Israel identifies two more hostages' bodies as Vance meets Netanyahu
[October 22, 2025]
By MELANIE LIDMAN
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has completed the identification of the
bodies of two more hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office
said Wednesday, as U.S. Vice President JD Vance held high-level meetings
in Israel to nudge forward Gaza’s fragile ceasefire.
Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and
Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross
and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.
The two were killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by
Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war.
Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have
been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza
and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, the burial of 54 Palestinians is set for Wednesday at a
cemetery in Deir al Balah, Gaza. The bodies were displayed outside
Nasser hospital in Khan Younis ahead of burial.
Vance is meeting Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. He
is accompanied by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared
Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
On Tuesday, Vance, Witkoff and Kushner said the ceasefire had exceeded
expectations but acknowledged flareups of violence in recent days.
Uncertainty remains over the peace plan, including disarming Hamas, the
deployment of an international security force in Gaza and who will
govern the territory. Vance said Tuesday officials are brainstorming on
the composition of the security force, mentioning Turkey and Indonesia
as countries expected to contribute troops.
Britain is also sending a small contingent of military officers to
Israel to assist in monitoring the ceasefire.
Funeral prayers for Palestinians
Dozens of people, some carrying Palestinian flags, gathered outside the
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for funeral prayers over the bodies of 54
Palestinians clad in white shrouds.
The unidentified bodies were among 165 that Israel sent back to Gaza
last week. They will be transported to Gaza’s central city of Deir al-Balah
for burial.
A senior health official in Gaza said some bodies bore “evidence of
torture” and called for an investigation.
Israel has not provided identification for the bodies or explained their
origins. They could include Palestinians who died during the Oct. 7
attacks, detainees who died in custody or bodies that were taken from
Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.
So far, authorities in Gaza have identified 52 of the returned bodies,
according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
[to top of second column]
|
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, meets with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Office in
Jerusalem, Israel on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Nathan Howard/The
New York Times via AP, Pool)
Charity says an armed group took over its Gaza facility
A top Palestinian non-governmental organization that offers mental
health services to people in Gaza said Wednesday that there had been
an “armed raid and brutal takeover” of one its facilities in the
territory last week.
The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme said an “armed group” it
didn't identify stormed the facility in Gaza City on Oct. 13, seized
the building, expelled guards by force and put up their own families
there.
“This blatant attack and serious crime represents a flagrant
violation of all laws and norms,” the group said.
It was unclear why the organization waited more than a week to
report the takeover, but it said that although it had made immediate
requests for authorities to intervene, there had been no “concrete
action” to return the facility “despite repeated promises to
evacuate.”
They urged Palestinian authorities to act immediately and called on
countries sponsoring the ceasefire to “intervene decisively.”
Israelis to bid farewell to a Thai hostage killed on Oct. 7, 2023
Israelis were set on Wednesday to bid farewell to a Thai farm worker
whose body will be repatriated to his native Thailand later in the
day.
Sonthaya Oakkharasri was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas
attack on Israel, and his body was held in Gaza until it was
returned last weekend.
A statement by the Families' Headquarters for the Return of the
Abductees said a gathering will be held at Ben Gurion airport in Tel
Aviv to pay last respects to Oakkharasri, calling him a “devoted
father and farmer who dreamed of establishing his own farm.”
In the 2023 attack on Israel that started the war, Hamas-led
militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted
251 people as hostages.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians,
according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish
between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry
maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally
reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has
disputed them without providing its own toll.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
