Yasser Abu Shabab, a Bedouin man in his 30s, was at the center of an Israeli project in Gaza to build up anti-Hamas militias.
The militant group took more than 250 hostages from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including 31 from Thailand. The remains of all but one other hostage, an Israeli, have been recovered.
A waterfront Mass in the Lebanese capital capped the pope’s three-day visit to the Middle Eastern nation with the largest proportion of Christians.
The pope, arriving in Lebanon, also encouraged that country’s Christians to stay where they are, despite economic, political and security concerns.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the contentious appeal weeks after President Trump had made the same request to the Israeli president.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Leo XIV on the opening leg of a trip that will also include Lebanon.
Despite a cease-fire with Hezbollah, almost daily strikes demonstrate an emboldened Israel’s strategy to eliminate its enemies any time, anywhere.
Israel confirmed the remains belonged to Dror Or, 48, who was abducted during Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. The bodies of two captives are believed to be still in Gaza.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it had succeeded in delivering million of meals in the war-torn enclave, but some Palestinians were killed trying to obtain them.
The government acted quickly to tamp down reprisals in the central city of Homs as it tries to manage repeated waves of bloodshed involving minority groups.