Latest news with #KfarAza
CNN
13 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
Former Israeli hostage describes seeing torture in Hamas captivity
Former Israeli hostage describes seeing torture in Hamas captivity Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was abducted by Hamas from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 and released earlier this year as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. In an interview with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Siegel describes his captivity and his fears for the remaining hostages. 01:41 - Source: CNN Record rain floods Mexico City, traps people Mexico City was hit with record rainfall that didn't relent for more than five hours Monday night, marking the heaviest rain since 2017, according to water management officials. CNN's Valeria León walks a flooded avenue of the nation's capital after emergency crews worked through the night to rescue several trapped drivers. 00:43 - Source: CNN Gaza aid distribution turns deadly for third consecutive day For a third consecutive day, Palestinians came under fire while trying to receive aid from a distribution site in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Nasser hospital, at least 27 people were killed and dozens injured on June 3. 00:56 - Source: CNN Analysis: Why Ukraine's drone attack on Russia just changed the world CNN's Jim Sciutto explains why Ukraine's large-scale drone attack on Russian air bases thousands of miles behind the front lines struck fear into the heart of every global superpower 01:05 - Source: CNN Tomatoes fly at Colombia's largest food fight Around 20,000 revellers gathered in Sutamarchán, Colombia, to throw over 45 tonnes of tomatoes at each other. The Gran Tomatina festival, now in its 15th year, is hosted to celebrate the economy of Sutamarchán, which is centred around tomato production. Mayor Miguel Andrés Rodríguez said "between 70 and 80 percent of families [in Sutamarchán] live off tomatoes. This is a tribute to them." The festival uses tomatoes which are overripe, or otherwise not suitable for consumption. 00:30 - Source: CNN Palestinians shot dead near Gaza aid hub The Palestinian health ministry, hospital officials and multiple eyewitnesses say deadly gunfire killed dozens of Palestinians near an aid distribution site in Gaza on Sunday, with Israel's military denying that its troops fired 'within or near' the aid site. CNN Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond brings you up to speed on what we know about the weekend chaos. 02:31 - Source: CNN Palestinians describe deadly shooting near aid center in Gaza CNN spoke to multiple witnesses who recounted the deadly chaos that unfolded near a US-backed aid center in southern Gaza after more than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The health ministry blamed the Israeli military for the deaths while other witnesses claimed that local security personnel had also opened fire. Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the aid center, said there had been no gunfire at the site and Israel Defense Forces denied firing on civilians at or close to the site, calling such accusations 'false reports.' 00:55 - Source: CNN Palestinian UN envoy breaks down talking about Gaza's children The Palestinian ambassador to the UN made an emotional address, saying more than 1,300 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel ended the ceasefire in March. 01:19 - Source: CNN Political candidate wears body armor daily CNN's David Culver met César Gutiérrez Priego as he was readying to campaign for office in Mexico City. Gutiérrez Priego, who is running for a seat on the Supreme Court in Mexico, shows Culver the safety precautions he takes with political violence in Mexico at an all-time high. See Culver's full reporting on CNN. 00:53 - Source: CNN Harvard students and faculty speak out against Trump Harvard students and faculty spoke to CNN ahead of commencement as Donald Trump said the university should cap foreign enrollment. The Trump administration has recently sought to cancel $100 million in contracts with the school. 02:03 - Source: CNN Palestinians desperate for food rush US-backed aid site Scores of people rushed over fencing and through barricades in southern Gaza on the first day a US-Israeli-backed aid site was opened. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains the desperate humanitarian situation that remains in the region. 01:22 - Source: CNN Journalists spit on at Jerusalem Day flag march Ultra-nationalist Israeli Jews chanted anti-Arab slogans as they marched through Jerusalem's Old City to mark Jerusalem Day. CNN's Oren Liebermann describes heavy police presence on the ground. Members of the crowd were seen spitting on journalists, including a CNN producer. 01:50 - Source: CNN Finland's president responds to Russian military activity along border CNN's Erin Burnett speaks with Finland's President Alexander Stubb about his country ramping up its military to deter potential Russian aggression. 02:16 - Source: CNN King Charles stresses Canada's 'self determination' amid pressure from US King Charles III delivered the ceremonial Speech from the Throne in the Canadian Senate. The address marks only the second time in Canadian history that the reigning sovereign has opened parliament, and the third time that the British monarch has delivered the address. 00:42 - Source: CNN Huge ship refloated after nearly crashing into house A larger container ship has been refloated after nearly crashing into a house in Norway. According to local police, the navigator had fallen asleep at the helm. 00:42 - Source: CNN Vehicle plows into crowd in Liverpool Police in the United Kingdom say a man has been arrested after a car plowed into Liverpool fans celebrating during the soccer club's Premier League trophy parade. 