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Israel: Hostage families voice mistrust in own government – DW – 07/20/2025

DW6 days ago
With 50 hostages still in Gaza 21 months after the Hamas attacks on Israel, their relatives continue to grow frustrated. Some are losing faith that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will strike a deal to bring them home.
On a windy evening in Jerusalem, a few dozen protesters gathered in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
According to reports, the protest took place at short notice because at the same time meetings between Israel's most highly-ranked politicians were happening in that same building, discussing the most recent developments in the indirect negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas on a ceasefire deal that would result in some of the Israeli hostages returning home.
Some of the protesters held a big air balloon above their heads in the shape of the yellow ribbon, the symbol adopted by campaigners calling for the hostages' release. On the balloon were white stickers with various numbers written on them with a black marker pen: 155, 344, 356.
These numbers represent the number of days since October 7, 2023, when the hostages were taken. This started when Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was murdered in August 2024 by Hamas in Gaza, appeared in interviews with a sticker and a number on it to raise awareness for the hostages' plight. As of July 2025, this number has surpassed 650.
"The era of selection is over," reads one of the signs, referring to the choice process which determines who will be released and who will have to stay in Gaza's tunnels until another deal is struck.
The story of Carmel Gat shows just how significant the risk to a hostage's life in Gaza is.
Gat was kidnapped from her home during the incursion in southern Israel that Hamas led on October 7, 2023. Israel, the United States, the European Union and others designate Hamas a terrorist group,.
She was supposed to be among those released as part of the first hostage deal in November 2023 between Israel and Hamas that saw over 100 captives in Gaza freed and 240 Palestinian prisoners released. But when the truce collapsed, she remained in Hamas captivity.
After Gat survived 328 days, Israeli soldiers found her and five other Israeli hostages dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza — the autopsy report revealed she and the other hostages were shot at close range. Gat was 40 years old.
Her cousin, Gil Dickman, has become one of the most vocal supporters of a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. He told DW that the current state of the negotiations feels like "deja vu."
"A year ago (in July 2024), many family members of hostages were with Netanyahu in Washington, DC, myself included. The only difference is that Carmel and five other hostages were alive back then," Dickman recalled.
"Carmel could have returned had Netanyahu made the right call."
Yehuda Cohen's son, Nimrod, is one of the some 20 hostages believed to be still alive — 30 others are thought to be dead. In a conversation with DW, Yehuda Cohen outlined how he lost his trust that the Israeli government would bring the hostages home.
"I don't have any trust in my own government, I don't trust Netanyahu," he said. "I only have trust in the American administration that it will force Netanyahu into sealing a deal."
This hope — that the US may yet force through a deal — is prevalent among campaigners in Israel. At the protest in Jerusalem, many signs called on US President Donald Trump, rather than Netanyahu, to do everything in his power to bring the hostages home.
Cohen lists the reasons for the mistrust in the Netanyahu government, including the insistence on Israel staying in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and Netanyahu's aides allegedly leaking classified documents to , a German tabloid, to influence public opinion in Israel in favor of the Netanyahu government's position.
According to Cohen, the list of reasons for hostage families not to trust the Israeli government is "very long."
While Netanyahu told the hostages' family members that an offer to bring all hostages home in one deal "was never an option," Hamas officials went on record on several occasions emphasizing their interest in a deal that would return the remaining hostages and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
"It is our government that insists on a selection process between the hostages," says Dickman, calling this reckoning "painful to apprehend."
Still, both Cohen and Dickman agree that any deal bringing hostages back is a good thing. "Even a partial deal means my son's turn is getting closer," Cohen said.
The Israeli public is no stranger to hostage situations, whether it is the Sabena Flight 171 hijacking in 1972 by the Black September Organization, Hamas's kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994 or the group's abduction of Gilad Shalit in 2006.
As a result, the principle that no one is left behind became deeply rooted in Israeli society over the years. Dickman believes that while the Israeli public supports this ethos, the same cannot be said of the country's government.
"This is a government politically controlled by people whose ethos is, in my eyes, more jihadist than Israeli," he said, referring specifically to the far-right parts of Netanyahu's coalition, primarily National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both want Palestinians to leave Gaza and Jewish settlements to return there.
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"Their goals involve land, not human life, and they consider their goals sacred," he says, adding that the demand for the return of the 50 hostages is also about Israel's future.
"It's about whether this country will become such that is willing to sacrifice life — mine, yours — for so-called 'sacred' targets, or rather a country where life is sacred."
Yehuda Cohen struck a similar tone: "We have a prime minister who's only committed to himself," he said. "You have people in this government who openly support those who abuse prisoners, which results in the risk of revenge against my son. There's no solidarity in this society; it's each one to their own."
According to Yehuda Cohen, the only way to bring his son home is to keep fighting for the hostages' release and the end of the war, whether that means speaking to the media or protesting outside Netanyahu's office.
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Bulgaria's arrest of liberal, pro-EU mayor sparks protests – DW – 07/26/2025
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Bulgaria's arrest of liberal, pro-EU mayor sparks protests – DW – 07/26/2025

