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.
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“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.
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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
Boeing lays off hundreds in Washington and California as part of cuts announced previously
SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing has laid off hundreds of additional employees in Washington state and California as part of planned cuts that will eventually reduce the company’s workforce by about 17,000.
Nearly 400 Boeing employees were laid off in Washington state and more than 500 in California, news outlets reported Monday.
The aerospace giant announced previously it would reduce its workforce by 10% in the coming months as it tries to recover from financial and regulatory troubles and a strike by its machinists that lasted almost two months.
CEO Kelly Ortberg has said the strike did not cause the layoffs, which he said was the result of overstaffing.
In November, the company started notifying workers who would be laid off. Notices filed with state employment agencies showed the first round of cuts impacted about 3,500 people around the country, The Seattle Times reported.
Those cuts touched people in roles from engineers to recruiters to analysts and impacted Boeing’s commercial, defense and global services divisions.
Boeing has said most laid-off employees remain on payroll for about two months and will receive severance pay, career transition services and subsidized health insurance benefits for up to three months.
“As announced in early October, we are adjusting our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused set of priorities,” Boeing spokespeople have said about the layoffs.
Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, has been in financial trouble since two crashes of its 737 Max jetliner killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. The company’s fortunes and reputation took an additional hit when a panel blew off the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane in January.
World
Israel deploys paratroopers to Syria in 'defense activities' after fall of Assad
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deployed paratroopers into Syria to conduct “defense activities” on Sunday, after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The IDF said the deployment was meant to “proactively ensure the defense of Golan” amid the instability in Syria. Footage and images show paratroopers and heavily armored tanks deploying to the buffer zone. The move comes as both the U.S. and Israel have struck multiple targets within Syria following Assad’s ouster.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said early Monday morning that Israel also conducted strikes on suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites. Assad infamously used chemical weapons on his own civilians when former President Barack Obama was in office. The U.S. and Israel are taking steps to ensure that those weapons do not fall into the hands of the Islamist rebels now in control of Syria.
“The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens,” Saar said Monday. “That’s why we attacked strategic weapons systems, like, for example, remaining chemical weapons, or long-range missiles and rockets, in order that they will not fall in the hands of extremists.”
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Leaders in the U.S. and Israel have praised the toppling of Assad but also expressed concern about who will lead the country moving forward. The main rebel group at play is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which translates to Organization for the Liberation of the Levant. The organization is a terrorist group with links to both ISIS and al Qaeda.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Assad’s fall in a statement on Sunday, going on to announce Sunday’s troop movements in order to “take action against possible threats.”
“One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed,” Netanyahu said. “The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.”
Netanyahu closed by offering a “hand of peace” to people in Syria, including to “Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.”
President Biden echoed Netanyahu’s cautious optimism in his statement responding to Assad’s fall.
“At long last, the Assad regime has fallen. The fall of this regime is a fundamental act of justice. It is a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their country. It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty,” Biden said.
“New opportunities are now opening up for the people of Syria and for the entire region,” he added.
For his part, Assad fled Damascus with his wife and three children shortly before the country fell to rebel forces this weekend. He has since been granted asylum in Moscow.
World
How have Palestinian groups reacted to the ouster of Syria’s al-Assad?
Palestinian factions have largely expressed support for the Syrian people after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad while saying that they hope the new authorities will support the Palestinian cause.
As daylight broke in Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning, Syrians woke up to a dramatically changed country after opposition forces swept into Syria’s capital less than two weeks into a lightning offensive.
Palestinian factions have supported opposing sides of the Syrian war over the past 13 years. Syria – home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees – has played a major role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Here’s how leading Palestinian groups reacted to the fall of al-Assad over the past days:
Palestinian Authority (PA)
The State of Palestine, run by the PA, said on Sunday that it stands by the Syrian people, “respecting their will and political choices, in a way that guarantees their security and stability and preserves their achievements”.
The Palestinian presidency added in a statement that it affirms “the need to respect the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and to preserve its security and stability, wishing continued progress and prosperity for the brotherly Syrian people”.
The presidency stressed that political parties should prioritise the interests of the Syrian people and back Palestinians’ “just cause towards freedom and independence”.
Hamas
Hamas congratulated the Syrian people on Monday for achieving their “aspirations for freedom and justice”.
“We stand strongly with the great people of Syria … and respect the will, the independence, and the political choices of the people of Syria,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
It also urged Syrians to unite and “rise above the wounds of the past”, condemning what it called the “brutal aggression” by Israel against Syria.
Hamas added that it hopes that Syria will continue “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people”.
Hamas sided with the uprising against al-Assad early in the crisis despite its alliance with Iran, which backed the government in Damascus. The Palestinian group’s position cooled down ties with Tehran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, but the alliance was eventually revived despite disagreements over Syria.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
The Palestinian faction, which is allied with Hamas and Iran, said the recent developments are a Syrian matter that relates to the “choices of the brotherly Syrian people”.
“The Islamic Jihad hopes Syria will remain a true supporter and backer for the Palestinian people and their just cause, as it has always been,” Ziad al-Nakhala, the head of the PIJ, said in a statement.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
The left-wing group that has previously voiced support for the Syrian government, did not address al-Assad’s fall in its first official statement after opposition fighters captured Damascus.
Instead, the PFLP focused on condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Syria.
“This Zionist aggression against Syrian territory carries dangerous dimensions that require solidarity to confront them,” the group said.
“The Front stresses that the Zionist enemy’s air strikes against Syria and its incursion into Syrian territory amount to a dangerous escalation in the aggression against the people and states of the region,” it added.
“The enemy is trying to take advantage of the phase of internal changes in Syria to achieve renewed goals of aggression against Syria and its people.”
The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces in Damascus
The coalition, which includes several Palestinian factions, described the ouster of al-Assad as an internal Syrian affair.
“The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces in Damascus looks forward sincerely to the Syrian people’s right to determine their future and build a unified, fully sovereign Syria in a framework of freedom, justice, democracy and equal citizenship without discrimination,” the coalition said.
It added that it hopes for a “Syria that continues to fulfil its brotherly and national duties towards the Palestinian people”.
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