Israeli Hostage in Gaza Dead, Say Families

The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
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Israeli Hostage in Gaza Dead, Say Families

The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP
The house in Nir Yitzhak, in southern Israel near the Gaza border, from which the two hostages were snatched on October 7 © Menahem Kahana / AFP

One of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack has been killed and his body is being held in Gaza, two groups representing hostage families said Tuesday.

Uriel Baruch, 35, a father of two, was taken from the Supernova music festival, where 364 people were killed by Hamas during the unprecedented attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

The Israeli army told his family that his body was being held in Gaza, the Tikva Forum hostages group said in a statement.

Another group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, also said Baruch had been killed.

It described the techno fan, whose children are aged eight and five, as "a joyful person who loved life and loved to have fun".

"Uriel's body is still being held captive by Hamas," it added.

Militants seized 253 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Around 100 hostages were released during a truce at the end of November, some in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel believes around 130 captives remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead.



Lebanese President Says Hezbollah Disarmament Will Come through Dialogue Not ‘Force’ 

President Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Feb. 11, 2025. (AFP)
President Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Feb. 11, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanese President Says Hezbollah Disarmament Will Come through Dialogue Not ‘Force’ 

President Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Feb. 11, 2025. (AFP)
President Joseph Aoun in Baabda on Feb. 11, 2025. (AFP)

Lebanon's president said Monday that the disarmament of the Hezbollah group will come through negotiations as part of a national defense strategy and not through “force.”

The Lebanese government has made a decision that “weapons will only be in the hands of the state,” but there are “discussions around how to implement this decision,” President Joseph Aoun said in an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Those discussions are in the form of a “bilateral dialogue” between the presidency and Hezbollah, he said.

Lebanon has been under pressure by the United States to speed up the disarmament of Hezbollah but there are fears within Lebanon that forcing the issue could lead to civil conflict.

“Civil peace is a red line for me,” Aoun said.

Aoun said the Lebanese army — of which he was formerly commander — is “doing its duty” in confiscating weapons and dismantling unauthorized military facilities in southern Lebanon, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in late November, and sometimes in areas farther north.