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Arab World

Israel, Hamas Due to Release More People amid Efforts to Extend Truce

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on the northern Gaza strip following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a four-day ceasefire took effect on November 24, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on the northern Gaza strip following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a four-day ceasefire took effect on November 24, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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Israel, Hamas Due to Release More People amid Efforts to Extend Truce

Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on the northern Gaza strip following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a four-day ceasefire took effect on November 24, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City on the northern Gaza strip following weeks of Israeli bombardment, as a four-day ceasefire took effect on November 24, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

Hamas and Israel were expected to release more hostages and prisoners on Wednesday, the last day of a prolonged six-day truce in the Gaza Strip conflict, as attention focused on whether mediator Qatar could negotiate another extension.
Israeli media, citing the prime minister's office, reported that Israel received a list of hostages expected to be released by Hamas on Wednesday. The prime minister's office had no immediate comment, Reuters said.
Israel has said the truce could be prolonged further, provided Hamas continues to free at least 10 Israeli hostages per day. But with fewer women and children still in captivity, keeping the guns quiet beyond Wednesday may require negotiating to free at least some Israeli men for the first time.
The Palestinian group Hamas and allied group Islamic Jihad freed 12 hostages on Tuesday, bringing the total released since the truce began on Friday to 81. Those have been mostly Israeli women and children along with foreign citizens.
The hostages - 10 Israeli women and two Thai citizens - were aged 17 to 84 and included a mother-daughter pair. All were given initial medical checks then moved to Israeli hospitals where they were to meet their families.
A short time later, Israel released 30 Palestinians from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank and a Jerusalem detention center. The Palestinian Prisoner's Club, a semi-official organization, said half were women and the remainder were teenage males. That brought the total number of Palestinians released under the truce to 180.
The hostages were among some 240 people seized by Hamas gunmen during a rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed. Israel's bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza in retaliation has killed more than 15,000 Gazans, health authorities there said.
Qatar, which mediated indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that resulted in the ceasefire, on Tuesday hosted the spy chiefs from Israel's Mossad and the United States' CIA.
The officials discussed possible parameters of a new phase of the truce deal including Hamas releasing hostages who are men or military personnel, not just women and children, a source briefed on the matter said. They also considered what might be needed to reach a ceasefire lasting more than a handful of days.
Qatar spoke to Hamas before the meeting to get a sense of what the group might agree to. The Israelis and Hamas are now internally discussing the ideas explored at the meeting, the source added.
Separately, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations on Tuesday called in a joint statement for an extension of the ceasefire and more humanitarian aid.
About 159 hostages remain in Gaza. The White House said on Tuesday this includes eight to nine Americans. US national security spokesperson John Kirby said the US was hopeful Hamas would release more Americans, and the US government would work with Qatar to extend the pause in fighting.
"We want to see all the hostages out. The way to do that is these pauses," Kirby told reporters traveling on the president's plane on Tuesday.
WARNING OF MORE DEATHS DUE TO DISEASE IN GAZA
The truce has brought Gaza its first respite after seven weeks of fighting and bombardment that has reduced much of the seaside enclave to rubble. It had been due to expire overnight into Tuesday, but both sides agreed to extend the pause to allow for the release of more people.
Israel's siege has led to the collapse of Gaza's health care system, especially in the north where no hospitals remain functioning. The World Health Organization said more Gazans could soon be dying of disease than from bombing and many had no access to medicines, vaccines, safe water and hygiene and no food.
More than two-thirds of Gaza's 2.3 million people have lost their homes to Israeli bombardments, with thousands of families sleeping rough in makeshift shelters with only the belongings they could carry. They are desperately short of food, fuel and clean water.
"We have a dramatic humanitarian situation. At the same time, we want to have the full release of all hostages, that we believe should be unconditional and immediate. But we need a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza now," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Tuesday.
The temporary ceasefire has allowed about 800 aid trucks to enter Gaza, and the first of three US planes with humanitarian supplies for Gaza landed in Egypt on Tuesday.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths was to travel to the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday to discuss opening the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Israel.
Located at the intersection of Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Kerem Shalom crossing transported more than 60% of the aid going into Gaza before the current conflict.
Aid for Gaza now comes through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border, which was designed for pedestrian crossings and not trucks.

