‘We are in no man's land:' Families of Gaza hostages pin their hopes on Trump
Nimrod Cohen's mother never got to ask him why he chose a raven for the tattoo he got in October 2023. Three days after getting inked, Nimrod was kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
The next time Cohen saw that bird was more than 500 days later, in a Hamas propaganda video.
'We recognized Nimrod because of that tattoo. Otherwise, I wouldn't recognize him because you couldn't hear his voice or see his face,' Vicky Cohen told CNN.
'It was the first time we got a visual sign of life of Nimrod and I was so excited to see him standing, moving his body, the first time that we can see him after so long. It makes Nimrod more present and it makes Nimrod more alive, and it also makes me more worried and afraid.'
Nimrod Cohen is one of 24 hostages held in Gaza who are believed to be alive. As a young, healthy man with no children, Cohen has not been prioritized for release by Israeli negotiators, who insisted that women and children, the elderly and any injured hostages were freed first.
But for Vicky Cohen, there is no higher priority in the world than getting her son back. 'I'm frightened and very worried but I'm not losing hope. I cannot lose hope. But also, I do believe that our government is not doing enough to bring him back,' she said.
Nimrod Cohen is among a handful of living hostages who were active-duty soldiers when abducted, alongside Edan Alexander, Matan Angrest and Tamir Nimrod. Hamas is also holding the bodies of several other soldiers, most of whom were killed during the October 7 terror attack.
Under the phased deal to which Israel and Hamas agreed in January, younger male hostages were going to be released during the latter stages of the ceasefire.
But they are now caught in limbo as the first phase of the deal expired without the two sides agreeing on what's next.
Edan Alexander is the last of the American hostages in Gaza who is believed to be alive. The bodies of four more American citizens – Judi Weinstein Haggai and her husband Gad Haggai, and soldiers Itay Chan and Omer Maxim Neutra – are also still held by Hamas.
A senior Hamas official told CNN on Friday that the group was still committed to the initial deal and that it had accepted a proposal from mediators to release Alexander and the bodies of four dead dual national hostages, conditional on Israel abiding by terms laid down in the January ceasefire.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office accused Hamas of engaging in 'manipulation' and 'psychological warfare' by announcing their willingness to release Alexander. Israeli ministers will meet on Saturday night to receive a detailed report from a negotiating team that spent the past week in Doha, and 'to decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.'
Adi Alexander, Edan's father, has spent the past year and half lobbying for the release of his son and all of the other hostages. He said he and his wife have attended more than 300 meetings with American officials.
'Somehow everybody feels really comfortable with the current ceasefire – Israelis and Hamas as well. There are no civilian deaths, which is great, no soldiers are dying, bullets are not flying, which is also great,' Alexander told CNN.
'But what about the hostages? We don't want to go back into the situation with Gilad Shalit (whom) they kept for years and at the end of the day, the demands were the same – so the Israelis need to get out of this comfort zone and keep negotiating.'
Gilad Shalit is a former IDF soldier who was held by Hamas in Gaza for more than five years. He was released in 2011, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
Earlier this year, Israel and Hamas agreed to a phased ceasefire that would consist of three distinct stages. The initial phase of the truce ended in mid-February, after 38 hostages were freed from Gaza and 1,737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released from Israeli prisons.
The second phase was meant to include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of all remaining living hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The details of how this would unfold were meant to be agreed during the first phase of the agreement, but that has not happened.
'What's happening now, exactly? What is the plan? It obviously never went by the original plan to start negotiating after 16 days and be over with that within two weeks, we are far beyond that in this point, so what is the strategy?,' Alexander said.
'We are in no man's land, leaving hostages under the ground, which is unacceptable.'
The Israeli government has suggested an extension to the first stage, demanding the release of half of the remaining Israeli living and deceased hostages in Gaza but without committing to end the war or withdraw Israeli troops. In return, Israel would release more Palestinian prisoners and detainees and allow more aid into the territory. According to this plan, the rest of the hostages would be released when, or if, an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from his far-right coalition partners to return to war. Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, has threatened to withdraw from the government if Israel doesn't restart the war. Itamar Ben Gvir quit his post as national security minister over the ceasefire.
