Adil El-Shelchi
Appearances
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
Yeah. Well, we know that Hamas was supposed to return the bodies of Shiri Bibas. She was 32 when she was kidnapped. Her two young sons, Ariel, who was four at the time, and Kfir, who was just nine months old. Hamas also said they returned Oded Lifshitz, who was 83.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
And then later in the day, Israeli officials said that forensic testing positively identified the bodies of Lifshitz and the two young boys. But the body that was supposed to be the kid's mother was what they said, quote, an anonymous, unidentified body. The Israeli military said that that body didn't even belong to any known hostage.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
And then in a statement today, Hamas acknowledged there could have been an error and the remains thought to be Shir Abiba's could have been mixed with the remains of a Palestinian who was staying in the location where the hostages were being kept. Hamas is asking Israel to return the remains of that Palestinian.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
Now, you have to understand the Bibas family really became the symbol of Israeli pain after the attacks of October 7th, you know, the plight of the hostages. The boys were just so young. So the news did come as a shock to the country. And then another thing, Hamas has also been saying since the beginning of the war that the Bibas family was killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
But then Israeli officials said that the forensic testing showed that the family was actually killed by Hamas, but didn't say exactly how. Yeah.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
Yeah, so that next hostage exchange is supposed to happen tomorrow. And I have to say, you know, like the whole ceasefire has been so precarious. Just last week, there was a chance the deal was going to just fall all apart when Hamas alleged Israel committed violations, Israel denied them. But it also looks like both sides want to get this done, especially now with pressure from the United States.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
So NPR talked to an Israeli official who's familiar with the matter, but they weren't authorized to speak publicly yesterday. And we were told that Israel is actually inclined to move ahead with Saturday's prisoner exchange. They said Israel just doesn't want to jeopardize the release of the Israeli hostages this weekend.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
But then the official also said Israel is going to take advantage that Shiri Bibas' body wasn't returned as a point of negotiation to ask for more hostage releases going forward.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
That's right. So three buses exploded in a suburb called Bat Yam. It's just south of Tel Aviv. Luckily, no injuries were reported. The police said the buses were empty. They had just finished their routes. They were parked in lots around the city. Israeli police said it found explosives on two other buses which didn't detonate.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
The bombs were the same type as those that had exploded, and bomb squads were able to defuse them. No group claimed responsibility, but right away, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office ordered the military to step up its incursions in the occupied West Bank. The military has escalated as airstrikes and raids there since the beginning of the ceasefire, especially around the city of Jenin.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their homes because of these attacks, and Israel says the operations are trying to root out militants.
Up First from NPR
Migrants Leave Guantanamo, Israeli Hostages Update, Changes at FEMA
You're welcome, Steve.