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Arab World

Zaidi Urges Sharaa to Boost Baghdad-Damascus Coordination

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office)
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Zaidi Urges Sharaa to Boost Baghdad-Damascus Coordination

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has sent a message to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa calling for stronger ties and closer security and economic coordination.

The move reflects Baghdad’s push to rebuild regional relations while, at home, working to bring weapons under state control and prepare for a planned visit to the United States.

The message was delivered by Hamid al-Shatri, head of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service.

The Iraqi prime minister’s media office said late Wednesday that Zaidi’s message stressed the need to develop relations between Baghdad and Damascus and step up coordination to confront regional challenges and crises, particularly in security and economic affairs, in line with the two countries’ shared interests.

The statement said Sharaa thanked Zaidi and the Iraqi government, and affirmed Syria’s commitment to working with Iraq to address common challenges arising from recent regional developments.

He also stressed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially on security and the economy.

The message comes as Iraq seeks to repair ties with its Arab neighbors under a broader approach built around three tracks: asserting state authority by “confining weapons to the hands of the state,” expanding regional outreach, and diversifying the economy by drawing foreign investment.

Zaidi to Washington

Baghdad has yet to set a date for Zaidi’s visit to the United States, which follows an invitation from US President Donald Trump. Iraqi officials say the visit is tied to a set of files the government has begun pursuing under fixed timelines, led by the effort to bring weapons under state control.

Government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi told a news conference that the deadline for carrying out the weapons-control plan expires next September, coinciding with the scheduled withdrawal of international coalition forces from Iraq.

The timing is significant. It would complete arrangements agreed by the previous government, including ending the mission of the coalition formed to fight ISIS, moving Baghdad’s relationship with Washington into a bilateral framework based on the 2009 Strategic Framework Agreement, and ending the work of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI.

The Iraqi government hopes to make tangible progress on the weapons file before the Washington visit. But positions taken by some Iran-backed armed factions have added pressure.

Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, two of Iraq’s most prominent armed factions, have issued statements that raised questions over the future of the government’s weapons-control measures.

The Shiite Coordination Framework had granted the prime minister a mandate over the mechanisms and procedures for confining weapons to the state. The move was seen as a withdrawal of the political cover long enjoyed by some armed factions, potentially putting them on a direct collision course with the government.

At the same time, influential forces within the Coordination Framework, which holds about 80 parliamentary seats, are seeking to expand their presence in government and secure ministerial posts after earlier US reservations about their participation eased.

The government says its handling of these files is based on a “national vision” backed by parliament. Aboudi said the government remains fully committed to confining weapons to the state according to the timelines set in its program.

Gas flares burn at the Rumaila oil field during an armed patrol by Iraqi Energy Police in Basra, Iraq, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani

Regional outreach for development

On the economic front, Baghdad is betting on major investment projects to reinforce long-term stability.

Aboudi said the “Development Fund” is an investment vehicle separate from the state budget, funded by international contributions from friendly countries, with guarantees ranging from $100 billion to $150 billion, to support development and sustainable stability.

Observers say the three files, security, regional outreach, and economic development, form the broad framework for Iraq’s current domestic and foreign moves.

Political science professor Talib Mohammed Karim told Asharq Al-Awsat that Zaidi’s expected visit to Washington cannot be separated from the changes underway in Iraq and the wider region.

He said Baghdad is working on three parallel tracks: strengthening state authority by confining weapons to the state, opening up regionally, including through improved ties with Syria, and diversifying the economy by reducing dependence on oil and attracting investment.

Karim said the visit matters because of its timing, as the balance of power in the Middle East is being reshaped after years of conflict. Iraq, he said, has a chance to move from being shaped by regional developments to helping shape stability, drawing on its geography and balanced relations with different sides.

Relations with Washington

Former prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi also called for stronger Iraqi-US ties while preserving the agreements signed between the two countries.

Abdul Mahdi said he hoped Zaidi would succeed in his mission, adding that it was too early to judge the current government, which remains at the start of its four-year term.

