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Israeli Military: Bodies of Six Hostages Recovered in Gaza; Voting underway in Thuringia, Sayxony for Key State Polls; Afghan Women Refuse to be Silenced by Strict New Laws. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 01, 2024 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[02:00:38]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong.

The latest now on the breaking news coming out of Gaza. The Israeli military says it recovered the bodies of six hostages from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area on Saturday. The IDF has now identified all six saying their families have been notified. They are Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, and Alex Lobanov.

Israel's defensive minister -- defense minister says the six were killed just before troops could reach them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON (through translator): According to the initial assessment at our disposal they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short while before we reached them. They were abducted alive on the morning of October 7th by the Hamas terror organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well the White House put out a statement that reads in part, "It is as tragic as it is reprehensible, make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."

The news had led to protests in Israel and new calls for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal. The group Missing Families Forum issued a statement saying, "Netanyahu abandoned the hostages." On Saturday, protesters said Netanyahu is putting the war with Hamas ahead of the hostages' lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZAHILO SHAHAL MOL, PROTESTER: In order to stop this and to save lives, there is one thing that must be done. For lives to be saved, Netanyahu must be immediately replaced. For the hostages to return home, Netanyahu must leave now. Members of the coalition, step up and take action or be recorded in history as the full accomplices in the execution of the hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi and journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us from London. Great to see you both.

Elliott, let's start with you. Tell us, what more are you learning?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: We know that the IDF announced that they had discovered a number of bodies on Saturday. They announced it on Saturday evening. And then we've had more details dripping through. They were discovered in a tunnel underground in the Rafah area during fighting above ground.

The bodies were taken back into Israel, were identified in the families of those six people that were kidnapped on October 7th. Five of them from the Nova Music Festival that was taking place just outside the Gaza Strip and one of them from Kibbutz Be'eri as she was visiting her parents, both of whom were murdered that day. This is the information that has been put out.

Now, you gave the statement there from the White House. There's also been a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has put out a statement, and we've heard from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has also just, in the last hour or so, put out a statement saying, "During this painful and difficult time, my thoughts and my heart are with the families of hostages who were killed."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to put out a statement, so far as I'm aware, unless it's happened in the last minute or two, and that is -- and I suppose that silence is something that is irking the families of loved ones who are still kidnapped or who have been killed even more so.

Now, we know who the six victims were, who the six people killed were. I suppose the most high profile is Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the 23-year- old Israeli-American, who we, you recall, on October 7th, we saw with half of his left arm having been blown off, being herded onto the back of a truck and taken into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas releasing a video of him when he was in captivity a few months ago. His parents, very vocal advocates for his release and the release of all the hostages, they'd met with President Biden. They even spoke at the Democratic National Convention about 10 days ago, and earlier today, they put out a statement saying how the entire family was devastated at that loss.

[02:05:03] There's also Eden Yerushalmi. She was working as a bartender, 24-year- old, at the Nova Music Festival. She was on the phone to her sisters when she was captured, as she was trying to hide from the militants. Her last words to her sister, Shani, were, "Shani, they caught me."

Then there's also Carmel Gat, 40-year-old occupational therapist, was visiting her parents at Kibbutz Be'eri. Both of her parents were killed on October 7th. She was described by hostages released back in November during the first and only ceasefire deal as a guardian angel.

There was Almog Sarusi, who was with his girlfriend who was mortally wounded at the Nova Music Festival. He stayed behind to try to help her, only to be kidnapped himself.

There was Alex Lobanov, 32-year-old Russian-Israeli. His wife gave birth to their child five months ago while he was in captivity, so he never got to meet his second child.

And then there's also Ori Danino, a 25-year-old man who took a number of people from the Nova Music Festival to safety in his car, only to turn around to go back to try to help more people and then be kidnapped himself.

