JERUSALEM: Israel said Friday it had received the names of three hostages to be freed by militants this weekend, after a crisis in the ceasefire threatened to plunge Gaza back into war.
The hostages due for release Saturday are Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen and Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
One of them is being held by Hamas’s militant ally Islamic Jihad, which participated in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel had warned Hamas that it must free three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war, after the group said it would pause releases over what it described as Israeli violations of the Gaza truce.
The January 19 ceasefire has been under massive strain since President Donald Trump proposed a US takeover of the territory, under which Gaza’s population of more than two million would be moved to Egypt or Jordan.
Arab countries have come together to reject the plan, and Saudi Arabia will on February 20 host the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for a summit on the issue.
The releases of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as agreed under the terms of the truce, have brought much-needed relief to families on both sides of the war, but the emaciated state of the Israeli captives freed last week sparked anger in Israel and beyond.
“The latest release operations reinforce the urgent need for ICRC access to those held hostage,” the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the exchanges, said in a statement Friday.
“We remain very concerned about the conditions of the hostages.”
Following Hamas’s handover ceremony last week, during which the captives were forced to speak, the ICRC appealed for future handovers to be more private and dignified.
Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel, who was released in a previous exchange nearly two weeks ago, described mistreatment during his captivity in a video message.
“I am a survivor. I was held for 484 days in unimaginable conditions, every single day felt like it could be my last,” he said.
“I was starved and I was tortured, both physically and emotionally.”
Trump, whose proposal to take over Gaza and move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan sparked global outcry, warned this week that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.
Israel later insisted Hamas release “three living hostages” on Saturday.
“If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end,” said government spokesman David Mencer.
If fighting resumes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said it would not just lead to the “defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages,” but also “allow the realization of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due in Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss the ceasefire after attending the Munich Security Conference, where he will hold talks on Ukraine.
Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for “voluntary” departures from Gaza, and the military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around the territory.
Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not “given up on anything yet.”
“They’re just playing power games,” she said.
Arab countries have put on a rare show of unity in their rejection of Trump’s proposal for Gaza.
After the Riyadh summit, the Arab League will convene in Cairo on February 27 to discuss the same issue.
Trump has threatened to cut off a vital aid lifeline to long-standing allies Jordan and Egypt should they refuse to come on board.
Jordan is already home to more than two million Palestinian refugees. More than half of the country’s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin.
Egypt put forward its own proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza under a framework that would allow for the Palestinians to remain in the territory.
Palestinians in Gaza have also voiced opposition to the plan.
For Palestinians, any forced displacement evokes memories of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe — the mass displacement of their ancestors during Israel’s creation in 1948.
“Who is Trump? Is he God almighty? The land of Jordan is for Jordanians, and the land of Egypt belongs to Egyptians,” said Gaza City resident Abu Mohamed Al-Husari.
“We are here, deeply rooted in Gaza — the resilient, besieged and unbreakable Gaza.”
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including at least 35 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,239 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the UN considers reliable.
Israel says received names of 3 hostages to be freed Saturday
https://arab.news/9pgnm
Israel says received names of 3 hostages to be freed Saturday
- One of them is being held by Hamas’s militant ally Islamic Jihad
- Israel had warned Hamas that it must free three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war
UAE mediates deal for release of further 410 Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war
- It is the 15th in a series of UAE-mediated prisoner-swap agreements that have resulted in the release of 4,181 captives in total
LONDON: The UAE has mediated the 15th in a series of agreements between Russia and Ukraine for the release of prisoners of war, as part of its ongoing diplomatic efforts to help resolve the conflict.
Under the latest prisoner-swap deal, 205 Ukrainians and 205 Russians were freed on Tuesday, the Emirates News Agency reported. The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a total of 4,181 Russian and Ukrainian captives have now been released as a result of its mediation efforts, the continuing success of which reflects the level of trust Kyiv and Moscow have in the UAE.
The UAE remains determined to find a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, and to help ease the humanitarian suffering it has caused, the ministry added.
Lebanon says one killed in Israeli strike on south
- The ministry said in a statement that the “Israeli enemy” strike on Kfar Rumman killed one person and wounded three others
- Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike Tuesday on a car in the country’s south killed one person, the latest attack despite a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah militants and Israel.
The ministry said in a statement that the “Israeli enemy” strike on Kfar Rumman killed one person and wounded three others.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the car was hit with a “guided missile” on the road linking the town of Kfar Rumman with the nearby city of Nabatieh.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of all-out war, with a heavy Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems “strategic.”
