Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Red Cross handover to IDF of body, allegedly of Shiri Bibas, expected soon
The body collected by the Red Cross from Hamas in the Gaza Strip earlier this evening is expected to be handed over to IDF troops at around 12:30 a.m.
Police are preparing to escort an IDF convoy with the body to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.
Hamas has claimed that the body belongs to hostage Shiri Bibas.
Accused of Nazi salute at CPAC, Steve Bannon says it was just a wave
Steve Bannon was accused of making a Nazi salute as he concluded a speech at a conservative gathering where US President Donald Trump is slated to speak this weekend, but Bannon says the gesture was merely a wave.
Bannon, who once served as Trump’s chief strategist and helped lead his 2016 Republican campaign, was onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside of Washington on Thursday evening when he extended his right arm in the air, his palm flat, after imploring the crowd to “Fight! Fight! Fight!” — a reference to what Trump shouted after an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, during last year’s campaign.
Steve Bannon, after calling for Trump to be President for life, did a Nazi salute on stage at CPAC.
Nazism has officially taken over the GOP.
The few remaining conservatives have a choice: either leave the party and obstruct it—or choose to be complicit.pic.twitter.com/94o5Kj69Le
— Joshua Reed Eakle ???? (@JoshEakle) February 21, 2025
The gesture drew immediate backlash due to its similarities with the right-arm salute linked in history to the Nazis and their allies.
“Steve Bannon’s long and disturbing history of stoking antisemitism and hate, threatening violence, and empowering extremists is well known and well documented by ADL and others,” the Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism and human rights watchdog, wrote on X in response. “We are not surprised, but are concerned about the normalization of this behavior.”
Meanwhile, French far-right National Rally president Jordan Bardella said he had canceled his scheduled speech at CPAC on Friday in reaction to what he described as “a gesture referring to Nazi ideology.”
“While I was not present in the room, one of the speakers allowed himself, out of provocation, a gesture referring to Nazi ideology. As a consequence, I made the immediate decision to cancel my speech,” Bardella said in a written statement.
Bannon, speaking to a French journalist from Le Point news magazine, says the gesture was not a Nazi salute but was “a wave like I did all the time.”
“I do it at the end of all of my speeches to thank the crowd,” Bannon says.
Man convicted of attempted murder of Salman Rushdie, says ‘Free Palestine’ as he leaves court
Hadi Matar, charged with severely injuring author Salman Rushdie in a 2022 knife attack, listens to his defense team in Chautauqua County court in Mayville, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
A New Jersey man has been convicted of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022.
Jurors delivered the verdict after deliberating for less than two hours, also finding Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was on the Chautauqua Institution stage with Rushdie at the time.
Matar ran up to Rushdie as he was about to speak on Aug. 12, 2022, and stabbed him more than a dozen times before a live audience. The attack left the 77-year-old prizewinning novelist blind in one eye.
Rushdie was the key witness during seven days of testimony, describing in graphic detail his life-threatening injuries and long and painful recovery.
Matar, who stood for the verdict, looked down at the defense table but had no obvious reaction when the jury delivered the verdict. As he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he quietly uttered, “Free Palestine,” echoing comments he has frequently made while entering and leaving the trial.
The judge set sentencing for April 23. Matar could receive up to 25 years in prison, which District Attorney Jason Schmidt noted is the maximum for a conviction on attempted murder in the second degree.
A separate federal indictment alleges that Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was motivated to attack Rushdie by a 2006 speech in which the leader of the terror group Hezbollah endorsed a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 after the publication of the novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
A trial on federal terrorism-related charges will be scheduled in US District Court in Buffalo.
Berlin police arrest suspect in stabbing at Holocaust memorial
German police say they arrested a suspect in the stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that seriously injured a man.
Berlin’s police department gives no details on the identity of the suspect or his possible motive.
“Our forces have detained a suspect in the vicinity of the crime scene,” city police post on X. “Investigations continue.”
Video of the scene showed emergency vehicles and heavily armored police lined along one side of the memorial site, a vast field of gray concrete pillars where the attack took place. The memorial is across the street from the US Embassy.
The victim “was so seriously injured that he had to be taken by the fire brigade to the hospital for emergency treatment,” police spokesperson Florian Nath says.
A man with a knife stabs several people in Berlin. pic.twitter.com/6NB6vXN5xV
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) February 21, 2025
Officials confirm Red Cross collected body from Hamas in Gaza
The Red Cross collected a body from Hamas in the Gaza Strip a short while ago, two officials, including a senior Arab diplomat, tell The Times of Israel.
The body has not yet been handed over to the Israel Defense Forces. Once in Israeli hands, the remains will be taken to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardwai tells Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television that the group handed over the body of Shiri Bibas.
Hamas previously claimed Thursday to return Bibas’s body to Israel along with the bodies of her two sons Ariel and Kfir. The body purported to be Shiri’s was found to be that of a Gazan woman.
Swedish police arrest 3 men near Israeli embassy, reportedly suspected of attack plot
Officers stand near the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 31, 2024. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish police say they have apprehended three men near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on suspicion of preparing to commit a violent crime but also say it is too early to say whether the diplomatic mission was a target.
Swedish broadcaster TV4, citing unnamed sources, reports that the three men are suspected of planning to attack the embassy.
Israeli official to Hebrew media: Red Cross has collected body from Hamas
An Israeli official cited by Hebrew-language media says the Red Cross has collected a body from Hamas.
