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has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. He was previously based in London as an international news editor focused on breaking news events and earlier the bureau chief for East and Central Europe, based in Warsaw. He has also reported extensively from Iraq and Africa.

Organizations: East Locations: Ukraine, Russia, London, Central Europe, Warsaw, Iraq, Africa

Nearing the end of a whirlwind Middle East trip this week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken finished meetings with the Israeli president and relatives of American hostages held by Hamas, left his beachside hotel in Tel Aviv and shook hands with protesters gathered outside. He looked them in the eye and said there was a new hostages-for-cease-fire deal on the table that Hamas should take. “Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything we’re trying to do, and we will not rest until everyone — man, woman, soldier, civilian, young, old — is back home,” he said. That public show of empathy with frustrated protesters is something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has avoided since the war began in October. And, lately, he has focused his recent public comments on an imminent ground offensive — an invasion of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza “with or without” a cease-fire deal, as the Israeli leader put it on Tuesday.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, ”, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: Hamas Locations: Tel Aviv, Rafah, Gaza

☆ Freed Israeli Hostages Share Details of Captivity, Relatives Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

A mother released from captivity in Gaza with her young son told relatives that they had slept on chairs pushed together. The freed hostages have not spoken directly to the news media and most are still being treated in private areas of Israeli hospitals. Relatives who have spoken or met with some of the released hostages said all seemed to have spent their weeks in captivity totally cut off from the outside world, and to have returned thinner than before. Adva Adar’s grandmother, Yaffa Adar, 85, was among the hostages released on Friday. The Or siblings were taken hostage with their father, Dror, who is believed to still be held in Gaza.

Persons: “, ”, Merav Mor Raviv, Keren Munder, Ohad, Ruth Munder, Ms, Raviv, Keren, Adva, Yaffa Adar, Adva Adar, Roi, Ruth, Avraham Munder, — Noam, Alma, —, Yonat, Ahal Besorai, Dror, Besorai, Noam Organizations: Media Central, BBC Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Prime Minister Netanyahu Visits Israeli Troops in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The trip was Mr. Netanyahu’s first to Gaza since the Israeli ground invasion began almost a month ago, according to officials. Photographs released by the Israeli government showed Mr. Netanyahu — wearing a T-shirt, jeans and a khaki flak jacket and helmet — looking at a map, consulting with commanders and standing just inside a tunnel that his office said the Israeli military had recently exposed. “We are making every effort to bring back our hostages and eventually we will return them all,” Mr. Netanyahu said. Israeli officials have said about 240 people were taken to Gaza as hostages by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7 in an attack that also killed about 1,200 people. But the prime minister emphasized that rooting out Hamas remained a central objective for Israel.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, ”, Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, Tzachi Hanegbi, Avi Gil, Amir Baram, Netanyahu —, “, ” Mr Organizations: Israel Locations: Gaza, Israel

Hamas released another 14 Israeli hostages on Sunday during the four-day pause in fighting with Israel, according to the Israeli government. Here’s what we know about the Israeli citizens released on Sunday. Avigail Idan, 4Image Avigail Idan Credit... Hostages and Missing Families ForumAvigail’s parents, Roy Idan, 43, and Smadar Idan, 38, were killed in Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 attack. Avigail’s uncle and aunt, Amit and Tal Idan, have been taking care of her siblings since the attack.

Persons: Avigail Idan, Roy Idan, Smadar Idan, Michael, Amelia, Avigail, Abigail ”, Biden, Avigail’s, Amit, Tal Idan, ” Ms, Idan, “ Organizations: U.S . Locations: Israel, Kfar Aza, U.S, Washington, Nantucket, Israeli

A third group of Gaza Strip hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl whose parents were killed in the Hamas raids on Israel, was freed on Sunday, raising the prospect more captives could be set free and a fragile truce extended. The 17 hostages released by Hamas, who were seized when the militants raided Israel on Oct. 7, included three Thai citizens, one Russian and the little girl Avigail Idan, a dual American-Israeli citizen who was kidnapped from a kibbutz. She marked her fourth birthday in captivity in Gaza on Friday. “Thank God she’s home,” President Biden said to reporters in Nantucket, Mass., where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday. “I wish I was there to hold her.”Much hinged on the latest release of hostages, who were exchanged for 39 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel on the third day of a four-day truce.

