Berlin's Brandenburg Gate lit up to honour Bibas hostages in Israel
Shiri and her sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were killed while held hostage by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, were buried in Israel on Wednesday.
The landmark in the German capital was illuminated with the words "Never Forget" and "Bring Them Home Now."
Ariel was only 4 years old and Kfir just 9 months old when they were abducted during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks.
Video footage of the frightened mother with her two red-haired sons during their abduction was seen around the world and the family became symbols of the unprecedented massacre which triggered the Gaza war.
Shiri's body was handed over to Israel by Hamas on Friday, one day after the remains of her children. The coffin that Hamas initially gave to the Red Cross alongside the children contained the body of another, unknown woman.
The mix-up - whether deliberate or accidental - caused great outrage in Israel.
Following a forensic examination of the bodies, the military announced that the two children had been brutally murdered by the kidnappers in November 2023. Hamas, on the other hand, said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Tens of thousands of people took part in a public funeral march for the three Hamas victims in Israel on Wednesday, local media reported. Many people brought orange balloons in memory of the two red-haired boys.
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New York Times
15 minutes ago
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San Francisco Chronicle
44 minutes ago
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9/11 victims' fund architect slams changes to New Hampshire abuse settlement program
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2 hours ago
Qatar urges a Gaza ceasefire after a 'positive response' from Hamas
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Nasser Hospital said nine people were killed while seeking aid in areas where U.N. convoys have been overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds, and where people have been shot and killed while heading to sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, an Israeli-backed American contractor. Another two people were killed near a GHF site in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital. GHF said there were no violent incidents at any of its sites on Tuesday. Witnesses, health officials and the U.N. human rights office say Israeli forces have killed hundreds of people seeking aid from GHF sites and U.N. convoys since Israel eased a 2 1/2 month blockade on Gaza in May. The military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. The overall Palestinian death toll in the war surpassed 62,000 on Monday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half of them. In addition to that toll, other Palestinians have died from malnutrition and starvation, including three reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said Tuesday. It says 154 adults have died of malnutrition-related causes since late June, when it began counting such deaths, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began. Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Aid groups continue to struggle to deliver supplies to Gaza, where most of the population is displaced, large swaths are in ruins and experts say the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out." Israel imposed a full blockade in March, then allowed limited aid to resume two and a half months later. The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said 370 trucks of aid entered Tuesday — still below the 600 per day that the United Nations and partners say is needed. COGAT said Tuesday that 180 pallets of aid were airdropped into Gaza with help from countries including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and France. The U.N. and partners have called airdrops expensive, inefficient and even dangerous for people on the ground.