The Red Cross is now bringing the casket to Israeli forces, the reports say.
The IDF has not yet confirmed. The Red Cross also has not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Report: Bus driver got passengers off minutes before blast Thursday night
Israeli security forces probe a bus targeted by an explosive device, in Bat Yam, February 20, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Channel 12 reports more details on yesterday’s botched bus bombing plot.
It says that on one bus in Tel Aviv, a terrorist boarded shortly after 8 p.m. with a bomb held in a bag, while several people were on the bus.
He sat down in the back and attempted to hide the bag below a seat, the network reports, before leaving. A woman whose suspicions were raised told the driver there was a suspicious item on board. The driver called his superiors, who told him to get all the passengers off. As he told them he was minutes from a bus park, his bosses told him to head there to keep the vehicle away from passersby.
After parking the bus, the driver got off, and police were called, but the bomb went off before they could arrive, destroying the vehicle.
Three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon yesterday night and one or two more bombs were discovered on additional buses in Holon. (There have been conflicting reports on the matter, and much of the case is covered by a gag order.) No casualties occurred as a result of the explosions.
Channel 12 says all bombs apparently had the writing, “Revenge from Tulkarem” on them.
IDF looking into report Hamas is handing over body of Shiri Bibas
The IDF in a statement says it is investigating the report by Al Jazeera that Hamas is handing over the body of hostage Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross.
“IDF representatives are in contact with the family,” the military adds.
Hebrew-language media reports say the Red Cross is heading to a handover location in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, and has not yet received a body.
Al Jazeera: Hamas has handed Shiri Bibas’s body to Red Cross; IDF checking
This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)
A source tells Al Jazeera that Hamas handed over the body of Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross a short while ago.
Israeli officials have not confirmed the report.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
Channel 12 reports that the Red Cross has not yet received a body but has been told to head to a location to receive it.
It says the Bibas family is being updated.
Hamas said it had returned Shiri Bibas’s body to Israel yesterday along with the bodies of her two sons Ariel and Kfir. In fact, the body purported to be Shiri’s was that of a Gazan woman.
Man seriously hurt in stabbing at Berlin Holocaust memorial
A man has been seriously injured in a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reports, adding that police have sealed off the site in the city center and are carrying out a search.
Berlin police tell the newspaper that the man had been injured by a sharp object and transported by the fire brigade to a hospital. Tagesspiegel says the attack took place on the northern side of the sprawling Holocaust monument, near the US Embassy.
Police are not immediately available for comment.
Trump: ‘I really am’ fine with any decision Israel makes — continue truce or resume war
US President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors Working Session in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 21, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)
US President Donald Trump says he’s “really” fine with any decision Israel makes as to whether to continue to a second stage of the Gaza hostage deal or return to combat in Gaza.
Asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position in an interview with Fox News, Trump says, “He’s actually not torn. I mean, you know where he stands, and he would like to go in, and he’s just so angry, and he should be. If he’s not angry, then there’d be something wrong with him, frankly.
“He is very angry; he’s a very angry man at what happened, especially what happened yesterday with these kids,” he says, referring to the return of murdered hostage children Ariel and Kfir Bibas. “It’s so barbaric. You wouldn’t think that would happen in the modern age, but it happened.”
Asked then on Israel’s need to decide between seeking to bring back more hostages in a second phase or resuming the war, and whether he is fine with either choice, Trump answers, “I am. I really am. You know, when you see what’s happening there… you just wonder about the condition of the hostages that they have. One group came in so bad, it looked like it was a concentration camp in Germany.”
He adds: “Sometimes you have to make a decision… it’s a rough decision.”
10 injured, one seriously, in collision on Route 6 highway
Ten people have been injured to varying degrees in a collision between three vehicles on the Route 6 highway, near the Iron Interchange
One woman, aged around 40, is in serious condition, while three others in their 40s are moderately hurt. Six people are lightly hurt. Medics have evacuated the injured to hospitals.
Chechen teen held for planning attack on Israeli Embassy in Berlin, Bild reports
The Israeli Embassy building in Berlin, Germany (Screen capture Google Street View)
An 18-year-old ethnic Chechen has been arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, German newspaper Bild reports.
German police confirm the Russian national was detained on Thursday and placed in investigative custody today, and that he is under investigation for planning an attack. They decline to comment further on the background and motive.
The Israeli Embassy could not be reached for comment outside of business hours, while state prosecutors and the Russian embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bild says the investigation was the result of a tip-off from a foreign intelligence agency. It says the suspect was trying to leave the country via Berlin’s BER airport when he was detained.
US’s Waltz says Hamas opposition to 2 states is one reason it must be eliminated
(L-R) US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speak to reporters outside the White House on February 4, 2025, in Washington, DC. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz cites Hamas’s opposition to a two-state solution as one of the reasons why Hamas must be eliminated.
“There’s a lot of talk about a two-state [solution]. You know who doesn’t want a two-state? Hamas. And that is why they just cannot exist going forward,” Waltz says during an on-stage interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
US President Donald Trump presented a peace plan in 2020 that he described as a “realistic two-state solution,” but earlier this month, he appeared to try and distance himself from the plan and has avoided taking a clear stance on the framework.
Asked about Hamas’s return of an anonymous Gazan instead of Shiri Bibas yesterday, Waltz says Trump’s message to the hostage families is, “We are with you.”
