Kidnapping and Hostages

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      Israeli Protesters Demand a Deal for the Release of Hostages

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      Protesters flooded the streets of Israeli cities on Sunday in mass demonstrations demanding that the government immediately accept a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza. The furious protests, some of the largest the country has seen over months of failed negotiations, came after the Israeli military announced that six of the hostages had recently been killed in Gaza.In Tel Aviv, protest organizers put the number of people in the hundreds of thousands. Hostage families and a crowd of supporters carried six prop coffins in a march through the city. They swarmed in front of the Israeli military headquarters and clashed with the police on a major highway.In Jerusalem, the Israeli police fired skunk water, a noxious crowd control weapon, and forcefully removed a crowd of hundreds who rallied at the city’s main entrance. In smaller cities too, including Rehovot, in central Israel, people blocked traffic and chanted, “We want them back living, not in coffins!”Israelis demonstrated outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office after the military recovered the bodies of six killed hostages from a tunnel underneath Rafah, Gaza.Ronen Zvulun/ReutersThe national uproar built on months of protests and increasingly aggressive actions by the families of many hostages, who have been attempting to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to accept a deal to little avail.The frustration of the families, who have accused Mr. Netanyahu of sacrificing their loved ones for his own political gain, appeared to reach a boiling point on Sunday after the Israeli military said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages killed in Gaza. The Israeli health ministry said they had been shot at close range sometime between Thursday and Friday morning.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin Among 6 Hostages Killed in Gaza

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      Tributes were pouring in on Sunday for the six hostages who were found dead in southern Gaza over the weekend.The hostages, whose bodies were retrieved from a tunnel, ranged in age from 23 to 40. Five had been at a dance music festival in southern Israel when they were taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and its allies; a sixth was taken from the village of Be’eri.The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group of their relatives, identified the dead as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino.They were among the roughly 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, both dead and alive. Here is what we know about them.Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23Mr. Goldberg-Polin was a dual Israeli American citizen who was taken hostage from the festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, had traveled the world since, advocating the release of the hostages.“Hersh is a happy-go-lucky, laid-back, good-humored, respectful and curious person,” she said last month when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention with her husband, Jon. “He is a civilian. He loves soccer, is wild about music and music festivals, and he has been obsessed with geography and travel since he was a little boy.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israel Says It Has Recovered More Bodies in Gaza

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      The Israeli military asked the public not to speculate, but many Israelis assumed the announcement referred to dead hostages. The news amplified calls for a cease-fire and hostage-release deal.The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had found a number of dead bodies during an operation in the Gaza Strip, asking the Israeli public to refrain from speculation about their identities.The announcement was widely interpreted in Israel, however, as confirmation that more Israeli hostages had died in captivity, and it quickly amplified calls for an immediate cease-fire in order to free the roughly 100 captives still held, both dead and alive, in Gaza.Roughly 250 people were captured by Hamas and its allies during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which started the war.The military said in a statement on Saturday that the recently found bodies had yet to be identified and brought to Israel. It did not give further details about how many bodies had been found or where they were discovered, and it would not officially confirm that they were hostages.Still, the news of the discovery accelerated an increasingly rancorous debate within Israeli society about whether Israel should soften its position during negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire. Under the terms currently being negotiated, scores of hostages would be released from captivity in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israel.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is holding out for a deal in which the country would be able to retain control of strategic parts of Gaza during the cease-fire and restart the war in the future.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hostage Rescued in Gaza as Israeli Airstrikes Kill Scores of Palestinians

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      A Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel was rescued after Israeli commandos found him alone in an underground warren, apparently abandoned by his captors.An elite Israeli military unit rescued a frail and gaunt hostage from a tunnel deep beneath the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the eighth living captive to be freed by Israeli troops in nearly 11 months of war and the first to be found alive in the subterranean labyrinth used by Hamas.The rescue came amid Israeli airstrikes across Gaza that Palestinian emergency services said killed at least 20 people. At one of the bombing sites in the southern city of Khan Younis, emergency crews frantically searched for survivors trapped under a collapsed building.The rescued hostage, Farhan al-Qadi, 52, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, was freed by commandos without a fight after being discovered in a room roughly 25 yards underground, Israeli officials said. More than 100 hostages remain in Gaza, at least 30 of whom are now presumed dead by the Israeli authorities.The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, portrayed the operation to rescue Mr. al-Qadi, as “complex and brave.” He said the soldiers reached him after “precise intelligence” was collected by Israel’s security services.But that account was at odds with details provided by two senior Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss a sensitive matter.Mr. al-Qadi, the Israeli officials said, was found by chance during an operation to capture a Hamas tunnel network. A team led by Flotilla 13, Israel’s equivalent to the U.S. Navy SEALs, were combing the tunnels for signs of Hamas when, to the forces’ surprise, they found Mr. al-Qadi on his own, without guards, the officials said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Who Is Farhan al-Qadi, the Hostage Israel Rescued?

