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Ceasefire Brings Hope in Gaza; Hamas Frees First Hostages

An Israeli police officer looks on as a Red Cross vehicle is seen near the Israeli military prison, Ofer, on the day Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli police officer looks on as a Red Cross vehicle is seen near the Israeli military prison, Ofer, on the day Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ceasefire Brings Hope in Gaza; Hamas Frees First Hostages

An Israeli police officer looks on as a Red Cross vehicle is seen near the Israeli military prison, Ofer, on the day Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli police officer looks on as a Red Cross vehicle is seen near the Israeli military prison, Ofer, on the day Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Palestinians poured into the streets to celebrate and return to the rubble of their bombed-out homes on Sunday, and Hamas released the first three hostages under a ceasefire deal that halted fighting in Gaza.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis cheered, embraced or wept in a square outside the defense headquarters as they watched live video on a giant screen showing three female hostages exiting a vehicle surrounded by armed Hamas men.

The hostages got into vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross as the crowd of fighters chanted the name of the armed wing of Hamas.

Soon after, the Israeli military said it was receiving the hostages, identified by the prime minister's office as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. An Israeli official told Reuters the Red Cross said they were in good health.

In the Israeli occupied West Bank, buses were awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention. Hamas said the first group to be freed in exchange for the hostages includes 69 women and 21 teenage boys.

The first phase of the truce in the 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip.

That final Israeli blitz killed 13 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel blamed Hamas for being late to deliver the names of hostages it would free, and said it had struck terrorists. Hamas said the holdup in providing the list was a technical glitch.

The truce calls for fighting to stop, aid to be sent in to Gaza and 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages still held there to go free over the six-week first phase in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

When the shooting stopped, Palestinians burst into the streets, some in celebration, others to visit the graves of relatives.

"I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months. I feel alive again," Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for over a year, told Reuters via a chat app.

In the north of the territory, where some of the most intense Israeli airstrikes and battles with Hamas took place, people picked their way on narrow roads through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal.

Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis with crowds cheering and chanting. Hamas policemen, dressed in blue police uniform, deployed in some areas after months of trying to keep out of sight to avoid Israeli strikes.

People who had gathered to cheer the fighters chanted "Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades" - the armed wing of Hamas.

"All the resistance factions are staying in spite of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," one fighter told Reuters. "This is a ceasefire, a full and comprehensive one God willing, and there will be no return to war in spite of him."

The ceasefire agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, and comes into effect on the eve of the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who had said there would be "hell to pay" unless hostages were freed before he took office.

TRUMP AIDE: HAMAS WILL NEVER GOVERN GAZA

There is no detailed plan in place to govern Gaza after the war, much less rebuild it. Any return of Hamas to control in Gaza will test the commitment to the truce of Israel, which has said it will resume the war unless the armed group which has run the enclave since 2007 is fully dismantled.

Hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir quit the cabinet on Sunday over the ceasefire, though his party said it would not try to bring down Netanyahu's government. The other most prominent hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, remained in the government for now but said he would quit if the war ends without Hamas completely destroyed.

Trump's national security adviser-designate, Mike Waltz, said that if Hamas reneges on the agreement, the United States will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."

"Hamas will never govern Gaza. That is completely unacceptable."

The streets in shattered Gaza City in the north of the territory were already busy with groups of people waving the Palestinian flag and filming the scenes on their mobile phones. Several carts loaded with household possessions travelled down a thoroughfare scattered with rubble and debris.

Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, sheltering with his family in Khan Younis, said that while the ceasefire may have spared lives, the loss of lives and scale of destruction made it no time for celebrations.

"We are in pain, deep pain and it is time that we hug one another and cry."

Long lines of trucks carrying fuel and aid supplies queued up at border crossings in the hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect. The World Food Program said they began to cross on Sunday morning.

The deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks would be delivered to Gaza's north, where experts have warned famine is imminent.

The war between Israel and Hamas began after the fighters stormed Israeli towns and villages on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli attacks that reduced the Gaza strip to a wasteland, according to medical officials in the enclave. Nearly the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave is homeless. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also died.

