JERUSALEM: Israeli forces recovered on Wednesday the bodies of five hostages killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and held in Gaza since, the Israeli military said.
Maya Goren, a 56-year-old kindergarden teacher, was killed during the attack on her kibbutz, Nir Oz, according to Israeli Army Radio, one of the communities worst hit in the deadly attack in southern Israel that triggered the devastating war.
The other four hostages were two reserve soldiers and two conscript soldiers killed in combat during the Oct. 7 attack, the military said.
Their bodies were retrieved from the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where Israeli forces launched new raids this week.
The five had been listed among 120 hostages still in Gaza, about a third of whom Israel has declared dead in absentia, based on forensic findings, intelligence, interrogations of captured militants, videos and testimony of released hostages.
In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was actively engaged in intensive efforts to release the remaining hostages which he was confident would succeed.
An Israeli delegation would participate in talks to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release — mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — next week, an Israeli official said on Wednesday.
Hamas wants a ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, but Netanyahu says the war cannot end before Hamas is defeated.
Israeli forces retrieve bodies of five hostages from Gaza
https://arab.news/g5p6b
Israeli forces retrieve bodies of five hostages from Gaza
- The army, in a rescue operation, brought to Israel the bodies of hostages Maya Goren and Oren Goldin, the kibbutzim Nir Oz and Nir Yitzhak said in separate statements
Iranian FM slams WEF’s double standards after revoking his invite, but keeping Israeli President’s
DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has criticised the World Economic Forum (WEF) for rescinding his invitation to the annual meeting in Davos amid his government’s harsh crackdown on nationwide protests, accusing the forum of succumbing to Western pressure and applying “blatant double standards.”
The WEF confirmed that Araghchi will not attend this year’s summit, running until Jan. 23, saying that “although he was invited last fall, the tragic loss of lives of civilians in Iran over the past few weeks means that it is not right for the Iranian government to be represented at Davos this year.”
In a series of posts on X, Araghchi rejected the decision, claiming his appearance was cancelled “on the basis of lies and political pressure from Israel and its U.S.‑based proxies and apologists.”
The Iranian minister criticised what he called the WEF’s “blatant double standards” for keeping an invitation open to Israel’s president despite ongoing allegations of civilian deaths in Gaza. He also referenced Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s participation in last year’s forum in Davos in January 2024 despite facing charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court.
“If WEF wants to feign a supposedly ‘moral’ stance, that is its prerogative. But it should at least be consistent about it,” Araghchi wrote, arguing that the decision exposed a “moral depravity and intellectual bankruptcy.”
