
Israeli forces recover bodies of three hostages from Gaza, World News
The hostages were identified as civilians Ofra Keidar and Yonatan Samerano, and soldier Shay Levinson. All were killed on the day of the attack, on Oct 7, 2023, the military said.
With their retrieval, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The abduction of Samerano, 21 at the time of his death, by a man later identified by Israeli officials as a worker at the UN's Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, was caught on CCTV.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli authorities.
The subsequent Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run strip, displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population, plunged the enclave into humanitarian crisis and left much of the territory in ruins.
[[nid:666707]]
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox An Israeli soldier stands on a tank on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, Israel August 20, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen Israel's military has taken the first steps of a planned operation to take over Gaza City, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Wednesday. Following a clash with Hamas south of Khan Younis in the strip on Wednesday, he said: "We will deepen the attack on Hamas in Gaza City, a stronghold of governmental and military terror for the terrorist organization." Defrin said troops had already begun circling the outskirts of Gaza City and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force. "We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," he said. Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists on Wednesday in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new proposal for a ceasefire after nearly two years of war. The call-up signals Israel is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza's biggest urban centre despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians. But a military official briefing reporters said reserve soldiers would not report for duty until September, an interval that gives mediators some time to bridge gaps between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel over truce terms. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life Record number of arts patrons in 2024, but overall donation dips to $45.74m Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch Israeli troops clashed on Wednesday with more than 15 Hamas militants who emerged from tunnel shafts and attacked with gunfire and anti-tank missiles near Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two others, an Israeli military official said. In a statement, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed carrying out a raid on Israeli troops southeast of Khan Younis and engaging Israeli troops at point-blank range. It said one fighter blew himself up among the soldiers, causing casualties, during an attack that lasted several hours. REUTERS

Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
German court rules Holocaust memorial can bar people wearing keffiyeh scarves
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox BERLIN - A German court said on Aug 20 that a Nazi concentration camp memorial has the right to refuse entry to those wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. The higher administrative court in the eastern state of Thuringia rejected a request from a woman to be allowed entry to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a keffiyeh. According to local media reports, the woman was turned away when she attempted to attend a commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation in April while wearing the scarf. She then petitioned the courts to allow her to return to the memorial for another commemorative event this week while wearing a keffiyeh. The court found that the memorial was within its rights to deny her entry, pointing to the woman's declared aim of 'sending a political message against what she saw as the (memorial's) one-sided support for the policies of the Israeli government'. 'It is unquestionable that this would endanger the sense of security of many Jews, especially at this site,' the court said. The court said the woman's right to freedom of expression was outweighed in this case by the memorial's 'interest in upholding the purpose of the institution'. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life Record number of arts patrons in 2024, but overall donation dips to $45.74m Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch Germany, still trying to atone for the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, has been one of Israel's staunchest allies. However, in recent months it has sharpened its criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz announcing this month that no more licences would be granted for arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza. The Buchenwald memorial faced criticism last month when an internal document was leaked which described the keffiyeh as 'closely associated with efforts to destroy the state of Israel'. The director of the memorial, Mr Jens-Christian Wagner, said subsequently that the document contained 'mistakes' and would have to be reworked. On the question of the keffiyeh, he told the NDR broadcaster in July that it was not per se 'a forbidden symbol' at the memorial. 'However, when it is used together with other symbols... to relativise Nazi crimes, then we would ask people to remove those symbols,' he said. Around 340,000 prisoners, including Jews, Roma, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war, passed through Buchenwald and its annexe Mittelbau-Dora, both located near the German city of Weimar. Around 56,000 people lost their lives at Buchenwald – some executed, others starved or worked to death – and a further 20,000 died in Mittelbau-Dora, where inmates worked on the Nazis' V1 and V2 rockets. AFP

Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump administration imposes fresh sanctions on four ICC officials
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders. Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the U.S. Treasury and State Department. ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Guillou is an ICC judge who presided over a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the court's two deputy prosecutors. The move comes less than three months after the administration took the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions on four separate ICC judges, saying they have engaged in ICC's "illegitimate and baseless actions" targeting the U.S. and close ally Israel. ICC, which had slammed the move in June, describing it as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judicial institution, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the U.N. Security Council. The United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not members. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying schoolmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore COE premiums up in all categories except motorcycles; Cat A price climbs 2.5% to $104,524 Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch It has high-profile war crimes investigations under way into the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Afghanistan. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the U.S. financial system. REUTERS