Israel-Hamas war: ‘I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us’

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2023

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I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us on another day of protests in the West Bank.

It was clearly a tactic by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to send a message – to the usual suspects who regularly hurl rocks at their vehicles and security posts – that today they weren’t going to mess around.

Even as we pulled up and put our protective equipment on, I could hear the first rounds being fired.

At that stage the road was pretty empty, there were just a few youngsters getting ready for the almost daily theatre of rock throwing followed by live fire shooting.

The most remarkable thing to me – and I’ve reported on riots and violent protests all over the world for decades – is that everyone getting ready for this exchange of rocks and bullets knows exactly what is going to happen.

Israel-Gaza latest: Mother and daughter released by Hamas

The teenagers will set tyres on fire and use slings to throw stones, and the IDF will shoot them.

Today it was mainly in the legs – on other days it’s been in the head and the chest.

I just cannot understand why anyone thinks risking one’s life to throw a stone that mainly can’t, and certainly won’t reach the target, is a good idea.

But they do, I’ve watched them, and they have done this for generations.

I very much doubt there is a better example of the cycle of violence that has overwhelmed the Middle East for decades.

And how so often it is utterly futile, and unproductive.

My cameraman Toby Nash filmed as three youths used the burnt-out hulk of a truck for cover – and to get a better angle to hurl stones.

They go forward, a sniper shoots. The injured man is helped away from the firing line, and an ambulance screeches in to pick him up.

We then watch on as another teenager at the front takes another tyre to make more smoke to cover their movements.

He skips as he crosses back, trying to outwit the snipers.

What he doesn’t know is they have another target, who had come forward from another angle.

But he didn’t get very far, he too was shot.

The ambulance crews move in.

Across the road people take cover at a petrol station, it’s where dozens come to watch all this, often with their children.

Suddenly another round is fired – this time two or three people are hit by the sniper, with the same bullet.

They weren’t even throwing stones; they were just standing watching.

Away from the violence at the check point, the streets of Ramallah echoed with echo the chants of people protesting against the actions of Israel here and in Gaza.

They’re also protesting against the countries who have given their support to Israel.

The United States and Britain are at the top of the list.

I met Palestinian activist Jamal Jomaa in the crowd. He told me this has been going on too long.

“Since 75 years we are fighting for our simple rights, like any other people in the world to have, to live in peace in our state and we didn’t find this.

“Now it’s ended up like this and it’s supported by Americans, Europeans, this is unacceptable for Palestinians,” he said.

He continued: “You hear the people here – it’s become more clear our enemy is not just Israel, our enemy is the United States government, not people, we are appreciating every single voice that came out, especially Jewish voice for peace and all these Jewish voices standing up and saying don’t do this massacre in our names.

“These are our allies, these are the people we are allies with, not with Biden and his racist government, not with Sunak. All of them came to support genocide in Gaza. This is a shame, they should feel ashamed of themselves.”

The city centre came to a standstill. Men, women and children joined the procession as it made its way through the streets.

Many here believe Israeli soldiers will move into Gaza; all acknowledge it will lead to more violence both here in the West Bank and further afield.

A solution is desperately needed.

Also in the crowd is Bassam Al-Salhi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

He told me he has concerns that Israel is committing war crimes with the full support of the US, UK, France, and “all countries who came to support Israel in their war against Palestinians”.

“What we need from all of the people now is to stop this aggression against Palestinians and go through a serious process to end the occupation and implement United Nations resolutions,” he said.

The cycle of protest and violence continues. The flaming anger of Palestinians in the Arab world is burning brighter by the day.

The make-up of the crowd is always interesting – at the front there are men, in the middle there are families, and then, having decided to walk together, are groups of women.

Among them was a woman who didn’t want to be named, but she agreed to speak to me about her fears.

Her anger was so passionate – and to me represented the ordinary Palestinians who aren’t involved in politics or armed resistance.

“I’ve lived all my life under occupation, now I am fearful for my children, for my co-workers,” she told me.

“I mean, this government has all the Palestinians, five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, under its complete control. We are civilians, and they have the best weapons in the world to do whatever they want.”

World

Israel checking reports of hostage Shiri Bibas’s body being handed over

Published

5 hours ago

February 22, 2025

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Israel checking reports of hostage Shiri Bibas's body being handed over

Hamas says the body of hostage Shiri Bibas has now been handed over, according to the group’s Al-Aqsa TV channel – as the Israeli military says it is checking the reports.

Israel said on Thursday that Ms Bibas was not among the four bodies handed over on Thursday as part of the ceasefire agreement, instead receiving an “anonymous body without identification”.

The failure to hand over the correct body caused outrage in Israel, and prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vow that Hamas “pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation”.

Follow latest: Israel claims Hamas killed child hostages with their ‘bare hands’

In a short statement, the Red Cross confirmed it had received human remains and transferred them to Israeli authorities.

The statement did not specify whose remains were believed to be in transit.

Dr Salem Attalah, deputy secretary general for the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades, said it handed over Ms Bibas’ remains to the Red Cross.

The militant group is thought to have been holding the mother and her two boys, Kfir and Ariel.

Hamas previously claimed there was the “possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies” which may have been caused by Israel “targeting and bombing the place where the family was with other Palestinians”.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, later said “unfortunate mistakes” occurred and also suggested Israeli bombing had mixed the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians.

He added in a statement: “We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign.”

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “Following the reports regarding Shiri Bibas, they are currently under review. IDF representatives are in contact with the family.”

Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the group’s terror attack on Israel in October 2023.

