Bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 83, to be handed over
Ahead of today’s release, Hamas said it is ready to release all its remaining hostages in a single exchange if the ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month.
The offer came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signalled his readiness to talk about a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire after an extended delay, by appointing one of his closest advisers, Ron Dermer, a US-born cabinet minister and former ambassador to Washington, to lead the Israeli delegation to the talks.
Hamas has said it is ready to release all its remaining hostages in a single exchange if the ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month. A senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, told Agence France-Presse “We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages, as in the current first phase.”
The offer came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signalled his readiness to talk about a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire after an extended delay, by appointing one of his closest advisers, Ron Dermer, a US-born cabinet minister and former ambassador to Washington, to lead the Israeli delegation to the talks. Dermer replaces the heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet security service, who have led the negotiations until now and have frequently been at odds with Netanyahu over his reluctance to move forward with the ceasefire.
Arab leaders will gather in Saudi Arabia on Friday to counter President Donald Trump’s plan for US control of Gaza and the expulsion of its inhabitants, diplomatic and government sources said. The plan stirred rare unity among Arab states which roundly rejected the idea, but they could still disagree over who will govern the Palestinian territory and who will pay for reconstruction.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio met on Wednesday with the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, after talks in Israel and in Saudi Arabia. The UAE has been key in mediating between Israel and Gaza. Wednesday’s meeting included discussions on artificial intelligence, the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea, which had been the site of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels until the Gaza ceasefire a state department spokesperson said.
