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Arab World

Hamas Threatens to Kidnap Israeli Soldiers after Failed ‘Prisoner Deal’

Hamas supporter in a march marking the 35tth anniversary of the founding of the group (AFP)
Hamas supporter in a march marking the 35tth anniversary of the founding of the group (AFP)
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Hamas Threatens to Kidnap Israeli Soldiers after Failed ‘Prisoner Deal’

Hamas supporter in a march marking the 35tth anniversary of the founding of the group (AFP)
Hamas supporter in a march marking the 35tth anniversary of the founding of the group (AFP)

Hamas on Monday hinted it was planning to kidnap Israeli soldiers after failing to negotiate a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, announced the spokesman for the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Abu Obeida said in an interview with a Hamas-affiliated website that the decision to increase the number of soldiers held by the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades remains effective and is being carried out.

He warned that the Israeli enemy would regret its intransigence regarding a new prisoner-exchange deal, and Tel Aviv's alleged refusal to release thousands of Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails in return for the bodies of the soldiers.

The spokesman asserted that the leadership and the resistance would spare no effort and time to free the prisoners. He addressed the prisoners saying they were "a top priority," and their freedom was "a debt and a decision."

Last week, Hamas leaders made several similar threats during celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the founding of Hamas.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said the group gave Israel a limited time to complete the prisoner exchange deal. Otherwise, the group would "close the file of the four enemy prisoners forever and find another way to liberate our prisoners."

The first commander of the al-Qassam Brigade, Mohammed Deif, made a similar threat.

Hamas detained two Israeli soldiers in Gaza, Oron Shaul and Officer Hadar Goldin, captured by the al-Qassam Brigades during the war of 2014, while Israel said they were killed.

The movement also holds two Israeli citizens who crossed into Gaza on their own accord, including Avraham Mengistu (Ethiopian origin) and Hashem al-Sayid (an Arab from the Negev).

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas were done through Egyptian and German mediators, but they did not yield any results.

Israel claimed Hamas was asking for the release of 1,000 prisoners, while the movement said Tel Aviv was not serious and its leadership was not brave enough to reach a deal.

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Arab World

Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Forces Kill Man Trying to Climb Barrier

Palestinians walk along the separation barrier between the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk along the separation barrier between the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (AP)
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Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Forces Kill Man Trying to Climb Barrier

Palestinians walk along the separation barrier between the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (AP)
Palestinians walk along the separation barrier between the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Sunday Feb. 15, 2026. (AP)

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man Sunday as he attempted to enter Jerusalem by climbing over a barrier separating the city from the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities said.

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah identified the man as Imad Haroun Ashtiyeh, 26, saying he was killed by Israeli gunfire near the town of Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

Ashtiyeh, a construction worker from the village of Salem near Nablus, had attempted to climb the barrier at Al-Ram along with a few other men to make his way to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv for work, said Omer, a relative who gave only his first name.

"But then he was shot while attempting to climb over," Omer told AFP.

An AFP journalist saw Ashtiyeh's corpse shrouded in a Palestinian flag at the Ramallah medical complex, his relatives weeping over his body.

The Palestinian Authority's press office wrote on X that "Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian man seeking work while crossing the annexation and apartheid wall".

Al-Ram, located near the Qalandiya checkpoint, is separated from Jerusalem by a section of the barrier reinforced with barbed wire.

The Israeli military and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israeli security officials say a significant number of Palestinians from the West Bank attempt to enter Israel illegally, often by climbing over the barrier.

They are driven largely by economic hardship and the loss of work permits since the Hamas assault that sparked the Gaza war in October 2023, Palestinian officials say.

Most of them are arrested, while some have died or been injured fleeing from Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say.

Ashtiyeh is the fifth Palestinian killed trying to cross into Israel this year, and the 52nd since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

Israel began building the barrier at the height of the second Palestinian intifada that erupted in 2002, saying it was needed to maintain security amid suicide bombings in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.

The barrier cuts into many parts of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, and Palestinians see it as a land grab and de facto border illegal under international law.

Israel maintains tight restrictions on the movement of the West Bank's roughly three million residents, who require special permits to cross checkpoints into east Jerusalem and Israel.

Violence has sharply escalated in the Palestinian territory since the Gaza war began.

At least 1,075 Palestinians -- both militants and civilians -- have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 2023, according to AFP figures based on Palestinian health ministry data.

In the same period, at least 46 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in attacks or military operations in the West Bank, Israeli official figures show.

Arab World

France Requests UN Security Council 'Emergency Meeting' on Lebanon

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
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France Requests UN Security Council 'Emergency Meeting' on Lebanon

Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

France has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after Israeli forces seized the medieval Beaufort castle in Lebanon, the French foreign minister said Sunday, AFP reported.

"I have requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council because, while we recognize Israel's right, like that of all countries, to self-defense... nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory," Jean-Noel Barrot said on the BFMTV channel.

On Sunday, Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century.

The capture of Beaufort castle, near the city of Nabatiyeh, came after days of airstrikes and intense fighting in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah members in the rugged area.

Israel has since launched a ground invasion, capturing dozens of Lebanese villages and towns close to the border. Hezbollah has launched thousands of missiles and drones at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

The Israeli push came despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place since April 17 and just days before Lebanon and Israeli hold their next round of direct talks in Washington starting Tuesday.

 

 

 

Arab World

Netanyahu Orders Deeper Israeli Incursion into Lebanon to Hit Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers operate at Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, in this handout image released on May 31, 2026. Israeli Military/Handout via REUTERS
Israeli soldiers operate at Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, in this handout image released on May 31, 2026. Israeli Military/Handout via REUTERS
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Netanyahu Orders Deeper Israeli Incursion into Lebanon to Hit Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers operate at Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, in this handout image released on May 31, 2026. Israeli Military/Handout via REUTERS
Israeli soldiers operate at Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, in this handout image released on May 31, 2026. Israeli Military/Handout via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.

The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.

The incursion has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been displaced by Hezbollah rockets and drones.

In the latest advance, Israeli troops seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, the military said, a day after one of the heaviest days of Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel since the April ceasefire, prompting school closures and restrictions.

"I instructed the (military) to expand its ground manoeuvre in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire since the mid-April ceasefire, with Hezbollah resorting to the use of cheap, easy-to-assemble kamikaze drones that are hard for air defences to thwart and that have killed several Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military already controlled territory up to the Litani River in Lebanon, but troops are now pushing to the Zaharani River, around 10 km north.

Netanyahu said his aim is to "deepen and expand our grip on the places that were under Hezbollah's control".

Naftali Bennett, a key challenger to Netanyahu in an upcoming election, said he seeks stronger action in Lebanon, including hitting suburbs of Beirut.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said soldiers will retain Beaufort as part of Israel's security zone in southern Lebanon.

"The campaign is not over yet," he said. "We are all determined to crush Hezbollah's power."

Talal Atrissi, a sociology professor at the Lebanese University and an analyst who is close to Hezbollah, said the Israeli army is managing to achieve its goals in Lebanon.

Israeli troops were also operating near Nabatieh, a major Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, the military said.