Category: Hostage

Hamas Agrees To Free Edan Alexander, Last Living U.S. Hostage

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 07: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, poses for photos with the family of Edan Alexander at Ohel Chabad Lubavitch on October 07, 2024 in New York City. Trump commemorated the one-year anniversary of October 7th by visiting to Ohel Chabad Lubavitch, the final resting place of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson the Rebbe, with the family of Edan Alexander, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th, in attendance. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing more than 1,200 people and taking Israeli soldiers and civilians hostage. To date, there are over 90 people still being held hostage by Hamas. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, poses for photos with the family of Edan Alexander at Ohel Chabad Lubavitch on October 07, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
7:27 AM – Friday, March 14, 2025

Terrorist group Hamas said Friday that they would be releasing the last living American hostage Edan Alexander.

The 21-year-old New Jersey native will be the only living hostage in the next release, which will include the bodies of four dual-nationals who died in captivity, the terror group said, as negotiations have led to talks of the second phase of a ceasefire deal with Israel.

However, it wasn’t immediately clear when the transfer would take place, or which parties participated in negotiating the deal.

Alexander, who enlisted in the Israeli army, was 19 when he was taken from his base in southern Israel during the October 7th terrorist attack that sparked the war.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been calling for his release as a “top priority.”

“Edan Alexander is very important to us — as all the hostages are — but Edan Alexander is an American, and he’s injured, so he’s a top priority for us,” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said just last week.

In recent days, meetings between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler were focused on getting him released from captivity.

This also comes after the White House made a surprise announcement last week, saying that American officials had been engaging in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, which went away from a long-standing U.S. policy of not directly engaging with terrorists.

Nevertheless, Hamas’ Friday announcement comes as talks have continued in Qatar to try to get to the next stage of the ceasefire.

The U.S., Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to reconcile differences between the terrorist group and the Jewish State to restart negotiations in order to release the remaining hostages that are being held in Hamas captivity and deliver aid into the war-battered area.

On March 2nd, Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce escalated, with Hamas calling on mediators to intervene.

Since January 19th, the fighting in Gaza has been put on pause under the first phase of the three-phase ceasefire deal.

Currently, Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

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IDF: Body Initially Thought To Be Hostage Shiri Bibas Is Not Her, Sons’ Remains Positively Identified

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on February 20, 2025 shows posters bearing the portraits of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas (C) and her two children Ariel (L) and Kfir (R), held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants, set up on a square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on January 21, 2025. Hamas is due to hand over the bodies of four hostages on February 20, including those of the Bibas family, who have become symbols of the hostage crisis that has gripped Israel since the Gaza war broke out. The transfer of the bodies is the first such handover of remains by Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on February 20, 2025 shows posters bearing the portraits of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas (C) and her two children Ariel (L) and Kfir (R), held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, set up on a square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on January 21, 2025. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Sophia Flores
4:05 PM – Thursday, February 20, 2025

Following a forensic investigation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that the body believed to be that of Shiri Bibas, a Hamas hostage, is not hers — nor the body of any other hostage taken by the Hamas.

Meanwhile, the remains of her two sons, the youngest victims kidnapped by the Islamist terrorist group, have in fact been positively identified.

Specialists at Abu Kabir who identified the remains noted that through their forensic evidence, Israel’s intelligence agency believes that the young children were “brutally murdered” by the terrorists in November 2023.

Shiri’s eldest son, Ariel, was only 4-years-old, while her other son, Kfir, was just 10-months-old at the time of their deaths.

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

“We share the deep sorrow of the Bibas family at this difficult time and will continue to make every effort to return Shiri and all the hostages home as soon as possible,” the IDF continued.

The news comes hours after the bodies of Shiri, Ariel, Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, 84, were released back to Israel as part of a hostage swap.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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CBN News: ‘Never Again:’ Israel Mourns over Hostage Deaths

Israelis united in grief as the remains of four hostages, reportedly including a mother, Shiri Bibas, and her very young sons, Ariel and Kfir, along with 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz, are returned home, as Hamas claims Israeli bombs killed them, but autopsies will be performed to reveal how they died; Israeli leaders express the grief of the nation, as US Congressmen from both parties blast Hamas for their barbaric actions; Chris Mitchell talks about how the emotions Israelis are feeling as they’re united in grief, how Hamas acted today, identifying the hostage remains, and Israeli resolve to prevent another Oct 7 attack; Josh Hasten of the Jewish News Syndicate talks about Egypt’s military buildup in the Sinai, and the possible threat to Israel; a major snowstorm hits multiple US states; and CBN’s Southeast Asian ministry team gathered recently to renew their commitment to God and seek His wisdom.

Freed Israeli hostage Mia Schem in first interview since her release from Hamas captivity in Gaza

Israeli Hostage Sapir Cohen Shares CHILLING Hamas Survival Story | TBN Israel

Mati Shoshani meets freed Israeli hostage Sapir Cohen, a survivor of 55 days in Hamas captivity. Cohen shares her harrowing experiences, her unwavering faith, and her ongoing journey to rebuild her life while awaiting the return of her partner, Sasha, and all remaining hostages. Watch now on TBN Israel.

‘Psychological terrorism’: Hamas cites ‘technical’ reasons for not releasing hostage names

Gaza ceasefire begins after delay as Hamas names first Israeli hostages to be freed | BBC News

The long-awaited ceasefire in the war in Gaza has come into force, after a three-hour delay. Hamas has named the first three Israeli hostages it plans to free first later today - 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, who were kidnapped from their kibbutz, as well as 24-year-old Romi Gonen, who was taken from the Supernova Festival. The ceasefire was due to start at 08:30 (06:30 GMT) on Sunday but was delayed last-minute after Hamas failed to give Israel a list of the three hostages in time - Hamas says it was due to "technical field reasons." Up until the ceasefire came into force, Israel continued to carry out strikes on Gaza, with 13 people reported by the Hamas-run civil defence agency to have been killed since the truce was meant to start.