“His heart breaks, and he is horrified by these scenes coming out. If anyone thinks that Hamas is some type of quasi-benevolent, not so bad… something less than the despicable terrorists that they are, what more convincing do you need?” he says.
“Hamas is one of the worst kinds of terrorist groups out there. They are no different than ISIS. They are no different than al-Qaeda, and they absolutely must be destroyed,” he adds.
Egypt’s Sissi leaves Riyadh after meeting about Israel-Palestinian conflict
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has left Saudi Arabia after participating in an informal meeting to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Gulf Arab states and Jordan, the presidency says in a statement.
The meeting takes place as Arab countries rush to formulate an alternative to US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in other countries.
Netanyahu says he’s ordered more military raids in West Bank
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a briefing with military officers in Tulkarem, February 21, 2025 (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
In the Tulkarem refugee camp, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that IDF forces “will launch additional operational activity against terror centers” after the attempted bus bombings last night.
“In the past year, we have greatly increased our activity,” he says. “We are entering the terrorist strongholds, clearing entire streets used by terrorists, their homes. We are eliminating terrorists and commanders.”
Netanyahu also gets a security briefing from the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, the head of the Civil Administration, and the commander of the Ephraim Brigade.
Hostages Forum says it’s shaken by ‘barbaric’ killing of Bibas boys
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it is “shaken” by the army’s revelation that Palestinian terrorists murdered the two Bibas boys with their “bare hands.”
“We are shaken to the core by the horrifying findings confirming the cruel and brutal murder of Ariel and Kfir Bibas — just innocent infants — at the hands of Hamas,” the group says in a statement, describing their deaths as “barbaric.”
BBC pulls Gaza documentary after star revealed as son of Hamas official
The BBC has removed a documentary about the Gaza war from its online streaming service after it emerged that the child who is a central figure in the film is the son of a Hamas deputy minister, a fact that was at no time disclosed in the movie.
“Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone” is narrated by a 14-year-old boy named Abdullah Al-Yazouri. The Telegraph reported earlier this week that the teen’s father is Ayman Alyazouri, deputy minister of agriculture in the Strip’s Hamas-run government.
“‘Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone’ features important stories we think should be told — those of the experiences of children in Gaza,” the BBC says in a statement.
“There have been continuing questions raised about the program and in light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company,” it says. “The program will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place.”
Netanyahu visits Tulkarem amid counter-terror operation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the West Bank’s Tulkarem amid Israeli counter-terror operations there, his office says.
The site is one of the West Bank hubs of terrorism where the IDF is expected to step up operations after last night’s attempted bus bombings.
IDF spokesman: Terrorist captors murdered Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘with their bare hands’
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari speaks on February 21, 2025 (Screenshot)
The IDF says the terrorists who held children Ariel and Kfir Bibas captive in Gaza murdered them “with their bare hands” weeks after their kidnapping on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023. These two innocent children were taken hostage alive, along with their mother, Shiri, from their home on October 7, 2023,” IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says in a televised statement.
“Contrary to Hamas’s lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered in cold blood by terrorists,” he says. “The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities. This assessment is based on both forensic findings, from the identification process, and intelligence that supports these findings. We have shared these findings, intelligence, and forensics with our partners around the world so they can verify it.”
Shiri Bibas (left) and her sons Ariel, 4, (top-right) and baby Kfir, who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
Hagari adds that when he spoke yesterday with the children’s father, recently released hostage Yarden Bibas, “Yarden looked me in the eyes and asked that all the world know and be horrified by the manner in which they murdered his children.”
Says Hagari: “The entire world must know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates. Ariel and Kfir were murdered, and then yesterday, their bodies were returned in a cynical and cruel ceremony in Gaza. Shiri Bibas, who was meant to be returned with her children to Israel as part of the agreement, was not returned by Hamas. Hamas lied and violated the agreement.
“The body that Hamas falsely claimed was Shiri’s was not hers, nor was it any other hostage. Instead, Hamas sent over the body of an anonymous woman. This is further evidence of Hamas’s barbaric cruelty.”
He says Israel demands that Shiri Bibas be returned to Israel swiftly, “in accordance with the agreement.”
“On Thursday evening we confirmed that one of the deceased hostages was 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. Oded was taken hostage alive together with his wife Yocheved by the Islamic Jihad terror organization on October 7, 2023, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The forensic examination confirms that Oded was also murdered in captivity in November 2023,” Hagari says.
“The abduction and murder in captivity of Oded, Ariel, and baby Kfir, are crimes against humanity. The whole world must condemn these barbaric acts of terror,” he says.
“Today, our hearts go out to Yarden Bibas, Kfir and Ariel’s father, and Shiri’s husband, who was abducted separately from his wife and children on October 7, and returned home after 484 days in captivity earlier this month. We will do everything we can to bring Shiri home, and all the 69 other hostages still being held in horrific and brutal conditions by Hamas in Gaza.”
“Our mission is not over, until every single hostage comes home,” Hagari adds.
Turkey says it thwarted terror attacks on Jewish sites by ISIS member
Turkish police have arrested a man planning simultaneous terrorist attacks on Jewish schools and synagogues in Turkey and foreign countries, the Turkish news site Hurriyet says.
The suspect, a citizen of Uzbekistan, is a member of the Asian branch of the radical terrorist organization ISIS, Hurriyet reports.
Turkish security and intelligence units discovered the plot when they infiltrated the terror network’s communication systems and deciphered coded correspondence and encrypted discussions, the report says. The intended timing and targets of the plot have not been revealed.