Those are the six Israelis who were -- whose bodies were discovered on Saturday by the IDF. And, of course, as you say, further angering and upsetting the families who have been calling for a hostage deal to be done. They've been saying for weeks, for months, that time is running out, that if a deal isn't done, that their loved ones will have little to no hope of being brought back alive. And this, sadly, is the fate of those six hostages whose bodies were discovered on Saturday and have now been returned to Israel.

COREN: Paula, this war now for 11 months, there has been growing pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu. In light of these tragic developments, what are the implications, if any, for the Prime Minister, who has been accused of putting the war with Hamas before the lives of the hostages?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I know it's certainly going to put more pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister, but he seems to have been able to withstand that significant pressure for months now. There have been, as Elliott, was just saying, so many calls within Israel that a deal had to be done in order to bring these hostages back. And it's worth pointing out as well, it's not just about bringing the hostages back, it's about a ceasefire in Gaza, it is about being able to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid, given the absolutely dire humanitarian situation in Gaza at this point for the Palestinian people.

So it is a deal that all sides have said for some time desperately needs to be done. This will put more pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister, though, but we have been hearing that he has been able to ignore that pressure, even from within his own inner circle.

Now, we know there is a very far-right element to his Cabinet, which allows him to be able to ignore that criticism to some extent. It also puts pressure on him to not agree to a deal until, in his words, Hamas is completely destroyed, something which his own military has admitted is impossible to do.

But we are hearing from Israeli media just in the past day or so that there has been increased resentment within the Prime Minister and disagreement between the Prime Minister and his own Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. We have a number of Israeli media outlets saying that on Thursday night, when there was a Cabinet meeting to decide about the hostage deal and about an extra condition being put forward, that there was significant disagreement there.

Now, this talks about the border between Gaza and Egypt, the Philadelphi Corridor. The Israeli Prime Minister is now saying as a condition in these talks, we understand, that there should be an Israeli military presence there to make sure that there isn't the smuggling of weapons and arms back into Gaza during that first six weeks of ceasefire, the first phase of the three-phase deal. But we understand from these accounts that the Defense Minister himself was disagreeing with that, saying that Hamas would not agree with it, there will not be a deal, there will not be more hostages coming back.

And we have heard that there was a very acrimonious back and forth between the two leaders according to these media reports. Gallant saying -- accusing Netanyahu of running these negotiations on his own. We understand also the Chief of Staff was there backing up the military, the Defense Secretary.

So from a military point of view, from -- according to these Israeli media accounts, there isn't a need in those six weeks to have this military presence along the border between Gaza and Egypt. But this is what these hostage negotiations and ceasefire deal negotiations appear now to be centering on.

[02:10:13]

Hamas agreeing, it says, to a deal that the U.S. President Joe Biden had very vocally supported, had publicly announced back in May, and accusing Israel, and specifically the Israeli Prime Minister, of moving the goalposts, of putting more conditions up to prevent this deal being done.

It's worth pointing out though, for months now, both Israel and Hamas have been accusing the other of being the one to prevent this deal being done.

Anna?

COREN: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, Elliott Gotkine in London, we appreciate reporting from both of you. Thank you so much.

Well, I'm joined now by retired U.S. Army Major General Mark MacCarley.

Mark, thank you for joining us. What details are you learning about the operation in which these IDF soldiers discovered these six hostages? MARK MACCARLEY, U.S. ARMY MAJOR GENERAL (Ret.): I think what I've learned is consistent with what your reporters have already discussed. It was, of course, a very difficult and treacherous recovery of the hostages within this subterranean environment. As I've stated multiple times, subterranean warfare is perhaps one of the most dangerous endeavors for ground soldiers.

And in this instance, and unfortunately, tragically, while the Israeli, the IDF, discovered these hostages, they were found dead. And that certainly does not contribute at all to any resolution of this conflict.

Of course, there are multiple questions that we can pursue about whether or not the actions that have been taken or the suggested actions, such as the establishment of this Philadelphi Corridor by the IDF, by Israel, would do anything to contribute to the hopeful resolution of this conflict.