Hamas Teases IDF With Victory Parade As Israeli Troops Withdraw From Gaza: 'Forced You To...'

Armed Hamas operatives held a large victory parade in southern Gaza's Rafah city, showcasing their military presence despite the Israeli military's 15-month-long operations. Videos from the scene show Hamas fighters with weapons on the streets of the Palestinian enclave. Many Gaza residents joined in the celebration, cheering and climbing onto the vehicles of Hamas operatives to mark the ceasefire agreement with Israel. Hamas leaders called the truce a 'defeat for Israeli Defence Forces.' Celebrations took place as the Israeli army was withdrawing its troops and tanks from key positions.

EMERGENCY!! ⚠️ More City areas TAKEN HOSTAGE – Biker GANGS Threaten to SHUT DOWN Aurora

Warning more apartments in Aurora and Denver, Colorado, have been taken over, according to reports. Also bikers are allegedly on their way to Aurora and reports of Hells Angels going there too. Venezuela's gangs have been causing problems. Prepare now for shtf 2024 and get ready for WW3 World War Three as we could see more escalation and attacks on the USA. Watch Patrick Humphrey prepper for news updates. The mayors of Aurora and Denver have also issued new alerts.

Colorado Mayor slams feds for sending Venezuelan gangs to Aurora

JUST IN: Aurora, Colorado Police Respond To Suspected Activity By Venezuelan Gang Tren De Aragua

Armed gangs taking over apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado; Governor Tries Covering Up Instead of Doing Anything

Venezuelan Gangs throw families out of their apartments in Aurora, Colorado.

Tren De Aragua Threat to Churches in Denver: A Special Alert for Churches

 

Hostage Held By Hamas Rescued By IDF After 325 Days Of Captivity

Hostage Held By Hamas Rescued By IDF After 325 Days Of Captivity

The brother of freed Israeli hostage Kaid Alkadi shows a picture with him on his phone after meeting him at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva in southern Israel on August 27, 2024. The Israeli military said its forces rescued an Israeli hostage in southern Gaza on August 27 after a "complex operation" as the war between Israel and Hamas, now in its 11th month, showed no signs of abating. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
The brother of freed Israeli hostage Kaid Alkadi shows a picture of himself on his phone after meeting him at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva in southern Israel on August 27, 2024. The Israeli military said its forces rescued an Israeli hostage in southern Gaza on August 27 after a “complex operation” as the war between Israel and Hamas, now in its 11th month, showed no signs of abating. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
8:21 AM – Tuesday, August 27, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/hostage-held-by-hamas-rescued-by-idf-after-325-days-of-captivity/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

An Israeli hostage being held captive by Hamas was rescued by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from a tunnel beneath southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to the IDF.

Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was taken by the terrorist organization on Oct. 7th, was found in a tunnel in Mahrat during a “complex rescue operation,” according to the Israeli military.

Alkadi, a father of 11 from the Bedouin Arab Community, was rescued by IDF soldiers from the 13th Fleet Unit, 401st Brigade, as well as Yalam and Shin Bet fighters, the military said.

The full details of Alkadi’s rescue were not immediately clear, with the IDF and Israel Security Agency, claiming in a statement on Tuesday that further details could not be released “due to considerations of the safety of our hostages, the security of our forces, and national security.”

The organization stated that Alkadi was in stable medical condition and was being transferred for medical checks at a hospital.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared a video on X showing family members running to see Alkadi at a hospital.

Alkadi was taken by Hamas from Mivtahim, which is near where he worked as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen, according to the Times of Israel.

Alkadi’s rescue “was part of the IDF’s daring and courageous activities conducted deep inside the Gaza Strip,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

Meanwhile, Hamas is suspected of holding 104 of the original 251 hostages who were taken from Israel during the October 7th terrorist attack, which includes the bodies of 34 victims confirmed dead by the IDF.

“We are doing everything to save all the abductees. "IDF and Shin Bet forces demonstrate courage, determination and initiative in complex operations in the field,” IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi said Tuesday.

Additionally, the Hostage Families Forum issued a statement celebrating Alkadi’s rescue but reminded everyone of the rest of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas.

“He endured 326 days in captivity,” the group said.

“Qaid’s return home is nothing short of miraculous. But we must remember: military operations alone cannot free the remaining … hostages, who have suffered 326 days of abuse and terror. A negotiated deal is the only way forward.”

According to the Jerusalem Post, Tuesday’s rescue was the fourth successful rescue operation to extract Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip.

Furthermore, Alkadi was the first hostage to be rescued from one of Gaza’s tunnel networks, with all the other live hostages rescued from above ground.

For now, cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo have ended again without a resolution over the weekend.

The talks also included CIA Director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

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The Taliban Are Holding Three Americans Hostage As Old Joe Biden sends them billions.

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-taliban-are-holding-three-americans-hostage; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

[Order a copy of Robert Spencer’s forthcoming book,"Muhammad: A Critical Biography, by clicking here.]

The Biden regime's State Department has now publicly confirmed what it must have known for nearly three years, if not longer: Taliban jihadis are holding three Americans hostage. What have relentlessly anti-American Biden regime apparatchiks done in response? True to form, they’ve sent billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money to the Taliban.

