Israeli troops dig up body of hostage who died in Gaza
Hamas announces participation in new round of truce talks scheduled to be held in Cairo; Israel yet to take a call as it believes the event would be ‘more political theatre than actual progress’
Israel said on Saturday its special forces had recovered the body of a hostage killed while being held captive in Gaza, as the Palestinian enclave’s dominant Islamist movement Hamas said it would take part in a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo.
The body of Elad Katzir, a 47yearold Israeli farmer, was unearthed by commandos in southern Khan Younis overnight, the military said. He had been killed by his Palestinian Islamic Jihad captors and buried there in midJanuary, it said, citing intelligence information about which it declined to elaborate.
Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, had no immediate comment.
Katzir was among 253 people dragged into Gaza by Hamasled gunmen who killed some 1,200 others in southern Israel, according to official tallies, sparking an offensive that medics in the enclave say has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
Angered by an Israeli air strike that killed aid workers in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
Hamas said it would send a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for a new round of mediated talks. Israel was undecided on whether to attend, an Israeli official said, citing concern that the event would be “more political theatre than actual progress”.
Hamas wants any deal to bring about an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has said that, after any truce, it would topple Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction.
Russia on Saturday said it had evacuated 4,000 people in the Orenburg region, in the southern Urals near Kazakhstan, due to flooding after a dam burst.
Emergency services had been working through the night after a dam burst in the city of Orsk, near the border with Kazakhstan.
The press service of the Orenburg Governor said “4,208 people, including 1,019 children” had been evacuated and more than 2,500 homes were affected by the flooding after a dam burst on Friday following torrential rain.
Russia opened a criminal case for “negligence and violation of construction safety rules” over the burst dam, which was built in 2014.
Orenburg regional Governor Denis Pasler said specialists assessed that the dam was built “for a different weight” and that the level of rainfall was “exceptional”.
Authorities warned of a dangerous water level on the Ural river in the main city of Orenburg.
The Mayor of the city of half a million people, Sergei Salmin, said authorities would forcibly evacuate people from flooded zones if they refused orders to leave. He said the water level of the Ural river had risen to 855 cm and “will rise” further.
Kazakh President KassymJomart Tokayev said the floods were one of the worst natural disasters in Kazakhstan in 80 years.