13, were abducted and then freed in November as part of a ceasefire and hostages-for- prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas.
“We are heartbroken to share that Dror Or who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, had been confirmed as murdered and his body is being held in Gaza,” the Israeli government said on X. The two children and their brother Yahli are now orphans, it added.
The government did not say how it learned of the death of Or.
Or’s death was announced as mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt waited for Hamas’s response to a new proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
In late November during a week-long ceasefire, 105 hostages were released including 80 Israelis and people from other countries in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held by Israel.
Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 35 of them are dead including Or.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Opening summary
It has gone 9.30am in Gaza and in Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, according to the government.
Dror Or was a resident of the Be’eri kibbutz, one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel. His wife was killed in the initial assault while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13, were abducted and then freed in November as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
“We are heartbroken to share that Dror Or who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, had been confirmed as murdered and his body is being held in Gaza,” the Israeli government said on X.
His death was announced as mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt are waiting for Hamas’s response to a new proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
More on that in a moment, but first here is a round up of other main events.
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A UN agency said on Thursday that rebuilding Gaza will cost an estimated $30bn to $40bn and require an effort on a scale unseen since the second world war. “The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented,” UN assistant secretary general Abdallah al-Dardari told a press conference in Amman, Jordan.
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Hamas confirmed that the group will visit Egypt for further ceasefire talks in the Gaza war. A statement by the group added that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had affirmed the group’s “positive spirit in studying the ceasefire proposal” in a phone call with Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
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Turkey has halted all trade with Israel, citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories, which prompted strong criticism from the Israeli foreign minister. “Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products,” Turkey’s trade ministry said late on Thursday.
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Israel’s president on Thursday criticised US universities for campus unrest over Israel’s war in Gaza, saying these institutions were “contaminated by hatred and antisemitism”. Isaac Herzog said in a special broadcast that he was issuing an urgent message of support to Jewish communities amid a “dramatic resurgence in antisemitism and following the hostilities and intimidation against Jewish students on campuses across the US in particular”.
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Two people were arrested after shouting verbal abuse and throwing stones and eggs at a demonstration being held by relatives of those held hostage in Gaza which was attempting to block a highway in Tel Aviv.