Persons: Avigail Idan, God she’s, Biden, “ Organizations: ” Locations: Gaza, Israel, Nantucket

Sharon Avigdori, a sister of Avshalom Haran and a drama therapist, was visiting her family in Be’eri with her daughter, Noam Avigdori, when they were seized. Her family initially believed she had been killed in the attack, but was later informed that she was kidnapped. Her older sister, Natalie Hand, told Israel’s Channel 12 that the family had cried for Emily when it was informed she had been killed. Maya Regev, 21Image Maya Regev Credit... Regev Family, via Associated PressMaya Regev was at the Tribe of Nova music festival on Oct. 7 when Hamas attackers infiltrated Israel and massacred hundreds of young festivalgoers. We will not stop until Itay and all the hostages get back home.”

Persons: Sharon Avigdori, Avshalom, Noam Avigdori, Hen Avigdori, Omer, Avigdori, “, ”, Emily Hand, Yael Shahrur Noah, Associated Press Emily Hand, Natalie Hand, Emily, Thomas Hand, “ I’m, ” Ireland’s, Maya Regev, Regev, festivalgoers, Ilan Regev Derby, Omer Shem Tov, Mirit Organizations: Associated Press, Israel’s, Embassy Locations: Be’eri, Hod Hasharon, Israel, Jerusalem, Irish, Kibbutz Be’eri, London, Gaza, ”

After nearly seven weeks in captivity, 13 hostages abducted by Hamas and other groups during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel were released on Friday as part of a deal that paused the fighting in the Gaza Strip. The 13 — all women and children — were returned to Israel. Five other hostages had been released or rescued earlier in the fighting. Twelve of those newly released were among the roughly 75 people who had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7. Here’s what we know about the Israelis released on Friday.

Persons: —, Kibbutz Nir Oz Organizations: Nirim Locations: Israel, Gaza

☆ In a Poignant Moment, Israelis Welcome Some Hostages Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Ms. Katz Asher and the girls were kidnapped while visiting Ms. Katz Asher’s mother in Nir Oz, a pastoral kibbutz, or communal village, near the Gaza border. And like all the residents of the ravaged communities along the border, Ms. Katzir will have no home to go back to for the foreseeable future. Twelve of the 13 Israeli hostages freed on Friday had been seized from Nir Oz. The 13th was one of five taken from Nirim, another kibbutz along the Gaza border. “There are kids here without parents, parents without kids, and grandparents with grandchildren but no parents,” said Larry Butler, 73, a Nir Oz resident who survived the attack.

Persons: ”, Yoni Asher, Doron Katz Asher, Raz, Katz Asher, Katz, Nir Oz, ” Mr, Asher, Hanna Katzir, Kibbutz Nir Oz, Katzir, Katzir’s, Katzenellenbogen, Rami Katzir, Elad, Larry Butler, Nir, Elad Katzir, “, Ms, Adam Sella Organizations: Red Cross, Hamas, Mr Locations: Israel, Gaza, Israel’s, Aviv, Egypt, Palestinian, Nirim, Eilat, Abasan, Tel Aviv

A deal between Israel and Hamas for a temporary cease-fire is expected to go into effect on Friday. The deal also includes an increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza, but Qatar’s foreign ministry did not release details. It was unclear whether they, too, would be set free in stages, but the official said the first would be released before any Israeli hostages. Who are the Palestinian prisoners? Some, but perhaps not all, of them are expected to be among the hostages released in the coming days.

