Israel and Hamas conducted a fifth exchange of prisoners and hostages Saturday as part of a ceasefire agreement that has paused 16 months of war in Gaza.
Hamas released three civilian Israelis and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners. It was the fifth swap of for prisoners since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19. Twenty-one hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners have now been freed.
The civilian hostages had been abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that left about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead and sparked the war. The prisoners released by Israel on Saturday included 111 from Gaza who were rounded up after the Hamas attack and detained without trial.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel鈥檚 retaliatory war following the Hamas attack, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.
Observers have been concerned that U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza could put the fragile ceasefire deal at risk.
Here is the latest:
Palestinians in West Bank camp flee during Israeli army raid targeting militants
FA鈥橰A CAMP, West Bank 鈥 Hundreds of Palestinians on Saturday were fleeing their homes in a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank as the Israeli army escalated its raid against Palestinian militants.
Israeli army bulldozers have torn up streets and alleys in Fa鈥檙a refugee camp, a hardscrabble urban area home to over 8,000 residents, cutting off water supplies and electricity. Sewage is seeping into the rutted roads, residents say, and the conditions have become increasingly unlivable as the military destroys infrastructure and businesses.
For the past week, the Israeli army has also shut off all roads leading to and from the camp, banning cars and impeding deliveries of food and other supplies, said Asim Mansour, who runs the camp鈥檚 Popular Committee, or elected leadership.
On Saturday, residents said the Israeli army secured a passage for civilians to leave the camp. At least 1,000 residents have fled, Mansour said. Families were seen carrying their belongings and children through the mud and to the houses of their relatives in nearby villages. Mansour also said that the Israeli army had taken over 15 homes for military purposes, forcing their occupants to leave.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday鈥檚 evacuations. After the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect last month, the army launched extensive raids in the northern West Bank, an escalation even from the near nightly raids that became the norm after Hamas鈥 Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
Israel has described the operations as counterterrorism efforts, aimed at countering Hamas and other militant groups that have increased attacks against Israelis.
Red Cross says concerned about hostage release operations after 3 gaunt-looking Israelis are freed
JERUSALEM 鈥 The International Committee of the Red Cross said Saturday it is increasingly concerned about release operations in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire following Hamas鈥 heavily stage-managed release of three gaunt-looking Israeli hostages.
In Gaza, hostages Omar Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy took the stage and made short speeches before being ferried by the ICRC back to Israel. The scene drew strong rebuke from Israeli leaders who said the hostages looked like Holocaust survivors and denounced the release as a spectacle.
Following the release, the ICRC said it 鈥渟trongly (urges) all parties, including the mediators, to take responsibility to ensure that future releases are dignified and private.鈥
The group said it conveyed that message 鈥減rivately and publicly鈥 to Israel and Hamas, who finished their fifth wave of releases Saturday, with Israel releasing 183 Palestinian prisoners later in the day.
6 killed in Israeli drone strike in Lebanon near eastern border with Syria
BEIRUT 鈥 Six people were killed and two injured in Lebanon on Saturday in an Israeli drone strike in the area of Janata near the eastern border with Syria, Lebanon鈥檚 state-run 好色tv News Agency reported.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck 鈥淗ezbollah operatives鈥 who 鈥渨ere operating in a strategic weapons manufacturing and storage site鈥 belonging to the militant group.
Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes on what it says are Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon since the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in late November that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
The ceasefire document stipulates that both Israel and Lebanon maintain the right to act in 鈥渟elf defense鈥 but does not define what qualifies as self defense.
The original 60-day deadline for implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement expired in late January, but Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend it until Feb. 18.
Morocco and Iraq say relocating Palestinians would be 鈥榗ontrary to international law鈥
RABAT, Morocco 鈥 Morocco has denounced U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 plan to displace and relocate Palestinians from Gaza.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita held talks Saturday with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Rabat in which the pair issued a statement calling plans to relocate Palestinians 鈥渁 dangerous precedent contrary to the principles of international and humanitarian law.鈥 They said such plans could undermine the region鈥檚 security.
The two foreign ministers join officials from other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, in rejecting the plan Trump floated at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Morocco is one of four Arab countries to have normalized ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords brokered during Trump鈥檚 first term. The two countries have deepened political and economic ties, opening the door for expanded trade in sectors such as agriculture and weaponry.
Israel targets alleged Hamas weapons depot in southern Syria
TEL AVIV, Israel 鈥 Israel's military said Saturday that it struck a Hamas weapons storage facility in southern Syria, claiming the weapons were intended to be used in attacks on Israeli forces.
Israel has been operating in and around areas in Syria close to the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.
Since the end of Assad鈥檚 rule, the Israeli army has continued to operate against alleged Hezbollah targets in Syria and to confiscate weapons belonging to the Syrian Armed Forces. But Saturday鈥檚 announcement appeared to be the first time Israel openly claimed that Hamas was operating in Syria since Assad鈥檚 overthrow.
Released Israeli hostages reunited with relatives
TEL AVIV, Israel 鈥 The three Israeli hostages released on Saturday have been reunited with family members on Israeli soil.
According to Hamas and Israel, the hostages are: Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34.