01:14 - Source: CNN Iran's Foreign Ministry on progress of Iran-US talks Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei gave an exclusive interview to CNN's Fred Pleitgen on the progress of continuing nuclear talks with the US. Baqaei told CNN that any attempt by the Trump administration to 'deprive' Iranians of their right to nuclear energy would be 'very problematic'. But he also said that there were many ways to come to a compromise. Iran and the United States concluded a fifth round of talks in Rome on Friday. 01:16 - Source: CNN Video of President Macron's wife 'pushing' him goes viral A video of French President Macron's wife pushing him as they disembarked a flight has caught the attention of Russian trolls after going viral. While Macron himself tried to downplay the video saying it merely showed a couple 'bickering,' it's not the first time Russian troll accounts and state media outlets have tried to use videos of the French president to spread disinformation. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has more. 01:35 - Source: CNN
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'I had a plan to do it': Chilling confession of freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari who revealed that she had planned her own suicide during 471 'terrible' days in Gaza captivity
Freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari has revealed how she fought a Hamas guard and planned her own suicide during 471 'terrible' days held in Gaza. The 28-year-old has spoken for the first time on how she was held in houses booby trapped with dynamite and in terror tunnels so silent 'it murders the ears'. Emily, who lost two fingers on October 7 when terrorists shot her hand, also concealed that she has had relationships with women from the Islamist extremists fearing they would kill her if they found out. Incredibly, she earned the respect of her captors who dressed her in a hijab and snuck her onto the roof of a Gaza apartment to glimpse the sea during a terrifying bombardment. It comes as the IDF released haunting 'trophy pictures' they found on a Hamas hard drive that the terror group took of Emily during surgery in Gaza on the day she was kidnapped. She is seen unconscious on an operating table in Al-Shifa Hospital with blood splatters across a hijab she was forced to wear. Another image shows her sat captive in an ankle-length black and white dress, her bloodied left hand bandaged up during her first days held hostage in a Gaza apartment. Emily was cowering in a bomb shelter with her best friend Gali Berman, 27, at home in Kfar Aza by the Gaza border when Hamas stormed the kibbutz and slaughtered her neighbours. The terrorists killed Emily's dog, shot her in the hand and leg, and dragged them both into Gaza along with Ziv, Gali's twin brother. A Palestinian doctor calling himself 'Dr Hamas' then carelessly stitched the nerves in Emily's hand together leaving her in endless pain for over 15 months in captivity. The British-Israeli reveals her ordeal for the first time to Israeli journalist Yigal Mosko for Channel 12 documentary 'Through Emily's Eyes' which aired last night. She was hugging her pillow in the shelter with Gali when she heard the terrorists breaking her window before they broke in and shot her left hand. 'The bullet entered and split my fingers,' she said. 'I shouted to him, 'Gali, they destroyed my hand!' The pain was so extreme she passed out, and came to moments later to the terrorists shouting at her beloved pet Cockapoo Chucha. 'I hear them saying, 'Dog! Dog!' in Arabic. Chucha is sitting, looking at them, and they shoot her. Chucha's bullet is the one that entered my leg.' Emily was then lifted and carried into her own car, alongside Gali, and they were blindfolded and kidnapped into Gaza. But the defiant 28-year-old ignored the terrorists and removed her blindfold – to see that Gali's twin brother Ziv is also next to them. 'I say to Zivi, 'Zivi, Gali is with us,' and I say to Gali, 'Gali, Zivi is with us.' Like that a few times, so they would know.' Emily is then forced to put on 'prayer clothes' and taken to Al Shifa hospital. 'I enter a room with a corpse,' she said. 'I see blood is everywhere. I say, damn, what are they going to do to me here? 'Then the doctor arrives, he says to me: 'Hello, I'm Dr Hamas.' The doctor jabbed a needle in her arm and she fell unconscious, later waking to the man telling her she has lost two fingers – to which all she can muster in response is 'ok'. Emily turned to find another hostage, Romi Gonen, 24, who had been shot in her right arm fleeing the Nova festival, beside her. They managed a brief introduction before being separated – but they would meet 40 days later and spend the rest of captivity together. After the surgery, Emily was initially held with Ziv in a family's home in Gaza and was nearly killed when shelling destroyed the house. They were then moved to a sixth floor apartment, locked in a room with a closed window – but Emily opened it when she saw Israeli drones passed and showed her tattooed arm, hoping they would be able to identify her. Then, in another truly remarkable act, Emily managed to convince her guard to let her see the sea after about 30 days in captivity. It shows the strength of personality the British-Israeli has that the terrorists agreed to put her into a hijab she could sneak onto the roof - in the middle of an IDF raid. 'I look, I see the smokestacks of Ashkelon,' Emily said, referring to towns near where she lived. 'I see Sderot, I see Be'eri, I see Kfar Aza, I see everything. 'I see all the explosions, all the smoke…. Gaza burning. Now, above us, really above us, literally above us, like above our heads, are five drones and he tells me: 'Put your hand down, don't point.' 