Persons: —, Israel, Majed al, Ansari Organizations: Hamas, International Committee, West Bank, White Locations: Israel, Qatar, Gaza, a.m

☆ Deal to Free Child Hostages in Gaza Inspires Hope and Anguish
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

And an infant, now all of 10 months, who has spent about a tenth of his life in captivity. They are among the more than 30 children abducted from their homes and taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Almost a day after the deal was announced, the families had yet to receive any information from the authorities. Some, but perhaps not all, of the children are expected to be among the first hostages released in the coming days under a deal announced on Wednesday. Islamic Jihad, another armed group in Gaza, released the hostage video of Yagil Yaakov, 12, who was captured along with his brother Or, 16.

Persons: ”, Eylon Keshet, Kfir Bibas, Yarden, Shiri, Ariel, “, Yael Engel Lichi, Ofir Engel, Little, Yocheved Lifshitz, Yagil Yaakov Organizations: Be’eri Locations: Gaza, Israel, Gaza’s

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza awoke on Wednesday to news of a deal that brought both hope and agony. Israel has said that about 240 people were taken hostage to Gaza, and it remained unclear which of them would be released under the cease-fire deal announced overnight. Hours after the deal was announced, families said they had received no official information from the Israeli authorities. At least 36 Israeli civilians ages 18 and under are being held in Gaza along with 13 of their mothers. People have been calling to congratulate the family since Tuesday night, Ms. Engel Lichi said on Wednesday morning.

Persons: “, ”, Yael Engel Lichi, Ofir Engel, Yuval Sharabi, Engel Lichi Locations: Gaza, Israel, Jerusalem, Be’eri

☆ Netanyahu says he sees no role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, for now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

“We need to see the following two things,” Mr. Netanyahu told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Gaza has to be demilitarized and Gaza has to be de-radicalized. His remarks appeared to be somewhat at odds with the Biden administration, which last week made it clear that there should be no Israeli “re-occupation” of Gaza. More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gazan health officials. “The massacre of Oct. 7 proved once and for all that in every place that Israel does not have security control, terrorism entrenches itself,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Saturday. Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has been prosecuting the war amid plummeting approval ratings.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Mr, Netanyahu, NBC’s “, ”, “, ” Mr, Netanyahu’s, Biden, Antony J, Blinken, António Guterres, CNN’s “ Fareed Zakaria, Israel’s, Mahmoud Abbas, forthrightly, Israel —, Abbas, ” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abu Rudeineh, Wafa Organizations: Israeli Army, Palestinian, Press, Palestinian Authority, Israeli, West Bank, United Nations, “, West Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Qatar, Samaria, ”, West Bank, East Jerusalem

Nearly 30 young people took refuge inside a grimy bunker on the morning of Oct. 7, hoping the reinforced-concrete shelter near the border with Gaza would fulfill its promise of protection. Health officials in Gaza say Israeli strikes have killed more than 11,000 people in the Palestinian enclave. There is no official list of who was in the bunker near Re’im, one of hundreds of shelters that dot the roads of southern Israel. Seeing a shelter, its exterior painted with a colorful mural of a bird, they pulled their cars off the road and sought safety inside. She had arrived at the festival around 4:30 a.m. with her boyfriend, her nephew and his girlfriend.

Persons: ”, Ziv Abud Organizations: Health Locations: Gaza, Kibbutz Re’im, Israel, Re’im, Tel Aviv

By saying that Israel will maintain security control over Gaza “for an indefinite period,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set off alarm bells in Washington and questions at home. The Biden administration, trying to manage severe criticism among Arab and European allies about the death toll in Gaza — now at more than 10,000 Gazan officials say — was quick to push back. That collaboration helps Mr. Abbas tamp down dissent in the West Bank, including from members of Hamas, while Israeli settlements continue to expand there. After the killing of so many Israelis by Hamas a month ago — about 1,400, officials say — Israel will want to ensure its own security so that such an invasion from Gaza can never happen again. Even then, it is highly unlikely, Israeli officials say, that Israel will ever completely trust any Palestinian or even international peacekeeping force to keep Israel safe.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, —, “, Antony J, Blinken, Mahmoud, Abbas, Abbas tamp, Netanyahu Organizations: ”, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Authority, Mr, Israel Locations: Israel, Gaza, Washington, Tokyo, Palestinian

