Hamas announces names of hostages to be released Saturday
The militant group Hamas has announced — and Israel has confirmed — the identity of the next three hostages to be released Saturday in the fourth such exchange between the sides under a ceasefire agreement to halt more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.
The hostages include Yarden Bibas, 35, who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel along with his wife, Shiri, and two young boys, Ariel and Kfir. The fate of his family is uncertain.
Also to be released is U.S.-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel, 65, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza along with his wife, Aviva Siegel. Aviva Siegel was released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023.
The third hostage was identified as Ofer Kalderon, 54, a French-Israeli hostage, who was captured by the militants from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his two children. His ex-wife, Hadas, also was taken captive. The two children and Hadas Kalderon were released during the 2023 hostage exchange.
Hamas has been designated as a terror group by the U.S., Britain and other Western nations.
Hamas released eight hostages, including three Israelis and five Thai nationals, on Thursday. Later in the day, Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 32 serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.
Under the ceasefire deal, more than 423,000 Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza. The Israeli military ordered them out of the territory in the earliest stages of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.
At a news conference Friday in Geneva, the U.N.'s World Food Program, WFP, provided an update on efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Country Director Antoine Renard told reporters the agency has delivered more than 32,000 metric tons of food into Gaza since the ceasefire agreement began on Jan. 19.
He said that amount was more than twice what was delivered in December and three times what was delivered in October. Renard said the WFP has already reached 300,000 people.
Meanwhile, during a visit to Lebanon Friday, Egypt's foreign affairs minister, Badr Abdelatty, called for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Following talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Abdelatty told reporters, 'Egypt is very keen on confirming the need for a full and complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, without taking away a single inch of Lebanese sovereignty and territory.'
Under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal announced Nov. 27, Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and the militant group Hezbollah was to move north of the Litani River by Jan. 26.
Israeli forces have remained in more than a dozen villages past the deadline. The United States and Lebanon announced Sunday the deadline to meet the ceasefire terms had been extended to Feb. 18.
Since the ceasefire began, Israel has conducted near-daily operations in southern Lebanon, including airstrikes and shelling. They accuse Hezbollah of violating ceasefire terms by attempting to move weapons.
In statements posted to its social media accounts, the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, reported overnight Thursday its fighter jets launched several attacks against what it said were Hezbollah terrorist organization targets in Lebanon's Bekaa region, which it said 'posed a threat to the Israeli home front and IDF forces.'
The IDF statement said the targets included a military site 'with underground infrastructure for the development and production of weapons and transit infrastructure on the Syrian-Lebanon border' through which, the IDF said, Hezbollah was trying to transfer weapons.
The IDF also reported the Israeli air force intercepted a Hezbollah reconnaissance drone over Israeli territory Thursday, which it said violates the ceasefire agreement.
'The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings reached regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon,' its statement said, 'and will not allow the execution of terrorist plots of this type.'
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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