The Washington Examiner reported Saturday that a Biden regime Foggy Bottom wonk “confirmed on July 11 that three U.S. citizens, George Glezmann, Mahmood Habibi, and Ryan Corbett, are currently being held in Taliban custody. Taliban representatives repeatedly claimed they only held two Americans in detention.” Why are they holding any at all, and why are the comrades in the State Department and the Oval Office sending them money instead of applying pressure upon the Taliban?

Of course, the Biden regime has long since made clear which side it is on, with $10 billion to Iran and $100 million to Gaza, which means to Hamas, since there isn’t any entity in Gaza that has the power or will to keep the money away from Hamas. The Taliban have been in on the gravy train as well. Just The News reported in early June that “a recently released federal watchdog report shows that the U.S. government has sent at least $11 million to the Taliban since the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops.”

That was a wildly low estimate, as it left out the key excuse that the Biden regime uses to send our money over to Kabul: humanitarian aid. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) wrote in its May 2024 report, “U.S. Funds Benefitting the Taliban-Controlled Government: Implementing Partners Paid at Least $10.9 Million and Were Pressured to Divert Assistance,” that since the Taliban returned to power, “the U.S. government has continued to be the largest international donor supporting the Afghan people,” and that the Biden “has provided more than $2.8 billion in humanitarian and development assistance to help the people of Afghanistan.”

Antony Blinken and his henchmen would likely insist that this $2.8 billion was not sent to the Taliban, but to other groups that are operating in the country. But this is just as unrealistic and disingenuous as claiming that money sent to Gaza won’t go to Hamas. The aid money that has been sent to Afghanistan is ending up in the hands of the Taliban despite all the denials and claims to the contrary.

“Now,” said The Foreign Desk in an Aug. 2022 report, “humanitarian aid to the Afghan people is lining the pockets of the Taliban at the expense of innocent Afghans and American taxpayers alike.” Nothing has changed since then; if anything, the Taliban have consolidated their power even more than they had by mid-2022. Just as The News notes, “Judicial Watch released an investigation recently showing that the Taliban has created fake NGOs to siphon away tax dollars.”

Your tax dollars are even going to fund education in Afghanistan, even after the Taliban have barred girls from going to school. Judicial Watch reports that the Biden regime “has continued to fund Afghanistan’s education sector through six programs that cost $185.2 million even though the Taliban has issued decrees drastically limiting access to education for girls and women as well as restricting women’s ability to work and other basic freedoms.”

In fiscal year 2023 alone, “the U.S. sent Taliban-ruled Afghanistan over $566 million in humanitarian assistance. Most of it was for emergency food, but a chunk was classified as going to general humanitarian and health.” And all this business is about how the money is for food or “general humanitarian” needs is a steaming pile of nonsense, anyway.

Money is fungible. If you give the Taliban $566 million for food and medicine, they’ll have $566 million freed up for jihad violence and the oppression of women. Why this simple fact of basic economics continues to elude the great minds of the Biden regime remains a mystery and a matter of no curiosity at all for our nation’s “journalists.”

Ominously, “more than $15 million went to a cause that is labeled ‘redacted’ in the government records.” That’s right: we sent the Taliban $15 million for a secret purpose, and you can be assured that it’s not to cover the costs of printing millions of copies of the Bill of Rights. Congressional opposition, such as it is, should be demanding that the regime disclose what that money is going for and whether or not it is being spent in the best interests of the United States.

It’s a reasonable line of inquiry. After all, it seems as if the Biden regime never misses an opportunity to aid America’s enemies, even the Taliban, as they hold Americans hostage. There used to be a word for that. Started with a T. But everyone has forgotten that word.

Hamas won’t even release the bodies of dead hostages

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/05/hamas-wont-even-release-the-bodies-of-dead-hostages; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Further adventures of those who claim the moral high ground.

“38 Israeli families mourn while Hamas holds their loved ones’ remains,” by Amelie Botbol, JNS, May 9, 2024 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Families of deceased hostages whose bodies are still being held by Hamas in Gaza carried an empty coffin through Jerusalem on Thursday to raise awareness of their plight and call for the return of their loved ones.

“I am attending this rally because we, the families of deceased hostages, are a unique group,” Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli dual citizen Sgt. Itay Chen, 19, told JNS on Thursday.

Itay, from Netanyahu, was stationed at the Nahal Oz army base as part of a tank unit when he was captured along with three other soldiers on Oct. 7. He was one of six hostages with U.S. citizenship thought to have still been alive in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces declared him dead on March 12.

“We decided to organize an alternative service to highlight the fact that the State of Israel must do everything it can to bring all the hostages back, both the living and the deceased,” Ruby Chen said.

Hundreds of new families will be mourning Yom Hazikaron: Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, though some will not have anywhere to pay their respects.

“We do not have a burial site. If you ask me where I will be going on Monday, I can tell that I don’t have a good answer,” Chen told JNS. He will also be attending Saturday’s rally at Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square,” which this week will focus on those declared dead in Gaza.

“I am calling on the people of Israel to join us. "I am asking leaders and people worldwide to pray with us regardless of their religion so that we will be able to have closure and that our deceased will be buried in dignity,” Chen said.

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, 38 families in Israel will be mourning while the remains of their loved ones are still held by Hamas in Gaza….

Obama botches meaning of Passover, doesn’t mention hostages, and calls for empathy for Palestinians

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/obama-botches-meaning-of-passover-doesnt-mention-hostages-and-calls-for-empathy-for-palestinians; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

At a sensitive time when antisemitism is soaring following the barbarity of October 7, Obama included Palestinians in his Passover message.

Did Barack Obama include Jews in his Ramadan messages? In them, does he mention the Israelis murdered by Palestinians and then rewarded by the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” program?

