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Hamas Names Hostages to Be Freed after Accusing Israel of Breaching Ceasefire

Cars and pedestrians move along a road amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City's Jabaliya refugee camp, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)
Cars and pedestrians move along a road amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City's Jabaliya refugee camp, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)
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Hamas Names Hostages to Be Freed after Accusing Israel of Breaching Ceasefire

Cars and pedestrians move along a road amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City's Jabaliya refugee camp, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)
Cars and pedestrians move along a road amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City's Jabaliya refugee camp, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)

Hamas on Friday announced the names of three Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners after a delay that underlined the obstacles hanging over a fragile deal meant to end the war in Gaza.

Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, both taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri during the cross-border Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, and Or Levy, abducted that day from the Nova music festival, will be handed over on Saturday, Hamas said.

The Hamas prisoners' media office said Israel was expected to free 183 Palestinians in exchange, including 18 who have been serving life sentences, 54 serving long sentences and 111 who were detained in the Gaza Strip during the war.

Earlier the Palestinian group accused Israel of breaching their ceasefire accord and held off announcing the names of the three Israelis until a 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) deadline had passed. It was not immediately clear whether the delay would affect the scheduled exchange on Saturday.

Hamas accused Israel of delaying the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other humanitarian supplies agreed under the truce deal that took effect on January 19, and holding back all but a fraction of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide shelter to people returning to their bombed-out homes.

"This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities," Hamas said in a statement.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency that is overseeing the aid deliveries into Gaza, denied the accusation and warned that Israel would "not tolerate violations by Hamas".

The spat compounds the uncertainty around the ceasefire that had already mounted following US President Donald Trump's surprise announcement this week that he expected Gaza to be taken over by the United States.

Trump said on Tuesday he wanted to move the population of Gaza to a third country like Egypt or Jordan and place the small coastal enclave under US control to be developed into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

The statement underlined the fragility of the deal reached last month with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed Trump's vision for Gaza as a "remarkable" plan, but it was immediately rejected by Arab countries, Palestinian groups including Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and many Gazans, who said they would rebuild their homes and restaurants themselves.

However Israeli leaders have repeated the line that Gazans who wish should be able to leave and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow for the departure of Gaza residents who wanted to go.

So far, 13 Israeli hostages of the 33 children, women and older men set to be released in the first, 42-day phase of the agreement have come home, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released in exchange. Five Thai hostages have also been returned.

Work on the second stage of the multi-phase agreement, aimed at securing the release of around 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, has begun and an Israeli negotiating team was expected to fly on Saturday to Doha, Israeli media reported on Friday.

However, the accusations levelled by Hamas against Israel underscored how little trust there was between the two sides following more than 15 months of the bloodiest episode in the decades-long conflict.

The Israeli military said on Friday that commanders were conducting situational assessments ahead of the next phase of the agreement currently being discussed, with troops deployed at various points around the Gaza Strip.

'CLEAR MANIPULATION'

Hamas said only 8,500 trucks out of the 12,000 that should have arrived so far had entered the territory, most containing food and secondary goods including chips and chocolate instead of more urgent items.

In addition, only 10% of the 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans needed to provide shelter had arrived, Hamas said, leaving hundreds of thousands in harsh winter weather.

Finally, heavy machinery needed to clear millions of tons of rubble and recover the thousands of bodies thought to be buried had not arrived.

Almost three weeks after the start of the ceasefire, "the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate dangerously", the Hamas statement said.

Israel has rejected accusations that it is dragging its feet on enabling the entry to aid supplies as "a completely unfounded claim", saying it has allowed in thousands of trucks, including tents and shelters.

COGAT said more than 100,000 tents had entered Gaza since the agreement came into force last month and that caravans were also being allowed in, while tractors had entered from Egypt since Sunday. It said 12,600 trucks had entered Gaza so far.

But hundreds of thousands of people are still marooned in tents and other makeshift shelters worn out by months of use as the fighting raged last year.