鈥淚t鈥檚 over, it鈥檚 over,鈥 Levy鈥檚 brother Michael said as the two embraced at a military base where the hostages first crossed over from Gaza. Levy鈥檚 parents then joined them in a tearful embrace. Levy鈥檚 wife was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, and their 3-year-old son has been in the care of relatives.
Ella Ben Ami, the daughter of released hostage Ohad Ben Ami, told Israeli channel 12 that she could barely recognize her father when she saw him in the live footage of his release after 16 months of captivity.
鈥淚 have to say that it was a really difficult few moments, to say the least,鈥 she said, adding: 鈥淗e was emaciated and his bones were protruding. It took me a moment to realize that this was my father.鈥
Ella and her sisters, Yulie and Natalie, spoke with their father as he was checked over at a hospital. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e the strongest in the world!鈥 Ella told him, according to footage released by the prime minister鈥檚 office.
Iran鈥檚 top leader meets Hamas leaders in Tehran
TEHRAN, Iran 鈥 Iran鈥檚 supreme leader has met top Hamas leaders in Tehran, state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy chairman of Hamas鈥 Political Bureau, and Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Hamas鈥 Shura Council chairman, IRNA reported.
The report quoted Khamenei as saying that the people of Gaza defeated 鈥渢he Zionist regime, and in fact, America, and didn鈥檛 let them reach any of their goals.鈥
Khamenei also thanked the Hamas officials who negotiated the ceasefire agreement with Israel, IRNA said.
Scenes of three Israeli hostages speaking under duress spark rage
TEL AVIV, Israel 鈥 The three looked gaunt and frail and were made to speak during a carefully orchestrated release ceremony surrounded by armed militants.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: 鈥淲e will not accept the shocking scenes鈥 that played out Saturday. The statement did not lay out any punitive measures, but previous releases that were chaotic sparked a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel鈥檚 ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said the hostages spent 鈥491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained鈥 and were 鈥渂eing exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle.鈥
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the 鈥渄ifficult scenes鈥 were reason to extend the truce with Hamas and bring home the dozens of remaining hostages.
Hostage family in the UK marks his release
LONDON 鈥 Gillian and Pete Brisley watched the handover of their son-in-law, Eli Sharabi, from their home in Britain with bittersweet emotion, thrilled that he was finally free but horrified at his physical condition.
鈥淎t the moment I can hardly talk,鈥欌 a shaken Gillian Brisley said before handing the phone to her husband, who commented on how fragile Sharabi appeared.
鈥淗e looks as though he鈥檚 been to Belsen,鈥欌 Pete Brisley said, referring to the World War II concentration camp.
Earlier, his family said they didn鈥檛 know whether Sharabi had been told that his wife and two teenage daughters were killed on Oct. 7, 2023.
鈥淚 just hope that he already knows, because it鈥檚 just going to be another layer of torture for him to have survived for the 490 days and then to come out to that piece of news,鈥欌 his wife鈥檚 brother Stephen Brisley told the BBC before his release.
Hostage family celebrates his release
TEL AVIV, Israel 鈥 The extended family of Eli Sharabi erupted into cheers and chanting when they saw him on TV being released.
The joyful scene was quickly replaced with tension, worry and tears as the relatives took in Sharabi鈥檚 appearance: gaunt and frail looking after 16 months in captivity.
When Sharabi was led to the vehicles of the Red Cross, they again jumped and shouted and sang a Jewish prayer meant to note special occasions.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 look good. It is mixed feelings. We are happy he is on his feet鈥 said Kathy Barby, a relative. 鈥淗e is alive.鈥
In a central Tel Aviv square, dubbed 鈥淗ostages Square鈥 because it has become a center for protests from hostage families, supporters, carrying posters of other hostages yet to be freed from captivity, chanted: 鈥淏ring them home!鈥
Hamas parades the 3 hostages
The three hostages arrived at the exchange location where Hamas paraded them before a crowd of hundreds in the Gaza Strip ahead of their release. They were led up onto a stage and a masked Hamas fighter held a microphone as each was made to give a statement before the crowd.
Hostages did not speak during previous releases.
Hostages' families eagerly await their return
TEL AVIV, Israel 鈥 Michael Levy, Or Levy's brother, said his 3-year-old nephew, Almog, already knows that his father was on his way. Michael said the family had told Almog that his mother, who was killed during Hamas鈥 Oct. 7, 2023 attack, was not returning but that they were searching for his father.
鈥淢ogi, we found daddy,鈥 Michael Levy said he told the boy, using his nickname, in an interview with Israeli Channel 12. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen happiness like that in him for a long time."
Osnat Sharabi Matalon, Eli Sharabi's sister, told the news channel the family was stunned that he was finally being freed. 鈥淯ntil we see, touch and hug him, it feels like it isn鈥檛 happening.鈥
Sharabi鈥檚 extended family gathered at a home in Tel Aviv to watch the release live. Relatives jumped and cheered in anticipation.
Members of Kibbutz Beeri, from where Sharabi and third hostage Ohad Ben Ami are from, gathered with Israeli flags and posters welcoming the two hostages back.
Armed Hamas fighters gather at exchange location
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip 鈥 Dozens of masked and armed Hamas fighters, some driving white pickup trucks with guns mounted on them, lined up Saturday morning at the location of the exchange near the territory鈥檚 main north-south highway in Central Gaza.
A small crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene, with a line of Hamas fighters keeping them at a distance from a temporary stage.
