The Hamas militant group said Thursday it would release the next three Israeli hostages as planned this weekend in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, raising the prospect of resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on Hamas’ announcement. Israel had threatened to renew its offensive if hostages were not freed on Saturday as scheduled.
Hamas had said it would delay the release because Israel wasn't keeping up its side of the ceasefire agreement and allowing enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble into Gaza, among other alleged violations of the truce.
The sides have carried out five swaps since Jan. 19, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners so far during the first phase of the ceasefire. The war could resume if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages captured in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and an indefinite extension of the truce.
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Here's the latest:
Israel says a rocket was fired from Gaza but landed inside the territory
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said a rocket was fired from Gaza late Thursday but landed inside the territory, as the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to hold.
This appeared to be the first rocket fired from Gaza since the ceasefire began Jan 19. Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group did not immediately comment on the Israeli military report.
The military didn’t say where the rocket was fired from inside Gaza. Although Hamas militants were once firing volleys of rockets each day out of Gaza, that dwindled to nearly zero over the course of the 15-month war.
Since the ceasefire went into effect, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry, on Tuesday. The Israeli military says it has fired on people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce.
Turkey's Erdogan makes rare criticism of Trump
ANKARA, Turkey — In a rare rebuke of the U.S. president, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke out against what he called Donald Trump’s “challenges” to the world — including a proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza — saying his actions pose a threat to global peace.
Erdogan and Trump had formed a close personal relationship during Trump’s first term and referred to each other as friends, despite the often-strained ties between the two NATO countries.
“To tell the truth, I do not find Mr. Trump’s behavior in the past period and his current statements and challenges to many countries in the world to be right, and I do not see these as a positive development,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish president was in Jakarta on Wednesday and was interviewed by Indonesian television anchor Najwa Shihab, which aired on YouTube on Thursday.
Israeli military says more than 90 militants arrested over the past week in the West Bank
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said on Thursday that it arrested over 90 Palestinian militants during an expanded operation in the West Bank over the past week.
The military also said it seized weapons and illegal vehicles, and detonated a booby-trapped vehicle targeting Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the army’s operations in the West Bank are expanding, in an attempt to stop Iran — an ally of Hamas — from opening up a new front in the occupied territory.
Palestinians are worried by the trend toward more lethal, warlike Israeli tactics in the West Bank, including the use of heavier military vehicles that are flattening areas of the West Bank in scenarios that are similar to the devastation in Gaza.
This week, two women, including one who was eight months pregnant, were killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Israeli military says it shot at a Palestinian suspect in northern West Bank; Palestinians say a man was killed
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it opened fire on a Palestinian who approached a base in the north of the occupied West Bank and was acting suspiciously.
The army statement did not elaborate on Thursday’s shooting. The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said Israeli authorities informed it that Issa Jabali, 28, was killed. The ministry did not provide further information.
Violence has soared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Across the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least 905 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Many appear to have been militants killed in gunbattles during Israeli raids. But rock-throwing protesters and uninvolved civilians — including a 2-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy and 73-year-old man — have also been killed in recent weeks.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies wants to expand its reach in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria — The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said during a visit to Damascus on Thursday that he hopes to expand its reach in Syria after the fall of former President Bashar Assad.
During nearly 14 years of civil war, the country was divided between government and opposition-controlled areas, and its emergency services were also divided. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent at the time worked in government-controlled areas and a separate civil defense organization known as the White Helmets in opposition areas.
IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said his organization “will support the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to work across Syria” including in formerly rebel-controlled enclaves like Idlib in the northwest, while “collaborating with all other humanitarian organizations.”
Chapagain said the group hopes to be able to move beyond handing out food boxes to more sustainable aid as the country rebuilds.
Many humanitarian organizations have been reeling from the Trump administration’s freeze on U.S. foreign assistance. Chapagain said that USAID is a “very crucial partner for us.”
“We are in very constructive discussion with the new administration,” he said. “We have received waivers for some of our lifesaving programs and we continue to engage with them.”
The Associated Press