So far, despite accusations of ceasefire breaches levelled by both sides, the truce has held, leaving the way still open to an end to the war and rebuilding densely populated Gaza, which now lies in ruins.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 as hostages in Israel's heaviest loss of life in a single day since the founding of the state in 1948.

In response, Israel launched an air and ground war in Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the narrow enclave.

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Arab World

Lebanon Pushes to Retain UN Presence in the South

Members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon (Reuters)
Members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon (Reuters)
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Lebanon Pushes to Retain UN Presence in the South

Members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon (Reuters)
Members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon (Reuters)

Lebanon is stepping up a political and diplomatic drive to maintain a UN presence in the south while rallying support for its army, as Beirut and Paris push to revisit the deadline to end UNIFIL’s mission.

Beirut is treating that issue separately from proposals for a European initiative to support the military.

A UNIFIL peacekeeper during a patrol by the UN mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Beirut insists on UN presence

An informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the proposed European force “is being discussed on a separate track from the southern Lebanon file and is not directly linked to UNIFIL’s future or to any arrangements concerning the international force in southern Lebanon.”

The European track is largely focused on supporting and training the army, as well as on domestic military and institutional matters, the source said.

“It should not be confused with the debate over the form of the international presence in the south after UNIFIL’s mission ends,” the source added.

Lebanon remains committed to keeping a UN force in the south, though discussions could cover a smaller mission or one with a different structure and mandate.

“For Lebanon, the priority is to preserve a UN framework and an international presence in the south,” the source said. “Diplomatic efforts are continuing, but the proposals remain broad ideas, with no final details.”

International discussions over the next phase are continuing alongside a Paris-launched initiative to train, support and strengthen the Lebanese army. The shape of any future international presence in the south remains undecided.

UNIFIL soldiers conducting a foot patrol near the border fence with Israel in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Push for an extension

Lebanese lawmakers are also rallying support for UNIFIL’s continued presence.

MP Fadi Alame, head of the Lebanese parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Committee, said the position presented during meetings with representatives of UN Security Council member states was “very clear: Lebanon insists on extending UNIFIL’s mandate and preserving an effective UN presence in southern Lebanon.”

Current conditions make that presence “more necessary than ever,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The committee hosted representatives of Security Council member states in the presence of the defense minister and a representative of the foreign minister,” Alame said.

“We focused clearly on the need to extend UNIFIL’s mandate. What matters to us is maintaining the UN presence and ensuring that international forces remain active and effective on the ground.”

With parts of southern Lebanon occupied and devastated, the situation increasingly recalls conditions the country faced from the late 1970s onward, he said.

“The south needs an effective UN presence more than ever,” Alame added. “We stressed that point to the ambassadors and diplomatic missions we met.”

UNIFIL vehicles traveling along the coastal road towards Naqoura town in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Lebanon, therefore, insists on maintaining a UN mandate and keeping Security Council Resolution 1701 as the guiding framework, he said.

“Implementing that resolution requires UN forces on the ground.”

Mission deadline under scrutiny

The Security Council decided in August 2025 to extend UNIFIL’s mandate for the final time, until Dec. 31, 2026. Operations are due to end on that date, followed by an orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal over one year.

Alame said the decision to end the mission this year should be reconsidered.

“We, as parliament and as the Lebanese state, are working to convince the countries concerned that the current situation requires this force to remain,” he said. “It must play an effective role, continue its duties, cooperate with the Lebanese army and assist it.”

When Resolution 1701 was adopted, only limited areas remained under Israeli occupation, Alame said. Today, there are both occupied and devastated areas.

“That makes a UN force on the ground more necessary — not only to monitor and record violations, but also to help stabilize the situation and support the Lebanese army’s deployment.”

Members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon (Reuters)

Diplomatic drive in New York

Lebanon and France are meanwhile pushing to keep UNIFIL in place for an additional period.

