Tanzanian hostage Joshua Mollel’s body identified in Israel
(JNS) — Israel on Thursday identified the remains of a hostage handed over by Hamas the previous night as Joshua Luito Mollel, 21, an agricultural student from Tanzania.
He was working in the cowshed at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, when he was murdered by Hamas terrorists and his body was taken to Gaza.
Mollel is survived by his parents, three sisters and a brother.
“The Government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Mollel family and all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. The Israel Defense Forces also expressed its “deep condolences to the family.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on social media that it “bows its head in sorrow and shares in the profound grief of the Mollel family.”
“Joshua, 21 years old at the time of his death, was the eldest of four siblings living in Tanzania. A student in an agricultural internship program, Joshua worked at a dairy farm on Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Joshua arrived in Israel just 19 days before the brutal Hamas attack. On Saturday morning, he worked the morning shift at the dairy farm,” the Forum said.
Israeli troops escorted the coffin carrying Mollel’s remains across the border into Israel on Wednesday night. The body was taken to the National Institute for Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir) in Tel Aviv for identification.
Pope Leo holds first meeting with PA chief Abbas in Rome
(JNS) — Pope Leo XIV met with Mahmoud Abbas in Rome on Nov. 6, in the pontiff’s first in-person meeting with the Palestinian Authority chief since assuming the papacy in May.
The pope and Abbas previously spoke over the phone on July 21, to discuss the fighting in the Gaza Strip and tensions in Judea and Samaria.
Thursday’s meeting, which lasted around an hour and was described as “cordial” in a Vatican statement, came nearly a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect in Gaza.
“During the cordial talks, it was recognized that there is an urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and to end the conflict by pursuing a two-state solution,” the Vatican announced.
Immediately after touching down in Rome on Wednesday, the P.A. chief paid his respects at the grave of Pope Francis, who died in April, during a visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great.
Speaking with reporters outside the church on Wednesday, Abbas said: “I came to see Pope Francis because I cannot forget what he did for Palestine and for the Palestinian people, and I cannot forget that he recognized Palestine without anyone having to ask him to do so.”
In an interview published last month, Leo voiced “grave concern” over the situation in Gaza amid the war on Hamas, but stopped short of accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide against Palestinians.
Israel sends medical team to Jamaica for hurricane relief
(JNS) — An Israeli medical delegation is heading to Jamaica to provide humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean island nation in the aftermath of last week’s Hurricane Melissa, Jerusalem’s health and foreign ministries announced on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is directing the team to help the local population recover from the devastating Atlantic Ocean storm, which according to Reuters took the lives of 32 people in Jamaica and 43 in Haiti as of Wednesday, with billions in economic damage.
The team, led by Health Ministry Deputy Director Dr. Sefi Mendelovich and Shaare Zedek Medical Center Director professor Ofer Marin, will provide emergency medical care alongside Jamaican staff in two hospitals serving evacuees from the hardest-hit regions. The 30-member delegation includes doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from hospitals across the country.
The mission follows a formal request from Jamaica’s Health Ministry. Israel’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Raslan Abu Rokan, and an additional diplomatic team were also dispatched to coordinate humanitarian operations with Jamaican authorities.
“The delegation represents the spirit of mission and professionalism of the Israeli health system in Israel, our willingness to assist other countries in times of crisis,” said Israeli Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov.
‘Qatar paid intel firm to discredit woman accusing ICC prosecutor of abuse’
(JNS) — The woman who has accused the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of sexual abuse has been targeted by private intelligence firms in a covert operation carried out on behalf of Qatar, a British daily reported on Thursday.
The Guardian revealed that the firms obtained private information about the woman, including her passport details, flight information and the birth certificate of her child, in an effort to undermine her credibility and the abuse claims she made against ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan.
The private operation, which was reportedly led by the London-based Highgate firm, also unsuccessfully sought to establish connections between the woman and Israel.
The Guardian report found that the operation was commissioned by a high-level government office in Qatar.
Khan’s alleged victim — a lawyer in her 30s who worked directly for him — told the Guardian that she was appalled by the Qatar-initiated spy operation against her.
“The idea that private intelligence firms have been instructed to target me is an incomprehensible as it is heartbreaking,” she said.
The government of Qatar did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to the Guardian, Highgate confirmed having led an operation related to the ICC but insisted that it had not “acted against any individual” and denied having been commissioned by the “government of Qatar.”
Dutch FM tours Kibbutz Nir Oz, meets Oct. 7 survivors
(JNS) — Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister David van Weel toured Kibbutz Nir Oz and met survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in the community on Thursday, the second day of his three-day visit to Israel.
“Kibbutz Nir Oz was the scene of a massacre as Hamas unleashed its terror on 7 October 2023. Over a quarter of its 400 residents were murdered or kidnapped — a true nightmare,” Van Weel posted.
The Netherlands’ top diplomat wrote he was “deeply moved” by the kibbutz’s resilience and “their drive to rebuild and achieve peace.”
Van Weel, who touched down at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, is visiting for talks with top Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. Discussions were to focus on advancing the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire, humanitarian aid and regional peace.
According to the Dutch Foreign Ministry, Van Weel was set to meet with Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and the P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian.
During talks with Aghabekian in Ramallah on Friday, Van Weel is expected to discuss developments in Judea and Samaria.
