Israeli troops recover slain Gaza hostage, Egypt to host new truce talks

[Pelican Press 0]

******** troops recover slain Gaza ********, Egypt to host new truce talks

Relatives and supporters of ******** hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by ****** militants hold placards and wave ******** flags during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, on April 6, 2024.

Jack Guez | Afp | Getty Images

******* said on Saturday its special forces had recovered the body of a ******** ******* while being held captive in Gaza, as the ************ enclave’s dominant Islamist movement ****** said it would take part in a new round of

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talks in Cairo.

Almost six months into the war, ******* has faced protests at home demanding a deal to free the dwindling number of live hostages from ******’ Oct. 7 cross-border rampage. Western countries, meanwhile, have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high ************ civilian toll and the accompanying humanitarian crisis.

The body of Elad Katzir, a 47-year-old ******** farmer, was unearthed by commandos in southern Khan Younis overnight, the military said. He had been ******* by his ************ Islamic ****** captors and ******* there in mid-January, it said, citing intelligence information about which it declined to elaborate.

Islamic ******, an ally of ******, had no immediate comment.

Katzir was among 253 people dragged into Gaza by ******-led gunmen who ******* some 1,200 others in southern *******, according to official tallies, sparking an offensive that medics in the enclave say has ******* more than 33,000 Palestinians.

His father Avraham was ******* in their kibbutz, Nir Oz, and his mother Hanna was also taken ******** but freed in November under a truce.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been trying to secure another deal that might return some of the 129 remaining hostages in a longer ceasefire in Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry on Saturday reported one of the lowest daily ****** tolls in six months, saying 46 Palestinians had been ******* in ******** strikes over the past 24 hours.

The Gaza-based ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in its reports but local health officials say most of the fatalities have been civilians. ******* says at least a third are fighters.

****** on Saturday said its fighters targeted three ******** tanks in Khan Younis with missiles, inflicting casualties. There was no immediate comment from the ******** military, though it said earlier that troops had engaged with gunmen in the area.

Talks

The World Health Organisation said its team had managed to reach Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where ******** special forces conducted a two-week raid against suspected militants, leaving a wasteland of destroyed buildings.

The team saw at least five ***** bodies at the complex, most of which had suffered extensive destruction. “Even restoring minimal functionality in the short term seems implausible,” said a statement from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Al-Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital before the war, was one of the few healthcare facilities that had been partially operational in the north of enclave before the raid.

Angered by an ******** air strike that ******* aid workers in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday urged an “immediate ceasefire” and for ******* to boost humanitarian relief measures.

******* approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of its Ashdod port following the U.S. criticism, measures welcomed on Saturday by U.N. aid coordinator Jamie McGoldrick.

******** opposition leader Yair Lapid told N12’s Meet the Press on Saturday that he was travelling to Washington where he will meet U.S. officials next week. The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether senior officials will meet Lapid.

****** said it would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for a new round of mediated talks. ******* was undecided on whether to attend, an ******** official said, citing concern that the event would be “more political theatre than actual progress”.

****** wants any deal to bring about an end to the war and withdrawal of ******** forces. ******* has said that, after any truce, it would topple ******, which is sworn to its destruction.

A rally in Jerusalem calling on leaders to secure a ******** release was set to take place on Sunday, which marks six months since the Oct. 7 *******, and anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on Saturday called for an election.

In a Jan. 8 video posted by Islamic ****** online, Katzir said: “I was close to dying more than once. It’s a miracle I’m still alive … I want to tell my family that I love them very much and I miss them very much.”

Based on various sources of information, ******* has declared at least 35 hostages as ***** in Gaza captivity. ************ factions have said some were ******* in ******** strikes. While confirming this in several cases, ******* says that, in others, hostages whose bodies were recovered bore signs of **********.

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