The Financial Times reported that Beirut had told the Security Council that ending the mandate under current conditions would be premature and called for a limited extension. France and most council members backed the Lebanese request, while Israel opposed it.

Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has left for New York to attend the UN General Assembly and meet international officials and Arab and foreign counterparts.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam will lead the Lebanese delegation. The high-level general debate begins on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

In Washington, contacts over Lebanon and negotiations with Israel are continuing after a round of talks scheduled for Rome in September was postponed until October.

A Lebanese presidency statement gave no details about the planned meeting or its participants.

Arab World

Iraq Reopens Airspace to Civilian Flights After Years of Military Restrictions

The exterior of Baghdad International Airport (Reuters)
The exterior of Baghdad International Airport (Reuters)
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Iraq Reopens Airspace to Civilian Flights After Years of Military Restrictions

The exterior of Baghdad International Airport (Reuters)
The exterior of Baghdad International Airport (Reuters)

Iraq said on Friday it had reopened parts of its airspace that had been reserved for military operations against ISIS to civilian aviation after a 10-year closure.

The areas are now available to civilian aircraft, including flights transiting Iraqi airspace, in a move economists said could lower aviation operating costs.

Iraq’s airport management company said areas designated for military operations within the country’s airspace were no longer being used for that purpose and were now ready for civilian air traffic.

The state news agency quoted the company’s director, Ehab Karim, as saying that airspace previously reserved across western Iraq, from north to south, had been handed over to the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation Management for civilian aviation use.

The areas, stretching from the northernmost reaches of Nineveh province to the southern Anbar desert, had largely been reserved for sorties by the international coalition fighting ISIS and the Iraqi Air Force. Iraq began closing them in late 2016.

Karim said procedures to reopen the areas to civilian aviation would pave the way for Iraq’s Aeronautical Information Publication to be updated and made available to international airlines.

Returning the areas to civilian use would provide greater flexibility to establish new air routes, increase revenue, streamline civilian air traffic and support the national economy, Karim said.

He added that Iraqi airports were ready to provide services to all domestic and foreign airlines once the routes opened.

Iraq’s recovery

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said it was ready to support the General Company for Airports and Air Navigation Management following the formal closure of the file on restricted zones in Iraqi airspace.

“This announcement represents an important step towards restoring Iraq’s regional and international standing in air navigation and confirms the country’s recovery and security stability,” the office said in a statement.

It said the move would help improve the management of Iraqi airspace, increase national revenue from aircraft transit fees and facilitate civilian air traffic between continents.

Iraq’s Transport Ministry said in a statement that an airspace management team at the Air Operations Center had established on a technical basis that the military air zones listed in Iraq’s Aeronautical Information Publication were no longer being used for military operations.

The development would pave the way for the completion of technical and regulatory procedures to remove the zones from the publication in coordination with the relevant authorities, the ministry added.

Security expert Fadel Abu Raghif told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq was capable of efficiently managing and securing its airspace after the routes were opened.

He also noted the importance of the decision coinciding with the withdrawal of international coalition forces from Iraq by Sept. 30, 2026.

Major shift

Economic expert Ziad al-Hashimi described the decision as a “major shift” for Iraq’s aviation sector, saying it would allow greater traffic and flexibility in the movement and management of air routes through Iraqi airspace.

Al-Hashimi said the decision was likely to shorten flight times and reduce operating costs for airlines transiting Iraqi airspace, particularly those arriving from Europe and Asia.

He added that it would help attract more airlines that had previously regarded alternative or restricted routes as costly to operate.

“The more flights that transit Iraqi airspace, the greater the revenue received by the Iraqi government,” he said.

Al-Hashimi cautioned, however, that European restrictions continued to impede the effective use of Iraqi airspace, with a warning remaining in effect until the end of this month.

After that, he said, the Iraqi government would need to persuade the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to allow European airlines to resume using Iraqi airspace and provide the necessary assurances, particularly regarding the safety of new and existing air routes.

