Israel recovers bodies of two Gaza hostages as Benjamin Netanyahu survives bid to collapse coalition
Israel's military and the Shin Bet intelligence agency have recovered the bodies of two hostages from Gaza, as the death toll from the war passes 55,100.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday that the body of Yair Yaakov had been retrieved, along with that of another hostage whose identity was not disclosed.
The military said Palestinian Islamic Jihad abducted and killed Mr Yaakov during the attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Militants also took Mr Yaakov's partner, Meirav Tal, and two of his children hostage, but later released them, the army said. Mr Yaakov was 59 at the time of his death. Israel said it retrieved the two bodies in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.
They were recovered as Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll from the war had passed 55,100, with more than 127,390 injured. Many more people are believed to be buried under rubble or in areas inaccessible to medics.
Mr Netanyahu is under increasing pressure over the war. After 20 months of violence, 53 hostages are still in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive. Israel 's military estimates that 40,000 armed Palestinian fighters remain in the enclave, according to media reports, despite Israel vowing to 'destroy' Hamas.
Mr Netanyahu's coalition survived an opposition-backed effort to collapse the government early on Thursday, as lawmakers rejected a bill that could have paved the way for a dissolution of parliament and snap elections. Out of the Knesset's 120 members, 61 voted against the proposal, with 53 supporting it.
The opposition introduced the bill hoping to force elections with the help of ultra-Orthodox parties angry at Mr Netanyahu over the contentious issue of military conscription for members of their community. While the opposition is composed mainly of centrist and leftist groups, ultra-Orthodox parties that prop up Mr Netanyahu's government had earlier threatened to back the motion.
But most ultra-Orthodox lawmakers ultimately chose to oppose the effort to collapse the government, Israeli media reported on Thursday morning. The opposition will now have to wait six months to submit another dissolution bill.
Mr Netanyahu's coalition, formed in December 2022, is one of the most right-wing in the country's history. It includes two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism. The parties threatened to back the push for early elections amid the row over conscription.
Military service is mandatory in Israel, but under a ruling that dates back to the founding of the country – when ultra-Orthodox Jews were a small community – men who devote themselves full-time to the study of sacred texts are given a de facto pass. Whether that should change has been a long-running issue.
Efforts to scrap the exemption and the anger that sparked have intensified during the war, as the military looks for more manpower. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that bringing down the government at a time of conflict would pose "an existential danger" to Israel's future.
"History will not forgive anyone who drags the state of Israel into elections during a war," he told parliament, adding that there was a "national and security need" for the ultra-Orthodox to fight in the military.
Twenty months into the Gaza war, negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked. A brief truce collapsed in March and Israel has since intensified operations to 'destroy' the group.
Israel also faces immense international pressure over the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where the UN has warned the entire population faces famine. Israel last month eased an aid blockade on Gaza.
A convoy carrying hundreds of activists set off from Algeria this week en route for Gaza to challenge Israeli restrictions on aid. On Wednesday, the group arrived at the Egypt-Libya border and plans to enter the enclave at the Rafah crossing, travelling by cars and buses.
The activists are expected to go to Cairo, before travelling to Rafah. It was not clear whether members of the convoy were able to cross into Egypt as of Wednesday night. But the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that foreign delegations needed to obtain approval before visiting the area bordering Gaza.
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These questions are often ignored in the Israel-Iran story. We asked a panel of experts
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If the US was informed ahead of time and also supplied weapons to Israel, how can Secretary of State Marco Rubio say the US was not involved? Jamal Abdi, President, National Iranian American Council: "This is about creating a narrative of plausible deniability to potentially give Iran a face-saving way to continue talking to the United States [towards a new nuclear deal]. I don't think it's going to work, and I think Trump has already stepped all over that by now, basically taking credit, after seeming to distance the US." Anthony Wanis-St John, conflict resolution specialist, American University: "It's a verbal obfuscation. It means that operationally, we didn't support it." Miles Pomper, Senior Fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation: "Because the Russians and the Chinese are affiliated with the Iranians, [the US will] try not to elevate the level to something beyond a regional conflict, to some global conflict." What is the difference between a 'preemptive strike' and a 'preventive strike'. Are they not both acts of war? Wanis-St. John: "These are certainly acts of war. There's no question about it, the Israelis like to call attention and use "preemptive" and "preventive" doctrines in their military strikes, since every country under international laws and norms is allowed to defend itself against aggression, but no country is supposed to lawfully commit aggressions against another country." Sam Ratner, policy director, Win Without War: "'Preemptive strike' does seem to be, from a definitional standpoint, a misnomer from Israel... this is a war of choice from [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu." Pomper: "It's not a preemptive strike, because that would be [like] the Six Day War, where the planes are on the tarmac and about to attack you, and then you hit them. 