In his Passover message, Obama also omitted mention of the horror Israel endured on October 7, and of its hostages, as well as the Jewish state’s struggle for survival. To top it off, Obama entirely botched the meaning of Passover.

In contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday, in a perfect Passover reflection message:

Why is this night different, citizens of Israel?

 On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions. (Israel Government Press Office)

Netanyahu also referenced “the rabbinic dictum that ‘in every generation, they rise to destroy us’” and stated “that the absence of the hostages over the upcoming holiday ‘only strengthens our determination to bring them back.’”

By undermining the greatest horror that Jews have collectively experienced since the Holocaust and the existential threat that Israel faces, Obama reveals his true sentiments regarding Jews. The obscene moral equivalence in his call for “empathy for those suffering in ‘Israel and Gaza,’” and “for solidarity with people of all religions” on the distinctly Jewish holiday of Passover is also revealing. 

“Obama’s Passover Message Adds Palestinians Into the Story; Omits Hostages,” by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, April 22, 2024:

Former President Barack Obama used a Passover message on Monday to work Palestinians into the Jewish holiday, calling for empathy for those suffering in “Israel and Gaza,” and for solidarity with “people of all religions.”

Obama’s equivocation obscured the fact that Palestinian terrorists continue to hold 133 Israeli hostages.

He failed, in fact, to mention the hostages, instead saying that people should “remember everyone who is unable to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones.” He also failed to mention the ongoing wave of antisemitism on college campuses and in Democrat-run cities, saying that “people of all religions … deserve to feel safe and secure” wherever they are…..

At the Knesset, Former Hostages Tell of Endless Sexual Abuse “To be a woman in captivity is to be in constant fear; it can’t be described in words.”

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SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/at-the-knesset-former-hostages-tell-of-endless-sexual-abuse; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

[Pre-order a copy of David Horowitz’s next book, America Betrayed, by clicking here. Orders will begin shipping on May 7th.]

In the Knesset, former hostages who had been released in the November exchange of imprisoned terrorists for Israeli civilians held captive told them what it was like for them in Gaza. The focus of the Knesset hearing was on the sexual abuse and rape of female captives. The world, in danger of forgetting about the hostages, as all eyes are on Israel’s putative misdeeds in Gaza, needs to be constantly reminded of what is happening to those still held captive. More on their testimony can be found here: “‘Raped Daily’: Former Israeli Hostages Recount Sexual Abuse by Hamas Terrorists as Families Plead for Action,” by Debbie Weiss, Algemeiner, April 7, 2024:

In an emotional hearing at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, former hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza recounted harrowing tales of sexual harassment and abuse, as families of those still held captive pleaded for the Israeli government to do more to secure their release.

“As hard as it is to say, every girl there goes through sexual harassment one way or another,” said Mia Regev, who was freed in November after 50 days in captivity. Fighting back tears, she urged lawmakers to take action, saying, “Your job is to bring them back home.”

Sharon Aloni-Cunio, also released in November, said “the fear is endless” for female captives. “To be a woman in captivity is to be in constant fear; it can’t be described in words,” she told the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women’s Status and Gender Equality. “The terrorist is the sole arbiter of your fate.”

She added: “The feeling of helplessness is one I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Each moment feels never-ending and every movement of the terrorists causes stomach cramping because who knows what might happen.”

Mothers and sisters of the remaining hostages stood with their loved ones outside the committee room, some of them wearing clothes that appeared to be stained with blood. Liri Albag’s mother, Shira, said at the start of the hearing, “She’s in hell. Does anyone understand what it means to be in hell?”

“Our daughters experience daily suffering there. They are harmed in body and soul. My Liri was, and still is — I don’t know because I have no information about her — a slave in the homes of Gazans,” she said.

“All the decision-makers — you need to understand that every day you witness the rape that happens in Gaza,” she continued. “These girls are raped daily and everyone ignores them. You close your eyes. I hear Liri every day screaming for help: ‘Mom, save me already.’ Liri’s soul is crushed, and I cannot speak about what has happened to her body.”

Yaffa Ohad, the aunt of Noa Argamani, attended the hearing instead of Argamani’s mother, who is dying of cancer. Ohad fainted during the hearing and required medical attention. Before she fainted, Ohad said since the testimony of Amit Soussana, the first hostage to go public with her testimony of sexual torture during her captivity, had “wiped the family out. The thoughts will not leave us alone.”…

Do you think that the international media will cover these harrowing stories of how the female hostages held by Hamas are being subject to nonstop sexual abuse? Outside of Israel itself, those hostages are being forgotten. The media’s bandwidth only has room, it seems,for Israel’s “genocidal” attacks in Gaza, its “indiscriminate bombing,” its “unforgivable killing of humanitarian aid workers.” Continue to remind yourself, and remind others whenever you can, of what those hostages every day continue to endure.

The Never-Ending Torment of the Survivors~Glazov Gang: Missing Israeli Hostages; The True Horror of What Hamas Did

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/the-never-ending-torment-of-the-survivors; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

On October 7, 3,000 Hamas operatives, accompanied by some Gazans who did not belong to the terror group but wanted to take part in the murderous fun, smashed into Israel in cars, on motorbikes, and on paragliders. They proceeded to rape, torture, mutilate, and murder 1,200 people. Of that number, 364 were murdered in the field where the Nova Music Festival had been held the previous night; the rest of the victims were murdered in 22 kibbutzim. The torment for those who survived has not ended. It seems that an unusually high number have killed themselves, but the estimates vary widely. More on this continuing horror upon horror can be found here: “About 50 Survivors of Nova Music Festival Committed Suicide, Survivor Tells Israeli Lawmakers,” Algemeiner, April 16, 2024:

Following the Hamas-led massacre at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, about fifty survivors have committed suicide, revealed Guy Ben Shimon.