COREN: We're learning from the IDF that these six hostages were killed brutally by Hamas a short while before they were discovered. In the past 11 months, have we seen anything like this, where the IDF were obviously very close to recapturing or reestablishing contact with the hostages, getting the hostages safely, and then them being killed by Hamas militants?

MACCARLEY: Certainly a fair question, because I'm just reviewing the instances. I think there are eight that were indeed successfully extricated. And that does not include those who were released at the very outset of this conflict.

But I do believe tonight or this morning that if and since the IDF did indeed make a statement, and that statement was that these hostages were dead, that that statement suggests, and dead within a very short period of time before the IDF recovered what became their bodies, that this was perhaps the first instance where you had death almost immediately after IDF had come very, very close to a recovery of what hopefully would have been evacuees, hostages who could have been brought out alive. So this is, unusual is the wrong word, but this suggests another level of violence in this operation.

COREN: And even more painful for the families of those hostages, learning that IDF soldiers were so close to getting those six hostages maybe back alive.

MACCARLEY: Absolutely. That should be repeated multiple periods of time. Just to think if we were in the shoes of the families of the hostages, to realize that if in fact the timing had been something however different, that their children, their spouses, their loved ones could have come back alive. It's -- I can't fathom, truly fathom the pain that these families are undergoing at this moment.

COREN: And for the remaining hostages, I mean, do we know how many are believed to be still alive in Gaza?

MACCARLEY: We're operating basically on the same intelligence that has been circulated open source and that suggests that there are about 110 or so that might conceivably be alive. But we have no real confirmation of that. There aren't, let's say, video presentations made by Hamas with the various hostages speaking to their loved ones by some sort of video transfer.

[02:15:24]

Now, this is just the intelligence that we have and extrapolation of that intelligence where we come up with this 110 figure.

COREN: U.S. Army Major General Mark MacCarley, we certainly thank you for joining us and sharing your insights.

MACCARLEY: Thank you.

COREN: We've much more ahead on the recovery of the bodies of six hostages in Gaza. We'll go back to Elliott Gotkine for the latest developments on this breaking news story. Please stay with us.

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COREN: Israel Defense Forces say they have recovered the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza. Military officials saying the victims were killed quote, "a short while before we reached them."

The hostages had spent 330 days in captivity after they were brutally kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7th. A group that represents families of Israeli hostages says five of those who were just killed had been taken from the Nova Music Festival and one woman had been taken from her parents' home.

[02:20:04]

Well, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement about the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages whose body was recovered in Gaza on Saturday. Quote, "Doug and my prayers are with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh's parents, and with everyone who knew and loved Hersh. When I met with Jon and Rachel earlier this year, I told them, you are not alone. That remains true as they mourn their terrible loss. Americans and people around the world will pray for Jon, Rachel and their family and send them love and strength. As is said in the Jewish tradition, may Hersh's memory be a blessing."

Well, Gideon Levy is a Columnist for Haaretz newspaper and was an advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He joins us now from Tel Aviv.

Gideon, you are in a country that is in mourning but also in rage. Tell us how Israelis are feeling today?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: So we can't speak about all Israelis as one entity. There is a big, big, big camp who is furious this morning, obviously mourning everyone. But the furious part is only a part of Israeli society because we have to remember there is also a part which supports blindly Benjamin Netanyahu and whatever he does. And they will justify this terrible fiasco that those hostages and many more could have been saved a long time ago and only because of the rejection of Netanyahu they were killed. So Israel is divided even on such a morning. On one hand, the big, big camp which protests now for months and months but has very little influence on the government who calls to do anything, but anything possible to release the remains of the hostages.

On the other side, there are Netanyahu's fans, Netanyahu's supporters who believe that he takes care of the security of Israel and whatever he does is serving only this purpose. This is obviously totally far- fetched but many people believe in it.

