Free Republic

The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas. Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S. soil. Maduro's illegitimate regime has undermined Venezuela's institutions, violated human rights, and endangered our regional security. We extend our gratitude to all personnel involved in this operation and to our partners who assisted in securing the safe liberation of these Venezuelan heroes.

Pics of terrorists coming out in nothing but undershirts. A few weeks ago, during an 188th Brigade operation under the command of the 36th Division in Rafah's Shabura neighborhood, a Hamas platoon commander who participated in the October 7th Massacre and was in charge of holding several Israeli hostages, who were released, as well as a commander in Hamas's sniper array, surrendered and were apprehended. Troops found several knives on the terrorists. During the terrorists' interrogation by the Shin Bet, they gave valuable intelligence about the location of significant terrorist infrastructure in the area. A few weeks ago, the IDF...

A senior security source addressed the expansion of the fighting in Gaza, which has been codenamed "Operation Gideon Chariots," and says that the goal will be "to defeat and subdue Hamas in Gaza and release all hostages." According to the source, "In accordance with the plan formulated by the Chief of Staff and the IDF Command and approved by the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister, the IDF will increase its forces and act forcefully to defeat and subdue Hamas and destroy its military and governmental capabilities, while creating strong pressure for the release of all the hostages. A...

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mardawi declared that his organization opposes partial agreements that do not include the total end of the war. In an interview with Al Jazeera, al-Mardawi said that Hamas would not agree to return to an escalation after temporary ceasefires. Mardawi accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of...

Hamas has told mediators it will release a number of foreign captives in the coming days, Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the group's armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video on its Telegram account on Tuesday (May 3). The Brigades spokesman did not give more details on the number of captives or their nationalities. He also said his group clashed with the Israeli army on three fronts and was able to "kill and injure a number of Israeli soldiers" as well as destroy 22 military vehicles. The unit's navy also used an underwater missile called 'Aasif' for the first...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke via phone on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump, the American leader said, declaring that the pair “are on the same side of every issue.” The call covered “numerous subjects including Trade, Iran, etc.,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, adding that the conversation went “very well.” Notably, Trump did not include Gaza or the 59 hostages being held there in his list of topics discussed amid the ongoing impasse in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. However, according to a report in Axios, the pair did talk about efforts to reach...

Pic too big. Click to see. GAZA — In a desperate attempt to return to family and friends they haven't seen in over a year and a half, American hostages being held by Hamas reportedly disguised themselves as MS-13 gang members so Democrats would fight to bring them home to the U.S. After being held captive since late 2023 with little sign of their elected officials being motivated to bring them home, sources said the Americans still in the custody of Hamas had devised a clever plan to cover themselves in MS-13 tattoos so congressional Democrats would advocate for them....

Siegel was shot in the hand and his ribs were broken during the Oct. 7 attack. His wounds weren't treated until he was freed more than a year later.He said Hamas also tried to convert him to Islam. https://t.co/klRvGiVqZt— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) April 10, 2025

Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from Kremlin custody in a prisoner swap with the United States on Thursday morning. Karelina was freed in exchange for German-Russian Arthur Petrov at a swap in Abu Dhabi, the Wall Street Journal reported. “American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” he added. The dual-citizen spa worker was accused of treason against the Russian government...

PUTIN henchman and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is "preparing to flee Russia" - as he has put his son in charge of the police. The infamous leader of Chechnya has already made several moves to prepare for his escape - and his efforts have sparked a conflict with Kremlin cronies. The 48-year-old dictator is a vocal supporter of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, and has sent tens of thousands of troops to support the bloody war in Ukraine. He has also been accused of violating human rights, including involvement in kidnapping and torture. But relations between Putin and Kadyrov have soured...

