CBS News
Israeli family pushing for Hamas hostage’s release marks Rosh Hashanah with hope, but “nothing to celebrate”
Southern Israel — Ahead of the Jewish New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah, Efrat Machikawa helped prepare food for dinner at her home in southern Israel. Her family eats Tunisian food to mark the occasion, and her mother made a number of delicacies, including spinach glazed in honey.
But Machikawa told CBS News that this year’s holiday — one of the most significant in Judaism — wouldn’t be the celebration it usually is, because one of her family members is still being held hostage in war-torn Gaza.
“We know it’s a holiday, but it’s nothing to celebrate. Nothing,” she said. “They should have been here.”
CBS News last visited Machikawa at her home in southern Israel almost a year ago, just days after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks. Six members of her family had just been killed or taken hostage from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz — among the 1,200 people massacred and the 251 kidnapped that day.
Duarte Dias/CBS News
“It’s very hard to describe this past year, because it really doesn’t feel as if a year has been… I say, it’s one long day,” Machikawa said.
One of her relatives was killed and four were eventually released by Hamas, including her aunt Margalit, who had serious health issues when she was abducted.
Finally freed from captivity, it was hard for Margalit to accept what had happened on Oct. 7.
IDF via AP
“It wasn’t easy for her to realize what really happened to her house, to her community, to her friends, to people she loved, to the other kibbutzim, to the whole country,” Machikawa said.
Since we last met her, she’s been working tirelessly to get her uncle Gadi Moses, the last member of the family still held in Gaza, back home.
She’s been among the families and friends of hostages pushing Israel’s government hard to accept a deal with Hamas for a cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages. Machikawa has traveled the world, appealing to foreign leaders to mount pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Maya Alleruzzo/AP
“Everyone that is connected to the negotiation table and the army — the security and the army — are amazing, amazing people. But if I talk about my government… I don’t think they did what a government, what my idea of government, would do,” Machikawa said. “The feeling that it’s on us, on the families, to maintain the national and international interest in releasing these 101 hostages is quite hard to take.”
Israeli officials believe 64 of the hostages are still alive.
Machikawa said that, despite the difficulties, she will continue working to bring her uncle, and the other hostages, back home.
“There must be a hope. I am hopeful,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able not to be hopeful. I don’t have the capacity not to be hopeful.”
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a shooting and fiery crash in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames near a funeral home, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area.
“There appears to be some type of incident that led to the vehicle crashing and catching on fire,” McCollough said. “Investigators are looking into the circumstances leading up to that.”
The name of the person killed and the manner of death was not released, nor were the conditions of the nine people injured. McCollough did not specify how many of the nine people injured were gunshot victims.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to the community, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested. There was no word on a possible motive.
“We will leave no stone unturned and we will dedicate every resource to this,” McCullough said. “We don’t generally see incidents like this in our community in Baltimore County. I assure you as your police chief that we will put all resources toward trying to clear this case.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
“This is an incident that is shocking, particularly for those of us in Baltimore County,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. “These types of incidents are unheard of here, so it really shocks the conscience. However, we want our residents to know that we are, as always, fully committed to ensuring that both our fire and police departments have the full support and all the resources they need from the Baltimore County government to ensure that they bring this investigation to a conclusion.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Herschel Walker, the former football player whose 2022 Senate run was plagued by controversy, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
“Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad,” Trump said on social media Tuesday night.
Walker would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the role. The Senate has not confirmed a U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in over a decade. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Cassandra Butts for the role in 2014, but the Senate never even brought her nomination up for a vote, according to The Associated Press. She died in 2016.
Trump in his first term nominated Doug Manchester in 2017 for the ambassador role, but his nomination stalled for over two years. CBS News in 2019 also uncovered evidence of a possible pay-to-play scheme for the role. He eventually withdrew and Trump went on to nominate William Douglass in 2020. Douglass’ nomination was withdrawn by President Biden when he took office, and Mr. Biden in turn nominated Calvin Smyre, who has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Absent an official ambassador to the Bahamas, Kimberly Furnish currently serves in the role of Chargé d’Affaires.
Walker rose to national prominence as a star running back for the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the Heisman trophy in 1982. He spent his first few years of professional ball in the United States Football League before it folded, and then moved on to the NFL.
Walker reentered the national spotlight when, at Trump’s urging, he challenged Georgia’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock for his seat in 2022. The race featured several controversies, including two women claiming that Walker — who was running as an anti-abortion candidate — had paid for them to get abortions.
Walker denied both allegations.
In one instance, Walker admitted to writing a check for a woman who said he paid for her to get an abortion in 2009, but he said he hadn’t known what the money was for.
Another woman claimed Walker paid her to get an abortion while the two carried out a six-year relationship while he was married to another woman and playing in the NFL. During a news conference back in 2022, she said she couldn’t go through with the procedure when she went to get it herself, so Walker took her to a clinic in the Dallas area the next day and waited for her while she got the abortion.
“This was a lie a week ago and it is a lie today,” Walker said at the time following an interview the woman gave a week after the initial news conference.
Warnock would go on to win the election in a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote on election day.
Aaron Navarro and
contributed to this report.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area. The name of the person killed was not released, and the conditions of the nine people injured was unknown.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to community at this point, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
