The harrowing tale of a former Hamas hostage

“There are always noises or smells that take you back there. I just wait until it passes,” Ofir Engel told JNS on Wednesday. Read more

More than skin deep: Oct. 7 memorial tattoos

Campaigning for the release of their loved one, relatives of Liri Albag, one of 101 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, got the word “faith” tattooed on themselves, replicating one of Liri’s tattoos. Read more

Bereaved families mark Oct. 7 at Supernova massacre site

Families of the 364 revellers murdered by Hamas at the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, gathered on Monday at the site near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel to honour their fallen loved ones on the one-year anniversary of the massacre. Read more

‘This medal was bigger than me’

“Once I finished the competition, I realized that this medal was bigger than me,” Tom Reuveny, who won the men’s windsurfing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, told JNS on Monday. Read more

Eli Bibas fears for lives of kidnapped son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren

“Ariel loves Batman. He drew a picture and asked his teacher to write on it, ‘I fly and save people who are stuck in a pit,’” Eli Bibas, whose son Yarden, daughter-in-law Shiri and grandsons, Ariel and Kfir were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas to Gaza, told JNS on Wednesday. Read more

Reporter’s Notebook: Kibbutz Be’eri slowly rises from the ashes of Oct. 7

As we approached the devastated villages of southern Israel, including Kibbutz Be’eri, the GPS navigation system insisted we “continue straight on Road 232,” commonly dubbed “The Road of Death” by survivors of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. Read more

Hostage families call to maintain pressure on Hamas

Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Sunday morning to demand that the government keep up the military pressure on Hamas. Read more

The trauma of pregnancy by rape added to the anguish of captivity

Relatives of women held by Hamas in Gaza participated this week in a briefing on sexual violence and forced pregnancies, as hostages mark nine months in captivity. Read more

Israeli team scores podiums in successive Tour de France stages

Israel-Premier Tech rider Pascal Ackermann finished in third place in the 10th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday, a 187.3-kilometre ride from Orleans to Saint-Amand-Montrond. Read more

New report details South Africa’s links to Islamic terror

Pretoria serves as a “crucial base of operations” for Islamic terror groups, according to a soon-to-be-released report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. Read more

Tony Abbott tells JNS: Talk of Palestinian state does not represent country

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was not representing most of her country’s citizens when she said that recognizing a Palestinian state would not constitute a reward for Israel’s enemies, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott told JNS. Read more

Captives’ loved ones begin four-day protest march

Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza embarked on a four-day march on Wednesday from Kibbutz Re’im near the Strip to Jerusalem’s Paris Square. Read more

‘When will he be coming home?’

“I can’t allow myself to get caught in the emotional rollercoaster around hostage negotiations,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui, 35, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. Read more

‘I am going to The Hague to speak for those who no longer can’

One hundred representatives of families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza left for The Hague on Wednesday morning to submit a comprehensive complaint to the International Criminal Court on behalf of the victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist invasion. Read more

Thousands rally in Jerusalem against ending Hamas war

Thousands of Israelis, including soldiers, parents of fallen soldiers and relatives of Hamas hostages, took part in a rally on Thursday in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. Read more

‘Allowing Hamas to stay in Gaza is not acceptable’

An interview with Israel’s former U.N. envoy Danny Danon. Read more

Captives’ loved ones plead for their release at Tel Aviv rally

As Israel marked 100 days of captivity for hostages held in Gaza on Sunday, Hamas released a 37-second propaganda video featuring detainees Noa Argamani, Itay Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi. Read more