COREN: But considering these IDF soldiers were so close to rescuing these six hostages, do you see this as being a potential tipping point for Netanyahu and Israeli society?

LEVY: Unfortunately not. I don't think that Netanyahu will be affected even by those six killed hostages because he's very decisive about his goals which are totally different than logic or rational goals in this war if they are at all, except of releasing the hostages and putting an end to this war.

Netanyahu will not put an end to this war and Netanyahu will not agree to any deal which will lead to ending this war and therefore the protests can continue and should continue but it will have very little influence.

COREN: Mass protests have been called today. How many people are you expecting to take to the streets?

LEVY: There will be many thousands and tens of thousands but as I said, it's very impressive. It will not be a march of one million people. Don't expect this. The fact is that so many months of protests did not change much. It's very frustrating but we have to face it. It's a matter of fact. It's not Netanyahu's political basis and therefore he continues to ignore these protests from his political point of view, rightly so.

COREN: We've heard of this argument that he has had with the Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. You know, details are leaking out from that meeting so clearly there are deep divisions within the government as to how to proceed with this war?

LEVY: Yes, but in this government, there is only one voice which is really deciding and that's Netanyahu's voice. Gallant is quite marginal. He doesn't have any political basis right now and his struggle over a deal is very impressive but he has no influence of the government.

And by the way, Netanyahu holds the majority of the ministers and those who are against him in the government, in the coalition, are even more right-wing and more nationalist and militaristic than him. So Gallant has no influence in this government.

[02:25:12] COREN: Gideon, we've heard from the Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He has apologized for not bringing the hostages home safely. Have we heard anything from -- from the Prime Minister?

LEVY: No, and this is also unbelievable because he knows about the six bodies much before we know it. He had enough time to at least publish a statement. He is always there when there are successes and he always, always, always disappears when there are fiascos.

And here again, I guess finally he will phrase something but that's not a behavior of a leader, of a national leader. I mean, you know, the President of the United States had the time and his deputy, both had the time to publish very touching and impressive announcements, both of them. And here the Israeli Prime Minister is still busy and didn't find the time at least to say some words to the families. This is outrageous.

But, you know, Netanyahu is very limited in his emotional side. He's not exactly like normal human beings. Many times we have the feeling that this man does not have emotions at all and has no emotional intelligence at all. He doesn't understand what it is about.

COREN: Gideon Levy, we always appreciate your insights. Thank you for joining us.

LEVY: Thank you.

COREN: Meantime in Gaza, the first group of babies have received polio vaccinations as a massive U.N. campaign to vaccinate more than 640,000 children gets underway. Gaza had near universal polio vaccine coverage before the war but it's since dropped below 90%.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to pause fighting in three phases beginning Sunday and running through September 12th to help aid workers distribute the vaccine safely. But Palestinian health officials stress that brief ceasefires will not be enough to get the job done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUSEF ABU AL-REESH, GAZA'S DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER (through translator): We call for a real ceasefire so that this campaign can really succeed because all the arrangements that have been done cannot secure its success although our teams will go to all locations and wherever there is a Palestinian person that is in need of this vaccine despite the dangers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Well, much more ahead on the recovery of the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, I'll get some analysis from a former Middle East Advisor to the U.S. Defense Department.

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[02:31:50] COREN: Welcome back. Well, let's bring you up to speed with breaking news out of the Middle East. The IDF says six hostages, whose bodies have been recovered in Gaza, were killed a short while before Israeli troops reached them.

The statement says they were found in an underground tunnel in the city of Rafah on Saturday. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 100 other hostages, and about one-third of them are presumed to be dead.

Meanwhile, a group representing hostage families is now blaming what it calls delays, sabotage and excuses for the failure to reach a deal to free their loved ones. The group has also called on the public to mobilize, as they accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning the hostages.

Well, let's return to journalist Elliott Gotkine in London. Elliott, what more are you learning about these six hostages whose bodies were recovered?

