Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, as well as five Thai nationals during the next hostage release set for Thursday, Israel and Hamas said Wednesday as their tenuous ceasefire in Gaza moves ahead.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is aimed at and securing the release of dozens of , as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned or detained by Israel.
In recent days, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have to northern Gaza. However, has been bittersweet as nearly everyone has friends or relatives who died, and many northern neighborhoods have been transformed into by more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
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Here's the latest:
Israel will release prominent militant Zakaria Zubeidi in hostage swap
RAMALLAH, West Bank 鈥 A list of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners that Israel is set to release on Thursday in exchange for three hostages includes , a prominent former militant leader and theater director whose dramatic jailbreak in 2021 thrilled Palestinians and stunned the Israeli security establishment.
Zubeidi once led the Al Aqsa Martyrs鈥 Brigade 鈥 an armed group affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority 鈥 which carried out deadly attacks against Israelis during a Palestinian uprising between 2000 and 2005.
After the uprising, in 2006, Zubeidi established a theater in his hometown in the northern West Bank to promote what he described as cultural resistance to Israel. Even today, the Freedom Theater in Jenin refugee camp puts on everything from Shakespeare to stand-up comedy to plays written by residents.
In 2019, after Zubeidi had already served years in prison for attacks in the early 2000s, Israel arrested him again over his alleged involvement in shooting attacks that targeted buses of Israeli settlers in the West Bank but caused no injuries.
Zubeidi has been awaiting trial in prison since. He denies the charges, insisting he focused on political activism as a member of Fatah and a prisoner advocacy group.
In 2021, he and five other prisoners tunneled out of a maximum-security prison in northern Israel, an escape that helped solidify Zubeidi鈥檚 image among Palestinians as a folk hero. All six escapees were recaptured days later.
Syrian rebel leader is named country鈥檚 interim president
DAMASCUS, Syria 鈥 The leader of Syria鈥檚 former rebels who toppled President Bashar Assad last month was named the country鈥檚 interim president on Wednesday as ex-insurgents also cancelled the existing constitution, saying a new charter would be drafted soon.
The appointment of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a rebel who was once , as the country鈥檚 president 鈥渋n the transitional phase鈥 came after a meeting of the insurgents in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
Al-Sharaa, formerly known as , is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist former insurgent group that led the lightning offensive that toppled Assad last month. The group was once affiliated with al-Qaida but has since denounced its former ties, and in recent years al-Sharaa has sought to cast himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.
His appointment as president was made by the spokesperson for the de facto government鈥檚 military operations sector, Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, the state-run SANA news agency said.
Abdul Ghani also announced the cancelation of the country鈥檚 constitution passed in 2012 under Assad鈥檚 rule and said al-Sharaa would be authorized to form a temporary legislative Council until a new constitution is drafted.
He also announced the dissolution of the armed factions in the country, which he said would be absorbed into state institutions.
Israeli military plans to keep troops in a West Bank city indefinitely, defense minister says
JERUSALEM 鈥 Israel's defense minister indicated Wednesday that the military plans to keep soldiers in the flashpoint city of Jenin for the foreseeable future, as Israeli forces have focused on a in the northern West Bank during the ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel Katz pledged that the urban refugee camp in Jenin 鈥 long a bastion for Palestinian militancy 鈥 鈥渨ill not return to what it was.鈥
The military said it has killed 18 alleged Palestinian militants during the nine-day operation in and around Jenin, during which soldiers and armored bulldozers have caused widespread damage and destroyed scores of homes.
Palestinian health officials have not released a total death toll, but say Israeli fire has killed roughly 20 Palestinians since the start of the raid, including a 2-year-old girl. Israel鈥檚 military has pledged to investigate her death.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday.
A 23-year-old man was shot dead in Tulkarem and a 25-year-old man was killed in a strike on Jenin. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its reports.
Israeli expert warns that the ongoing West Bank operation lacks a clear goal
JERUSALEM 鈥 Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and a former Israeli intelligence officer, said he is worried that the military鈥檚 current operation in the West Bank city of Jenin lacked a clear goal and risked entrenching an Israeli presence there.
