Middle Eastern Headlines at 2:57 p.m. GMT
Hamas frees 4 female Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners as ceasefire holds
Hamas frees 4 female Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners as ceasefire holds
More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations spokesperson has said.
North Korean soldiers had been missing from combat, fueling speculation they were pulled back after taking heavy losses.
Israel says it has begun preparations for the departure of Palestinians from Gaza despite widespread international rejection of President Donald Trump’s plan to empty the war-devastated territory of its population. There were no immediate signs of such preparations on the ground Thursday.
Israel received the three hostages after Hamas paraded them Saturday before hundreds in the Gaza Strip ahead of their release. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners have been freed in return.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
On her first official visit to Lebanon, US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus on Friday said the US had drawn a red line against Hezbollah's inclusion in a future Lebanese government. Prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam has struggled to form a government amid political pressure from Hezbollah and its allies. The United States has set a "red line" that Shi'ite armed group Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon's next government after its military setbacks against Israel
Hamas named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release this weekend as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel. It was a sign that the first phase of the truce was moving forward as planned -- even as many observers fear that U.S. and Israeli plans to remove all the Palestinians from Gaza have imperiled the deal.
Hamas identified three more Israeli hostages it plans to free as part of the fragile ceasefire agreement, a sign the deal was moving forward Friday even as U.S. and Israeli officials continued calls to relocate Gaza’s population after the war. The three men, captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, are set to be freed Saturday, in the fifth exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Satellite images in Beit Hanoun, a city on the northeast of the Gaza Strip, show the Star of David etched into the ground of what previously looked like vibrant green fields and farmland in the now war-torn territory.While it is unclear exactly when the symbol appeared, satellite images of it date as far back as November 2023, according to Google Earth — one month after the Hamas-led attack on Israel. Palestinian defence and security analyst Hamzé Attar said the sheer size of the symbol, which a
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's defence ministry said its troops repelled a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Russia's western Kursk region on Thursday. The Russian report came six months to the day since Ukraine's military pushed across the border into the Kursk region, the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two. Russia's defence ministry said Ukrainian troops and armoured vehicles launched eight waves of attacks near the villages of Ulanok and Cherkasskaya Konopelka.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that North Korean soldiers "have been brought in again" to Russia's Kursk region after reports that the troops had been pulled from the front due to high casualties. Zelensky added that a "significant number" of opposing troops had been "destroyed". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that North Korean troops were back on the front line in Russia's Kursk region, after reports Moscow had withdrawn them due to heavy losses.More than
Ukraine's claim came just days after South Korea's intelligence service stated that North Korean troops had been pulled back from the front lines.View on euronews
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages on Saturday, and Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile agreement that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip. The hostages’ emaciated condition and scenes of Hamas forcing them to speak in a staged release ceremony sparked outrage in Israel and could increase the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire beyond its current six-week phase. Netanyahu has previously signaled he would resume the war, even if that meant leaving dozens of remaining hostages in Hamas captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with influential members of Congress on Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss proposals addressing the Gaza Strip as a cease-fire continues between Israel and Hamas.
With these words, Rashad Mansour rejected President Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere. The Palestinian man, born in 1946, was only a toddler when he was displaced with his family to Gaza during the "Nakba", or catastrophe, along with hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians who were expelled or fled their homeland around the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Trump, clarifying his earlier remarks, said on Thursday he expected Israel to hand over the Gaza Strip to the United States after fighting there is finished and the population already resettled to new homes elsewhere.
Most of Gaza’s olive trees, citrus trees and greenhouses have been destroyed.
Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Friday it will contain vandalism and arson taking place across the country. The development comes amid concern from a major opposition party and neighboring India over attacks on a historic house linked to ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Mobs targeting supporters of Hasina have vandalized homes and businesses in various parts of the country since Wednesday night.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Armed assailants in western Niger killed at least 10 soldiers in an ambush on a military unit that had been sent to hunt cattle rustlers in a border region near Burkina Faso, Niger’s ruling junta said.
Hamas has released the names of three Israeli hostages it says it will release today in the fifth such swap of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The hostages are Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy, Hamas armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a Telegram post. An Israeli official confirmed Israel had received the three names from Hamas.
Israel's military says he punched detainees and used his weapon while they were handcuffed and blindfolded.