Israel to free 602 Palestinian prisoners tomorrow, says NGO
A Palestinian prisoner released by Israel as part of the hostage deal with Hamas flashes the victory sign as he alights a bus in the West Bank city of Ramallah on February 8, 2025. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP)
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club says that Israel will free 602 prisoners from jails tomorrow as part of the ongoing hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Amani Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the NGO, tells AFP that those slated for release include 445 individuals from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’s October 7 attack, 60 serving long sentences, 50 serving life sentences and 47 re-arrested after a 2011 exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Last night Hebrew media reported that seven of those who were slated to be released outside of Israel’s borders requested to instead remain in prison, and they were replaced with seven others from a list of those eligible.
Families of hostages ask for loved ones’ coffins to lie in state outside Knesset
A view of the main building of the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 26, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
The families of a number of hostages sign onto a letter to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana requesting that the coffins of their loved ones be able to lie in state outside the Knesset after they return.
The letter, penned by Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen, says that those who “paid with their lives because the country could not protect them” are “worthy of a final honor” that would allow the public to come and pay their respects after their bodies are returned to Israel.
Those signed onto the letter include family members of Inbar Haiman, Alex Dancyg, Itzik Elgarat, Tamir Nimrodi, Elad Katzir, Idan Shtivi and others — some of whom have already been returned to Israel and some whose fate remains unknown.
Ofri Bibas: ‘We are not asking for revenge; we are asking for Shiri.’ Tells her murdered nephews: ‘You didn’t deserve any of this’
Ofri Bibas-Levy, sister of Yarden Bibas, held hostage in Gaza with his wife, Shiri and two kids, Kfir and Ariel, talks to the media, in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 14, 2023. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, File)
Ofri Bibas, the aunt of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, eulogizes the two young boys after their bodies were returned to Israel by Hamas yesterday.
“I’m sorry Luli, I’m sorry Firfir, that I can’t cry for you yet. We are waiting for your mother Shiri,” she writes and says on social media, using their nicknames.
“You didn’t deserve any of this. We’ll miss you forever. And we won’t give up on Mom Shiri.”
“For Ariel and Kfir and for Yarden, we are not asking for revenge now. We are asking for Shiri,” she says. “Hamas’s cruelty only underlines the need to immediately get Shiri back to us and save the lives of the living hostages, and get the fallen back for burial.”
She also said: “There can be no forgiving the abandonment of October 7, and no forgiving the abandonment [of those held] in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we didn’t get an apology from you at this terrible moment.”
Israel said overnight that it had confirmed that Hamas handed over the remains of the young brothers, and that they were likely “brutally murdered” by terrorists in November 2023, according to a forensic examination. The body that Hamas said belonged to their mother, Shiri, was an unidentified Gazan woman, said Israel.
Ofri’s brother, Yarden Bibas, who was taken separately from his family, was freed from Gaza earlier this month.
Netanyahu says murderers of Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘do not deserve to walk this earth’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a photo of Ariel and Kfir Bibas in a video message, February 21, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)
Holding a photo of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises their mother Shiri for fighting “like a lioness to protect her boys.”
“Just imagine their horror,” he says in an English-language video, speaking about the Nir Oz family kidnapped on October 7, 2023. “Imagine their confusion. Perfect little children who never hurt a soul. A baby, for the love of God.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“Today is a tragic day. It’s a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain.
Four-year-old Ariel Bibas, his baby brother one-year-old Kfir and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz were brutally murdered by Hamas savages. pic.twitter.com/7TMchvOZ9E
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 21, 2025
He calls Hamas monsters for murdering the young boys, and also for sending the body of a Gazan woman back instead of Shiri yesterday “in brazen violation of the agreement.”
“Today, the heavens shake,” he says, insisting that the “entire civilized world” should condemn the murders.
Netanyahu promises to bring to justice “the savages who executed our hostages.”
“They do not deserve to walk this earth,” he says. “Nothing will stop me. Nothing.”
He apologizes to the Bibas brothers and to Oded Lifshitz, whose body was also returned yesterday after being murdered in captivity.
“May your memories forever be a blessing and a reminder to all of us that we must fight this evil and eradicate it from the face of this earth,” Netanyahu concludes.
Israel says it has received list from Hamas of hostages slated for release tomorrow
Top row, from left: Omer Shem-Tov, Tal Shoham, Eliya Cohen. Bottom row, from left: Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed, Omer Wenkert (Courtesy)
Israel says it has received a list from Hamas of the six hostages slated for release from Gaza tomorrow.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office says that the families of the hostages on the list have been informed. It asks the public to refrain from sharing rumors or unverified information.
Hamas earlier named those hostages as Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. The names were publicized in Israel earlier this week when the families were informed.
Irish politicians say they will boycott White House St. Patrick’s Day events over Trump’s Gaza plan
Irish republican Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald speaks to members of the media after arriving at the Dublin City count in the RDS centre in Dublin, Ireland on February 9, 2020. (Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Two Irish politicians say they will boycott this year’s St. Patrick’s Day events at the White House in protest of US President Donald Trump’s statements on Gaza.
Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of the Sinn Fein party and the leader of the opposition, and her deputy, First Minister Michelle O’Neill, say they will not attend the celebrations after Trump called for the permanent displacement of Gazans from the Strip.