The IDF confirmed the bodies of the two boys were positively identified on Thursday. However, it claimed the children had been murdered by Hamas with “bare hands”.

Hamas however claimed Ms Bibas and her children were all killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, near the start of the war.

It comes ahead of the next round of hostage releases on Saturday – the final one during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect last month.

The hostages due for release are Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al Sayed and Avera Mengisto.

According to the Hamas prisoners’ media office, Israel will be releasing 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday, adding to the hundreds already released.

It also comes after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to intensify operations in the West Bank after a series of bus explosions in a city near Tel Aviv.

Two of the blasts were in the city of Bat Yam on Thursday night, and a third was reported in the nearby town of Holon. No injuries were reported.

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Hamas names six Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday

Published

17 hours ago

February 21, 2025

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Hamas names six Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday

Hamas has named six Israeli hostages who are set to be released on Saturday while Israel is expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement between the parties.

The hostages due for release are Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto.

According to Hamas’s prisoners media office, Israel will be releasing 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday, adding to the hundreds already released since the ceasefire took effect last month.

The release of the hostages on Saturday is the final one in this phase of the Gaza truce deal.

Mr Mengisto and Mr al-Sayed are civilians who entered the besieged enclave of Gaza a decade ago and have been held there since.

Israelis who survived being held prisoner in Gaza, where a powerful bombing campaign has left much of it destroyed, have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.

The start of negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire is expected in the coming days.

Israel and Hamas have been at war since the latter, a militant group ruling Gaza, carried out a massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and took 251 hostage.

The latest list of hostages set for release comes amid heightened tensions between the parties after Israel claimed the body of hostage Shiri Bibas wasn’t actually hers and it had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”.

Hamas responded that Ms Bibas’s remains appear to have been mixed with other human remains in what it claims was an “Israeli airstrike”.

Her body was meant to be handed over on Thursday alongside the bodies of her two children, who the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed they received.

The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also returned.

The Bibas family has become a powerful symbol of the 251 Israelis kidnapped on 7 October 2023 – not least because Kfir was the youngest taken.

The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

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Hostage’s body not returned as remains ‘mixed’ in rubble, Hamas says – with Netanyahu warning group ‘will pay’

Published

17 hours ago

February 21, 2025

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Hostage's body not returned as remains 'mixed' in rubble, Hamas says - with Netanyahu warning group 'will pay'

Hamas says the remains of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas appear to have been mixed with other human remains in what it claims was an “Israeli airstrike”.

Israel said the body handed over by Hamas was not Shiri’s, saying it had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”.

Israel claimed today forensic evidence showed Shiri and her two children were murdered in captivity by Hamas. Sky News has asked the IDF to provide evidence for their claims, but they have refused to comment further.

The Palestinian group claims Shiri and her children were all killed in Israeli airstrikes near the start of the war.

Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the Palestinian militant group’s incursion into Israel in October 2023.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it received the bodies of Ariel and Kfir on Thursday.

However, it said the body that Hamas had claimed was their mother was not her and the group had therefore violated the ceasefire agreement.

“During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee. It is an anonymous body without identification,” it said in a statement.

“This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is required by the agreement to return four dead abductees. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all of our abductees.”

Hamas said there was the “possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies” due to Israeli bombing. Hamas has said they were all killed in Israeli airstrikes near the start of the war. The group has never provided evidence to back this up. Israel says the Bibas family were murdered by Hamas in captivity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel would make Hamas pay for failing to release Shiri’s body, calling it a “cruel and malicious violation”.

“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he said in a video statement.

The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also handed over on Thursday.

Hamas handed over the remains as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement which was reached with Israel last month.

The bodies were transferred in four black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display as a crowd of Palestinians and dozens of armed Hamas militants watched.

Israelis lined the road in the rain near the Gaza border to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by.

In Tel Aviv, people gathered, some weeping, in a public square opposite Israel’s defence headquarters that has come to be known as Hostages Square.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas and said the four coffins meant “more than ever” that Israel had to ensure there was no repeat of the 7 October attack.

Mr Netanyahu said: “Our loved ones’ blood is shouting at us from the soil and is obliging us to settle the score with the despicable murderers, and we will.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said: “Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts – the hearts of an entire nation – lie in tatters.”

United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, called the parading of the four bodies “cruel” and “inhumane” in a statement on Thursday.

He said: “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”

The Bibas family has become a powerful symbol of the 251 Israelis kidnapped on 7 October – not least because Kfir was the youngest taken.

The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

Sombre moment for Israelis – as Hamas uses opportunity for propaganda

Diana Magnay

International correspondent

@DiMagnaySky

The return of the bodies of four Israeli hostages is a “sombre moment” for everybody in Israel and Jews across the world, our international correspondent Diana Magnay says.

She says the two young boys, Ariel and Kfir, “really became a symbol of the tremendous suffering 7 October caused”.

“Now, to have them returned back in this way is tragic.”

Referring to the scenes of coffins being transferred to the Red Cross, Magnay says Hamas has chosen to use this “as a propaganda opportunity”.

“They have missiles on the stage where the four coffins were, saying they were killed by US bombs,” she explains.

She says Hamas’s main message is “this was caused by you, you should take responsibility for it”.

She adds that 7 October was caused by Hamas, and has brought “untold suffering to both Israel and Palestinians”.

Meanwhile, six living hostages, the final due to be freed under the first phase of the Gaza truce deal, will be released on Saturday, according to Hamas.

Israelis who survived being held prisoner in Gaza have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.

The deal has provided a vital pause in the fighting that’s devastated Gaza and left tens of thousands dead.

At least 1,200 people were killed in the attack that started the war.

Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.