Hannah Katzir, former hostage freed in a brief ceasefire, dies

TEL AVIV, Israel — Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78.

The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death Tuesday but did not disclose the cause.

Her daughter, Carmit Palty Katzir, said in a statement that her mother’s “heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since Oct. 7.”

Katzir’s husband, Rami, was killed during the attack by terrorists who raided their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her son Elad was also kidnapped and his body was recovered in April by the Israeli military, who said he had been killed in captivity.

She spent 49 days in captivity and was freed in late November 2023. Shortly after Katzir was freed, her daughter told Israeli media that she had been hospitalized with heart issues attributed to “difficult conditions and starvation” while she was held captive.

In the West Bank, Bethlehem marked Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza.

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better.

“This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate.

Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City.

The Israeli negotiating team working on a ceasefire returned from Qatar to Israel on Tuesday, the prime minister’s office said, after what it called “a significant week” of talks.

After months of deadlock, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to reach a deal.

According to Egyptian and Hamas officials, the proposed agreement would take place in phases and include a halt in fighting, an exchange of captive Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge in aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel says Hamas is holding 100 hostages, over one-third of whom are believed to be dead.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “some progress” in efforts to reach a deal, but added he did not know how long it would take.

Israeli soldiers took control of a hospital in isolated northern Gaza after evacuating all of the patients and most of the doctors, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Tuesday.

The Israeli military confirmed its troops had entered the Indonesian Hospital in the town of Jabaliya as part of an operation searching for Hamas terrorists. The army later said its soldiers had left the hospital.

The military said it had assisted with evacuating the patients and had not ordered the hospital closed.

The Israeli army said Tuesday’s operation at the Indonesian Hospital came after terrorists carried out attacks from the hospital for the past month, including launching anti-tank missiles and planting explosive devices in the surrounding area.

In Syria, scores of Christians protested in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, demanding greater protections for their religious minority after a Christmas tree was set on fire in the city of Hama a day earlier.

Many of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, although Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the main terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.

It remains unclear who set the Christmas tree on fire Monday, which was condemned by a representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who visited the town and addressed the community.

“This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations,” the HTS representative said in a video widely shared on social media. “The Christmas tree will be fully restored by this evening.”

On Tuesday, protesters marched through the streets of Bab Touma in Damascus, shouting slogans against foreign fighters and carrying large wooden crosses.

“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We want a voice in the future of our country,” said Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the crowd in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.

Meanwhile, in Syria, American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.

Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.

Zakka told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. He added that President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.

Zakka said he believes Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.

Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.

Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, although he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.

Back in Israel, the military said a projectile from Yemen was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country’s populous central area, sending residents looking for cover.

Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said a 60-year-old woman was seriously wounded after being hurt on her way to a protected space.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists.

It was the third time in a week that fire from Yemen set off sirens in Israel. On Saturday, a missile slammed into a playground in Tel Aviv, injuring 16, after Israel’s air defense system failed to intercept it.

Earlier last week, Israeli jets struck Yemen’s terrorist-held capital and a port city, killing nine. Israel said the strikes were in response to previous Houthi attacks.