“The US president’s comments on forced expulsion of the Palestinian people of Gaza cannot be ignored,” says O’Neill in a statement. “In the future, when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did while the Palestinian people endured unimaginable suffering, I will say I stood firmly on the side of humanity.”
McDonald says that despite US-Irish ties, “there is also an onus on us to speak honestly and to act when we believe a US administration is wrong, catastrophically so in the case of Palestine,” and therefore made the “principled stance” not to attend.
Hamas says it will probe allegations over Shiri Bibas’s remains, asks Israel to return body of Gazan woman
Palestinian terrorists carry to the Red Cross one of four coffins said to hold a body of a slain Israeli hostage, in the southern Gaza Strip's Khan Younis, February 20, 2025. (Eyad Baba / AFP)
Hamas expresses surprise over Israeli anger after the terror group handed over a body yesterday that it claimed was Shiri Bibas, but Israeli authorities determined was not.
In a statement, Hamas says it will “examine these allegations very seriously” and announce the results of its investigation.
The Hamas statement reiterates its claim that there may have been an “error or mix up” in bodies found in the rubble of an Israeli airstrike which it said killed Shiri and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. Israel said last night that Ariel and Kfir, whose remains were identified after being handed over, were murdered in captivity by terrorists.
Hamas calls on Israel to return to Gaza the body of the Palestinian woman that it handed over yesterday in place of Shiri.
The terror group says it remains committed to implementing the current ceasefire-hostage release deal and vows to uphold “all of our obligations,” claiming that it has no interest in holding on to any bodies of hostages.
Hamas confirms names of 6 hostages slated for release from Gaza tomorrow
Top row, from left: Omer Shem-Tov, Tal Shoham, Eliya Cohen. Bottom row, from left: Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed, Omer Wenkert (Courtesy)
Hamas officially announces that it will be releasing hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed tomorrow.
According to Hamas’s past statements, the six are the last of those to be returned under the first phase who are alive.
The families of the six were already notified by Israeli officials on Tuesday.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering the Strip of their own accord. The others were abducted on October 7, 2023.
IDF says 90 terror suspects detained in West Bank over the past week
Israeli army bulldozers demolish residential buildings in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, February 18, 2025. (Flash90)
IDF troops detained some 90 terror suspects in the West Bank over the past week, including five overnight in the town of Iktaba near Tulkarem, the military says.
The IDF has been carrying out a major offensive in the northern West Bank, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, since January 21.
Troops also seized 15 firearms in the West Bank over the past week, the military adds.
Last night, the IDF said that following a fresh assessment in light of the bus bombings in Bat Yam and Holon, it had blocked several checkpoints leading into the West Bank in specific areas, and would ramp up activities in the so-called seam zone, the area between the Green Line and Israel’s West Bank barrier.
Additionally, the IDF said it bolstered the West Bank area with three additional battalions.
Katz in West Bank: ‘We will hunt down and eliminate’ anybody involved in terror
Defense Minister Israel Katz is seen with troops in the West Bank's Tulkarem refugee camp, February 21, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz during a visit to the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank this morning says yesterday’s bus bombings in Bat Yam and Holon “will not deter us.”
“We are at war with extremist Islamic terror and we will win, here, in Gaza and everywhere,” he says, adding that he instructed the army to ramp up counter-terror activities in the West Bank.
“I warn the terrorists who were released to Judea and Samaria, we have our eyes on you, and will hunt down and eliminate everyone who is involved in terrorism,” Katz adds, referring to the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released to the West Bank in the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Red Cross ‘concerned and unsatisfied’ by Hamas handovers of hostages
Red Cross representatives receive from Hamas terrorists coffins apparently containing the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, February 20, 2025. (Reuters/Stringer)
The Red Cross is “concerned and unsatisfied” with the way Hamas hostage release operations have taken place, it tells Reuters, after Israel said one of the returned bodies did not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza.
Two of the four bodies handed over yesterday were identified as infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, while a third body that was supposed to be their mother, Shiri, was found not to match with any hostage and remained unidentified, the IDF said. The fourth was that of slain hostage Oded Lifshitz.
“The ICRC does not participate in sorting, screening, or examining the deceased — this is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict,” it says in a statement while expressing concern that the releases have not been conducted privately and in a dignified manner.
Shin Bet said to arrest suspects who transported bus bombers, including Jewish Israeli
A bus goes up in flames after an explosion at a parking lot in Bat Yam, February 20, 2025. (Screenshot)
The Shin Bet security agency reportedly arrested three suspects, including at least one Jewish Israeli, suspected of driving at least one of the apparent terrorists who set off several bombs on empty buses in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon last night.
Hebrew media outlets report that the Jewish Israeli suspect will be brought for a remand hearing today. Additionally, a Palestinian illegally in Israel was also reportedly detained in connection to the attack as well as at least one other suspect.
The Shin Bet declines to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Hamas claims Shiri Bibas’s remains were mixed with other human remains in rubble of airstrike
Posters on which "don't leave me behind" is written in Hebrew show Shiri Bibas (C) and her children Kfir (R) and Ariel, outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, February 19, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
After Israel said a body returned from Gaza yesterday was not that of Shiri Bibas, Hamas claims that the Israeli hostage’s remains had been mixed with other human remains from the rubble after an Israeli air strike hit the place where she was being held.
Hamas official Ismail al-Thawabteh claims that Shiri’s body “was turned into pieces after apparently being mixed with other bodies under the rubble,” reiterating its claim that Israel was behind her death.
