Nathan Jeffay

1 day ago | thejc.com | Nathan Jeffay

His family responded: “He’s begging us to save him.” Terrorist hostage videos are known to be scripted and are interpreted as tools of psychological warfare. Then, this morning, people across the Haifa area were woken at 4 am as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen triggered air defence activation across northern Israel. The IDF said the missile was “probably intercepted successfully”.

2 days ago | thejc.com | Nathan Jeffay

America’s new ambassador to Israel has blamed Hamas for the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza, challenging the international tendency to blame Israel. Mike Huckabee said he had received a request from the World Health Organisation to help resolve the lack of aid flowing into Gaza — and then released a video saying that the pressure “really belongs” on Hamas. He said: “So we call upon Hamas to sign an agreement so that humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza to the people who desperately need it.

1 week ago | thejc.com | Nathan Jeffay

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a former hostage yesterday that Hamas – the terror group that held him for almost 500 days and murdered his father, Vitaly – deserves “gratitude” for eventually freeing him. He made the comment to Sasha Troufanov at the Kremlin. Troufanov’s partner, Sapir Cohen, and his mother Yelena, both former hostages themselves, were also in the room.

1 week ago | thejc.com | Nathan Jeffay

The IDF also killed a Hezbollah special operations commander in a drone strike on the Lebanese town of Aitaroun yesterday. Lebanese media named the target as Ali Najib Baydoun. Israel says recent operations in Lebanon target Hezbollah operatives violating a ceasefire agreement reached last November. Meanwhile, Tehran must completely dismantle its nuclear programme if it wants a deal with America, the US’ Middle East envoy said yesterday.

1 week ago | thejc.com | Nathan Jeffay

Israeli officials said the handover may be a step towards calm but warned that Hezbollah fighters are still violating the ceasefire. In related news, a reservist was seriously wounded after troops mistakenly entered an Israeli minefield near the Lebanon border. In Gaza, Hamas is reportedly considering a proposal to release 10 hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire. The terror group is set to send representatives to Qatar in the coming days to continue indirect talks.