Smotrich and Ben Gvir have argued that Israel should keep fighting Hamas until the group is 'eliminated,' after which they want Israel to take over Gaza and build settlements there – an idea lent credence by US President Donald Trump, but dismissed by most other leaders.
Vicky Cohen said that she believes the Israeli government has prioritized the goal of defeating Hamas completely over the release of hostages, including her son.
'After more than one year of war, Hamas is still ruling Gaza. I understand the need (to stop) Hamas from ruling Gaza, so we won't get to October 7 once again … but we need to pay a price and now, the main thing is to bring the hostages back home, even though it means to stop the war and withdraw from Gaza and deal with Hamas later on,' she said, adding that the idea of building Jewish settlements in Gaza was 'nonsense.'
To put extra pressure on Hamas, Israel announced earlier this month that it would stop the entry of all humanitarian aid and electricity into Gaza.
The families of hostages still in Gaza are now pinning their hopes on Trump, who has sent US officials to negotiate directly with Hamas, in a notable U-turn from a long-standing policy of not talking to groups it considers terrorist organizations.
'We hear from the president that he is committed to bring all the hostages back, and we trust him, and we believe that's what he is going to do – not because he loves the hostages, but because the wants to stop the war between a Russian and Ukraine crime and in Gaza, he wants to get a Nobel Prize of Peace,' Cohen said.
Earlier this month, Trump went as far as issuing what he said was a 'last warning' to Hamas to release all hostages immediately, saying that 'not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do as I say.'
While Hamas said Trump's words threatened to undermine the ceasefire, Adi Alexander said he had faith in Trump. Alexander is the only one of the five American hostages in Gaza, to be alive.
'People need to take him seriously, sometimes not literally, but they need to take him really seriously,' he told CNN. 'That's the way it works. You have to shake the tree, create chaos, and the chaos will create opportunities.'
But Trump's plan has not worked – at least not yet.
Instead, the US came up with a new proposal this week to extend the ceasefire in exchange for the release of a handful of living hostages.
The development was met with dismay by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which said reports of the proposal 'raise serious concerns among the families of the hostages that their loved ones will be left in captivity for a long and unknown period.'
'We demand a comprehensive and immediate agreement that will return all 59 hostages in one fell swoop and leave no one behind,' the forum added in a statement.
Vicky Cohen said she has publicly turned to Netanyahu and other officials to 'beg him to do the right thing.'
'There are people are still alive there, and even though Nimrod is a soldier, he is only 20 years old, and he is my son. I want to hug him. I want him back home. I miss the all the small things of life, hearing his voice, seeing his smile, seeing the mess in his room, and the empty packets of ice cream he leaves behind,' she said.