I need to inject a note of caution here. The Jerusalem Post reported here that the Israeli Health Ministry said on April 16 that it does not know how many survivors of the Nova Music Festival have taken their own lives:

A statement released by the ministry on Tuesday read, “The data on the number of suicides and the number of hospitalizations among survivors of the Nova festival – are not known to the Health Ministry and the mental health system and are incorrect.”

The head of the mental health division at the Health Ministry, Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, noted that “the rumors about the number of suicides and the number of hospitalizations among survivors of the Nova festival are not true.”

He further stated that based on an examination “conducted with the Nova Community Association, as well as with other parties that take part in the treatment of the Nova survivors, it emerged that such data is unknown.”

It is uncertain, then, if there have been fifty, thirty, or twenty suicides among the survivors of the murders at the Nova Music Festival field. But I will report on what two of those survivors testified to the Knesset. Again, from Algemeiner:

Ben Shimon, a survivor of the massacre, spoke on Tuesday at a parliamentary hearing for a State Audit Commission on the treatment of the survivors of Oct. 7.

“Few people know, but there have been almost 50 suicides among the Nova survivors. This number, which was true two months ago, may have increased since,” Ben Shimon said, emphasizing that many of his friends who escaped the massacre could not recover from what they had experienced.

“There are many survivors who had to be forcibly hospitalized due to their psychological state. My friends are not getting out of bed, neither am I,” he described their condition since the Oct. 7 attack.

“I am practically unable to do anything. I had to get a dog to help me survive in my daily life. "The goal for all of us is to return to work and function normally, but we cannot do it without adequate help,” Ben Shimon added.

The parliamentary hearing focused on alleged failures of the state bodies towards the survivors of Oct. 7. There were complaints about the difficulties, notably bureaucracy, that the survivors faced in getting their post-traumatic stress disorder recognized, as well as in receiving the needed care.

“Why should I constantly prove what I experienced? "Why am I forced to go back to the details of what I experienced for them to believe me?” Naama Eitan, another survivor of the music festival, asked during the hearing.

Should they report again and again on what they witnessed? The rapes, the gory mutilations, the murders of their friends, their own terrifying struggles to escape that left them, in the days and months following, half-crazed with despair and survivor’s guilt?

“I participated in a study that monitored my pulse and other parameters and revealed how bad my health is. I sleep on average two hours a night. Each morning at seven o’clock, I relive the moments when I was hidden in the bushes with terrorists passing by me. I can no longer move on my own, I need to be constantly accompanied,” she described….

It's the trauma of terror that won’t subside, won’t let Naama Eitan, and so many others, sleep more than a few hours a night. They keep rerunning the same ghastly scenes in their mind’s eye. Why should we have expected them to be able to slough it off? Instead of joy at having survived, many of those survivors suffer now from Survivor’s Guilt — why was he, or she, murdered, and not me?

The world expects the Israelis to “get over it.” Too many of us are insufficiently sympathetic. Too many do not realize that the torment from the Hamas attack did not end on October 8. It continues, and for some it has been too much to bear; there is no conceivable solace, and those who are unable to deal with it, take to their beds with severe depression, or in some cases, do away with themselves. These last are the people who survived the massacres, but cannot survive the memory of the massacres. And for those who remain alive, the mental torment will continue long after Hamas has been dismantled. We do not know how many have killed themselves. Ben Shimon testified that there were about fifty, but the Ministry of Health says the number of such “survivor suicides” is still unknown.

Try to imagine what life must be like for those survivors, not only those who saw the rapes and murders at the Nova Music Festival, but those who witnessed the even more horrifying events that took place at the kibbutzim. They saw, from their tremulous concealments, babies and small children burned to death, women whose breasts were sliced off and then used by Hamas men to play catch, men with their genitalia cut off and their eyes gouged out, while they were still alive, and only then were they put to death. These were their relatives, their friends, their spouses and siblings. The horrors of what they saw, and the guilt of having been spared, have proven too much for some.

Whether there have been fifty suicides, or ten, any number above one, should make us exclaim “As many as that?” Or should we say instead, as few as that?

_____________________________________________________________

Glazov Gang: Missing Israeli Hostages – The True Horror of What Hamas Did

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This new Glazov Gang episode features Jeff Crouere, author of America’s Last Chance.

Jamie, Anni and Jeff discuss Glazov Gang: Missing Israeli Hostages – The True Horror of What Hamas Did, reflecting on Moral clarity on the good and evil in a spiritual war.

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Biden Demands Israel Stop Attacking Hamas Even If It Doesn’t Release the Hostages

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/biden-demands-israel-stop-attacking-hamas-even-if-it-doesnt-release-the-hostages; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

A total betrayal.

The grim farce of negotiating with Islamic terrorists always plays out the same way.

The terrorists keep attacking while playing the victim, make escalating demands and once you start negotiating with them, the negotiations never produce peace and don’t even reliably ensure the release of hostages.

The Biden administration initially rejected the Islamist/Leftist demands for a ‘ceasefire’ during which Hamas would be free to attack Israel. Then came around to proposing to them in exchange for the release of the hostages. And now adopting the Leftist/Islamist position is just demanding a unilateral Israeli ceasefire without the release of the hostages.

Spanish-language television network Univision aired an hour-long, pre-recorded interview on Tuesday in which U.S. President Joe Biden criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. president appeared to state a previously unarticulated public position in an interview with the channel’s Enrique Acevedo.

“So I what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden said.

No mention of Hamas here, but then again it has never abided by a ceasefire anyway.

