Hamas named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release as part of the ceasefire deal, showing the agreement was moving forward Friday even as the U.S. and Israel discuss plans to relocate all of Gaza鈥檚 population. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, confirmed the names received from Hamas. They are three Israeli men ranging in age from 34 to 56.
The announcement comes after Hamas accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries to during the ongoing ceasefire 鈥 such as tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris. There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas鈥 allegation Friday that it had broken the terms of the truce deal.
Elsewhere in the region, Iran's supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America 鈥渁re not intelligent, wise or honorable,鈥 after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wants nuclear talks with Tehran despite reimposing his 鈥 鈥 approach to Iran.
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Hamas names next 3 Israeli hostages to be released
JERUSALEM 鈥 Hamas has named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release as part of the ceasefire deal, showing the agreement was moving forward Friday even as the U.S. and Israel discuss plans to relocate all of Gaza鈥檚 population.
The three Israeli men are set to be freed Saturday from Gaza in the fifth round of exchanges of hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, confirmed the names received from Hamas were Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34 were scheduled for release Saturday.
Sharabi was from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity.
Ben Ami, a father to three, was taken hostage with his wife, Raz, from Kibbutz Beeri, where he was the kibbutz accountant. Raz Ben Ami was released during the brief ceasefire period in November.
Levy was near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His wife, Einav Levy, was killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Their son Almog, a toddler, is staying with his grandparents. Levy is from the city of Rishon Lezion, where he worked as a computer programmer for a startup.
Hamas says Israel is violating the ceasefire's humanitarian aid rules, a day before next hostage release
JERUSALEM 鈥 Hamas has accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries during the ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, saying Friday that items like tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris have not made it into the devastated Palestinian territory at the scale that is needed.
There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas鈥 allegation that Israel had broken the terms of the truce deal. The specifics of the humanitarian aid portion of the deal have not been published, making the allegations by Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou hard to verify.
Hamas鈥 accusation came as the group was scheduled to announce the names of the next group of hostages it would release from Gaza on Saturday in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel. The two sides have conducted four hostage-for-prisoner swaps so far.
Al-Qanou criticized Israel for stalling 鈥渋n fulfilling the humanitarian protocol, especially concerning shelter, provisions, tents, rubble removal equipment, fuel and reconstruction materials.鈥 He did not go into more details.
The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, known as COGAT, said earlier Friday that 4,200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid had moved through Gaza this week and that over 12,000 trucks had entered since the start of the ceasefire. That amount is apparently in line with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which called for at least 600 trucks to deliver aid to Gaza daily.
COGAT has maintained a list of items that Israeli authorities consider to be 鈥渄ual use,鈥 or having both civilian and military purposes, and require special permission to be brought into Gaza. Tents, it said, are not on the list. COGAT says that Israel has allowed tens of thousands of tents into Gaza in recent weeks 鈥渨ithout restriction.鈥
But aid workers have said that Israeli restrictions on certain crucial items persist. According to a copy of the dual-use list circulated to aid groups, those include desalination and water-collection devices, storage units, tools, ovens, water-resistant clothing and equipment for tent and shelter construction.
US draws a 鈥榬ed line鈥 over including Hezbollah in the Lebanese government, Trump's envoy says
BEIRUT 鈥 A newly appointed U.S. envoy says she hopes Lebanese authorities are committed to making sure the Hezbollah militant group isn鈥檛 a part of the new government in any form.
Morgan Ortagus is a former U.S. State Department spokesperson and U.S. Navy Reserve officer. She recently assumed the role of deputy special envoy for Middle East peace in the Trump administration. Ortagus replaces Amos Hochstein who helped broker the ceasefire that ended the 14-month h.
鈥淲e have set clear red lines from the United States that (Hezbollah) won鈥檛 be able to terrorize the Lebanese people and that includes by being a part of the government,鈥 Ortagus said at a news conference in Beirut鈥檚 southeastern suburb of Baabda after a meeting with .