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in that area.
Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.
Huge dust storm sweeps into Iran, affecting millions
- State television urged people to remain inside and wear face masks if they had to go out
TEHRAN: Iranian authorities ordered schools and offices closed in seven western provinces Tuesday as a dust storm swept in from neighboring Iraq, with around 13 million people told to stay indoors.
Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Kurdistan provinces were all affected, and state television cited local officials as blaming the closures on high levels of accumulated dust.
Government and private offices also shut in several provinces including Kermanshah and Ilam, as well as Khuzestan in the southwest.
Zanjan in the northeast and Bushehr in the south were also hit.
Bushehr, nearly 1,100 km south of Tehran, was given an Air Quality Index of 108 on Tuesday, rated “poor for sensitive groups.”
That figure is more than four times higher than the concentration of air microparticles deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization.
Iran’s meteorological authorities said the conditions were caused by “the movement of a large mass of dust from Iraq toward western Iran.”
State television reported low visibility in some areas and urged people to remain inside and wear face masks if they had to go out.
Last month, a similar dust storm in Iraq grounded flights and sent thousands of people to hospital with breathing problems.
On Monday, Iran’s IRNA state news agency said more than 240 people in Khuzestan province had been treated for respiratory issues because of the dust.
A spokesperson for the emergency services also told Tasnim news agency on Tuesday that nine people had died as a result of storms in Iran over the past seven days, ending on Monday.
“Four of the deaths were caused by strong winds and falling objects, and five were caused by lightning strikes,” it added.
Tunisia puts more opposition figures on mass trial
- The 'conspiracy against state security II' involved 22 defendants, including 83-year-old Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouch
- The majority of the defendants are being tried in absentia, having fled the country
TUNIS: A new trial of nearly two dozen Tunisian opposition figures accused of plotting against the state opened on Tuesday, weeks after a separate mass trial jailed nearly 40 defendants on similar charges.
The latest trial — known as the “conspiracy against state security II” — involved 22 defendants, including 83-year-old Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party leader Rached Ghannouchi, currently jailed in another case.
Youssef Chahed, a former prime minister, and Nadia Akacha, once the head of the presidential office, were also among the defendants, according to court documents.
The defendants were accused of terror-related charges, incitement to murder, and “plotting against state internal security,” among other charges, according to a court document.
The majority of the defendants are being tried in absentia, having fled the country, lawyer Samir Dilou said.
Ghannouchi was already sentenced in early February to 22 years in prison — also for plotting against state security in a different case.
He had been the speaker of parliament when President Kais Saied staged a sweeping power grab in 2021.
In this case, Ghannouchi as well as other Ennahdha officials stand accused of setting up a “secret security apparatus” in service of the party, which had dominated Tunisia’s post-revolution politics.
Tunisia had emerged as the Arab world’s only democracy following the ouster of longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, after it kicked off the Arab Spring uprisings.
Tuesday’s hearing was conducted remotely with only four defendants attending virtually, according to lawyers.
Last month’s similar trial had drawn criticism from the United Nations, which said it was “marred by violations of fair trial and due process rights.”
But Saied dismissed the “comments and statements by foreign parties” as “blatant interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs.”
In a statement on Monday, Tunisia’s main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN), called for “an end to sham and unfair trials,” demanding “the release of all political prisoners.”
Oman announces US-Houthi ceasefire deal
- “They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said
- There was no immediate response from the Houthis
WASHINGTON: The United States and Yemen’s Houthis have reached a ceasefire agreement, mediator Oman announced Tuesday, saying the deal would ensure “freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea where the militia has attacked shipping.
“Following recent discussions and contacts... with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides,” said Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi in a statement posted online, adding that “neither side will target the other... ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping” in the Red Sea.
Earlier on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that the US will stop bombing the Houthis in Yemen after the Iran-aligned group agreed to stop interrupting important shipping lanes in the Middle East.
In an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump announced the Houthis have said that they no longer want to fight but did not elaborate on the message.
“They said please don’t bomb us any more and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said.
The Houthis have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The US president said Washington will take the Houthis’ word that they would not be blowing up ships any longer.
Tensions have been high since the Gaza war began, but have risen further since a Houthi missile landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, prompting Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa on Tuesday, its second attack in two days on the Houthis after a surge in tensions between the group and Israel.