Hamas has claimed for the past year that Shiri and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israeli authorities said overnight that the remains of Ariel and Kfir were identified and that they were murdered by terrorists in captivity.
They said the remains placed in a coffin labeled with Shiri’s face were actually that of an unidentified Gazan woman.
Israeli officials say that the body handed over was in a condition that authorities at the Abu Kabir forensic institute were able to definitively determine it did not belong to Shiri.
They say the body was also dressed in clothing, and was examined several times by the institute. The body’s DNA was tested against that of Shiri and all other female hostages still held by Hamas, and none of them matched.
Sa’ar thanks Argentine counterpart for country’s ‘moral stance’ against Hamas
Argentina's President Javier Milei waves as he arrives for his speech at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says he spoke with his Argentine counterpart, Gerardo Werthein, and thanked him for President Javier Milei’s decision to declare two days of mourning in memory of Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
“We value Argentina’s moral stance against the absolute evil of Hamas, which must be eradicated, and the true friendship of Argentina under President Javier Milei’s leadership,” says Sa’ar.
Hamas yesterday returned the bodies of Kfir and Ariel, and Israel said they were likely slain around November 2023. A third body, which Hamas said was their mother, Shiri, turned out to be an unidentified Gazan woman, according to Israel.
Shiri’s father, Yossi Silberman, was a native of Argentina who moved to Israel decades ago. Yossi and his wife Margit were murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Herzog slams Hamas for ‘shocking and horrific violation’ of ceasefire deal
President Isaac Herzog delivers a statement on the hostage release-ceasefire deal approved by Israel and Hamas on January 15, 2025. (Screenshot, GPO)
President Isaac Herzog expresses outrage at Hamas’s “horrific violation” after it handed over the body of an unidentified Gazan woman, claiming it was Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas.
“The bodies of Ariel and Kfir, so pure and innocent, were identified, while their beloved mother, Shiri, remains in captivity,” says Herzog in a statement. “This is a shocking and horrific violation of the ceasefire agreement, another cruel act by the terrorists of Hamas, who continue to show utter disregard for humanity.”
Herzog says Israel is “anxiously await[ing] the expected release of six more hostages this weekend,” and says the country must “do everything in our power to bring every one of our kidnapped sisters and brothers home. All of them. Until the very last one.”
Israel denies mobile homes entered Gaza today, says Kerem Shalom crossing is shut
Trucks carrying mobile homes are lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on February 20, 2025. (AFP)
Footage published by Palestinian media purports to show five trucks carrying equipment for mobile homes after entering the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing this morning.
Despite the footage, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) stresses that the crossing is not open this morning, and the video may not be from today.
Omer Dostri, the spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, posts on X that the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza is shut, and nothing has entered the Strip since yesterday. Dostri says that the equipment seen in the footage “entered Gaza in the past few days and not today.”
The entry of mobile homes and construction equipment into Gaza has been a sticking point, with Hamas last week threatening to halt the release of hostages under the ceasefire deal unless the items were allowed in.
On Tuesday, a senior Israeli official said Israel was to start allowing mobile homes and heavy construction equipment into Gaza in a controlled manner.
#عاجل | دخول 5 شاحنات تحمل بيوت متنقلة من مصر عبر معبر كرم أبو سالم إلى غزة. pic.twitter.com/0qdi09vxfz
— حسن اصليح | Hassan (@hassaneslayeh) February 21, 2025
Ahead of cold snap, authorities tell Israelis to keep faucet dripping to prevent frozen pipes
People walk in the rain during a winter day in Jerusalem, on February 20, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
With cold and stormy weather expected on Saturday and Sunday, the Water Authority advises people to leave a faucet dripping overnight, to ensure pipes don’t freeze, especially in hilly areas.
It recommends storing enough bottles of water for each family member, and writing down the number of the local water supply company.
Snow is expected on the Golan Heights and hilly areas over 600 meters (1,970 feet) above sea level.
On Wednesday evening, Energy Minister Eli Cohen chaired a meeting of the heads of all the bodies involved in electricity and water supply to ensure there is no disruption.
Energy Ministry director general Yossi Dayan and other officials will hold daily situation assessments, a ministry spokesman says.
Netanyahu slams ‘unspeakable cynicism’ of Hamas for handing over Gazan body in place of Shiri Bibas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slams the “unspeakable cynicism” of Hamas after Israeli forensic authorities determined that the body handed over yesterday which Hamas said was of Shiri Bibas is not her.
“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds,” Netanyahu says in a video statement. “Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. But in an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri alongside her young children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin.”
Yarden Bibas was freed earlier this month.
Netanyahu vows that Israel will “act resolutely to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”
The prime minister also expresses sadness at the confirmation that the other three bodies returned were those of Oded Lifshitz, 83, Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir, approximately 10 months, saying that “the three of them were brutally murdered in Hamas captivity in the first weeks of the war.”
He adds: “May God avenge their blood — and we too will avenge.”
Hostage Forum demands government act ‘wisely’ following news that Shiri Bibas’s body not returned
People gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, after Hamas's release of what it said were slain captives Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Silberstein Bibas, Ariel Bibas, and Kfir Bibas, on February 20, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
In a statement, the Hostage Families Forum calls on the government to find a way to bring back Shiri Bibas as quickly as possible, after Israel overnight said the body handed over by Hamas yesterday did not belong to her.