GOTKINE: Anna, well, we know they were recovered on Saturday, as you say, in a tunnel underground in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Their bodies were brought back into Israel, where they were identified, and then the families of those six people were notified.

Now, all five of the six whose bodies were discovered were kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival, which was taking place next to the Gaza Strip. This was the scene of the largest number of people that were killed in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of that day, on October 7th, and also where the largest number of people were kidnapped.

So perhaps the best known of the six was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American, 23 years old. He was at the Nova Music Festival when he was kidnapped, and we, of course, saw images that day of him being herded onto the back of a truck by militants, with half of his left arm being blown off, missing.

He subsequently appeared a few months ago in a video released by Hamas showing him in captivity. That was the first proof of life his family had had. His parents have been very vocal. They've met with President Biden. They spoke at the Democratic National Convention about 10 days ago. Today they put out a statement saying that they were devastated that Hersh had been killed, had been found dead.

There's also Eden Yerushalmi, 24-year-old. She was working as a bartender at the Nova Music Festival. She was on the phone for hours with her family while she was seeking cover to try to hide from the militants. The last words that she said to her sister Shani were, "Shani, they caught me."

Carmel Gat, she was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri while visiting her parents. Her mother was killed that day. Her father survived. And Carmel, who was an occupational therapist, she was described by some of those who were released in the first and only ceasefire hostage deal back in November as a guardian angel. Then there was Almog Sarusi. He was with his girlfriend at the time,

27-year-old Almog was. He stayed with his girlfriend who was mortally wounded at the Nova Music Festival. And then he himself was kidnapped.

[02:35:00]

There was Alex Lobanov, a 32-year-old Russian-Israeli. He was working as a bar manager down at the Nova Music Festival. His wife gave birth to their child, second child, five months ago while he was in captivity, so he never got to meet his second child.

And then finally there's Ori Danino, a 25-year-old man, who reportedly took a number of people from the Nova Music Festival to safety in his car and then turned around to go back to try to help more people, only to be kidnapped himself.

So those are the six people whose identities have been revealed today by the IDF and, yeah, they're causing a lot of heartbreak among Israeli families and the nation as a whole.

Anna?

COREN: Extraordinary suffering. Elliott Gotkine in London, thank you.

Still to come, a check on some of the day's other news. Germany's far right is expected to make major gains in key state elections. I'll talk to an expert about the implications that could have on the country's politics. That's next.

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COREN: In Germany, voting is underway in two eastern states for key elections. The far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, is expected to take the most votes. That possibility prompted thousands of anti-far-right protesters to take to the streets on Saturday.

[02:40:10]

They marched in the capital of Thuringia, one of the state's holding elections. If the AfD wins, it will be the first time a far-right party has held a majority in a German state parliament since World War II.

Well, joining me now from Los Angeles is Dominic Thomas, CNN European Affairs Commentator. Dominic, good to see you.

These are, of course, state elections, but in the words of one of the rising stars of the far-right, it has the potential to trigger an earthquake in Berlin. How did Germany get to this point?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yeah, well, it's been coming for a while now. I mean, this is a party that was only founded about a decade ago, and they really came to political prominence in the aftermath of the so-called migrants crisis back in 2015. And they entered parliament in substantial numbers in 2017, which had been the first time in 60 years that a party like that had come into that building.

And what we've seen them do is kind of grow incrementally. And just 2023, already in the area that we're watching for the electoral outcomes tomorrow, they won an administrative district. And just a few weeks ago, months ago, in the June E.U. elections, not only did they come in second, but they came in ahead of the entire coalition groups and parties that are currently in power.

So I think as one looks ahead to just the 2025 federal elections that are coming up just about a year's time from now, there's a very strong indication of not only how well they will perform, but how well their policy agendas are likely to shape the political debates going into that election, Anna.

COREN: And then explain to us, I guess, the threat that the AfD, as well as the other far-right party, the BSW, pose. You know, they're both anti-migration, Eurosceptic and Russia-friendly.

