‘Relieved beyond words’: Elderly women in poor health freed by Hamas
Hamas has released two more hostages, with the British daughter of one of the women flying to Israel after saying she’s relieved beyond words.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, were taken to the Rafah crossing into Egypt and put into ambulances.
Hamas said it released them on humanitarian and “poor health grounds”, but their husbands are still being held prisoner.
Israel-Gaza war – latest updates
The group released images of masked gunmen giving the women food and drink and leading them to the handover point, where Red Cross workers met them.
More than 200 people were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel earlier this month but only four have been freed – the other two being a US mother and daughter last week.
Sharone Lifschitz, who lives in London, confirmed her mother was released on Monday evening and is flying out to meet her.
“While I cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, I will remain focused on securing the release of my father and all those, some 200 innocent people, who remain hostages in Gaza,” she said.
Hamas released this image – Mrs Lifshitz is centre and Mrs Cooper on the right. Pic: AP
The two women and their husbands – aged 83 and 84 – were snatched from their homes in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, as Hamas began its massacre on 7 October.
Ms Lifschitz told Times Radio her parents had complex health needs and that her father, Oded, had high blood pressure the night before the attack.
The grandson of Yocheved Lifshitz said his grandparents had spent years helping sick Gazans.
“They are human rights activists, peace activists for all their life,” said Daniel Lifshitz.
“For more than a decade, they took… sick Palestinians from the Gaza Strip – not from the West Bank, from the Gaza Strip – every week from the Erez border to the hospitals in Israel to get treatment for their disease, for cancer, for anything.”
Yocheved Lifshitz, left, and Nurit Cooper. Pic: AP
With many hostages still held prisoner, the US is understood to have asked Israel to delay its ground invasion so more can be freed.
A senior Hamas leader told Sky News all civilians among the hostages would be released if Israel reduced the intensity of bombing Gaza.
“We want to stop the random bombardments, the total destruction, the genocide so that the al Qassam soldiers can take them from their places and hand them to the Red Cross or whoever,” said Khaled Meshaal.
“We need the right conditions to allow them to be released.”
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Senior Hamas leader speaks to Sky
Israeli tanks and thousands of troops have been waiting for days for the order to attack – a move that’s likely to significantly increase casualties on both sides.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Monday “it will come” and to keep preparing.
He said the attack would be from land, air and sea but gave no timeframe.
More than 5,000 Palestinians have now been killed and 15,000 wounded in Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
On Monday, it said more than 400 had died in just the last 24 hours.
Hospitals are at breaking point, with vital supplies like anaesthetic running low and fears electricity generators could run out of fuel – halting life-saving equipment like baby incubators.
A wounded young Palestinian waits for treatment on the floor of Shifa Hospital. Pic: AP
Israeli strikes have ramped up in recent days before an expected ground attack
Israel insists it takes great care not to injure civilians and that its only aim is to destroy Hamas – which runs the Gaza Strip.
Israel has urged people to move from northern Gaza but hundreds of thousands remain.
The aerial bombardment and blockade have also caused food and water to run perilously low in the densely packed territory of 2.3 million people.
On Monday, a third aid convoy of 20 trucks was able to enter from Egypt but aid agencies have warned it’s a fraction of what’s needed.
Despite the worsening humanitarian situation, President Biden said talk of a ceasefire-for-hostage deal was premature.
“We should have those hostages released and then we can talk,” the US leader told reporters on Monday.
The UN Security Council is, however, expected to vote on a resolution today calling for “humanitarian pauses” in order to allow aid into Gaza.
There has been a slew of diplomatic visits to Israel in recent days as fears grow that the war could spread.
The latest to visit and meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday will be France’s President Macron, following the Dutch leader’s visit on Monday.
Read more:
Israelis in ‘limbo’ as invasion wait goes on – Stuart Ramsay
Further recovered material reveals attack plan, says IDF
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Footage appears to show Hamas shooting
The 7 October terror attack – described by some as Israel’s 9/11 – saw more than 1,400 people murdered in their homes, on the streets and at a music festival.
Graphic bodycam, phone and CCTV were played to journalists yesterday. One clip showed a Hamas militant throwing a hand grenade at a man trying to escape with his two young sons.
The father is killed while the boys are left injured and bleeding, one asking: “Daddy is dead… Why am I alive?… I want my mum.”
Another shows Hamas breaking into communities, moving to different houses, killing residents and even pets – while a dashcam clip appears to show fighters shooting and killing civilians on the road.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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