CNN's Mick Krever, Ibrahim Dahman, Jeremy Diamond, Abeer Salman, Dana Karni and Lucas Lilieholm contributed to this report.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Anti-ICE protesters express anger, heartbreak at Trump immigration crackdown
Hundreds of protesters waving American and Mexican flags and carrying signs that ranged from heartfelt to profane marched through downtown Milwaukee streets June 10 to protest federal immigration operations and decry the crackdown on demonstrations in Los Angeles by President Donald Trump's administration. The crowd made their way to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices. Those in the crowd said it was important to speak out and express their opposition to large-scale ICE arrests. Alan Chavoya, a protester with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said earlier in the day he fielded phone calls June 10 from several people hearing about ICE arrests in the area. "It's devastating," he said. "It's important to be out here and support, and it's also important to be bold about this." In the crowd were two 22-year-old women who met at the protest, Natalia Murillo, who draped a Mexican flag around her shoulders, and Alejandra Martinez. Murillo held a sign that read, "You can't love the culture and not support the people." "It's been stressful. You don't know when they're going to come into your cities and neighborhoods," Martinez said. Murillo said she was concerned about people being arrested by ICE who have legal status. "It's scary to see what's going on. We come here for a better life, and this is how we're getting treated?" she said. An arrest of an immigrant June 10 by federal agents on Milwaukee's south side added to a sense of anxiety in the city's Latino community over immigration enforcement operations. A spokesperson for ICE said the agency could not share information about whether agents were operating in Milwaukee. That arrest came as massive protests against recent ICE raids erupted in Los Angeles over the weekend and have since spread to other cities. Trump ordered National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area. The march in Milwaukee spanned roughly two city blocks and included dozens of young Latino adults as well as people from a range of ages and backgrounds. Some marchers held handmade signs that read, "We speak for those who can't" and, "Immigrants are welcome here." Other popular slogans urged authorities to keep families together, to keep ICE out of Milwaukee and to abolish the agency altogether. "No justice, no peace, we want ICE off our streets," marchers chanted. Signs and chants alike reflected the depth of anger at Trump's immigration crackdown and at ICE. Some posters referred to Trump as a parasite, or a pig. Others said "Dump Trump," and many chose similar phrases with expletives, in both English and Spanish. Rose Walters, a retiree from South Milwaukee, said she was "just livid" at several Trump policies. She was concerned about her Social Security benefits as well as immigration arrests that, in her view, lacked due process. She began attending protests for the first time in February. "I simply am fed up," she said. "It's ridiculous." Daniel Rivera, 27, of Michigan, was visiting Milwaukee and was walking past Cathedral Square Park when he noticed people were gathering for a protest about immigration. He jumped in because he he said feels strongly about the issue. "Immigrants are the backbones of this nation," he said, adding that more "dialogue across the aisle" was needed. There was a sense from several marchers that the Latino community's contributions and culture were being cast aside, and that politicians and pundits were conflating the entire community with the criminal actions of a few. A 40-year-old Milwaukee mother named Angelica, who asked for her last name not to be used, brought her two daughters and her niece to the protest. She wanted to stand up for Mexican Americans like her family, she said. And speaking about recent ICE efforts to expand arrests, she said, "It's heartbreaking. It causes me to question, what am I proud of as an American?" Nayleth Sedano, 30, of Milwaukee, arrived in the U.S. at age 4, and her family got legal status. She understands how "scary" moments like this can be for immigrant families. She has been especially concerned about the effect of that fear on children, who may be worried about ICE showing up at their graduation ceremonies. "If you have a heart, that's traumatizing for anybody," she said. The organizing groups included the Party for Socialism and Liberation's Milwaukee chapter; Comité Sin Fronteras, or "Committee Without Borders" — the young adult arm of local immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera — Codepink Milwaukee, and 50501 Milwaukee, part of a national anti-Trump protest movement called 50501. The 50501 group, short for "50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement," is the organizer of the so-called "No Kings" rallies taking place across the country. One is scheduled for noon June 14 in Cathedral Square Park as part of a nationwide day of protest. Several additional "No Kings" protests are scheduled for the same day across southern Wisconsin, including in Brookfield, Cedarburg, Racine, Kenosha, Watertown and Madison, according to the organizer's website. They were planned to coincide with Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C., which is being held to honor the Army's 250th birthday and coincides with Trump's 79th birthday. Brian Dunleavy, a protester from Milwaukee, said he hopes both protests show that Milwaukeeans are standing in solidarity with others protesting around the country. 'I hope people see this and see (that) we've got your back," Dunleavy said. "We do not think what's going on in Washington and other parts of the country is OK, and we're going to be here for you." Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@ or 920-323-5758. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Anti-ICE protesters in Milwaukee decry Trump immigration crackdown
