JERUSALEM, Israel – The word from the hostage talks in Cairo: no deal so far. Negotiators meeting in Egypt have failed until now to agree to a deal for the release of the remaining hostages.
The stalemate comes as tensions in the region are increasing.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. is working intensely with Egypt and Qatar, and has met with the hostage families.
“The agony that they face, simply not knowing, not knowing the fate of their loved ones is beyond our imaginations,” Blinken said.
Film producer Sheryl Sandberg released a clip with 17-year-old former hostage Agam Goldstein-Almog, who described how a Hamas terrorist sexually assaulted another hostage at gunpoint.
Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces released a video of a tunnel compound showing Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar along with his family.
Another video from the IDF showed a tunnel compound where Sinwar was hiding. The compound included a bathroom, a kitchen, and stockpiles of food and money.
IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari declared, “Sinwar started a war with Israel, a war that Israel did not seek, a war that has caused immense suffering to Israelis and Palestinians alike. While the people of Gaza are suffering above ground, Sinwar is hiding in tunnels underground underneath them, running like the coward that he is, with one of his wives and children, and a brother leading the way.”
In the North Wednesday, a Hezbollah rocket killed one Israeli and injured several others. The strike in the northern Israeli city of Sefat increases the tension between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says the fighting on the Lebanese-Israeli border will stop if a ceasefire is reached with Hamas in Gaza.
In a chilling admission, Iran’s former top nuclear official said Iran has all the needed elements to build a nuclear bomb. Iran also test-fired ballistic missiles from the deck of a warship with a range of more than 1,000 miles. The tests come amid concerns of a wider war in the Middle East.
And in the Red Sea, the war with the Iranian-backed Houthis has increased dramatically.
Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two on the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, noted, “When you compare missions that are like this, going back to the 1980s or even going all the way back to World War II, this is the most dynamic – and what I’ll call weapons engagement zone activity – that we’ve had over the last, you know, 40 to 50 years up to this point.”
In the U.S., a new study conducted just after the Israel-Hamas war broke out shows nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure than they did a year ago.
“This year’s study shows us very clearly that anti-Semitism that was really just a simmering flame is now, especially since October 7th, It’s a five-alarm fire,” explained the American Jewish Committee’s Ted Deutch. “And the data confirms what we know from our conversations with members of the Jewish community from around the country – that people feel less secure, they feel less safe, and they’re changing their behavior in America to conceal who they are as Jews as a result.”
Deutch says there needs to be a national strategy to combat anti-Semitism.
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