Israel is expected to stop attacking Hamas.

Hamas is not expected to either stop attacking Israel or release the hostages.

So Biden is dropping the pretense that this is about the hostages or about anything other than the supreme victimhood of the Islamic genociders of Gaza.

The Biden administration has demanded more and more concessions from Israel to Hamas. Even as Hamas keeps rejecting the U.S. proposals as not being good enough.

Much like under Kerry, where the State Department negotiated with the terrorists and then demanded that Israel meet the demands of the terrorists, the Biden admin is doing the same thing, except with Hamas.

Hamas has informed mediators that it rejects the latest U.S. proposal for a renewed hostages-for-ceasefire deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources as saying that the terrorist organization intends to put forward a roadmap for a permanent end to the war.

The U.S. offer would have seen Jerusalem release 900 terrorist prisoners, including murderers, in exchange for 40 hostages, along with a partial IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the unrestricted return of Palestinians to the northern part of the coastal enclave.

The plan proposes that Hamas release more hostages at a later stage following the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza.

Speaking at a women’s event in Jordan late last month, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal declared that the organization’s leadership is “waging a negotiating battle no less fierce” than the military conflict with the IDF, according to a readout of his remarks posted to Telegram by Hamas.

“Inshallah [‘God willing’], we will defeat them in the field and in the negotiating battle,” said Mashaal, adding that the group is also fighting “intense battles” in the media and on the political battlefield.

The terrorists never win the wars, but when the White House is in charge, they win all the negotiations.

Hamas has no reason not to keep turning down deals since those are its only hopes of survival and victory. Thank you Biden.

Hamas Claims That Israeli Hostages Left Captivity ‘Happy and Laughing’

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/hamas-claims-that-israeli-hostages-left-captivity-happy-and-laughing; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

We all know that Hamas threatened the Israelis hostages that it was just about to release last November to put on happy faces, and wish their former captors “Shalom” for the cameras, and those who could manage it did as they were told. They had been warned that if they did not collaborate, it would go hard with the hostages still being held captive, whom they were leaving behind. But when they arrived home, the released hostages proceeded to describe the horrific conditions in which they had been held. They spoke of living on one piece of pita bread each day, or being occasionally given rotten meat. Many of them lived in the tunnels, enduring the cold and the darkness. None had received a visit from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). And finally, after many months, some of them finally spoke publicly of the sexual abuse they had endured every day, including rapes, and revealed that all of the female hostages were still being similarly abused.

Christine Douglass-Williams wrote about this here, and more on this sexual abuse, and Hamas’ blanket denial, can be found here: “Outrageous lie: Israeli hostages in Gaza “left happy and laughing” – they received “generous treatment” – PA TV interview,” by Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, April 4, 2024:

Recently, an Israeli woman aged 40 who was held hostage by Hamas revealed that she was sexually assaulted by her captor. And she is not the only one. Other hostages have also testified about sexual abuse, torture and beatings while being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

As more testimonies from Israeli hostages who were freed last November after almost two months in Hamas captivity are being published, the war of narratives has become urgent.

The meager rations, the beatings, the confinement in dark and cold tunnels, were the common lot of the hostages. Several dozen hostages have also been murdered while in Hamas’ captivity over the past six months.

The Palestinian and Arab narrative is entirely fictitious and is intended to humanize Hamas and deny its atrocities. One example is this outrageous claim made to official PA TV by a lecturer at Cairo University that the Israeli hostages received “generous treatment” and left captivity “happy and laughing”:

Head of Radio and TV Department at Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communications Ashraf Jalal: “The generous treatment Palestine gave the Israeli prisoners (i.e., kidnapped women and children) caused an enormous positive response, because after [the Israelis] lied and said that [Hamas] is abusing them, the [Israeli] people left [Gaza] happy and laughing… What is required is that we redirect the media spotlight to this issue.”

[Official PA TV, From Cairo, Feb. 12, 2024]

The brazen lie follows those made by senior PA officials, which have been documented by Palestinian Media Watch. In November 2023, Minister Qadura Fares, who is the director of the PLO Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs, said that Israel “made up this story and said: They [the Palestinians] raped, killed, and burned” [Official PA TV, Nov. 20, 2023]. In December 2023, PLO Executive Committee member and PLF Secretary-General Wasel Abu Yusuf said: “Since October 7, there has been a Zionist version that [Israel] has attempted to spread worldwide out of tendentious propaganda, [claiming] that there was murder of children, rape of women, crimes, and the like” [Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Dec. 3, 2023].

But we have testimony about the murdered children, the rapes, the mutilation of bodies of Israeli survivors who witnessed or overheard these events from their hiding places. We also have videos of these atrocities that were taken at the time by those who committed them, so proud were they of how they had terrorized, tortured, raped, and killed the hated Israelis. And, of course, we have the 1,200 corpses of those who were burned to death, or stabbed or shot, with the females having had their breasts sliced off, and genitalia cut off men, as well as their eyes gouged out.

It’s not the charges of murder and kidnapping that Hamas feels the need to deny, but the charge of “sexual abuse” — meaning “rape.” That is seen as beyond the pale. Pass out candies and celebrate the murders of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, but remain silent about the mass rapes which Muslim men are not supposed to engage in. “We have our standards,” they imply, and rape is not allowed. It’s absurd of course: there were endless rapes on October 7, and then more sexual abuse, including rapes, of female hostages by their Hamas captors in Gaza that continue right up to the present day. So please understand the threats that made some of those hostages — only a few could manage it — appear to be “happy and laughing” for the whirring cameras as they left Gaza, freed in the November hostage-for-prisoner exchange. And months later, concentrate on the full horror of what the remaining hostages — starved, beaten, held in cold, dark tunnels, with sexual abuse and rape a daily occurrence – must still endure.

