News that three high-profile hostages are expected to be released has brought excitement and trepidation to Israel on Friday. All three men have become household names in Israel since their abduction. Their release would be the fourth since a ceasefire paused the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas this month.
Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir was a senior operative in Hurras al-Din, CENTCOM said late Thursday. The strike was part of U.S. forces’ ongoing efforts to disrupt terrorism in the region, especially as Syria transitions to a new government. It comes days after the Syria-based Hurras al-Din said it is dissolving.
Five Thai hostages have been released after 15 months of captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said his government plans to rebuild Gaza with help from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, a process he said would reshape the Middle East and require the removal of Hamas from power and Israel from the ground.
Israel on Thursday formally banned the main United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory despite heavy diplomatic backlash, a move that humanitarian officials warn could have a disastrous impact on aid delivery and jeopardize regional stability in the long term.
Eight more hostages were freed from the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led militants on Thursday in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly delayed Israel’s release of 110 Palestinian prisoners and underscored the fragility of the ceasefire that began earlier this month.
The leader of the former rebel group that toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad last month was named on Wednesday the country’s interim president, following a meeting of the former insurgent factions.
An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.
The military bases — a naval port at Tartus and an airfield at Hmeimim — have enabled Moscow to project influence in the Middle East and Africa. Their loss would be a significant strategic setback.
President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week as the first foreign leader to visit in Trump’s second term. The announcement came as the United States pressures Israel and Hamas to continue a ceasefire that has paused a devastating 15-month war in Gaza.
Russia is struggling to retain two military bases in Syria that have enabled it to project influence in the Middle East and Africa.
It is the first such visit to Syria since the fall in December of former President Bashar Assad, an ally of Moscow. The new Syrian authorities have not cut off relations with Moscow or forced a complete exit of Russian forces from bases in Syria, however.
Firing by Israeli troops killed two people and wounded 17 on Monday in the second day of deadly protests in southern Lebanon, health officials said, as residents displaced by the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah attempted to return to villages where Israeli troops remain.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington as early as next week. Should the trip come together in that timeframe, Netanyahu could be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump at the White House since his inauguration last week.
Hospitals and clinics destroyed. Millions of tons of debris contaminated with toxic substances, unexploded ordnance and human remains. Tens of thousands of people with injuries that will require a lifetime of care.
Crowds of Palestinians filled Gaza’s main coastal road as they streamed north. With their belongings on their backs, they smiled, hugged and sang, overjoyed at the prospect of returning home after more than a year of war. But ahead of the returning Palestinians lies an uncertain fate.
The devastation of the kibbutz of Manara, near the Lebanese border, became a symbol of the heavy price of fighting.
Mediator Qatar says an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. The deal eases the first major crisis of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Sunday opened fire on protesters demanding their withdrawal in line with a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 22 and injuring 124, Lebanese health officials reported.