The forum says it experienced “terrible shock” to learn that the body handed over with those of Oded Lifshitz, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, was not that of Shiri, as Hamas had said, nor of any other hostage.
“Our demand of the Israeli government is to find the right, wise and quickest way to bring back Shiri and all the hostages,” the forum adds, appearing to use careful language ahead of the slated release tomorrow of six living hostages.
“Our loved ones are there and we do not know their fate,” the forum adds. “Don’t leave them there in the hands of the vile murderers.”
The forum says Israel must “stand wisely and responsibly in the face of violations of the agreement, and not let up.”
Ex-hostage Iair Horn recounts being ‘starved, interrogated, abused,’ begs Trump to bring home ‘seriously ill’ brother
Brothers Eitan (left), Iair and Amos Horn, before Iair and Eitan were taken hostage on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy Horn family)
Iair Horn, who was freed from Hamas captivity on Saturday, pens a message to US President Donald Trump in a column in Fox News begging him to help free his brother, Eitan, who is still held hostage and not slated for release during the ceasefire’s first stage.
“While my body lies in Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, my heart and soul remain trapped in Gaza,” writes Horn. “As long as my brother Eitan and the other hostages are held captive there, I too remain a hostage.”
With the return of the bodies yesterday of Ariel and Kfir Bibas and Oded Lifshitz, Horn writes: “I am tormented by a single thought: Will my brother Eitan be next? Will more families receive their loved ones in coffins?”
Horn reveals that for his first month in captivity, he was separated from Eitan before they were reunited and “stayed side by side until the day of my release – a moment that tears at my heart every second of every day.”
He says that “the conditions of our captivity were beyond anything humans should endure. The physical torture was unbearable, especially in those first months. But it was the psychological torture that almost broke us – the constant fear that each breath could be our last, that any word or movement could trigger our captors’ violence. We were starved, interrogated, abused. I survived by focusing only on making it through one more day, then another.”
Horn says that his brother is “seriously ill” and “has severe infections and dangerous fevers. Every hour that passes puts their lives at greater risk.”
Turning to Trump, Horn writes: “I will forever owe you my life. History will remember you as the leader who took decisive action when it mattered most, who upheld the sacred value of human life. Everything I do from this point forward will be thanks to your efforts. But there is urgent work still to be done. I beg you to use your influence once again to bring home those who remain. We need your help now more than ever.”
UN chief condemns Hamas for ‘parading bodies and displaying coffins of deceased Israeli hostages’
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Hamas for “the parading of bodies and displaying of the coffins of the deceased Israeli hostages” in Gaza yesterday before returning them to Israel.
“Under international law, any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” Guterres writes on the social platform X.
The statement was issued after the Israel Defense Forces says one of the bodies handed over by Hamas was not that of hostage Shiri Bibas or any other captive, which Guterres doesn’t mention.
Mourning Bibas brothers, Kibbutz Nir Oz vows to ‘not stop fighting’ until their mother returns
Kibbutz Nir Oz issues a statement mourning residents Ariel and Kfir Bibas, after the IDF announced their remains had been identified.
“We will remember Ariel for his rolling laughter and Kfir’s innocent smile. In these difficult moments, we demand the immediate return of their mother Shiri Bibas, and will not stop fighting until she returns, together with all the hostages from the kibbutz and the State of Israel.”
Israeli UN envoy demands Security Council condemn Hamas for returning body it claimed was Shiri Bibas
UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon accuses Hamas of returning an unidentified body instead of the body of the mother of two murdered boys, “as if it were a worthless shipment.”
“This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel,” he says in a statement.
“There are no words that can describe such an atrocity,” Danon says. “Hamas not only murdered Ariel and Kfir Bibas in cold blood – a 4-year-old boy and a 10-month-old baby – but continue to violate every basic moral value even after their death.”
Israel demands that the UN Security Council condemn “this heinous crime” and demands the immediate return of the mother, Shiri Bibas, to her family, he says.
Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel, the Security Council has refused to condemn the terrorist group.
Argentina’s Milei declares 2 days of national mourning for Ariel and Kfir Bibas
President Isaac Herzog and Argentinian President Javier Milei visit the Bibas family home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on February 8, 2024. (Maayan Toaf / GPO)
Argentine President Javier Milei declares two days of national mourning in Argentina for Ariel and Kfir Bibas — who held Argentine citizenship — following the confirmation of their deaths in Hamas captivity. In a post on X, Milei released a statement where he strongly condemns the terror group Hamas.
“According to the National Center of Forensic Medicine, the children were brutally assassinated in captivity by Hamas terrorists in November 2023. It is monstrous that these events happen in this century, and that their death is due to a single motivation: to be Jews.”
“The president of the nation decrees national mourning for two days in memory of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and expresses in the name of Argentines, condolences to the family, especially Yarden Bibas, father of the boys, who having suffered from the torment of being held hostage for 484 days, today is faced with his worst nightmare.”
Milei says that Argentina calls for the immediate release of the other hostages in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the City of Buenos Aires honors the Argentine-Israeli Bibas family by projecting their image on the national historic monument the Obelisco and illuminates a public structure with orange lights — the color of the Bibas children’s hair.