Oct. 7: Hamas ‘cut off organs and took them to Gaza in order to trade with them in future hostage negotiations’

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/oct-7-hamas-cut-off-organs-and-took-them-to-gaza-in-order-to-trade-with-them-in-future-hostage-negotiations; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

These are the people to whom the U.S. and U.K. are pressuring Israel to surrender.

“‘They cut off organs’: Interrogator reveals Hamas terrorists’ Oct. 7 atrocities,” by Shlomi Heller, Jerusalem Post, April 4, 2024:

“We interrogated hate-filled terrorists who were trading body parts of those murdered on October 7. They took a knife and murdered everyone in their wake. "They cut off organs and took them to Gaza in order to trade with them in future hostage negotiations,” said “R,” a company commander in the Lahav 433 Unit and Superintendent Yaron Binyamin, in a conversation with Israeli Police spokesperson, Commander Eli Levy.

In a special interview for the “Police News” program, Superintendent Binyamin spoke about the investigations of Nukhba terrorists who committed brutal crimes on October 7, which included murder, massacre, rape, abuse of corpses, and the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians while setting fire to occupants’ houses.

“I say to those who deny the crimes committed by Nukhba terrorists that at the end of six months of investigation, there is no doubt at all about the number of horrible crimes they committed on October 7. Today, we understand this through the testimony of the terrorists who themselves carried out the terrible massacre,” said Binyamin….

At the Knesset, Former Hostages Tell of Endless Sexual Abuse

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/at-the-knesset-former-hostages-tell-of-endless-sexual-abuse; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

In the Knesset, former hostages who had been released in the November exchange of imprisoned terrorists for Israeli civilians held captive said what it was like for them in Gaza. The focus of the Knesset hearing was on the sexual abuse and rape of female captives. The world, in danger of forgetting about the hostages, as all eyes are on Israel’s putative misdeeds in Gaza, needs to be constantly reminded of what is happening to those still held captive. More on their testimony can be found here: “‘Raped Daily’: Former Israeli Hostages Recount Sexual Abuse by Hamas Terrorists as Families Plead for Action,” by Debbie Weiss, Algemeiner, April 7, 2024:

In an emotional hearing at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, former hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza recounted harrowing tales of sexual harassment and abuse, as families of those still held captive pleaded for the Israeli government to do more to secure their release.

“As hard as it is to say, every girl there goes through sexual harassment one way or another,” said Mia Regev, who was freed in November after 50 days in captivity. Fighting back tears, she urged lawmakers to take action, saying, “Your job is to bring them back home.”

Sharon Aloni-Cunio, also released in November, said “the fear is endless” for female captives. “To be a woman in captivity is to be in constant fear; it can’t be described in words,” she told the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women’s Status and Gender Equality. “The terrorist is the sole arbiter of your fate.”

She added: “The feeling of helplessness is one I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Each moment feels never-ending and every movement of the terrorists causes stomach cramping because who knows what might happen.”

Mothers and sisters of the remaining hostages stood with their loved ones outside the committee room, some of them wearing clothes that appeared to be stained with blood. Liri Albag’s mother, Shira, said at the start of the hearing, “She’s in hell. Does anyone understand what it means to be in hell?”

“Our daughters experience daily suffering there. They are harmed in body and soul. My Liri was, and still is — I don’t know because I have no information about her — a slave in the homes of Gazans,” she said.

“All the decision-makers — you need to understand that every day you witness the rape that happens in Gaza,” she continued. “These girls are raped daily and everyone ignores them. You close your eyes. I hear Liri every day screaming for help: ‘Mom, save me already.’ Liri’s soul is crushed, and I cannot speak about what has happened to her body.”

Yaffa Ohad, the aunt of Noa Argamani, attended the hearing instead of Argamani’s mother, who is dying of cancer. Ohad fainted during the hearing and required medical attention. Before she fainted, Ohad said since the testimony of Amit Soussana, the first hostage to go public with her testimony of sexual torture during her captivity, had “wiped the family out. The thoughts will not leave us alone.”…

Do you think that the international media will cover these harrowing stories of how the female hostages held by Hamas are being subject to nonstop sexual abuse? Outside of Israel itself, those hostages are being forgotten. The media’s bandwidth only has room, it seems,for Israel’s “genocidal” attacks in Gaza, its “indiscriminate bombing,” its “unforgivable killing of humanitarian aid workers.” Continue to remind yourself, and remind others whenever you can, of what those hostages every day continue to endure.

Hamas Issues Counter-Proposal Hostage And Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Says Deal Is ‘Absurd’

Hamas Issues Counter-Proposal Hostage and Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Says Deal Is 'Absurd'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:00 PM – Friday, March 15, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/hamas-issues-counter-proposal-hostage-and-ceasefire-deal-netanyahu-says-deal-is-absurd/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

In continuing negotiations over a temporary truce and hostage agreement in its conflict with Israel, Hamas has presented a formal counter-proposal, raising hopes for the first time in weeks that more Israelis kidnapped on October 7th may be freed and that hostilities may end.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the terror group was making “ridiculous demands” during a meeting with the families of roughly 20 captives on Thursday night, raising doubts about whether the negotiations would move forward.

“For the first time, we can envision embracing them again,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group created to lobby for the captives. “Please grant us this right.”

Following weeks of contentious negotiations during which both Israeli and Hamas leaders voiced pessimism about finding common ground, a counter-proposal was made.

The conditions that Hamas has set forth call for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails, including 100 who have been found guilty of murder or multiple murders, in exchange for the release of innocent hostages, which include women, children, the elderly, and the sick.