☆ Netanyahu suspends a minister who said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was an option.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel took the highly unusual step on Sunday of suspending a far-right minister from his government, after the minister said that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza and killing everyone there was “one way” of dealing with the threat from Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu’s swift action came amid an immediate and broad outcry over the comments made on Sunday morning by Amichay Eliyahu, the minister of heritage from the ultranationalist Jewish Power party. In his remarks, made to a Hebrew radio station, Mr. Eliyahu also said that there was no such thing as noncombatants in Gaza. While the Jewish Power Party is a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government, Mr. Eliyahu is not a member of the war cabinet prosecuting Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza. Still, his abrupt suspension appeared to reflect Mr. Netanyahu’s concerns both over the low levels of public confidence in his leadership, as shown by recent opinion polls, and the challenges Israel faces in maintaining international support amid its assault in Gaza, particularly given the high civilian death toll there.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Amichay Eliyahu, Eliyahu Organizations: Jewish Power, Jewish Power Party Locations: Gaza

☆ Netanyahu Apologizes After Blaming Security Chiefs for Failure in Hamas Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The comments by Mr. Netanyahu on X, formerly Twitter, prompted a furious response, including from within his own war cabinet. Although many senior officials, including military and security chiefs and the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, have accepted some responsibility for Israel being caught so off-guard, Mr. Netanyahu has declined to do so. Mr. Netanyahu has been in power for 14 of the past 16 years. Hours afterward, Mr. Netanyahu sought to deflect blame from himself, instead directing it at the security establishment — and specifically the heads of military intelligence and the Shin Bet internal security agency. “Under no circumstances and at no stage was Prime Minister Netanyahu warned of war intentions on the part of Hamas,” his post read.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, Benny Gantz, Yoav Gallant, Gallant, Gantz, ”, Shin Bet, Shin, Mr, ” Mr, Yair Lapid, “, Gabi Ashkenazi Organizations: Twitter, Shin, “ Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Netanyahu Finds Himself at War in Gaza and at Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The social media post went up online at 1:10 a.m. Sunday, while most Israelis were sleeping. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a message: His military and security chiefs, he said, had failed to provide him with any warning of the surprise Hamas assault on Oct. 7. He appeared to be placing all the blame on them for the colossal lapses — even as Israeli forces were broadening a risky ground war in Gaza. The country awoke to a furious response, including from within Mr. Netanyahu’s own war cabinet. For many Israelis, the episode confirmed suspicions of rifts and disarray at the top during one of the worst crises in the country’s 75-year history and reinforced qualms about Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, ”, “, Gadi Wolfsfeld, “ He’s, Wolfsfeld, Benny Gantz Organizations: Twitter, Reichman University Locations: Gaza, Herzliya, Tel Aviv

☆ With Their Soldiers Poised to Attack, Israelis Try to Decipher the Delay
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For 17 days, Israeli ground troops and tanks have been on standby, idling in the dusty fields around Gaza. Their stated mission: to invade the Palestinian coastal enclave and destroy the military capabilities of Hamas, the armed Islamist group, and its ability to rule there. The United States has been pressuring Israel to hold off to allow more time for hostage negotiations and aid deliveries, and for more U.S. military assets to be deployed to the region. The Israeli news media is filled with reports of differences within the government and between the political leadership and the military. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, long viewed as cautious about military adventures, is thought to be still deciding when — or if — to go ahead.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, —, Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant —, Herzi Halevi, ” Organizations: United Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, —

☆ An Israeli TV Channel for Netanyahu Fans Rapidly Gains Influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Israel’s military command? Part of a liberal-left “deep state.” The country’s judiciary? And the thousands of Israelis protesting a polarizing judicial overhaul plan introduced by the far-right government? These are only some of the divisive messages driven home recently by presenters on Israel’s Channel 14 television station, a formerly small and niche outlet that has rapidly turned into a major influencer in the public discourse of a country that is deeply divided and in turmoil. “We are in a situation right now where these 15 people are going to establish a fascist oligarchy,” said one Channel 14 analyst, referring to the court’s 15 judges.

