Who are the three Israelis set to be released by Hamas on Saturday?
Israeli national Yarden Bibas is the father of baby Kfir, who was only nine months old when he was taken in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, and Ariel, who was four years old.
Hamas said in late 2023 that Kfir and Ariel had been killed along with their mother Shiri in an Israeli bombardment in the early months of the Gaza war. Their deaths have not been confirmed.
Israeli-American Keith Siegel, who was taken hostage with his wife Aviva, was seen in a video released by Hamas last year. His wife was released in the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023.
French-Israeli Ofer Calderon‘s two children Erez and Sahar, abducted alongside him, were also released in the first exchange.
Israel to free 90 prisoners in Saturday hostage swap
Israel is to free 90 inmates on Saturday in exchange for three Israeli hostages in the fourth swap of the Gaza ceasefire, a Palestinian advocacy group said.
“Ninety prisoners will be released tomorrow in exchange for the three Israeli detainees, nine of whom are serving life sentences and 81 of whom have long sentences,” Palestinian Prisoners’ Club spokeswoman Amani Sarahneh told AFP on Friday.
Under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, Israel is to release 30 Palestinian prisoners for each civilian released by Hamas and 50 prisoners for each soldier released.
EU restarts Rafah border crossing mission, EU foreign policy chief says
The European Union has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday.
“The EU’s civilian border mission deploys today to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis. It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care”, she said on social media platform X.
UK, France and Germany reiterate ‘grave concern’ over Israel blocking contact with Palestinian refugee agency
Britain, France and Germany on Friday reiterated their “grave concern” over Israel implementing a law forbidding any contact between its officials and UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
“We urge the government of Israel to work with international partners, including the UN, to ensure continuity of operations,” the joint statement from the three nations, published by the British government, said.
The UNRWA said on Friday that forcing its humanitarian work in Gaza to halt, would put the Israel-Hamas ceasefire at risk.
“If UNRWA is not allowed to continue to bring and distribute supplies, then the fate of this very fragile ceasefire is going to be at risk and is going to be in jeopardy,” UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told a Geneva press briefing. She added that the agency was continuing its work in Gaza.
UNRWA, which Israel has accused of harbouring members of Hamas, serves as a lifeline to roughly 2.5 Palestinians living in Gaza, east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Find out more by clicking on the player below.
Hamas armed wing spokesperson names hostages to be released Saturday
The three hostages set to be freed Saturday in the next hostage-prisoner exchange have been named by the spokesperson of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas, as Ofer Calderon, Keith Siegel and Yarden Bibas.
Israel confirmed it had received the names of captives to be freed by Hamas on Saturday.
“Israel has received the list of hostages expected to be released from Hamas captivity tomorrow. A detailed response will be provided after reviewing the list and updating the families,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Friday.
Overnight Israeli strikes on east Lebanon killed two people, says health ministry
Overnight Israeli air strikes on the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon killed two people, the health ministry said on Friday, two months into a fragile ceasefire.
“The strike by the Israeli enemy on Janta killed two people and wounded 10,” the ministry said. The Israeli military earlier said it had struck “multiple” Hezbollah targets in the Beqaa Valley.
Israel and Hezbollah’s fragile ceasefire is holding – for now
Israel’s strikes on alleged Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley Friday morning aren’t the first time the fragile ceasefire has come under strain.
Yesterday, Israel said it had intercepted what it described as a Hezbollah surveillance drone, describing the launch of such a drone as “a breach of the ceasefire agreement”.
Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory throughout the ceasefire have killed or wounded more than a hundred people. Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon despite the passing of the 60-day withdrawal deadline agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.
Lebanon this week agreed for the withdrawal period to be extended until February 18 after Israeli troops opened fire on Lebanese residents trying to return to their occupied villages, killing 22 people. Find out more by clicking on the player below.
No, the Biden administration did not spend $50 million sending condoms to Gaza
US President Donald Trump this week claimed to have cut $50 million in funding used by the Biden administration to send condoms to Gaza. President Trump further added that these contraceptives were being used by Palestinian militant group Hamas “as a method of making bombs”. No evidence was presented for either claim.
Watch Truth or Fake’s Catalina Marchant de Abreu debunk these claims by clicking on the player below.
Gaza hostages, Palestinian prisoners released on tense day
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 exchange of hostages for prisoners is a key part of a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas.
Fifteen hostages and hundreds of prisoners have been released so far, and militants still hold dozens more hostages abducted in their October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
Israel says it struck ‘multiple’ Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley
Israel’s military says it struck “multiple” Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, two months into a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese group after major hostilities last year.
“The targets that were struck include a Hezbollah terrorist site containing underground infrastructure, used to develop and manufacture weaponry and additional terrorist infrastructure sites on the Syrian-Lebanese border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weaponry into Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
Welcome to our liveblog, where we post the latest news on the situation in the Middle East. To read all about yesterday’s key events, click here.
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