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The White House Is Delighted With Events in Los Angeles
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The last time President Donald Trump tried to send military forces into American streets to put down civil unrest, in June 2020, Pete Hegseth was positioned outside the White House with a Kevlar helmet and riot shield. Major Hegseth's mobilization as part of a District of Columbia National Guard unit summoned to restore order in the nation's capital, where protests had erupted following the police murder of George Floyd, occurred as Pentagon leaders scrambled to avert what they feared could be a confrontation between active-duty U.S. forces and their fellow Americans. Today, Hegseth is second only to the president in directing the administration's use of the National Guard and active-duty Marines to respond to unrest over immigration raids in Los Angeles. And this time, the military's civilian leadership isn't acting as a brake on Trump's impulse to escalate the confrontation. The Hegseth-led Pentagon is an accelerant. The administration's decision to federalize 4,000 California National Guard forces, contrary to Governor Gavin Newsom's wishes, and to dispatch 700 active-duty Marines to the Los Angeles area, marks a break with decades of tradition under which presidents have limited their use of the military on American soil. If there are any internal misgivings about busting through yet another democratic norm, they haven't surfaced publicly. Indeed, officials at the White House told us they are satisfied with the way the L.A. confrontation has unfolded. They believe that it highlights their focus on immigration and law and order, and places Democrats on the wrong side of both. One widely circulated photo—showing a masked protester standing in front of a burning car, waving a Mexican flag—has been embraced by Trump supporters as a distillation of the conflict: a president unafraid to use force to defend an American city from those he deems foreign invaders. 'We couldn't have scripted this better,' said a senior White House aide granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. 'It's like the 2024 election never ended: Trump is strong while Democrats are weak and defending the indefensible.' Democrats, of course, take a different view, and say the administration's actions have only risked triggering further violence. Retired officers who study how the armed forces have been used in democracies told us they share those concerns. They point to the damage that Trump's orders could do to the military's relationship with the citizens it serves. 'We should be very careful, cautious, and even reluctant to use the military inside our country,' Bradley Bowman, a former Army officer who heads the defense program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, told us. Conor Friedersdorf: Averting a worst-case scenario in Los Angeles State and local authorities typically use law-enforcement personnel as a first response to civil disturbances or riots, followed by National Guard forces if needed. Retired Major General Randy Manner, who served as acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau during the Obama administration, said the federalizing of California Guard forces—putting them under presidential rather than state control, a move allowed with certain limits—pulls those service members away from their civilian jobs and makes it harder to complete planned training or exercises. 'Basically, the risk does not justify the investment of these forces, and it will negatively impact on readiness,' Manner told us. Retired officers we spoke with also drew a distinction between the involvement of National Guard and active-duty forces. Whereas National Guard troops assist citizens after natural disasters and have the advantage of knowing the communities they serve, active-duty forces are primarily trained to 'see the enemy and neutralize the enemy,' said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'When you're dealing with U.S. citizens, no matter what they're doing, that's not the right mindset.' 'This is not Fallujah,' Bowman added. 'This is Los Angeles.' Juliette Kayyem: Trump's gross misuse of the National Guard This morning, Hegseth made his first congressional appearance since his bruising confirmation process, appearing before a House committee. His tone with Democrats was at times combative. When Representative Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, asked the defense secretary what the cost of the California deployment would be, he declined to provide a figure and instead pivoted to criticism of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for the state's response to the violence that followed Floyd's killing in 2020. (Military officials said later they expected the Los Angeles deployment, as envisioned, to cost roughly $134 million.) 'If you've got millions of illegals, you don't know where they're coming from, they're waving flags from foreign countries and assaulting police officers, that's a problem,' Hegseth told lawmakers. Trump, for his part, told reporters that anyone who tries to protest at the Saturday parade celebrating the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army will 'be met with very big force.' He also said that he wouldn't hesitate to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would permit him to employ the military for law enforcement or to suppress a rebellion, if he believed that circumstances required. Speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina later in the day, the president promised to stop the 'anarchy' in California. 