Persons: elitists —, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Organizations: Israel’s

☆ Preyed On by Gangs: Gun Violence Surges Within Israel’s Arab Communities
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the shots rang out, the young soccer player was in line at a butcher’s shop in an Arab town in northern Israel. A talented midfielder, Nabil Hayek, 19, was one of four people injured in the assault in late July, victims of a surge of gun violence within Israel’s Arab communities, much of it linked to loan-sharking and protection rackets run by Arab crime organizations. These gangs have proliferated over the years, preying on a population that has long faced discrimination and has limited access to bank loans. Many people have no option but to take loans from the gangs and are at their mercy when they come to collect. Unemployed young men are also lured by easy money into becoming gang foot soldiers and enforcers.

Persons: Nabil Hayek, Benjamin Netanyahu Locations: Israel

☆ As West Bank Shootings Rise, Israel’s Government Vows to Retaliate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Israel’s far-right government pledged on Tuesday to strike at Palestinian assailants, and those sending them to attack, amid what is being described as the bloodiest year in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising about two decades ago. Within that same time frame, an apparently unarmed Palestinian man was seen on video being shot from behind and a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in the head during a military raid. The government did not elaborate on its response plans, but it has been under increasing criticism for what is seen as a security failure by both its detractors and by leaders of the West Bank Jewish settler movement, who are represented by key partners in the coalition government. So far this year, about 180 Palestinians have been killed, mostly in clashes with the Israeli military or while carrying out attacks against Israelis. About 33 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks also this year, more than 20 of them in or near settlements or on roads in the West Bank.

Organizations: West Bank Locations: Israeli, Palestinian

☆ Israel’s Supreme Court Prepares to Rule on Its Own Fate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the first time in Israel’s history, all 15 of its Supreme Court justices will crowd onto the bench on Sept. 12 to hear a case together. The reason: This one is so momentous that it could not only decide the powers of the court itself but also kindle a constitutional crisis. The 15-member court — which meets in a graceful building of beige stone, straight lines and arches on a hill in Jerusalem alongside Parliament — includes secular liberals, religiously observant Jews and conservative residents of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. One justice is an Arab Israeli; six are women, including the court’s president. Many Israelis fear that the overhaul will weaken the court as a check on the government, currently the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israeli history; accelerate a rightward shift of the judiciary that started almost a decade ago; and make it more politicized and less independent.

Persons: — Organizations: West Bank Locations: Jerusalem, Arab

☆ The Face of Israel’s Protests Is a Particle Physicist
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She was arrested, briefly, in March after she encouraged protesters to block a highway. Dr. Bressler sealed her status as a symbol of the protest movement last month when she led a miles-long column of demonstrators on a multiday march to the hills of Jerusalem from coastal Tel Aviv. It evoked a biblical pilgrimage, and they picked up tens of thousands of supporters during the journey. Somebody noticed that one of Dr. Bressler’s shoes was torn and asked for her shoe size. “It’s rare that you recognize you are in a real-time historical moment,” Dr. Bressler said during an interview in the cafe, reflecting on the events of the past few months.

Persons: ardor, Bressler, “, ” Locations: Israel, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem

☆ A Somber Mood Settles Over Israel’s Antigovernment Protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The roads around the Parliament and Supreme Court in Jerusalem were nearly deserted on Tuesday morning after chaotic late-night scenes of protesters facing off against police on horseback and armed with water cannons. Demonstrators who camped out for days in a park nearby had packed up quietly after the city served them with an eviction order, leaving no trace of their tent city. A small knot of people waved blue and white Israeli flags and a rainbow flag at a junction not far away, but the police wouldn’t allow them to approach the Parliament. One passing car blared its support. But the driver of another shouted “Only Bibi!” out the window in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Persons: “, ”, Benjamin Netanyahu Locations: Jerusalem

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