An Israel Defense Forces carried out an airstrike on a Gaza hospital on Sunday night, killing the new "Hamas Prime Minister". The militant group has confirmed his death. IDF claimed that Hamas has been exploiting civilian infrastructure like hospitals to hide terrorists. The Gaza health ministry run by Hamas said the strike was targeted at the surgery department of the hospital. Who was Ismail Barhoum? Identified as Ismail Barhoum, the top Hamas official had replaced Issam Da’alis as the "prime minister" of the militant group in Gaza. Barhoum, who was injured in an earlier airstrike, was being treated at the...

Over ties to Hamas terror. Hostage families file suit against Columbia protesters. Families of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 file lawsuit against Mahmoud Khalil and several student groups, accuse them of "aiding and abetting Hamas' continuing acts of international terrorism".

The White House commented on the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip, stating that "Hamas chose war when it decided not to release hostages."

The BBC reporting of the hostages comes nearly a month after they aired a documentary about the war in Gaza featuring a narrator with alleged familial ties to Hamas. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was accused of downplaying the Hamas terrorist organization's harsh treatment of Israeli hostages, according to a Sunday report by The Telegraph. The Arabic branch of the British public service broadcaster was forced to edit a video clip of the "shadow unit" of the terror group's Al-Qassam Brigades, the report said. The "shadow unit" was described in the video clip as "guarding the kidnapped female Israeli hostages,"...

Federal authorities have charged four defendants with operating one of the largest human smuggling rings in the United States. The indictment alleges that the transnational criminal organization smuggled around 20,000 undocumented immigrants from Guatemala to the U.S. via Mexico. The group is accused of holding individuals hostage, threatening violence, and being responsible for a fatal car crash in Oklahoma in 2023, which resulted in seven deaths, including three minors. The ringleader, Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul, and his associate, Marsha Char, have been arrested and pleaded not guilty. A trial date is being set. Another defendant, Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, remains a fugitive and...

Palestinian armed group Hamas published a video of now-released hostages, chronicling their final moments in captivity. In a shocking twist, the video also featured snippets of Israelis still being held by Hamas. The two hostages spoke on camera as well. Hamas released six living hostages on February 22, as part of the final swap under terms of the truce’s first phase. However, Israel refused to free Palestinian prisoners, citing Hamas’ “humiliating release ceremonies” as one of the reasons. Watch the video for full details.

Ceasefire in jeopardy as Israel says it will wait ‘until release of next hostages is guaranteed’ and Hamas scraps ‘degrading’ handover ceremoniesHamas released six Israeli hostages on Saturday, but Israel suspended the handover of more than 600 Palestinians it was due to free from its prisons in exchange, putting the five-week-old ceasefire agreement once more in jeopardy. In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “In light of Hamas’ repeated violations – including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda – it has been decided to delay the...

... Hamas released six hostages from Gaza on Saturday, handing over in two public ceremonies and one private transfer the final living captives whom the warring sides agreed would be freed when a ceasefire began last month. Israel was due to release 620 Palestinian detainees in return, but has delayed the exchange citing further security reviews..

The body that Hamas claimed was that of Shiri Bibas, the mother of two young children kidnapped on October 7 and later murdered by Hamas, was either deliberately or accidentally misidentified when it was returned to Israel on Thursday. Kfir Bibas, 10 months old when killed, and Ariel Bibas, age four, were identified by Israeli authorities, as was 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz. But the fourth body was not Shiri Bibas or any of the other hostages still being held by Hamas. Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, called the switch of bodies an "unfortunate mistake." "We confirm that...

As regular readers know, Hamass was scheduled to hand over to Israel four murdered hostages and among them are easily the two most heartbreaking: Kfir and Ariel Bibas. Sixteen months ago, these ‘Bibas Babies’ were nine and four years old, respectively, when they were abducted by Hamass during the October 7, 2023 pogram. Their bodies were allegedly handed to Israeli authorities overnight, although there is always a non-zero chance that Hamass is wrong or lying and it will turn out it is not their bodies. But while we don’t think Hamass is particularly trustworthy in general, when they essentially admit...