According to the proposal, Israel would have to agree to a long-term ceasefire, evacuate Gaza, and free all of the Palestinian security prisoners it is holding in order to free the remaining male hostages, whom Hamas views as “freedom fighters,” regardless of whether they were taken while serving in the armed forces.

At a meeting of his war cabinet on Friday, Netanyahu rejected the parameters, calling them “still absurd.” In addition, he declared that the Israeli army will keep getting ready for an impending invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that has become a haven for about 1.5 million Palestinians. However, according to Israeli officials, many of whom are Hamas leaders and members.

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Biden Will Send 1,000 Troops to Bring Aid to Gazans, 0 to Retrieve Hostages

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/biden-will-send-1000-troops-to-bring-aid-to-gazans-0-to-retrieve-hostages; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

And 0 to secure America’s own border.

There are people on social media who spend their time claiming that American soldiers will fight and die for Israel.

Anyone who knows anything about the Biden administration also recognizes that for the joke that it is.

There are 6 Americans still held hostage in Gaza. After the Oct 7 attack, the administration was asked if it would send in a rescue force to get any of the Americans who were held hostage out then. The answer was no.

But Biden is finally sending in the troops. Not to save the hostages from Hamas, but to build a nice pier to supply aid to Hamas supporters in Gaza.

A floating pier and causeway that will be used to deliver critical humanitarian aid by sea to Gaza is expected to take at least a month or possibly as long as two for the US military to build and become fully operational, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Patrick Ryder said on Friday.

Ryder also said construction of the pier and causeway will likely require as many as 1,000 US military personnel to be completed.

Are any of those personnel going to be in danger?

The official word from the administration is that there will be no ‘boots on the ground’, just in the water. That’s borderline meaningless. And it’s not just Hamas there. The Houthis and Hezbollah have taken to lobbying rockets around, and the presence of a sizable contingent of vulnerable U.S. personnel will draw them like flies.

Two months is a whole lot of time in which to plan and execute an attack.

Biden has sent 0 troops to rescue the hostages from Hamas, but he’s sending 1,000 into a war zone to provide aid to Hamas supporters.

He’s also refused to use the military to secure our border by ending the flow of migrant invaders across it.

But once again, Biden has found a way to use the military to aid our enemies. He won’t use the military to protect America, but he’ll use it to send aid to Hamas.

Pakistan: Muslims torture Christians and force them to recite the Islamic profession of faith

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/pakistan-muslims-torture-christians-and-force-them-to-recite-the-islamic-profession-of-faith; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The Qur’an says “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:256). However, what constitutes “compulsion” is in the eye of the beholder. The institutionalized subjugation of the dhimma, with its regular humiliation and harassment, from which one can be freed for the simple price of converting to Islam, is not considered compulsion. Remember Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig, the journalists who were kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam — even though their conversions were obviously coerced, their captors made them say that they were converting freely, and the captors probably believed that themselves. After all, the journos could have chosen to be killed instead.

“Christians Tortured, Forced to Recite Islamic Creed in Pakistan,” Morning Star News, February 1, 2024:

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – An Islamist cleric presided over the forced conversion of two Christians into Sialkot District, Pakistan, after they were tortured into reciting the Islamic conversion creed, sources said.

Azam Masih, 28, and his brother, Nadeem Masih, were abducted, beaten with iron rods and pressured to convert to Islam on Jan. 22 in the Kotli Loharan area, said Adil Ghauri, chairman of the Masihi Baidari Tehreek or Movement for Christian Awakening.

Azam Masih was working at his tailoring shop in the Kharota Syedan market when Naseem Shah and accomplices held him at gunpoint and forcibly took him to the house of another suspect, Sunny Shah, Ghauri said.

“The assailants accused Azam of patronizing ‘wrongdoings’ in the area and started beating him with iron rods,” Ghauri told the Christian Daily International-Morning Star News, adding that the suspects later abducted his younger brother, brought him to the house and subjected him to the same torture. “The accused then forced the two Christians to recite the Kalima [proclamation of Islamic conversion] if they wanted to save their lives, threatening to kill them if they refused. The tortured brothers had no choice but to surrender to this demand.”

The suspects also recorded a video statement from the two brothers in which they were forced to say that they were converting to Islam of their own free will, Ghauri said. He added that the assailants also snatched mobile phones and other belongings from the two brothers before releasing them.

The rights activist said the brothers and their impoverished Christian family chose to keep silent about the ordeal, as the suspects had warned them against contacting police.

“We came to know about this incident on Jan. 24 and immediately contacted the family,” Ghauri said. “After much persuasion, we were able to convince the family to file a First Information Report [FIR] with the police, as keeping silent would have only encouraged the perpetrators to target more Christians living in the village.”

More than 300 Christian families are settled there, he added.

Kotli Loharan police arrested a Muslim cleric alleged to have conducted the conversion and registered charges against the suspects of kidnapping, punishable by death or life imprisonment; theft with intention to cause injury or death, punishable by up to 10 years in prison; threatening death or grievous injury, punishable by up to seven years in prison; causing injury to extort a confession, punishable by up to 10 years in prison; and acts committed by several persons in furtherance of common intention.

The suspects, Naseem Shah and Sunny Shah, have criminal backgrounds and have been involved in inciting hatred against Christians, Ghauri said.

“This is not the first time Christians have been targeted in that area,” Ghauri said. “In fact, after the Aug. 16, 2023 attacks in Jaranwala, at least two-three attempts were made to stir religious tension by throwing torn pages of the Quran near Christian homes. Had the police and district administration taken timely action against the perpetrators of those incidents, this incident could have been prevented.”…

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