Israel鈥檚 raid follows a recent 鈥 and rare 鈥 incursion into Jenin by the the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied territory and is deeply unpopular among Palestinians.
鈥淲e are faced with a situation where the Palestinian Authority didn鈥檛 solve anything in Jenin,鈥 Milshtein said Wednesday. 鈥淚鈥檓 very worried that in a short amount of time we will find ourselves as the ones responding to civil issues there as well.鈥
The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas鈥 Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there.
Turkey says 3 of its citizens were killed by Israel trying to cross from Lebanon
ANKARA, Turkey 鈥 Turkey announced Wednesday that three of its citizens were killed by Israeli airstrikes while attempting to cross illegally from Lebanon into Israel, and condemned the attack.
A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement did not say when the three were killed or why they had attempted to cross into Israel.
鈥淲e condemn in the strongest terms this unlawful attack that resulted in the death of our citizens,鈥 the Ministry said in a statement. 鈥淚srael must immediately end its aggressive policies that disregard human life and escalate tensions in our region."
Procedures to repatriate the bodies back to Turkey were underway, the ministry said.
The Israeli military did not immediately offer comment on the killings.
Israeli forces control territory inside Lebanon along some parts of the border after fighting a war with the militant group Hezbollah, which ended in a ceasefire last year. Both sides have until Feb. 18 to pull all of their forces out of southern Lebanon.
Thousands more Palestinians return to northern Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip 鈥 For a third straight day, thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza trekked by foot, motorbike and animal-drawn carts back to their homes in the war-ravaged north after Israeli forces withdrew from the two main roads earlier this week.
The column of people stretched for miles along Gaza鈥檚 coastal road Wednesday. A group of young men pushed a motorcycle cart with a sputtering engine, weighed down by potato sacks that held whatever personal belongings they were able to bring.
Others dragged suitcases through the rubble-strewn sand and carried containers of food on their heads.
On Wednesday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that over 376,000 Palestinians had reached northern Gaza from the south. Israeli forces withdrew Monday to let Palestinians head north in accordance with the 42-day ceasefire agreement that paused the Israel-Hamas war.
It was first time that many of these civilians who fled south in October 2023 鈥 when Israel began its offensive in response to the militant group鈥檚 Oct. 7 attack 鈥 could return home. But their faces didn鈥檛 reflect enthusiasm: They were leaving one disaster zone for another.
Months of intensive Israeli bombardment, demolitions and gunbattles with Palestinian militants have laid waste to large swaths of northern Gaza.
鈥淭he most difficult day in my life was the day of the ceasefire,鈥 said Suad Saleh, a frail-looking woman in a wheelchair who arrived Wednesday to the remnants of what was once her home in Gaza City. 鈥淥n the day of the ceasefire I understood that my home was destroyed."
鈥淲here will I return to? A tent,鈥 she said. "From a tent to a tent.鈥
Hamas will release 3 Israelis and 5 Thais on Thursday, Israeli official says
JERUSALEM 鈥 An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas' next hostage release the following day will free three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals.
The official named the Israel women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi Moses. The official said the hostages鈥 families had approved publication of their names.
The official did not name the Thai nationals set to be freed Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
A total of 33 hostages are set to be freed as part of the ceasefire鈥檚 initial six-week phase. In exchange, Israel is releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
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By Tia Goldenberg
Israel receives list from Hamas of hostages it will release next
JERUSALEM 鈥 Israel said Wednesday it had received the list of hostages slated for release by Hamas, clearing another hurdle in the tenuous ceasefire between the sides. The statement from Israel鈥檚 prime minister鈥檚 office did not disclose the names of the hostages set to be released Thursday.
An additional group of hostages is to be released on Saturday. They are expected to all be men, according to the prime minister鈥檚 office鈥檚 hostages division.
The Israel-Hamas truce appeared at risk over the weekend, when Hamas did not release a hostage that Israel demanded be part of the second batch of freed captives. Israel in response refused to allow the return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to northern Gaza as part of the deal until it received assurances that the hostage, a female civilian, would be released.
International mediation efforts appeared to and Israel allowed the returnees to move north.
