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ICRC: Yemen Prisoner Exchange Begins

A person waves as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane carrying freed prisoners arrives at Sanaa Airport, amid a prisoner swap, in Sanaa, Yemen April 14, 2023. (Reuters)
A person waves as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane carrying freed prisoners arrives at Sanaa Airport, amid a prisoner swap, in Sanaa, Yemen April 14, 2023. (Reuters)
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ICRC: Yemen Prisoner Exchange Begins

A person waves as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane carrying freed prisoners arrives at Sanaa Airport, amid a prisoner swap, in Sanaa, Yemen April 14, 2023. (Reuters)
A person waves as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-chartered plane carrying freed prisoners arrives at Sanaa Airport, amid a prisoner swap, in Sanaa, Yemen April 14, 2023. (Reuters)

The release and swap of nearly 900 detainees by the two sides in Yemen's conflict began on Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The ICRC, which is managing the process, said its planes would be used to carry the released detainees between six cities in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Warring parties agreed at negotiations in Switzerland last month to free 887 detainees and to meet again in May to discuss further releases.

Negotiators had hoped for an "all for all" deal involving all remaining detainees during the 10 days of talks held near the Swiss capital Bern. The talks were the latest in a series of meetings that led to releases of prisoners in 2022 and 2020 under a UN-mediated deal known as the Stockholm Agreement.

"With this act of goodwill, hundreds of families torn apart by conflict are being reunited ... Our deep desire is that these releases provide momentum for a broader political solution," said Fabrizio Carboni, the ICRC's regional director for the Near and Middle East.

Riyadh and Tehran last month agreed to restore diplomatic ties severed in 2016, raising hopes that Yemen's peace process would see progress.

A Saudi delegation on Thursday concluded peace talks in Sanaa with the Iran-backed Houthi militias whose officials cited progress and said further discussions were needed to iron out remaining differences.

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Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
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Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis's support for Gazans and engagement with the small Catholic community in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The Catholic church's highest authority in the region, who is considered a potential successor to the late pontiff, Pizzaballa told journalists in Jerusalem that "Gaza represents, a little bit, all what was the heart of his pontificate".

Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, advocated peace and "closeness to the poor... and to the neglected one", said the patriarch.

These positions became particularly evident in Francis's response to the Israel-Hamas war which broke out in October 2023, Pizzaballa said.

"He was very close to the community of Gaza, the parish of Gaza, he kept calling them many times -- for a certain period, also every day, every evening at 7 pm," said the patriarch.

He added that by doing so, the pope "became for the community something stable, and also comforting for them, and he knew this".

Out of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox, but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war. The day before his death, in a final Easter message delivered on Sunday, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the besieged territory.

"Work for justice... but without becoming part of the conflict," said Pizzaballa of the late pontiff's actions.

"For us, for the Church, it leaves an important legacy."

The patriarch thanked the numerous Palestinian and Israeli public figures who have offered their condolences, preferring not to comment on the lack of any official message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even as "the local authorities... were not always happy" with the pope's positions or statements, they were "always very respectful", he said.

Pizzaballa said he will travel to Rome on Wednesday, after leading a requiem mass for the pope at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in the morning.

As one of the 135 cardinal electors, the Latin patriarch will participate in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Pizzaballa, a 60-year-old Italian Franciscan who also speaks English and Hebrew, arrived in Jerusalem in 1990 and was made a cardinal in September 2023, just before the Gaza war began.

His visits to Gaza and appeals for peace since then have attracted international attention.