THOMAS: Yes, they are. So, I mean, just to distinguish that the other, the BSW, is actually an outgrowth of this, of some of these ideas and groups. But they are -- they call themselves a kind of left-wing populist entity.

But you're absolutely right around these questions that are so central to the AfD and for the AfD in particular. EU-sceptic, climate denialist, you know, against sanctions on Russia, certainly against providing ongoing infrastructural and military support for Ukraine. They're very much on the wrong side of so much of global politics.

But I think that where this political party has been especially skillful is tapping into so much of that sense of being left behind and some real genuine grievances in those five states that are located in the east of Germany and that were formerly part of East Germany where unemployment levels are higher and when there are still lingering disparities with Western Germany.

The problem is that they have used and instrumentalized the kind of scapegoating of migrants to kind of capitalize around those votes. You know, and as so many people have pointed out with regards to, say, the Brexit vote or far-right politics in France today, it's not as if all of the supporters of the AfD support these anti-immigration, anti- Islam views.

But what we've noticed is that the overwhelming majority of people that do support those views have gone to the AfD. And that's why, Anna, this particular party is so especially dangerous in the broader landscape of Europe where we've seen these questions amplified over recent elections.

COREN: I wanted to ask you, why is this party, these parties resonating with people in Germany right now?

THOMAS: Yeah, well, I think there's, first of all, there's that question of kind of grievances that I just mentioned. But I think also so many of the views of these parties have been normalized now and mainstreamed in Europe. We've seen a kind of breakdown of some of the mainstream traditional parties with sort of weaker coalitions.

But when the AfD, for example, sits in different political groups at the European Union, it's not alone. There are elected prime ministers now that represent and share these views. And we have also seen in areas like, for example, in the Netherlands, where the far right came out ahead in the last election, where they have now been brought into government.

And so I think that some of that wall around them and some of that stigma of supporting those political parties have come down and have opened up the gates to voters to support these and to express protest votes, but also votes in favor of certain types of policies that they don't see other mainstream parties subscribing to. And also the AfD has been very good at kind of instrumentalizing, as I said, that sort of mainstream anger around some of the economic questions that are playing out in Germany today.

[02:45:00]

COREN: Dominic, as you mentioned, the federal election in Germany isn't until September of next year. But what does this all mean for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition?

THOMAS: Yeah, well, if we just think back all the way to, say, 2004, when Angela Merkel was first elected, you had real mainstream strong parties that went into robust coalitions.

I think the writing is on the wall. What happened at the European Union vote back in June, where not only Scholz's SPD party, but also the Greens and the FDP, they came third, fourth and sixth in that particular election. And I don't see them recovering in the next year.

So what we're going to see, I'm almost convinced, is a kind of CDU- CSU, Merkel's former party, that has also moved further to the right and in many ways encroached on many of these policy ideas of the AfD come out ahead. The big question, Anna, is going to be to whom do they turn for a coalition?

And will that wall that has been up against the AfD entering government come down? A wall in which we see, as with the elections up until now and tomorrow, that there are cracks in this particular wall going forward. And I think that that election will be therefore shaped by this kind of rhetoric and this move to the right all the way through now into 2025.

COREN: Dominic Thomas, as always, we appreciate your analysis. Thank you so much.

THOMAS: Thank you, Anna.

COREN: Stay with us.

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[02:50:23] COREN: Russia is marking 20 years since the start of the deadly Beslan school siege, the terrorist attack that left hundreds dead, including 186 children.

President Vladimir Putin recently visited Beslan in southern Russia to pay tribute to those who died during the attack and subsequent military operation.

On September 1st, 2004, armed Chechen separatists took some 1,200 people hostage, holding them in a school gym rigged with explosives.

The siege ended on September 3rd when Russian security forces stormed the building. More than 330 people were killed and more than 700 injured.

