{"id":42037,"date":"2025-01-26T20:12:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T01:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/israeli-army-raids-home-of-freed-hamas-member-amid-tensions-over-hostage-deal\/26\/01\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-01-26T20:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T01:12:49","slug":"israeli-army-raids-home-of-freed-hamas-member-amid-tensions-over-hostage-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/israeli-army-raids-home-of-freed-hamas-member-amid-tensions-over-hostage-deal\/26\/01\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Army Raids Home of Freed Hamas Member Amid Tensions Over Hostage Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military raided the Jerusalem home of a Hamas member released as part of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/25\/world\/middleeast\/israel-gaza-hostage-prisoner-swap.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">an exchange<\/a> for Israelis being held hostage in Gaza, detaining one person and roughing up others on Saturday evening, including a New York Times reporter conducting interviews at the scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A squad of soldiers forced its way into the house on the outskirts of Jerusalem and disrupted an event marking the early release of Ashraf Zughayer, a Hamas member imprisoned in 2002 for driving terrorists to the locations of their attacks. Among them was a suicide bomber who killed six civilians by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/09\/20\/world\/suicide-bomber-kills-5-on-a-bus-in-tel-aviv.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">blowing up a bus<\/a>. According to court documents, Mr. Zughayer confessed to the charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zughayer, 46, was released on Saturday afternoon along with 199 other prisoners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Overseen by a colonel, the soldiers entered the Zughayer family\u2019s building with their rifles raised and assaulted several people, including Mr. Zughayer\u2019s father and a Times reporter conducting interviews. The soldiers detained Mr. Zughayer\u2019s brother and expelled journalists, then left about an hour later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For years, Israeli security services have discouraged and often broken up family events celebrating the release of Palestinian militants, saying that the gatherings provoke unrest, lionize terrorists and inspire support for violence. Critics say the interventions increase Palestinian antipathy for Israel, prolonging a cycle of violence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has been particularly assertive in suppressing celebrations for detainees released under the terms of the cease-fire in Gaza. Israeli officials are concerned that they may help bolster the popularity of Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed up to 1,200 people. Dozens of the Palestinians released on Saturday were sent into exile in Egypt instead of being allowed to return home, in part for that reason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military said in a statement that it had raided the Zughayer family\u2019s house because it \u201creceived intelligence and videos of gunfire and incitement to terrorism in the area.\u201d The statement said that the soldiers had been acting to \u201cneutralize the threat of fire\u201d and that they had raised their weapons at \u201carmed individuals.\u201d An Israeli military official said the brother had been detained for displaying a Hamas flag.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Earlier that day, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HaimOmri\/status\/1883194370058535363\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">footage<\/a> circulating on social media showed Mr. Zughayer wearing a Hamas scarf and being paraded in a car through his neighborhood, surrounded by a group of other men carrying Hamas flags \u2014 an action that is barred in Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By the time reporters for The New York Times arrived in the neighborhood several hours later, the situation was calm. They saw Mr. Zughayer briefly wearing a slim Hamas scarf before a child ran off with it, roughly an hour before the raid. A second child who wore a cape bearing a Hamas logo left the house around the same time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The roughly two dozen other attendees, including several small children, wore unmarked clothes and there were no flags on display. No one was armed, and Mr. Zughayer\u2019s brother did not display a Hamas flag, the reporters said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The home is owned by Mr. Zughayer\u2019s father, Munir Zughayer, who is a well-known community organizer. Munir Zughayer liaises between residents of the impoverished neighborhood and the Jerusalem municipal leadership, as well as between the families of Palestinians in prison and the Israeli prison authorities. He said that he was not a member of Hamas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After bursting into the family\u2019s compound around 5:30 p.m., the soldiers moved through the yard, where the gathering was held, without stopping to assess the situation or the people inside, the reporters said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One soldier immediately used the muzzle of his loaded rifle to strike Aaron Boxerman, a Times reporter who happened to be standing close to the yard entrance. Before Mr. Boxerman had a chance to identify himself, the soldier hit him in the rib cage, leaving a large bruise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A second Times reporter, Natan Odenheimer, then identified himself as a journalist, video recorded by The Times shows. The same soldier told Mr. Odenheimer that he didn\u2019t care, using an expletive to underscore his point. The soldier then pointed his loaded rifle at Mr. Odenheimer again, the video shows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The soldiers also aimed their rifles at other attendees. The video shows the attendees quickly complying with the soldiers\u2019 commands and appearing to pose no threat. The soldiers yelled profanities at Mr. Zughayer\u2019s relatives; and shoved his father in the chest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The military said in a statement that it regretted \u201cany harm caused to journalists during operational activity,\u201d and that it did not aim to target \u201cuninvolved civilians, or journalists as such.\u201d It said<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>it was investigating the incident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A spokesperson for The Times said it had lodged a protest with the Israeli military over the assault on Mr. Boxerman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/26\/world\/middleeast\/israel-army-palestinian-prisoners.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli military raided the Jerusalem home of a Hamas member released as part of an exchange for Israelis being held hostage<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/israeli-army-raids-home-of-freed-hamas-member-amid-tensions-over-hostage-deal\/26\/01\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}