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Arab World

Israel Delays Prisoner Release after Chaotic Hostage Handover

Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Israel Delays Prisoner Release after Chaotic Hostage Handover

Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Hamas handed over three Israelis and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday, but Israel delayed the expected release of Palestinian prisoners after chaotic scenes at one of the handover points, where large crowds swarmed around the captives.

Arbel Yehud, 29, abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, looked fearful and struggled to walk through a surging crowd as armed militants handed her to the Red Cross in a tense scene in the southern city of Khan Younis, Reuters reported.

Another Israeli hostage, Gadi Moses, 80, was also released along with five Thai nationals working on Israeli farms near Gaza when the militants burst through the border fence, the Israeli military said.

The mother of one of the Thais watched a livestream of the scene anxiously from her home in the northeastern Udon Thani province.

"Please, let my son walk out now, I want to see his face," Wiwwaro Sriaoun, 53, said as the footage on her phone showed a vehicle moving slowly through the crowd.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sight of their handover amid the swarming crowds was shocking and threatened death to anyone hurting hostages. He urged mediators to ensure the scene would not be repeated.

A total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be freed on Thursday as part of the phased agreement that halted fighting in the shattered coastal territory earlier this month.

An Israeli official involved in the operation said buses carrying the detainees had been instructed to return to prisons in an apparent response to the chaotic handover.

Netanyahu and the Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered the delay in releases "until the safe exit of our hostages in the next phases is assured".

An Israeli official said later that understandings had been reached, and Palestinian prisoners would be released at 1700 (1500 GMT). A Palestinian source said the Red Cross had told Hamas the Palestinian prisoners would be released on Thursday.

Earlier, in Jabalia in northern Gaza, an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow alley between heavily damaged buildings and over piles of rubble before being handed to the Red Cross.

Netanyahu has faced criticism in Israel for not having sealed a hostage deal earlier after the security failure that enabled the Oct. 7 Hamas assault.

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Arab World

Will Lebanon Be the Biggest Loser After the Ceasefire?

Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
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Will Lebanon Be the Biggest Loser After the Ceasefire?

Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after an Iranian missile is intercepted over the Sahel Alma area in Mount Lebanon. (Reuters)

Political sources in Beirut warned Lebanon could emerge as the biggest loser when the current regional war ends, outlining their concerns to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Lebanon is heading toward a severe internal crisis, the sharpest in its modern history with the dispute centering on Hezbollah’s weapons.

The majority of Shiites in the country insists on keeping them, while most other segments say Lebanon’s survival depends on implementing government decisions to limit arms to the state, in line with Lebanese, Arab, and international positions.

The sources noted that Hezbollah has again entered a regional war it cannot influence, risking burdens Lebanon cannot bear.

Hefty price

The war is proving costly for those involved and for countries hit by its spillover.

A ceasefire would likely show Iran suffered heavy damage to its defense, industrial sectors, and infrastructure, potentially setting it back decades. But its size, energy resources, and experience with economic hardship may help it manage the aftermath, unless losses destabilize the system.

Iranian missiles are expected to have caused damage to Israeli institutions and infrastructure, despite a high interception rate. The cost of interception is steep, but Israel appears ready to absorb it, calling the conflict an existential war and relying on strong US support.

Lebanon will struggle the most. Its economy is already near collapse. The country faces a catastrophic situation, with about one million displaced and heavy destruction along the border with Israel.

Israel has said it intends to establish a “buffer zone” inside Lebanese territory, signaling a return of occupation to parts of the country “pending guarantees for the safety of Galilee residents.”

The most dangerous scenario is that Israel’s campaign on the Lebanese front continues even if a ceasefire is reached between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

The fallout is worsened by a deepening rift among Lebanon’s components, raising the risk of internal conflict.

The role of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri appears diminished as the conflict widens. The current crisis over the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador reflects a deeper divide between the Shiite camp and others over weapons, the war, and Lebanon’s regional role.

Hezbollah described the expulsion as a “sin”, demanding that the government reverse it.

‘Impossible to coexist’

Voices are rising in Lebanon, warning that it was “impossible to coexist” between a “quasi-state” and a “Hezbollah’s statelet.”

Countries that once backed Lebanon’s reconstruction, especially in the Gulf, are now focused on their own losses from Iranian attacks. They have also made clear that they will not help unless the Lebanese state takes full control over decisions of war and peace.

The sources reiterated their warning that Lebanon risks being the biggest loser, especially if Israel expands its ground offensive and internal divisions deepen to the point of questioning the country’s very formula of coexistence.

Arab World

Netanyahu Says Israel Is Expanding ‘Buffer Zone’ in Lebanon

Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Expanding ‘Buffer Zone’ in Lebanon

Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)
Smoke billows from an Israeli strike on Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his country's forces were expanding a "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon as the military pressed ahead with its campaign against Hezbollah.

"We have created a genuine security zone preventing any infiltration toward the Galilee and the northern border," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"We are expanding this zone to push the threat from anti-tank missiles further away and to establish a broader buffer zone."

Netanyahu said that dismantling Hezbollah "remains central" to Israel's objectives in Lebanon.

"It is connected to the broader confrontation with Iran," he said.

"We are determined to profoundly transform the situation in Lebanon," he added.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Arab World

Strike on Western Iraq Kills Seven Security Personnel

Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Strike on Western Iraq Kills Seven Security Personnel

Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)
Members of Iraq's PMF carry the coffin of the PMF operations commander for Al-Anbar, Saad Dawai alongside others during a mass funeral in Baghdad on March 24, 2026. (AFP)

A strike on a base in western Iraq killed seven security personnel, the defense ministry said Wednesday, a day after an attack on the same base targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces.

"This resulted in the death of seven of our heroic fighters and the injury of 13 others," the ministry said of the strike in Anbar province, saying it specifically targeted the base's military healthcare clinic.

Rescue operations were ongoing, it added.

The base hosts Iraqi police, soldiers from the regular army and PMF, a security official told AFP.

It was hit by a deadly strike on Tuesday that the former paramilitaries blamed on the United States.

Iraq said late on Tuesday it would summon the US charge d'affaires and the Iranian ambassador after deadly strikes blamed on their countries, as Iraqi authorities granted the targeted groups the "right to respond".

Iraq has been pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the region.

Iraq has long been a proxy battleground for the United States and Iran, and has struggled to balance diplomatic ties with both countries.

Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups, including state-linked positions.

In the statement from the prime minister's office, however, Iraq granted former paramilitaries within the official armed forces the right to "respond to military attacks" by drones and aircraft that targeted their headquarters.