Defense officials say seven U.S. troops are in stable condition after they were injured in a raid that killed at least 14 ISIS militants in western Iraq.

U.S. Central Command says the raid was a partnered operation with Iraqi security forces. The U.S. says 15 militants were killed, but Iraq put the number at 14.

The ISIS operatives were said to be armed with grenades and explosive suicide belts. The U.S. says there is no indication of any civilian casualties.

Afghanistan's leaders are apparently trying to erase half of its population from public life. Last week, the country's Taliban rulers issued new draconian laws to silence women. That is literal. The Taliban have banned women from singing, reciting or reading aloud in public places. It is illegal for a woman to even look at a man she's not related to, nor can she show her face. However, Afghan women refuse to disappear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (voice-over): Fully veiled, but not silent. A woman in Afghanistan sings a song of protest against new laws put into effect by the Taliban that further rob women of their rights and voices.

She sings, "You made me a prisoner in my home of the crime of being a woman." And under the Taliban's new vice and virtue laws, which formalize many previous restrictions, a woman must be fully covered, both face and body, should not sing or read aloud in public, and should not look at a man who is not family.

NILOFAR AYOUBI, AFGHAN ACTIVIST: These women are confined within four walls, and literally it's like burying these women alive inside brick walls.

COREN: It's been a steady erosion of women's rights since the Taliban took power just over three years ago, when women were banned from attending high school or university.

Restricted from working in most jobs, and earlier this year, the Taliban reintroduced public flogging and stoning for women who commit adultery.

ALISON DAVIDIAN, U.N. WOMEN'S HEAD OF THE AFGHANISTAN COUNTRY OFFICE: To give some context, three years ago, a woman in Afghanistan could technically decide to run for president. Now, she may not even be able to decide when to go and buy groceries. Now, I'm not saying that three years ago it was perfect. It was not perfect. But it wasn't this.

COREN: The new law, meant to silence women in public, has created an uproar online, with Afghan women around the world posting videos of themselves singing songs of defiance. And activists are calling on the international community to not only name but punish the abuses happening in Afghanistan.

AYOUBI: I think the first and the basic step that the international community can take is to recognize and codify the term gender so we can take these criminals to the court.

COREN: The United Nations says the loss of basic rights is causing many women to lose hope, with nearly 70% of Afghan women describing their mental health as bad or very bad.

METRA MEHRAN, GENDER APARTHEID RECOGNITION ACTIVIST: I came across this story of high school students who haven't been able to go to school for the past three years. And she wrote to us that she has tried to commit suicide two times so far and then she doesn't know what others think, but she thinks she will go insane.

COREN: And some Afghan women who were able to flee the country are sending strong messages to their sisters back home.

During the Paris Olympics, Afghan breakdancer Manizha Talash, part of the Olympic refugee team, was disqualified after wearing a cape with the words Free Afghan Women on it.

[02:55:06]

And Zakia Khudadadi, an Afghan taekwondo athlete on the refugee Paralympic team, said her bronze medal victory is a sign that perseverance can pay off.

ZAKIA KHUDADADI, REFUGEE PARALYMPIC TEAM: I wore this medal to show it, the strength for all the girls and women in my country, Afghanistan, and I hope that with this medal we're all together. It's one for freedom and for peace in my country.

COREN: The Taliban says the new laws are part of the Islamic law and local customs, but many activists say Afghanistan's future is looking bleaker because of them, with the Taliban once again going unchecked in its erasure of women.

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COREN: A recap now of the breaking news out of the Middle East, a group representing the families of Israeli hostages is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address the nation. The statement came after Israeli troops recovered the bodies of six hostages in the Rafah area. The IDF says they were brutally murdered by Hamas a short while before soldiers reached them on Saturday.

Earlier, the hostage families group called on the Israeli public to mobilize, saying the country will tremble in the coming hours. The group claims Mr. Netanyahu has abandoned the hostages.

I'll have more on this breaking news after this very short break. Please stay with CNN.

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