Thousands of Bulgarians have been protesting what they say is undue political influence on local justice. Many believe the EU is turning a blind eye to corruption in the Balkan country for political reasons. "My main motivation to be here in this square is my desire for justice," Berkay says. The young man was taking part in a protest held last week in Bulgaria's coastal city of Varna, against the arrest of the local mayor. "My conscience and my sense of civic duty wouldn't allow me just to stand here with my arms folded, in the face of the obvious trend towards authoritarianism in our country," he told DW. Along with other protesters, Berkay didn't want to give his full name. The protests started after the July 8 arrest of Varna's mayor Blagomir Kotsev, a member of the reformist We Continue the Change, or PP, political party. He was arrested during a raid by Bulgaria's Commission for Anti-Corruption. 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How a Russian mother is helping prisoners in Ukraine – DW – 07/26/2025
How a Russian mother is helping prisoners in Ukraine – DW – 07/26/2025

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How a Russian mother is helping prisoners in Ukraine – DW – 07/26/2025

When Irina Krynina's partner went missing while fighting in Ukraine, she searched tirelessly until she found him in captivity. Now, she helps others facing the same uncertainty over their loved ones. Irina Krynina departed from Russia in September 2023, leaving behind her apartment in Krasnoyarsk, her car, and her job as an accountant. She packed her bags, took her two daughters, aged seven and ten, and set off for Ukraine to visit her partner Yevgeny Kovtkov in Ukraine. Kovtkov, who is not the biological father of her children, had been fighting for Russia against the Ukrainian army when he was captured. She booked a flight to Turkey, flew from there to Moldova, and then journeyed on to Kyiv. She received logistical support from a helpline operated by Ukraine's defense intelligence service HUR. Named "I Want to Live" (Khochu zhit), the helpline was originally set up for Russian soldiers opting to surrender. 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Trump Plays Golf In Scotland As Protesters Rally
Trump Plays Golf In Scotland As Protesters Rally

Int'l Business Times

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Trump Plays Golf In Scotland As Protesters Rally

US President Donald Trump played golf under tight security on the first full day of a visit to Scotland Saturday, as hundreds of protesters took to the streets in major cities. Trump played at his Turnberry resort with son Eric and US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens, waving to photographers following his arrival in his mother's birth country on Friday evening. His presence has turned the picturesque and normally quiet area of southwest Scotland into a virtual fortress, with roads closed and police checkpoints in place. Police officers -- some on quad bikes and others on foot with sniffer dogs -- patrolled the famous course and the sandy beaches and grass dunes that flank it. Secret Service snipers were positioned at vantage points while some other golfers on the course were patted down by security personnel. The 79-year-old Trump touched down Friday at nearby Prestwick Airport as hundreds of onlookers came out to see Air Force One and catch a glimpse of its famous passenger. The president has professed a love of Scotland, but his controversial politics and business investments in the country have made for an uneasy relationship. Speaking to reporters on the tarmac, Trump immediately waded into the debate surrounding high levels of irregular migration, and lashed out at renewable energy efforts. "You better get your act together or you're not going to have Europe anymore," he said, adding that migration was "killing" the continent. "Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries," he added. Trump's five-day visit, which is set to mix leisure with business and diplomacy, has divided the local community. Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the US consulate in the capital Edinburgh and in the city of Aberdeen, near where Trump owns another golf resort. The protests were organised by the Stop Trump Coalition. Participants held placards with slogans like "Scotland hates Trump" and waved Palestinian flags. "A lot of people don't trust Trump and I'm one of them. I think the man is a megalomaniac," retiree Graham Hodgson told AFP near Turnberry. "He's so full of himself. I think he's doing a lot of damage worldwide with his tariffs. And I think it's all for the sake of America, but at the moment I think America is paying the price as well for his policies." But at Prestwick Airport a boy held a sign that read "Welcome Trump" while a man waved a flag emblazoned with Trump's most famous slogan -- "Make America Great Again". "I think the best thing about Trump is he's not actually a politician yet he's the most powerful man in the world and I think he's looking at the best interests of his own country," said 46-year-old Lee McLean, who had travelled from nearby Kilmarnock. "Most politicians should really be looking at the best interests of their own country first before looking overseas," he told AFP. Trump is due to discuss trade with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, before heading to Balmedie in Aberdeenshire where he is expected to formally open a new golf course at his resort there. He is due to return the US on Tuesday. Security is tight for Trump's visit AFP US President Donald Trump has no public meetings in the diary for Saturday so hit the golf course AFP Protesters gathered outside the US consulate in Edinburgh AFP

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