World
Lawmakers hold moment of silence for slain Omer Neutra as thousands mourn in hometown synagogue
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday night held a moment of silence for American-Israeli Omer Neutra who was determined this week to have been killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, after it was believed that he had been alive for more than a year.
Neutra, 21 years old, was a tank platoon commander in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and was among the first to respond to the Hamas attack that ultimately killed some 1,200 people and initially saw the abduction of more than 250 men, women and children.
His parents, Orna and Ronen, who spoke with Fox News Digital just days prior to the tragic development, believed their son was still alive after the IDF had long assessed that he, along with Nimrod Cohen, another soldier from his tank, were taken hostage into Gaza and remained alive.
7 US HOSTAGES STILL HELD BY HAMAS TERRORISTS AS FAMILIES PLEAD FOR THEIR RELEASE: ‘THIS IS URGENT’
“For 420 days Omer’s parents and his brother Daniel have done everything they can with the love and support of hundreds of thousands of others to free their son from captivity,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who represents the Neutra family’s district, said from the House floor. “Every day they soldiered on through alternating deep sorrow and brief bursts of hopefulness. They went from crushing anxiety to steely determination.
“Just a few days ago we learned that this courageous young man, this bright light, this courageous idealist, made the ultimate sacrifice,” Suozzi continued. “Omer had not been alive for the last 422 days, he was murdered on Oct. 7.”
Footage from the attack on Omer’s tank showed the commander, as well as three others, Shaked Dahan, Oz Daniel and Nimrod Cohen being pulled from the military vehicle by Hamas terrorists and being taken captive.
Daniel and Dahan had previously been assessed to have been killed following the attack, and according to the IDF, intelligence now suggests Omer, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, was also killed on Oct. 7. 2023.
AMERICAN FATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE ITAY CHEN PUSHES US, ISRAEL ON ‘PLAN B’ AS NEGOTIATIONS FALTER
The Israeli military has not said how they came by this new information and the fate of Cohen remains unknown.
In a memorial service held for Omer on Tuesday in the Long Island synagogue where he reportedly celebrated his bar mitzvah years earlier, Omer’s father Ronen, said the news had left them “breathless and empty.”
“For over a year now, we’ve been breathing life into your being, my beautiful boy,” Orna said through tears, according to reports. “With the hope and love of so many, we kept going and going and going, keeping you alive, speaking your name from every outlet, pushing any hint of despair, not stopping to breathe or to take in the deep pain of your absence.”
“Now things are clear,” she said to the reported 1,500 attendees at the service. “But not as we’d hoped.”
Onra and Ronen have described their son as loving, a good friend and an athlete, but they also highlighted his ability to lead and how his actions on Oct. 7, 2023 saved lives.
Omer’s body is believed to still be held by Hamas along with the six other American hostages, only three of whom are still assessed by the IDF to be alive at this time, including Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Keith Siegel.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s body was recovered after he, along with five others, were discovered to have been murdered by Hamas in the tunnels in Gaza in August.
There are still 100 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza following the recovery of Itai Svirski’s body on Wednesday, an Israeli hostage taken during the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023.
The IDF confirmed he “was murdered in captivity by his captors, and his body was held hostage in the Gaza Strip.”
World
Video: On the Ground in Damascus as Syrians Chart a New Path
In a matter of days, Syria’s capital — once the stronghold of Bashar al-Assad’s government — became the epicenter of a new chapter in the country’s history after opposition forces overran the city. Christina Goldbaum, a New York Times correspondent, traveled to Damascus to find out how residents were reacting to the sudden breakthrough in the 13-year civil war as more than five decades of brutal rule by the Assad dynasty come to an end.
World
Collapse of Syria’s Assad regime renews US push to find Austin Tice
The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria over the weekend has brought a renewed effort by the Biden administration to find American journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice and bring him home.
An immense push to return Tice, who was abducted in Syria 12 years ago, has been initiated as hostage-affairs envoy Roger Carstens has begun outreach in Beirut, and efforts to engage with sources in Syria to gain information on Tice’s whereabouts have begun, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“There are intensive efforts underway by the United States to find Austin Tice and bring him home to his family,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday evening. “We encourage anyone who has information about Austin’s whereabouts to contact the FBI immediately.”
HERE IS WHO IS VYING FOR POWER IN SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD
Miller pointed to the FBI’s reward program offering up to $1 million for anyone with credible information pertaining to Tice and his safe return.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering up to $10 million for information about Tice’s whereabouts.
“As Secretary [of State] Blinken has said directly to Austin’s family – including in the past few days – we will not rest until he is returned home safely to his loved ones,” the spokesman confirmed.