Arab World

Diplomatic, Military Push for Lebanon in Paris

Group photo of participants in a meeting to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in Paris on Thursday (French president’s account)
Group photo of participants in a meeting to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in Paris on Thursday (French president’s account)
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Diplomatic, Military Push for Lebanon in Paris

Group photo of participants in a meeting to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in Paris on Thursday (French president’s account)
Group photo of participants in a meeting to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in Paris on Thursday (French president’s account)

Senior officials and military officers gathered in Paris on Thursday to discuss support for the Lebanese Armed Forces and security services.

French President Emmanuel Macron first met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Elysee Palace before the two joined Jordan’s King Abdullah II for a trilateral summit at Les Invalides.

The three leaders later opened a technical-military meeting attended by military commanders, chiefs of staff and senior officers from 17 countries and organizations.

“Paris is today the place where our partners are coming together to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and enable it to fully ensure its own security,” Macron wrote on X.

“A Lebanon at peace offers renewed hope for the entire Middle East. A sovereign and stable Lebanon is a decisive step toward peace and stability across the region.”

“Together with the Lebanese president and the king of Jordan, and in close coordination with the United States, Saudi Arabia and our international partners, we support the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are indispensable to asserting the authority of the Lebanese state throughout its territory,” he added.

Turning to wider regional tensions, Macron argued that “diplomacy and dialogue alone” could end an escalation with no prospect of resolution.

He reiterated France’s solidarity with Jordan and condemnation of Iranian attacks, while stressing the importance of freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Regional Dimension

Aoun revealed measures taken by the state and urged support for its armed forces as an investment in regional security and stability.

King Abdullah’s participation, within the framework of the Aqaba Process, gave the meeting a broader regional dimension.

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), citing presidential sources, the three leaders discussed the “dangerous regional situation” and stressed the need to intensify international efforts toward comprehensive and sustainable de-escalation. They also discussed developments in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Aoun stressed the interconnected nature of regional security and called for a common regional security strategy based on joint energy projects and economic, security and political cooperation.

The Lebanese president also sought to put behind him a period of strained relations with France, thanking Macron for France’s support for Lebanon and its efforts to strengthen state authority, sovereignty and official institutions.

He praised Macron’s efforts, in cooperation with the Italian prime minister, to find an alternative to UNIFIL to prevent a security vacuum in South Lebanon, and called for broader economic and energy cooperation, including the resumption of oil and gas exploration in Lebanese blocks.

‘A Moment for Decision’

Aoun painted a bleak picture of conditions in South Lebanon because of Israeli attacks and practices, but said the country now had an opportunity based on “a clear determination to rebuild the state and its institutions and move forward with the reforms the country needs.”

He said the goal was to establish “a strong state and effective institutions,” with the army and security services playing a central role.

While emphasizing the importance of the state’s monopoly on weapons, Aoun insisted that this was “first and foremost a Lebanese choice and a Lebanese interest.”

He also defended negotiations with Israel, warning that agreements succeed not merely by being signed but by being respected and implemented by all parties.

He called on Lebanon’s “friends and partners” to help ensure the full implementation of what had been agreed and to treat Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as a principle “not subject to selectivity.”

Aoun detailed the army’s responsibilities, including extending state authority, maintaining security and stability, preventing border violations and combating smuggling. He also highlighted the role it would be expected to assume after UNIFIL’s mission ends to prevent a security vacuum.

“There can be no strengthening of state authority without strong, effective military and security institutions present throughout Lebanese territory,” he underlined.

The Lebanese president called for concrete results from the preparatory meeting, including a roadmap and clear timetable for an international conference to support the army and Internal Security Forces, as well as a long-term approach to assisting Lebanon’s security institutions.

He pledged “full transparency and accountability” and said the Lebanese state would assume a growing share of financing its security institutions.

“Invest in the success of the Lebanese state and in the stability of the region,” Aoun concluded. “This is a moment for decision, not a moment for waiting.”