He said Iraq needs friendly relations with the US and other countries while honoring existing agreements between Baghdad and Washington. He said the end of next September would mark a decisive point with the completion of the international coalition’s withdrawal from Iraqi territory.

Abdul Mahdi said stronger political and economic ties between Iraq and the US would serve mutual interests, citing the importance of Washington’s international role and Baghdad’s regional standing, as well as the shared benefits that closer relations could bring.

Arab World

Israel Releases Hamas Co-founder After 2 Years of Detention

This picture taken from a position on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, shows the sun setting behind destroyed buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory on June 10, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
This picture taken from a position on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, shows the sun setting behind destroyed buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory on June 10, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
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Israel Releases Hamas Co-founder After 2 Years of Detention

This picture taken from a position on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, shows the sun setting behind destroyed buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory on June 10, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
This picture taken from a position on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, shows the sun setting behind destroyed buildings in the besieged Palestinian territory on June 10, 2026. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The son of a Hamas co-founder said that Israeli authorities released his father in the occupied West Bank on Thursday after holding him without trial for more than two years.

Hassan Yousef, 71, was "freed near the southern West Bank city of Hebron" and taken to a hospital in Ramallah where he resides, his son Owais Yousef said.

Yousef is a senior leader of Hamas in the West Bank, having co-founded the group in the 1980s along with Sheikh Ahmad Yassine and other Palestinian members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Israeli police did not immediately respond to an AFP request for confirmation.

Yousef had been held in Israeli administrative detention since October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel has increased its use of administrative detention against Palestinians since the war. The system allows it to detain individuals for renewable six-month periods without charge.

Israel says the procedure allows authorities to hold suspects and prevent attacks while continuing to gather evidence, but critics and rights groups say the system is abused.

Israel has arrested Yousef several times over the years. He was last released in July 2020 from 16 months of administrative detention.

A member of the now-defunct Palestinian parliament, Yousef is estranged from his eldest son Mosab Hassan Yousef, who for 10 years spied against his father's movement.

From 1997 to 2007, Mosab Hassan Yousef worked for Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet, before relocating to the United States, where he lives under a new identity and wrote the book "Son of Hamas".

Arab World

Israel to Allocate $338 Million for West Bank Settlement Expansion, Rights Group Says

FILE PHOTO: A general view picture shows the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view picture shows the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
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Israel to Allocate $338 Million for West Bank Settlement Expansion, Rights Group Says

FILE PHOTO: A general view picture shows the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view picture shows the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Gush Etzion settlement block as Bethlehem is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

Israel is expected to approve on ‌Thursday the allocation of 1 billion shekels ($337.8 million) to build new settlements and connect them to infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said.

The plan is being promoted by Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a proponent of Israeli settlement expansion who has said he wants to bury the idea of Palestinian statehood, reported Reuters.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet schedule, ministers are expected to discuss the establishment of temporary sites that have already been approved in the West Bank.

The schedule did not say whether ‌the ministers would ‌approve new funding. Netanyahu's office did not immediately ‌respond ⁠to a request for ⁠comment.

FUNDING FOR ROADS, WATER, RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognized by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank.

UN bodies and most countries view the West Bank settlements as ⁠illegal, citing international conventions. Israel disputes this, saying ‌a Jewish presence has existed ‌in the West Bank for thousands of years.

In a statement, Peace Now said ‌the cabinet vote would bypass the standard settlement planning process. ‌It said the settlements in question had been approved by Netanyahu's government over the past three years.

Both Peace Now and the news website Axios, citing a draft resolution, said the allocation of funds would include construction of ‌infrastructure such as access roads, land preparation, sewage systems, water connections and related works, as well as ⁠temporary residential ⁠compounds.

A spokesperson for Smotrich, the finance minister, did not provide specifics but said the cabinet vote would strengthen Israeli settlements and that these are not new settlements, but rather existing sites. Smotrich last week announced a major expansion by more than 2,000 homes of three Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinians and many countries view the settlements as a primary obstacle to peace, saying they eat into West Bank land that could make up a potential State of Palestine. The expansion of settlements and smaller settler outposts has been accompanied in recent years by a rise in Israeli settler violence, with settlers staging sometimes deadly attacks on Palestinians.