Israeli security forces announced on Wednesday that they had retrieved the remains of two people held captive in Gaza, among them was Yair (Yaya) Yaakov, who had been killed during the October 7 Hamas attack and taken into Gaza. The second victim has yet to be publicly identified, though the family has been notified. According to official estimates, 54 hostages are still being held by Hamas, with 20 of them believed to be alive.

The body of Yair Yaakov HY’D, has been recovered in Gaza, his family says. Yagil Yaakov says IDF troops recovered his father’s body during an operation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has yet to issue an official statement regarding the operation. Yair Yaakov, 59, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, alongside his partner, Meirav Tal, during the brutal Hamas terrorist assault on the community. That same day, Yaakov’s sons, Or and Yagil, were also taken captive from their mother’s nearby home in Nir Oz. Meirav Tal and the Yaakov brothers were freed in a November 2023 hostage exchange with Hamas. Tragically, Yair Yaakov was murdered during the initial October 7 attack, with his death confirmed by the IDF in February 2024.

A meeting of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) that was scheduled to be held next week at a hotel in Sarajevo was cancelled after a Bosnian minister called to ban it, saying its presence in the “city of openness” would “morally humiliate our capital and country.” Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), wrote, “The CER’s biannual Standing Committee meeting was due to be held at the Swisshotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, next week. Chief Rabbanim from all over Europe, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, were due to convene to discuss the most pressing issues facing European Jewish life today and matters of freedom of religion or belief.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee pushed back strongly against allegations accusing Israel of committing genocide or using disproportionate force in Gaza. In an interview with CBN, Huckabee derided the accusations, saying, “They’re doing a lousy job at genocide. If they wanted to do genocide, they could drop a few bombs and everybody would be dead.”
Huckabee praised Israel’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties during its operations in Gaza. “The fact that they are surgically going into Gaza, trying to move the civilians out of harm’s way. They announced to them with leaflets, with paging, with cell phone texts, with loudspeakers, and they’ve put it on every media outlet and social media and say, ‘If you’re in this area, get out. We’re going to attack it.'”

BREAKING IN FALLSBURG: Catskills Hatzolah and other emergency personnel are on the scene at Estate Drive and Laurel Park Road, where a child was struck by a vehicle. The child is reportedly unconscious, and a medevac has been requested. Catskills Scoop will share a name for Tehillim once it becomes available. Updates to follow.

U.S. officials stated that the State Department will order nonessential personnel to leave the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and allow nonessential staff and dependents to depart from U.S. diplomatic facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait due to heightened regional tensions and potential unrest.