'He gets stressed that I'm pointing. He tells me: 'Put it down, it's forbidden to point.' 'I came down from the roof, and I'm thinking, what just happened to me is unbelievable. I stood with a hijab on a roof in Gaza. There's no way any hostage in the world did that.' Emily also detailed how each house she was held in was surrounded by cameras, adding that - after the successful rescue of Noa Argamani in June last year - 'came the TNT stage'. The guards told her that if the IDF came 'we will detonate'. They simply had to add an AA battery into the circuit to blow up the house with dynamite. She was held with a female hostage at one point who disobeyed the Hamas commander – a former bodyguard for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. 'It reached a point where he pushes her,' Emily said. 'My whole head spun. I started speaking Hebrew, saying: 'What are you doing?' 'I pushed him back. He grabs my hand, I push his hand away. I raised my voice, telling him: 'Now I'm going to shout that there are hostages here! If you don't bring your commander here… Get us out of this house!' 'I really started to completely lose it.' Asked if she was scared she would get killed, she said: 'No weakness in front of them. I'll push, I'll get a bullet, fine – so I'll die. So I won't be in captivity, thank you very much.' After 40 days she was separated from Ziv and told: 'You will go to the girls, and we are going underground.' It is the last time she saw Ziv, who remains in captivity with Gali. Though scared of going underground, Emily was determined to 'not show any weakness in front of them', so, as she was being led into the tunnels, she chose to focus on how incredible it was that she was getting to see the tunnels she had heard so much about. 'I entered like in a frenzy,' she said. 'I'm like, 'Wow, I'm in Hamas' tunnels!' When she met fellow hostages inside, they said: 'You're the first one to enter the tunnels like that.' But over the coming days, a sense of horror seeped in. 'There's silence in the tunnels,' she said. 'They say deafening silence, but it's not that… It murders the ears. It's terrifying.' It was here that she met Romi again and they became each other's other half – one having lost use of their left hand, the other their right. Emily pushed Romi to stop crying and to survive for their families, but there were days when it got too much – and the two girls discussed suicide. 'There were difficult days,' Romi said. Asked if they contemplated suicide, Emily added: 'Sure, I had a plan, everything, how to do it.' While Emily stayed strong, the thing that nearly broke her was fearing her British mother Mandy, 63, and brother Tom had been killed in Kfar Aza on October 7. But last summer the terrorists allowed them to watch television one night where Mandy was seen in the Knesset holding a picture of her daughter. Romi described the moment. 'She got up and said, 'Hey, mum…' Emily was shaking, she couldn't breathe. Really that was the most moving moment in captivity.' Emily told how she had to conceal the fact that she has had relationships with women in the past. Asked if she thought they ever knew, she said: 'No. They absolutely must not know such a thing. 'For them, this thing is sick. Anything to do with homosexuality is forbidden. We asked them once, 'If your brother was gay, what would you do?' 'He said: 'What do you mean? I would murder him.' Emily was constantly quizzed on why she wasn't married, but would tell them she was a 'good girl' and 'saving myself'. She stayed fit inside by doing sit ups and push ups. Despite a lice infestation, they kept spirits up by holding 'lice fight' where they would bet which would beat the other. Finally, in January, Emily and Romi were told they were the first to be freed as part of the hostage deal. But Emily, a Macabi Tel Aviv fan, was horrified when her captors told her she had to wear a red outfit to leave – as it is the colour of her rival football team. 'I told him, 'I'm not coming out if I'm wearing red.' In the end, her captors – who had grown to call Emily 'Sajaiya' – a term of respect for heroes – obliged. Since being freed, Emily has fought to free Gali and Ziv and the remaining 58 hostages – of whom around 20 are believed to be alive.
CNN
28-05-2025
- General
- CNN
‘Horrific': Former Israeli hostage speaks to CNN about conditions in Hamas captivity
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was abducted by Hamas from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 and released earlier this year as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. In an interview with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Siegel describes his captivity and his fears for the remaining hostages.
CNN
28-05-2025
- General
- CNN
‘Horrific': Former Israeli hostage speaks to CNN about conditions in Hamas captivity
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was abducted by Hamas from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 and released earlier this year as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. In an interview with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Siegel describes his captivity and his fears for the remaining hostages.
CNN
28-05-2025
- General
- CNN
‘Horrific': Former Israeli hostage speaks to CNN about conditions in Hamas captivity
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was abducted by Hamas from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023 and released earlier this year as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. In an interview with CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Siegel describes his captivity and his fears for the remaining hostages.
