Israel says remains of 3 more hostages recovered, as refugee camp in Gaza struck
The Israeli military said Sunday that it has recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip. At least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike and 22 wounded while waiting for humanitarian aid, according to a local hospital.
The military identified the remains as those of Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. All three were killed during Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that ignited the ongoing war. The militant group is still holding 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive.
The military did not provide any details about the recovery operation, and it was unclear if the airstrike was related to it.
"The campaign to return the hostages continues consistently and is happening alongside the campaign against Iran," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son's remains were returned on what would have been Yonatan's 23rd birthday.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israel tallies. More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued alive and Israeli forces have recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said that women and children make up more than half of the dead.
Four people were killed on Sunday in an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, where the bodies were brought. It said another 22 people were wounded while waiting for aid trucks.
Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds seeking desperately needed food, killing hundreds of people in recent weeks. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it said approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
Separately, World Central Kitchen, the charity run by celebrity chef José Andrés, said it had resumed the distribution of hot meals in Gaza for the first time in six weeks after shutting down because of Israel's blockade, which was loosened last month amid fears of famine.
WATCH | UN urges Israel to refrain from lethal force near Gaza aid sites:
UN calls on Israel to stop firing on Gazans near aid sites
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Duration 2:17
The Oct. 7 attack and Israel's offensive ignited a chain of events leading to Israel's surprise attack on Iran last week. The United States entered the war overnight with attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites.
The Hostages Families Forum, the main organization representing families of the hostages, has repeatedly called for a deal to release the remaining captives.
"Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments and the significant achievements in Iran, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving any sort of victory," it said in a statement Sunday.
WATCH | Families of hostages fear Iran conflict overshadowing their plight:
Israeli families fear Iran conflict pushing hostages to back burner
2 days ago
Duration 2:18
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying Israel will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. Even then, he has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population, plans the Palestinians and others view as forcible expulsion.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker a new ceasefire and hostage release after Israel ended a truce in March with a surprise wave of airstrikes. Those talks appear to have made little progress as Israel has expanded its air and ground offensive.
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Suicide bomber kills at least 22 in Greek Orthodox church in Syria during Divine Liturgy
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, journalists and Civil Defence workers inspect the damage inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweil'a in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (SANA via AP) DWEIL'A, Syria -- A suicide bomber in Syria opened fire then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church filled with people praying on Sunday, killing at least 22 and wounding 63 others, state media reported. The attack took place in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus inside the Mar Elias Church, according to state media SANA, citing the Health Ministry for the toll of dead and wounded. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were at least 19 peopled killed and dozens wounded, but did not give exact numbers. Some local media reported that children were among the casualties. The attack on the church was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and comes as Damascus under its de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities. As President Ahmad al-Sharaa struggles to exert authority across the country, there have been concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups in the war-torn country. No group immediately claimed responsibility Sunday. Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said in a news conference that their preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group. The ministry said one gunmen entered the church, fired at the people there before detonating himself with an explosives vest, echoing some witness testimonies. 'The security of places of worship is a red line,' he said, adding that IS and remaining members of the ousted Assad government are trying to destabilize Syria. Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack. 'This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,' he said on X. 'We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state's pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.' Witnesses said the gunman with his face covered entered and fired at the people. When a crowd charged at him to remove him from the church, he detonated his explosives at the entrance. Syria's Social Affairs and Labor Minister Hind Kabawat, the country's Christian and female minister, met with the clergy at the church in the evening to express her condolences. 'People were praying safely under the eyes of God,' said Father Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed with his own eyes. 'There were 350 people praying at the church.' However, Meletius Shahati, a church priest, said there was a second gunman who shot at the church door before the other person detonated himself. Issam Nasr who was praying at the church said he saw people 'blown to bits.' 'We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,' he said. Security forces and first-responders rushed to the church. Panicked survivors wailed, as one lady fell to her knees and burst into tears. A photo circulated by Syrian state media SANA showed the church's pews covered in debris and blood. ------ By Abdulrahman Shaheen And Kareem Chehayeb Chehayeb reported from Beirut.
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Death toll in Syria church bombing attack rises to 22
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How the U.S. bombarded Iranian nuclear sites without detection
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Taking off from the U.S. heartland, B-2 stealth bombers delivered a total of 420,000 pounds of explosives, aided by an armada of refueling tankers and fighter jets — some of which launched their own weapons. U.S. officials said Iran neither detected the inbound fusillade, nor mustered a shot at the stealthy American jets. The operation relied on a series of deceptive tactics and decoys to maintain the secrecy, U.S. officials said hours after the attack, which was preceded by nine days of Israeli attacks that debilitated Iran's military leadership and air defenses. A decoy plan Even before the planes took off, elements of misdirection were already in play. After setting parts of the plan in motion, Trump publicly announced Thursday that he'd make a decision within two weeks on whether to strike Iran — ostensibly to allow additional time for negotiations, but in actuality masking the impending attack. 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At 6:40 p.m. in Washington and 2:10 a.m. in Tehran, the first B-2 bomber dropped its pair of GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators on the deeply buried Fordo uranium enrichment plant. It was the first time these so-called 'bunker busters' had ever been used in combat. Each 30,000-pound bomb is designed to burrow into the ground before detonating a massive warhead. The Fordo site received the bulk of the bombardment, though a couple of the enormous bombs were also dropped on a uranium enrichment site at Natanz. The U.S. bombs fell for about half an hour, with cruise missiles fired from submarines being the last American weapons to hit their targets, which included a third nuclear site at Isfahan, Caine said. Both Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites. A look at the numbers The mission included: — 75 precision-guided weapons: these included 14 GBU-57 'bunker buster' bombs deployed by the seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and more than two-dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a U.S. submarine. — 125 aircraft, including the B-2 bombers, fighter jets and refueling planes. A female pilot Hegseth said Sunday that 'our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.' But a U.S. official said one woman was among those piloting the B-2 bombers. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the mission publicly. A bit of history Caine said the use of the bunker-buster bombs made the mission historic, as did other elements. 'This was the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, and the second longest B-2 mission ever flown, exceeded only by those in the days following 9/11,' he told reporters Sunday. Lolita C. Baldor in Narragansett, Rhode Island and Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri, contributed reporting. Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. Farnoush Amiri And Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
