Hamas frees two Israeli women as US advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives
Rafah (Gaza Strip)(AP): Hamas released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza on Monday, as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.
The death toll in Gaza was rising rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes, flattening residential buildings in what it says was preparation for an eventual ground assault.
The United States advised Israel to delay an expected ground invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages.
A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where the population of 2.3 million has been running out of food, water and medicine under Israel's two-week seal. With Israel still barring entry of fuel, the UN said its distribution of aid would grind to a halt within days when it can no longer fuel its trucks.
Gaza hospitals are struggling to keep generators running to power life-saving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.
The release of the two hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, was confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The two women, along with their husbands, were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border in Hamas' October 7 rampage through towns of southern Israel. Their husbands were not released.
In a statement, Hamas said it had released them for humanitarian reasons. Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter last week.
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Drunk woman held for hitting police constable with car in Rohini
New Delhi (PTI): A 40-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly ramming a car into a police barricade and injuring a constable in northwest Delhi's Rohini, police said on Friday.
The incident took place on December 24 in Sector 11 of Rohini where a barricade had been placed, they said.
According to police, a caller informed them that a female driver, apparently drunk, had hit a police constable with her car.
A police team rushed to the spot and found the white car that had struck the barricade.
The woman, a resident of Sector 16, Rohini, was found to be under the influence of alcohol, police said.
Constable Rohit, posted with the 1st Battalion of the Delhi Armed Police, who suffered injuries in the collision, was taken to BSA Hospital for treatment, police said.
They said the woman, who works in the private sector, was returning home from a birthday party when the incident occurred.
She was arrested, and her car was seized, they said.