Similarly, Sullivan told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday that the U.S. was also working with partners in Turkey to communicate with people in Syria who may have information to help locate the prison where he may be being held.
“This is a top priority for us,” Sullivan said.
Tice was 31 years old when he was detained in Damascus in August 2012 while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime, which marked the early stages of the Syrian civil war, and ultimately ended with Assad’s ousting on Sunday after rebels seized the capital city.
The Tice family has said they believe he is still alive, and reports have suggested the U.S. has received intermittent information pertaining to his whereabouts, though one official told Reuters the credibility of this information has been difficult to verify.
The U.S. reportedly received information over the summer from a Lebanese source who claimed they saw Tice alive and said he was believed to be held captive by a group connected with Hezbollah, a former U.S. official familiar with the intelligence told Reuters.
In 2020, President Biden issued a statement that said he knew “with certainty” that the Assad regime was responsible for Tice’s imprisonment and demanded they release him.
The regime responded by claiming it neither abducted nor held the American journalist.
THE RISE AND FALL OF BASHAR AND ASMA ASSAD
The U.S. has reportedly engaged in back-channel talks with Syria with the help of Lebanese intermediaries for years, including under the Biden administration, though to no avail.
Syrian officials apparently refused to engage in talks regarding the release of Tice and offered only proof-of-life information if the U.S. would meet its demands, like the withdrawal of its forces from the country.
The last communication the Biden administration reportedly had with Syria regarding Tice was one month prior to the fall of Aleppo, which fell to rebel forces in late November.
Since the demise of Hezbollah following Israel’s campaign in Lebanon, along with Russia and Iran’s inability to once again back the Assad regime, and the subsequent rebel takeover of the country, tens of thousands of captives held in Syria’s notoriously brutal prisons have been released.
The infamous Saydnaya military prison, dubbed the “human slaughterhouse” where torture, disease, starvation and secret executions were common, was liberated on Sunday by the rebels who smashed open cells where they found men, women and children held, reported The Associated Press.
Prisoners in cities including Aleppo, Homs, Hama as well as Damascus have been freed, giving new hope to relatives who have not seen family members held in these prisons for years.
In a Saturday address, Biden expressed some hope regarding Tice and said, “We believe he’s alive. We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence to that yet.”
“We have to identify where he is,” the president added.
World
Israel’s Netanyahu decries ‘absurd’ charges at corruption trial appearance
Netanyahu took the stand for about four hours and will resume testifying on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken the stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial, rejecting what he described as “absurd” allegations against him.
Appearing at a crowded courtroom in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the embattled Israeli leader said the charges levelled against him were an “an ocean of absurdity”.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust in three separate cases. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
He took the stand for about four hours and will resume testifying on Wednesday. His military secretary twice handed him written messages, the first time requiring a recess and underscoring his having to do double duty as prime minister.
He attacked the Israeli media for what he called its leftist stance and accused journalists of having hounded him for years because his policies did not align with a push for a Palestinian state.
“I have been waiting for eight years for this moment to tell the truth,” Netanyahu told the three-judge court. “But I am also a prime minister … I am leading the country through a seven-front war. And I think the two can be done in parallel.”
Netanyahu’s appearance at the trial comes as Israel continues its assault on the besieged Gaza Strip amid soaring tensions in the region.
Critics have accused the prime minister of extending Israel’s 14-month assault on the besieged Gaza Strip to maintain his stay in power. They also say he is blocking a ceasefire deal that could release dozens of Israeli captives held in Gaza.
Outside the court, dozens of protesters gathered, including members of the families of captives held in Gaza.
Israel’s offensive on Gaza has killed more than 44,500 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Three cases
Israel’s prime minister is on trial in three separate cases which were filed in 2019 – Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000.
Netanyahu stands of accused of accepting luxury gifts from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for assistance with personal business interests.
He is also charged with allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable news coverage.
His testimony follows years of scandals that have swirled around him and his family, who have gained a reputation of enjoying a lavish lifestyle at Israeli taxpayers’ expense.
Since the trial began in 2020, the court has heard prosecution witnesses in the three cases, including some of Netanyahu’s former aides, who have turned state witnesses.
The prosecution has tried to portray the prime minister as an image-obsessed leader who broke the law to improve his public perception.
The testimony, set to take place six hours a day, three days a week for several weeks, will take up a significant amount of Netanyahu’s time, prompting critics to ask if he can capably manage a country embroiled in a war on multiple fronts.
A verdict is not expected until 2026, at the earliest, and Netanyahu will have the option to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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