'Preventive' is a stop to a long-term threat to Israel. And you know the Iranians aren't shy about threatening." Negar Mortazavi, host of the Iran Podcast: "If it's not [couched as] preemptive, then it will be seen differently both from the public opinion and the global opinion... and we know that Israel cares a lot about its image, about its standing in the international community, and that has deteriorated very fast [since its war on Gaza]." The international community has long tolerated, and sometimes cheered on, Israel's string of extra-judicial assassinations. Why? Abdi: "Israel has a lot of political power and very important friends, most importantly, the United States." Mortazavi: "Powerful western countries have provided not just financial and armed support, but also diplomatic support and cover to Israel in the UN Security Council... the contradiction - or in a way, that oxymoron - that Israel is dealing with, is that they're a country that came out of the United Nations [in 1948]." Ratner: "In the post-9/11 era in particular, we've seen not just from the Israeli government, but from Iranian governments, including our own, in fact, and in particular our own, a real sort of generational change of attitude toward the use of assassination. We see it in our drone programme. The erosion of the norm against assassination is bad for diplomacy, bad for international relations, and bad for peace." Looking at the nature of Israel's attacks, can Iran retaliate in the same way? Wanis-St John: "I'm not sure that they can, operationally. I've never seen Iran do that against Israel.... you really need a lot of information about where [targets] are and where they're moving and how they're protected at night. That requires a lot of infrastructure. I'm not sure that the Iranians have that." Abdi: "If we're saying there are no laws, there is no accountability, you can conduct extra-judicial killings with impunity, then it would seem that would no longer restrain any actor from engaging in the same types of activities. But we know that that's not how the world works, and that certain countries have been given a carte blanche to do whatever they want." Mortazavi: "The condemnation would be so different... imagine if the same was done by Iran. Israeli officials also have homes and families." Why can't Iran have a nuclear bomb if Israel does? Mortazavi: "Iran is a signatory to the NPT, the Non-Proliferation Treaty. They have committed to not building nuclear weapons [and] they have a civilian programme. According to US intelligence, they don't have a weapons programme. At the same time, Israel has an undeclared weapons programme [and] many nuclear warheads. They're not a signatory to any international monitoring and safeguards." Ratner: "Our position on this is that we are opposed to nuclear proliferation and [in favour of] nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons are unimaginably destructive forces, and the more hands those weapons are in, the more likely that nuclear warfare becomes. If we add another country to the nuclear club, how many more countries will join?" Abdi: "Iran has threatened before that if something like [Friday's attacks] happened, they would abandon the NPT, and then there would be no international law saying they're not allowed to build nuclear weapons. They could do what Israel did, and develop a clandestine programme, and not be held accountable to any treaties or agreements or anything, and it's just the law of the jungle, and everybody gets a nuke." Israel has always said it wants to take out Iran's nuclear facilities. Isn't that dangerous? Pomper: "I think, as opposed to attacking a nuclear power plant that's got actual radioactive material, like Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, it's different... You don't have that kind of concentration. And so you may have environmental and other damages, but you're not likely to get a widespread radiation danger from it." Wanis-St John: "They shouldn't really be targeted if they're not military programmes. No one has said that the Iranians are building a nuclear weapon at this time. They don't claim to be making one, and nobody on the outside claims that they are making one... The Israeli attack is really meant to send them a signal that any progress towards weapons-grade enrichment is not going to be tolerated by Israel." Ratner: "The bigger concern... is that Iran has made clear statements and threats that if the Israeli government strikes its nuclear facilities, that it will respond by striking US targets in the region. And what we see from Benjamin Netanyahu is a desire for exactly that to happen. His interest is in starting a chain of events that drags the US into war on his side, because the Israeli military would have a very difficult time pursuing regime change in Iran on its own."
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Global stocks dive as Iran retaliates after Israel air strikes
Stock markets around the world plunged on Friday, while oil and gold prices rose, as Tehran conducted retaliatory attacks after Israel launched air strikes on Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Averaged tumbled 769.83 points, or 1.79 per cent, as tensions between Israel and Iran escalated. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.13 and 1.30 per cent, respectively. Gold prices rose 1.43 per cent to about $3,450.90 an ounce as investors rushed to safe-haven assets after the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.89 per cent, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.87 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.59 per cent when markets closed on Friday. In other markets in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite and Shanghai A share index were both down 0.75 per cent. The Shenzhen A share index and Shenzhen component index were also trading lower. Taiwan's Taiex index was down 0.96 per cent. In India, the BSE 100 fell 0.65 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.2 per cent. European stock markets were also trading lower amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.39 per cent, while Paris's CAC 40 fell 1.04 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX shed 1.07 cent. In the Middle East, Dubai's DFM general index closed 1.85 per cent lower, while Abu Dhabi's FTSE ADX general index was down 1.47 per cent. Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel on Friday, shooting a barrage of missiles at Tel Aviv after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged to strike back against the country. Global stock markets were already under pressure as a result of tariffs announced by the US President Donald Trump. The rising tension in the Middle East was expected to add another layer of uncertainty to markets. 'Rising geopolitical tensions are powering haven assets,' said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. She added that oil and defence stocks were likely to benefit. Market volatility is likely to 'remain elevated,' amid the rise in tensions in the Middle East, Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial told The National. 'The sell-off was broad-based, reflecting investor unease over potential escalation and retaliation by Iran, which has promised a forceful and proportional response,' he said. Rate cut optimism by the Fed following the recent soft inflation data in the US is also supporting gold prices, he added. Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, also expects market volatility to persist in the short term. However, 'time and again, we've seen markets overreact to geopolitical events – only to recover once the initial panic fades. This is not a systemic crisis, and fundamentals across most sectors remain intact', he said. Meanwhile, the US dollar strengthened against major currencies after the attacks. The Israeli shekel was also trading lower against it. 'The US dollar has been the clear winner, recovering around half of its week-to-date losses, with the yen and the Swiss franc also outperforming,' said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.