'We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean, and safe again,' he said. 'We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' Some Republicans have privately expressed worry that Trump may overplay a winning hand. Even in the West Wing, two people we spoke with tried to downplay the incendiary rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth. They stressed that, to this point, National Guard forces have been in a defensive posture, protecting federal buildings. Although they believe that Trump has the political advantage at the moment, they acknowledged there would be real risks if U.S. troops got involved in violence. 'We don't know who would get blamed but no one wins if that happens,' one senior aide told us. 'No one wants to see that.' Hegseth's support for using active-duty troops in Los Angeles stands in contrast to what his predecessor did in 2020. At that time, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, scrambled to block Trump's desire to employ active-duty forces against the demonstrators protesting racial violence. The president had mused about shooting protesters in the legs, Esper wrote later. To satisfy his boss while also avoiding a dangerous confrontation, the defense chief called active-duty forces from Fort Bragg to Northern Virginia but sought to keep them out of the fray. Tom Nichols: Trump is using the National Guard as bait In his 2024 book The War on Warriors, Hegseth described how his experience as a D.C. Guardsman in 2020 crystallized his views about the divide between military personnel and what he saw as the degenerate protesters who were lobbing bricks and bottles of urine at the citizen soldiers. When the D.C. Guard was again summoned seven months later, to help secure the 2021 inauguration following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Hegseth was told to stand down because fellow Guardsmen suspected that one of his tattoos was a sign of extremism. (Hegseth has maintained it is part of his Christian faith.) Hegseth was angered by his exclusion and resigned from the Guard. That experience remains with him as he attempts to reshape the military, and its role in society, in line with Trump's worldview. As he has written: 'My trust for this Army is irrevocably broken.' Article originally published at The Atlantic
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump calls LA protests a 'foreign invasion' as over 100 arrested
More than 100 people have been arrested in Los Angeles since Monday evening during protests against US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, the local police department said on Tuesday. Some 96 people were taken into custody on Monday evening in the city centre of the Californian metropolis for failing to disperse from a prohibited gathering, the police said. According to reports, 14 others were arrested for looting, and three were taken into custody for resisting arrest, assault with a deadly weapon, or property damage. Two police officers were taken to hospital for medical treatment, but have since been released, the reports said. People have been protesting in Los Angeles for days against attempts by security forces to carry out immigration raids. US President Donald Trump has sent thousands of National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city, claiming the situation is out of control. LA mayor declares curfew for downtown area In response to the protests, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew in downtown Los Angeles from 8 pm on Tuesday (0300 GMT Wednesday) until 6 am on Wednesday. "I have declared a local emergency and issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting," Bass told reporters at an evening news conference, noting significant damage to businesses and properties. "Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted," she added. Trump says LA is being invaded by a 'foreign enemy' Trump on Tuesday described the unrest in Los Angeles as an invasion by a "foreign enemy" during a speech at Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. Addressing the ongoing protests in the city, he said demonstrators were "rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country." "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and on national sovereignty," Trump said. "We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy." He went on to describe the protesters as "animals" who "proudly carry the flags of other countries," but do not carry the US flag. Trump says he's open to using Insurrection Act Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he is considering whether to invoke a 200-year-old law to deploy additional military forces in Los Angeles. Responding to journalists at the White House, Trump said he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows presidents to send troops to restore public order in certain emergency situations. "If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it," he stated. The protests appeared to cool off on Monday night, although Los Angeles police reported that "as demonstrators were being disbursed, agitators and miscreants within the crowd looted businesses and vandalized property." Critics including California Governor Gavin Newsom have accused Trump of inflaming the situation by sending troops. The costs of financing the existing deployment for 60 days have been estimated at $134 million by the Department of Defense. Without providing evidence, Trump also blamed "paid insurrectionists" for the violence in Los Angeles. "These are paid insurrectionists. These are paid troublemakers. They get money," he said. Trump further argued that the city "would be burning right now" if not for the troops he sent, comparing the situation to the fires that caused unprecedented damage earlier this year.