In response, 尝别产补苍辞苍鈥檚 presidency said in a statement on X that some of what Ortagus said Friday "expresses her point of view, and the Presidency is not concerned with it.鈥
Ortagus also commended 尝别产补苍辞苍鈥檚 commitment to reforms. Efforts to form a government led by Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam have stalled.
尝别产补苍辞苍鈥檚 allocates key positions among Christian, Shiite and Sunni factions. The dominant blocs 鈥 Hezbollah and the Amal Movement for the Shiites, and the Lebanese Forces for the Christians 鈥 are insisting on their share of ministerial portfolios.
Israel鈥檚 foreign minister praises Trump鈥檚 sanctions on ICC
JERUSALEM 鈥 Israel鈥檚 foreign minister hailed U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 move to sanction the International Criminal Court in a statement posted to X Friday.
Gideon Sa鈥檃r accused the ICC of 鈥渁ggressively pursuing the elected leaders of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,鈥 and said the court鈥檚 actions were 鈥渋mmoral鈥 and lacked a legal basis.
He said he 鈥渟trongly commend(ed)鈥 Trump鈥檚 order, which sanctioned the ICC over its investigations of Israel and the arrest warrants for alleged war crimes.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military鈥檚 response to the Hamas attack Oct. 7, 2023. The order said the court lacked legal jurisdiction over the U.S. or Israel. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of or recognizes the court.
ICC condemns sanctions by Trump administration and pledges to continue its work
THE HAGUE, Netherlands 鈥 The International Criminal Court has called on its member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The court said Friday that the move was an attempt to 鈥渉arm its independent and impartial judicial work.鈥
The White House issued the executive order on Thursday in response to what it called 鈥渋llegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.鈥
It was referring to the arrest warrant that the ICC issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The Hague-based court said it 鈥渃ondemns鈥 the move.
The U.S. and Israel are not members of the court and do not recognize it鈥檚 authority.
Iran's supreme leader criticizes proposed nuclear talks with US, upending a push to negotiation
TEHRAN, Iran 鈥 Iran鈥檚 supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America 鈥渁re not intelligent, wise or honorable鈥 after U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also suggested that 鈥渢here should be no negotiations with such a government,鈥 but stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.
Khamenei鈥檚 remarks upend months of signals from Tehran to the United States that it wanted to negotiate over in exchange for the lifting of crushing economic sanctions worth billions of dollars. Following Khamenei鈥檚 comments, the Iranian rial sunk to a record low of 872,000 rials to $1 in aftermarket trading.
What happens next remains unclear, particularly as reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian promised as recently as Thursday to enter into a dialogue with the West.
Khamenei鈥檚 remarks to air force officers in Tehran appeared . However, the 85-year-old Khamenei has always been careful with remarks about negotiating with the West.
Iran has suffered military setbacks across its sphere of influence in the Middle East, with Israel鈥檚 punishing offensives against two militant groups backed by Iran 鈥 Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon 鈥 and the overthrow of late last year, who Iran supported for years with money and troops.
Hamas holds funeral for deputy leader killed last year
BUREIJ, Gaza Strip 鈥 Hamas鈥 military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, held a funeral Friday for its deputy leader, Marwan Issa, also known as Abu Bara鈥檃, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in March last year.
Crowds gathered to watch as armed al-Qassam fighters paraded through the town of Bureji. Some of the militants carried Issa鈥檚 casket, which was topped by the Palestinian flag and bore his photograph. Fighters set their rifles aside and stood in a row to perform Friday and funeral prayers.
Israeli Military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari last March that Issa, who helped plan the Oct. 7 attack, had been killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza.
Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons storage sites in Lebanon
JERUSALEM 鈥 The Israeli military said overnight it had struck two sites where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stored weapons, claiming they violated the ceasefire agreement now in its third month.
Lebanese state media reported a series of strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley overnight but there were no reports of casualties.
U.S. presidential envoy Morgan Ortagus met with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Friday to discuss the ceasefire implementation.
Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, both sides had 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area alongside U.N. peacekeepers. The original deadline expired at the end of January but Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend it to Feb. 18.
Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army haven鈥檛 met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over.