*La Ciudad interviene el Obelisco con un mapping en apoyo al Papa Francisco y un homenaje a la familia Bibas*
El Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires interviene el Obelisco con un mapping especial en apoyo al Papa Francisco, quien atraviesa un delicado momento de salud. Hasta… pic.twitter.com/CZ9pKaearu
— Radio Jai (@fmjai) February 21, 2025
US hostage envoy warns Hamas over ‘horrific’ decision to send anonymous body to Israel
FILE - Adam Boehler speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
A top US official issues a stark warning for Hamas after the Israeli military said the terror group released an anonymous body and not that of an Israeli hostage.
Speaking to CNN, Adam Boehler, who serves as the United States envoy for hostages, calls the Hamas decision to release the unidentified body “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire halting fighting in the Gaza Strip
“If I were them, I’d release everybody or they are going to face total annihilation,” he says.
Boehler also says that Israel gave advance notice to senior US officials that the remains were not of Shiri Bibas and that forensic evidence determined that her sons Ariel and Kfir were murdered in November 2023 by terrorists.
“I don’t know what [Hamas] thought when they put the body of somebody else in a coffin and said that it was the mother of two kids who had been brutally murdered, whether they thought Israel wouldn’t find that out or not, but it’s absolutely stunning,” he said.
The remains of an Israeli mother and her two young children were expected to be released by Hamas today. U.S. Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler reacts to the shocking development that Israel says one of the four remains did not actually belong to any of the Israeli hostages. pic.twitter.com/Vus6WAgZCG
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 21, 2025
Israel said to lodge protest with mediators as it demands Hamas free Shiri Bibas
Israeli officials have protested to the mediators of the hostage release and ceasefire deal after Hamas handed over a body that was not Shiri Bibas or any other captive, in a violation of the agreement, according to Ynet.
“We don’t know why they did that, there is great shock here. We demand Shiri’s return,” an unnamed Israeli source tells the news site.
“It’s important to us that the next round [of the hostage release] on Saturday be held as planned,” the source adds, referring to the six living captives slated to be freed on Saturday.
Ynet reports that the military is bracing for Saturday’s releases to go ahead as planned, with the government yet to comment on how it will respond to Hamas’s failure to return Shiri Bibas.
According to Hebrew media reports, forensic experts conducted numerous checks on the body that Hamas claimed to be Shiri Bibas, comparing it to her DNA and that of other female hostages, but there were no matches and the identity of the remains is still unclear.
IDF announces 3 more battalions will be deployed to West Bank
The IDF announces that it will send three more battalions as reinforcements to the West Bank, following an assessment held in wake of the suspected bus bombing attack in the Tel Aviv area Thursday night.
The military says that it’s constantly assessing and “prepared to expand the offensive operations,” while adding “the counterterrorism mission in northern Samaria is continuing all the time,” using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.
Rubio calls for ‘pure evil’ Hamas to be ‘eradicated’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on February 16, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/ POOL/ AFP)
Writing on X before the news broke that Hamas did not return the body of Shiri Bibas, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls for Hamas to be “eradicated.”
“On October 7, 2023, terrorists in Gaza abducted a mother, her child, her infant son, and an 83-year-old man and murdered them,” he writes. “More than 500 days later, Hamas returned them to Israel in coffins. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims’ families who have suffered the unimaginable.”
“Hamas is evil – pure evil – and must be eradicated. ALL hostages must come home NOW.”
IDF: Remains of Kfir and Ariel Bibas identified, but 3rd body sent by Hamas is not their mother Shiri
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)
The military informs the Bibas family that the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas have been identified after their remains were given to Israel by Hamas on Thursday.
However, the third body at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute was not that of their mother, Shiri Bibas, says the Israel Defense Forces. Specialists at Abu Kabir were not able to identify the body. It did not match any male or female hostage, the IDF said. “This is an anonymous, identified body.”
The authorities, using forensic evidence and intelligence, assess that the two young boys were ‘”brutally murdered” by terrorists in November 2023, says the IDF. Ariel was 4-years-old and Kfir was 10-months-old when they were murdered.
“This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is required by the agreement to return four dead hostages,” says the IDF. “We demand that Hamas return Shiri home, along with all of our hostages.”
“We share the deep sorrow of the Bibas family at this difficult time and will continue to make every effort to return Shiri and all the hostages home as soon as possible,” says the IDF.
PM calls for massive operation in West Bank, further ‘preventative activities’ in Israeli cities
Following the attempted string of bus bombings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the IDF to embark on a massive operation in the West Bank against terrorist hubs, according to his office.
He also instructs the police and Shin Bet to “increase preventative activities” in Israel’s cities to prevent further attacks.
The decisions come after a meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and Police Commissioner Daniel Levy.
IDF says strikes on Lebanon-Syria border targeted Hezbollah arms smuggling routes
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes on the Lebanon-Syria border a short while ago, saying its fighter jets targeted border crossings used by the Hezbollah terror group to smuggle arms.
The military says the attempts by Hezbollah to bring weapons into Lebanon “constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Hostage advocates in NYC to hold silent gathering to mourn the slain captives
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in New York City announces a “silent gathering” to mourn the four slain hostages who were returned to Israel on Thursday.
The gathering will take place at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, starting at 6:30 p.m. local time.
“We will gather in silence, lighting candles in memory of the lives we have lost,” the group says in a statement. “May we see brighter days ahead.”
There will be no speeches at the gathering. For those unable to attend, the group urges them to light a candle.
The group asks participants to refrain from mentioning the names of hostages whose remains have not been identified yet, out of respect for the families.
The forum holds regular rallies on Sundays in Central Park.
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