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Netta Epstein, 22: Jumped on a grenade to save his fiancé

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Treasure Trove remembers a star-studded fundraiser in Madison Square Gardens for Jewish refugees

The “Night of Stars” was an annual fundraising event for the United Palestine Appeal. This is the program that was published for the 1939 version of the show which was held in November in New York’s Madison Square Gardens, less than three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. Nine months earlier, a Nazi […]

The post Treasure Trove remembers a star-studded fundraiser in Madison Square Gardens for Jewish refugees appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Gaza Talks Still On, Israel Says

A Palestinian woman and a child look on at the site of an Israeli air strike on a building, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip March 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Efforts to secure a deal on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza were still ongoing, according to a statement by Israel‘s intelligence agency Mossad on Saturday, despite dimming hopes for a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mossad chief David Barnea met on Friday with his U.S. counterpart William Burns to promote a deal that would see hostages released, Mossad said in a statement distributed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

“Contacts and cooperation with the mediators continue all the time in an effort to narrow the gaps and reach agreements,” Mossad said.

Israel and Hamas, the Islamist terror group that rules the Palestinian enclave, have traded blame over the apparent deadlock in talks in the run-up to Ramadan, which begins on or around March 10.

A Hamas source told Reuters the group’s delegation was “unlikely” to make another visit to Cairo over the weekend for talks.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have been mediating truce negotiations since January. The last deal led to a week-long pause in fighting in November during which Hamas released more than 100 hostages and Israel freed about three times as many Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas blames Israel for the impasse in negotiations for a longer ceasefire and the release of 134 hostages believed still held in Gaza – saying it refuses to give guarantees to end the war or pull its forces from the enclave.

Mossad said Hamas was digging its heels in and aiming for violence in the region to spiral during Ramadan. Israeli officials have said that the war will end only with the defeat of Hamas, whose demands Netanyahu has called “delusional.”

In a statement on Saturday marking Ramadan, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh vowed the Palestinians will continue to fight Israel “until they regain freedom and independence”

The war was triggered by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Stepping up pressure on the last area of Gaza it has not yet invaded with ground forces, Israel struck one of the largest residential towers in the southern city of Rafah.

The 12-floor building was damaged in the strike, and residents said dozens of families were made homeless, though no casualties were reported. Israel‘s military said the block was being used by Hamas to plan attacks on Israelis.

One of the 300 residents of the tower, located near the border with Egypt, told Reuters Israel gave them a 30-minute warning to flee the building at night.

“People were startled, running down the stairs, some fell, it was chaos. People left their belongings and money,” said Mohammad Al-Nabrees, adding that among those who tripped down the stairs during the panicked evacuation was a friend’s pregnant wife.

The strike raised alarm among residents of a wider Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering.

AID SHIP

Hamas on Saturday named four Israeli hostages as having died in Israeli strikes in the enclave, though it offered no evidence. The Israeli military, which declined to comment, has previously said such videos by Hamas were psychological warfare.

Israel‘s offensive has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian catastrophe. Much of the coastal enclave is reduced to rubble and most of its population is displaced, with the U.N. warning of disease and starvation.

A ship laden with relief supplies for Gaza was preparing on Saturday to depart Cyprus. The European Commission has said a maritime aid corridor between Cyprus and Gaza could start operating as early as this weekend in a pilot project run by an international charity and financed by the United Arab Emirates.

The post Gaza Talks Still On, Israel Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Deliver Hostage Deal or You’re Out, Qatar Tells Hamas Leaders

Hamas Chairman Ismail Haniyeh (Photo: Hamas)

i24 NewsQatar has reportedly issued a stark ultimatum to Hamas leaders, threatening to expel them from the country if they fail to secure an agreement.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed Hamas and Egyptian officials, reported the ultimatum, highlighting the mounting pressure on Hamas to broker a truce.

Qatar, which hosts Hamas’s political bureau, including its leader Ismail Haniyeh, has become a pivotal player in the negotiations. However, Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official based in Doha, denied the expulsion threat, emphasizing that negotiations are ongoing. Badran stressed Hamas’s commitment to ending the conflict, warning of potential escalation in violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if a truce is not reached.

Hamas’s conditions for a hostage truce deal include a permanent ceasefire, the return of displaced civilians to northern Gaza, increased humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Strip. However, Israel has advocated for a more limited truce and has vowed to continue its offensive until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are freed.

Blame for the lack of progress in negotiations has been directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Badran, who accuses him of refusing to engage with the proposed terms. Badran portrays Netanyahu as a destabilizing force in the region, attributing the deadlock in talks to his reluctance to address the issues on the negotiating table.

The post Deliver Hostage Deal or You’re Out, Qatar Tells Hamas Leaders first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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