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      The Israeli military on Tuesday celebrated the rescue of Farhan al-Qadi, who was taken hostage during Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7. The 52-year-old was hospitalized in stable medical condition.Mr. al-Qadi, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, is from Rahat, a city in southern Israel. He was working in a small Israeli kibbutz, called Magen, near the Gaza border, when he was abducted, according to a post on X from President Isaac Herzog of Israel.His brother, Khatem al-Qadi, told Israeli television that the family planned a huge party to celebrate his return. Calling for a cease-fire deal, he wished the same for other hostages still in captivity: “They are still waiting to see their loved ones back today,” he said. “We are wishing for all of the hostages to be released and for there to be a deal now.’’For some, Mr. al-Qadi’s rescue was a reminder of the toll the attacks took on Israel’s impoverished Bedouin community. At least 17 Bedouins died in the Oct. 7 attacks. Many more who had worked on Jewish farms in southern Israel lost their livelihoods after the farms were ransacked.Even before the attacks, the Bedouins were suffering. Few have access to bomb shelters and health clinics because they live in villages that the Israeli government does not recognize. Even though Hamas does not specifically target them, Bedouins are not always able to seek shelter when the group fires rockets into southern Israel.Gabby Sobelman More

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      U.S., Egypt and Qatar Say Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Will Resume Next Week

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      Top officials from the U.S., Israel, Egypt and Qatar ended two days of talks in Doha aimed at trying to resolve remaining disagreements between Israel and Hamas.High-level talks to halt the war in Gaza ended without an immediate breakthrough on Friday, but the United States, Egypt and Qatar said the negotiations would continue next week as mediators raced to secure a truce that they hope will avert a wider regional conflagration.The announcement came after top American, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials ended two days of talks in Doha, the Qatari capital, aimed at trying to resolve remaining disagreements between Israel and Hamas. U.S. and regional officials hope that movement in the negotiations will blunt or stop a widely anticipated Iranian-led retaliation for the killing of senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, militant groups backed by Iran.U.S., Iranian and Israeli officials said on Friday said that Iran had decided to delay its reprisal against Israel to allow the mediators to continue working toward a cease-fire in Gaza.After the first day of talks ended on Thursday night, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister, called the acting Iranian foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, to encourage Iran to refrain from any escalation given the cease-fire talks in Doha, according to two Iranian officials and three other officials familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Mr. Al Thani spoke with Mr. Bagheri Kani again on Friday, and both officials “stressed the need for calm and de-escalation in the region,” according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry. Mr. Bagheri Kani said in a statement that the Qatari prime minister had described the cease-fire negotiations on Thursday as being at a “sensitive” phase.On Friday, Egypt, Qatar and the United States said in a joint statement that the mediators had presented Israel and Hamas with “a bridging proposal” consistent with the terms laid out by President Biden on May 31 and later endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Families of Hostages in Gaza Despair As Assassination Halts Talks

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      Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, said he left a meeting last week with President Biden more optimistic than he had felt in months that a deal to free his son could be close.But in the intervening days, a new crisis has unfolded with the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’s political branch, and Fuad Shukr, a senior figure in Hezbollah. The negotiations, which already appeared to have reached an impasse, appear to have halted for now.Reached on Thursday, Mr. Dekel-Chen sounded far less hopeful as tensions spiked across the region. His son was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community devastated by the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7; roughly 100 of its residents were either killed or taken hostage.“It seems like it will delay any possible resolution, cease-fire or hostage release,” said Mr. Dekel-Chen, referring to the assassination of Mr. Haniyeh, who played a key role in cease-fire talks. “It could very easily mean that revenge, retribution is taken against our loved ones.”In a speech on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the decision to press onward with the war effort, including by striking senior Hamas leaders, was bringing Israel closer to a deal to bring home the hostages. Some, particularly the families of the remaining hostages, appeared unconvinced.“I don’t see the straight line that goes from that assassination to the release of the hostages,” said Mr. Dekel-Chen.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Sunday Read: ‘The Kidnapping I Can’t Escape’

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      Adrienne Hurst and Marion Lozano and Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeOn Nov. 12, 1974, Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s father’s childhood friend Jack Teich was kidnapped out of his driveway in the nicest part of the nicest part of Long Island. He was arriving home from work when two men forced him into their car at gunpoint and took him to a house where they chained and interrogated him.On the second day of his kidnapping, Jack’s wife, Janet, received a call from someone demanding a ransom of $750,000, and a few days later, Janet and Jack’s brother Buddy dropped the money off at Penn Station under F.B.I. surveillance. The F.B.I. did not catch the kidnapper, but afterward, he decided to let Jack go.Jack was home safe. He had survived his kidnapping. But the actual kidnapping is not what this story is about, if you can believe it. It’s about surviving what you survived, which is also known as the rest of your life.There are a lot of ways to listen to ‘The Daily.’ Here’s how.We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Follow Michael Barbaro on X: @mikiebarb. And if you’re interested in advertising with The Daily, write to us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com.Additional production for The Sunday Read was contributed by Isabella Anderson, Anna Diamond, Sarah Diamond, Elena Hecht, Emma Kehlbeck, Tanya Pérez, Frannie Carr Toth and Krish Seenivasan. More