Hamas will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire.
Israel has delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas.
The militant group has said that the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four Israelis the next day.
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Here’s the latest:
The head of the Arab League condemns Israeli airstrikes in Syria
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions in Syria as a “a reckless provocation and an escalation that seizes the opportunity of political transition in Syria to establish an illegal and illegitimate reality.”
He called for the international community “to take clear positions to condemn this unjustified aggression that aims to ignite tension in the region and put obstacles in the way of political transition in Syria.”
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israel has regularly launched airstrike on military sites in Syria and Israeli forces moved into territory in southern Syria adjacent to the Israel-annexed Golan Heights and have made clear they plan to stay indefinitely, citing security concerns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel won’t allow Syria’s new army to “enter the area south of Damascus.”
There has been no official response from the Syrian interim government, led by members of the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to Netanyahu’s comments, but Syrian officials have called for Israel to withdraw from the territory it has seized since Assad’s fall.
Israelis line highways as bodies of mother and her children are sent for burial
TEL AVIV, Israel — Tens of thousands of Israelis, some holding flags and signs that read “Forgive us,” lined the highways as the bodies of an Israeli mother and her two children who were killed in Gaza were transported to their burial.
Shiri Bibas was kidnapped with her two sons — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old — from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas released their bodies last week as part of a fragile ceasefire deal, though initially the militant group did not release the correct body for Shiri Bibas.
Yarden Bibas, their father, was taken separately, and released during the ceasefire last month. The three will be buried on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Wednesday afternoon.
Hamas says the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denies this and said Ariel and Kfir Bibas were killed by their captors.
Hamas says it will return the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire.
Israel has delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas.
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The militant group has said that the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four Israelis the next day.
___
Here’s the latest:
The head of the Arab League condemns Israeli airstrikes in Syria
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions in Syria as a “a reckless provocation and an escalation that seizes the opportunity of political transition in Syria to establish an illegal and illegitimate reality.”
He called for the international community “to take clear positions to condemn this unjustified aggression that aims to ignite tension in the region and put obstacles in the way of political transition in Syria.”
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israel has regularly launched airstrike on military sites in Syria and Israeli forces moved into territory in southern Syria adjacent to the Israel-annexed Golan Heights and have made clear they plan to stay indefinitely, citing security concerns.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel won’t allow Syria’s new army to “enter the area south of Damascus.”
There has been no official response from the Syrian interim government, led by members of the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to Netanyahu’s comments, but Syrian officials have called for Israel to withdraw from the territory it has seized since Assad’s fall.
Israelis line highways as bodies of mother and her children are sent for burial
TEL AVIV, Israel — Tens of thousands of Israelis, some holding flags and signs that read “Forgive us,” lined the highways as the bodies of an Israeli mother and her two children who were killed in Gaza were transported to their burial.
Shiri Bibas was kidnapped with her two sons — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old — from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas released their bodies last week as part of a fragile ceasefire deal, though initially the militant group did not release the correct body for Shiri Bibas.
Yarden Bibas, their father, was taken separately, and released during the ceasefire last month. The three will be buried on Kibbutz Nir Oz on Wednesday afternoon.
Hamas says the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari denies this and said Ariel and Kfir Bibas were killed by their captors.
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