Ex-CEO offers $100K to anyone who returns Israeli hostages safely from Gaza
Former SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who returns a hostage detained in the Gaza Strip. In a video with Arabic subtitles widely circulated this week on social media, Birnbaum addressed residents of Gaza directly. He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised free passage and immunity to anyone who delivers an Israeli prisoner to Israel.
"I would like to add to that a financial reward," he said. "Anyone who delivers from Gaza a living Israeli prisoner will receive $100,000."
He added that payment is possible in cash or by Bitcoin "as you prefer.” Birnbaum told AFP he had received scores of mostly bogus inquiries. But he said several could be "legitimate" and have been redirected to Israeli authorities.
"I'm not expecting to get everyone back, (but) I'd be delighted if we got back just one hostage," Birnbaum said.
Israel '100% accountable': Brother mourns Shirel Golan's death by suicide
Developments:
∎ An Israeli strike Thursday killed three Lebanese soldiers trying to evacuate wounded people from the border village of Yater, the Lebanese army said. The Israeli military, which did not immediately comment, has previously said it is not operating targeting the Lebanese army.
∎ Hezbollah said Wednesday that it had escalated its rocket attacks into Israel by firing precision guided missiles for the first time.
∎ Delegations from at least 70 nations along with representatives of 15 international organizations met Thursday in Paris to raise money for humanitarian aid, stress support for the strained Lebanon military and push for peace.
Blinken entourage rushes to shelter: Hezbollah attacks Tel Aviv
Blinken talks aimed at Gaza cease-fire could start soon
The U.S. wants Israel's military campaign in Lebanon to end, and talks aimed at restarting negotiations with Hamas toward a Gaza cease-fire will start soon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday. Blinken, speaking at a briefing in Qatar, warned Iran against any further attacks on Israel.
Israel began its stepped-up campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon almost a month ago. It has also escalated its offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza and has threatened Iran with stiff retaliation for firing scores of rockets into Israel on Oct. 1.
Blinken, speaking after talks with Qatar's prime minister, said it had not yet been determined whether Hamas was prepared to engage in new negotiations aimed at a Gaza cease-fire but urged the group to do so. And he said the U.S. is "working intensely” on a diplomatic resolution to end fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border.
“Israel must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger U.N. peacekeepers or Lebanese armed forces,” Blinken said.
Al Jazeera denies its reporters are militants
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera media outlet, among the most popular in the Middle East, on Thursday rejected an Israeli military claim that six of its Palestinian reporters in Gaza were members of Hamas or other militant groups. The network accused Israel of attempting to silence journalists.
"Al Jazeera condemns Israeli accusations against its journalists in Gaza and warns against (this) being a justification for targeting them," the network said in a statement.
The Israeli military released documents it said proved reporters were linked to militants that Al-Jazeera "tried to disavow." The documents include personnel tables, lists of militant training courses, phone books and militant salary information that "unequivocally prove that they function as military terrorist operatives of the terrorist organizations" in Gaza, the military said.
School, displacement or Hamas hideout?
An 11-month-old baby and other children were among at least 16 Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned displacement center in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp Thursday, a local hospital reported − but the Israeli military said the site was being used by Hamas as a command center.
Hamas was using the Shuhadaa al-Nuseirat − “Martyrs School” − to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli troops, the Israeli military said.
Nuseirat's Al-Awda hospital said at least 32 people were wounded in the attack. Gaza's Hamas-run government office reported at least 17 dead and 42 wounded.
“The occupation army knew that the school housed thousands of displaced persons and that the majority of them are children and women who were displaced from their bombed homes and residential neighborhoods," the government office said in a statement.
29 Israelis killed by Hezbollah in last year
At least 29 Israeli civilians have been killed in Israel as a result of Hezbollah attacks targeting northern Israel over the last year, according to the Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli think tank.
The Israeli military said Thursday that its "troops continue their limited, localized, targeted ground raids" that began three weeks ago against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon aimed at making northern Israel safe.
The Israeli air force said it has struck over 160 Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers and infrastructure sites across Lebanon as part of a recent effort to secure the border region. Tens of thousands of Israelis began fleeing the region almost a year ago when Hezbollah intensified rocket attacks into Israel after the start of the war in Gaza.
Contributing: Reuters