Turkish president and Hamas officials hold first meeting since Gaza ceasefire
ANKARA, Turkey 鈥 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Wednesday with a high-ranking Hamas delegation, marking his first encounter with the group since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Unlike many of its NATO allies, Turkey does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization and Erdogan has maintained a close relationship with the group, regularly hosting its leaders.
A brief statement from the president鈥檚 office said Erdogan met with the delegation, which includes senior leader Mohammed Darwish and other members of the Hamas leadership council, in the Turkish capital Ankara.
The statement did not provide further details but a photograph of the meeting showed that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, were present.
Israeli drone strike wounds 5 in southern Lebanon as residents demand to return to their land
BEIRUT 鈥 An Israeli drone strike wounded five people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the country's Heath Ministry, in a village where civilians were protesting for Israeli soldiers to let them access their lands.
The Health Ministry said the strike in Majdal Selm hit 鈥渇amilies,鈥 a term it uses for civilians trying to reenter their villages. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
Despite a Sunday deadline, Israel's military did not withdraw from southern Lebanon under the terms of its ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah.
Protests have since been held daily, and the Israeli military has sometimes responded with gunfire, killing 26 people. The U.S. and Lebanon announced a ceasefire extension until Feb. 18.
Two Israeli strikes on Tuesday wounded 36 people, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted 鈥渁 Hezbollah truck and an additional vehicle that transferred weapons.鈥
The strikes were north of the Litani River. The ceasefire prohibits Hezbollah from having a military presence south of the river.
One of the strikes hit an amusement park, leaving it in ruins with shattered bumper cars, a twisted Ferris wheel and carousel. 鈥淭his city is meant as an entertainment facility for children,鈥 said Haitham Alam, the park's manager.
Egypt's president rejects Trump proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza
CAIRO 鈥 Egypt鈥檚 president rejected on Wednesday a suggestion by President Donald Trump that Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip be moved to neighboring Egypt and Jordan, saying it would undermine the idea of an independent Palestinian state and that an influx of refugees could destabilize his country.
In his first public comments on , President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said 鈥渢here are historical rights that cannot be ignored鈥 and called the idea 鈥渁n injustice鈥 which Egypt would not be party to.
He said his government would work with the Trump administration to achieve a peace that's based on the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
He warned that any transfer of Palestinians out of their territories 鈥渕eans destabilizing not only the Egyptian national security, but also the Arab national security.鈥
Both Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies that have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Kremlin says Russian visit to Syria was important for building dialogue
MOSCOW 鈥 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a Russian delegation鈥檚 visit to Damascus the day before, the first since the fall of former President Bashar Assad, an ally of Russia, was 鈥渁n important trip" for building dialogue with Syrian authorities.
Peskoy refused to comment on reports that the Syrian authorities demanded that Moscow pay some kind of compensation to Syria or on unnamed sources claiming another demand was to extradite Assad, who fled to Russia and was granted asylum there.
鈥淚 am leaving this without any comment. We will continue the dialogue with the Syrian authorities,鈥 Peskov said in a response to a reporter's question.
Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Wednesday that the discussions had included 鈥淩ussia鈥檚 role in rebuilding trust with the Syrian people through concrete measures such as reparations, reconstruction and recovery." It said the talks were also on 鈥渢ransitional justice mechanisms aimed at ensuring accountability and justice for the victims of the brutal war waged by the Assad regime.鈥
Israeli authorities say they arrested 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM 鈥 Israeli authorities say they have arrested 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem who celebrated under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
Israel鈥檚 internal Shin Bet security service and the police said they arrested the men late Tuesday after videos taken earlier in the week showed the men celebrating the release of the prisoners by waving Hamas flags and firing guns into the air.
They say the Palestinians who celebrated the release had violated the ban on 鈥渆xpressions of joy鈥 and 鈥渋dentification with Hamas鈥 that Israel has imposed since the ceasefire took hold. They said a search revealed Hamas flags, posters, fireworks, a BB gun and cash.
Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas is releasing 33 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war in exchange for the release for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.
Palestinians generally view the prisoners as heroes imprisoned for fighting against Israel鈥檚 decades-long occupation of lands they want for a future state.
