Israel’s army confirmed Friday that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni.
His body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZayadni, who were taken together when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel 15 months ago. His father was quickly identified, while his son's remains were sent for verification.
In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas have appeared to inch closer to an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Palestinians and family members of hostages who were killed in captivity have been imploring the Israeli government and world leaders for a ceasefire deal.
Gaza's Health Ministry said Thursday that 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded in the Israel-Hamas war, with no end in sight. It has said women and children were more than half the fatalities but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it says militants operate in residential areas. Israel's air and ground operations have driven hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into sprawling tent camps along the coast with limited access to food and other essentials.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.
Here's the latest:
DAMASCUS — Three women were killed and five children injured in a stampede outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Friday, the Syrian civil defense known as the White Helmets said in a statement.
The stampede came about as a result of “severe congestion due to an event organized by civilians,” the statement said.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene said the swell in the numbers of people was caused by a food distribution event after the Friday afternoon prayers.
Massive crowds were also trying to go into the packed mosque for prayers, leading security guards to lock the gates and fire in the air to disperse the crowd, he said.
ROME — Italy's foreign minister says a moratorium on European Union sanctions on Syria could help encourage the country's transition the ouster of President Bashar Assad by Islamist insurgents.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Syria on Friday and expressed Italy’s keen interest in helping Syria recover from civil war, rebuild its broken economy and help stabilize the region.
Tajani, who met with Syria’s new de facto leaders, said a stable Syria and Lebanon was of strategic and commercial importance to Europe. He said the fall of Assad's regime, as well as the Lebanon parliament's vote on Thursday to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as president, were signs of optimism for Middle East stability.
He said Italy wanted to play a leading role in Syria’s recovery and serve as a bridge between Damascus and the EU, particularly given Italy’s commercial and strategic interests in the Mediterranean.
“The Mediterranean can no longer just be a sea of death, a cemetery of migrants but a sea of commerce a sea of development,” he said.
On the eve of his visit, Tajani presided in Rome over a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and officials from Britain, France and Germany as well as the EU foreign policy chief. He said that meeting of the so-called Quintet on Syria was key to begin the discussion about a change to the EU sanctions.
“The sanctions were against the Assad regime. If the situation has changed, we have to change our choices,” Tajani said, adding that a moratorium could be the way forward.
ISTANBUL — Turkey “does not have any secret agenda” in Syria and wants to construct a “new culture of cooperation,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday.
One of Turkey’s priorities in the upcoming year is to clear the region of terrorism, Fidan said, referring to Kurdish militants based in northeast Syria. “The extensions of the separatist group in Syria are now facing destruction and the old order is no longer going to continue,” he told a news conference in Istanbul.
Fidan also criticized the United States’ support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as the U.S. seeks to prevent a revival of the Islamic State group.
“This kills the spirit of alliance and solidarity,” Fidan said. He said Turkey is “not going to shy away from taking the necessary steps” in terms of military action.
Turkey views the SDF as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terror organization by Turkey and other states.
Referring to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s comments that U.S. troops should stay in Syria, Fidan dismissed the views of the outgoing U.S. administration. “This is the problem of the new government and the old government does not have a say in this,” he said.
The SDF is currently involved in fighting the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.
Fidan also backed suggestions for Syrian Kurds to join a new national military but said all non-Syrians fighting for the SDF –- a reference to those with ties to the PKK -– should leave the country.
NICOSIA, Cyprus — The president of Cyprus says he will be the first head of state to meet with the newly elected president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun.
President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters Friday that he would be meeting Aoun when he departs for Lebanon around midday Friday.
Christodoulides said he knows Aoun “well” from his tenure as chief of Lebanon’s armed forces.
He said the meeting is indicative of the role that Cyprus, as a European Union member closest to the Middle East, can play in helping to “meet the challenges that have arisen in the region.”
In a written statement, Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said Christodoulides will also discuss with Aoun Lebanon’s internal issues and to convey Cyprus’ readiness to provide any needed assistance and to strengthen relations with its neighbor.
Cyprus is less than 200 kilometers (130 miles) from the Lebanese capital Beirut and has provided the country with military assistance to prop up its armed forces.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s army confirmed Friday that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni.
The army said Friday that the identification was made by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Israel’s police and the family has been notified. The army said its forces recovered the bodies of Hamzah and his father from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area and returned them to Israel.
His father, Yosef AlZayadni, had been identified earlier this week. The father and son were thought to still be alive before this week's announcement. They were kidnapped together from Kibbutz Holit, when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The news comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free remaining hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza. Israel says about a third of the remaining 100 hostages have died, but believes as many as half could be dead. Their fates could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents families of the hostages, said Hamzah was a nature lover who had deep affection for animals and was beloved by his friends. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An oil tanker that burned for weeks and threatened a massive oil spill in the Red Sea has been salvaged, a security firm said Friday.
The Sounion had been a disaster-in-waiting in the waterway, with 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard that had been struck and later sabotaged with explosives by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. It took months for salvagers to tow the vessel away, extinguish the fires and offload the remaining crude oil.
The Houthis initially attacked the Greek-flagged Sounion tanker on Aug. 21 with small-arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer rescued its crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, and took them to nearby Djibouti.
The Houthis later released footage showing they planted explosives on board the Sounion and ignited them in a propaganda video, which the rebels have done before.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. The rebels maintain they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict.
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