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Arab World

Sadr Says Armed Wing to Join Iraqi Gov’t

An Iraqi man walks past a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr wearing Saraya al-Salam military uniform on a street in Baghdad (AFP)
An Iraqi man walks past a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr wearing Saraya al-Salam military uniform on a street in Baghdad (AFP)
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Sadr Says Armed Wing to Join Iraqi Gov’t

An Iraqi man walks past a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr wearing Saraya al-Salam military uniform on a street in Baghdad (AFP)
An Iraqi man walks past a poster of Moqtada al-Sadr wearing Saraya al-Salam military uniform on a street in Baghdad (AFP)

Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist movement, said on Wednesday he had decided to sever his movement’s ties with its armed wing, Saraya al-Salam, and place its members under the authority of the state, in a move that comes amid political and government efforts to restrict weapons to the state and regulate the work of armed factions in Iraq.

Sadr had previously announced that he was dissolving his armed wing, but his latest position coincides with the arrival of a government working under regional and international pressure to disarm armed factions.

Observers said Sadr’s latest decision carries weight because it hands his Saraya al-Salam fighters over to the authority of the new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi.

“It has become necessary for us to announce the complete separation of Saraya al-Salam from the movement and their full integration into the state and the general authority responsible for military formations, provided that the civilian bodies attached to Saraya al-Salam are transformed into Al-Bunyan al-Marsous, with no offices, weapons, uniforms, titles or anything else,” Sadr said in a statement.

“In the end, I can only thank the military formations of Saraya al-Salam for all their jihad, and may God forgive them,” he added.

Saraya al-Salam is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces through brigades 313, 314, and 315. It carries out security duties across several areas, most notably in Samarra.

Sadr called on “the remaining factions in the Popular Mobilization Forces to separate themselves from partisan and sectarian orders” and urged them to hand over their weapons to the state, saying he had offered such advice years earlier.

Government welcomes move

In a swift response, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi welcomed the move, describing it as “an important path toward strengthening internal stability and consolidating the principle of restricting weapons to the state.”

Zaidi said in a statement that the current phase “requires unifying efforts and placing the higher national interest first.” He called on all armed factions to work under the umbrella of the state and its official institutions, stressing that the state “is the only authority authorized to carry weapons and enforce the law.”

Sadr’s announcement comes as the Iraqi government seeks to implement a program to restrict weapons to the state, a pledge included in the current government’s ministerial program, alongside discussions within the Coordination Framework over mechanisms to regulate and hand over weapons.

Sources said some factions had shown relative “flexibility” on the issue compared with their previous, more hardline positions, while others still reject including what they call “resistance weapons” in any disarmament measures.

It is widely rumored that five armed factions have agreed to place their weapons under government institutions, without clear details on how the possible process would be carried out, while Harakat al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah have refused to comply with disarmament requests.

Nazim al-Saidi, head of the executive council of Harakat al-Nujaba, said earlier this month that measures to restrict weapons target “uncontrolled” arms that cause “chaos,” not “resistance weapons.”

Former lawmaker Sajjad Salem questioned whether the decision could be implemented, saying Sadr had previously announced the separation of Saraya al-Salam from the movement, “but the decision was not carried out.”

Salem said armed factions rely on weapons to secure their political and financial influence, adding that the Sadrist movement “has an exceptional ability to organize and mobilize with almost no resources,” a reference to the difficulty other factions may face in giving up their weapons.

Former Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also commented on the move, saying the decision “stems from a high level of concern for the supreme national interest, and from a deep awareness of the need to push toward strengthening the path of the state and its institutions.” He described it as “a position worthy of praise and welcome.”

The leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq also paved the way for the handover of his weapons. On Wednesday, he stressed that his political project supports “the state, sovereignty and stability, not a project of chaos,” as he put it.

Qais al-Khazali said in press remarks that “the current phase requires moving toward consolidating state institutions and strengthening their role in confronting internal and external challenges.”

Disarmament plan

Asharq Al-Awsat reported on May 9, 2026, that an Iraqi committee, including Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Hadi al-Amiri was working to complete an “executive project” to disarm armed factions before presenting it to Washington, amid mounting US pressure to keep militias away from the new government and state institutions.

The committee had presented militia leaders with “ideas on how to disarm,” but some meetings “did not pass calmly,” according to people familiar with the matter.

The plan includes removing heavy and medium weapons and restructuring the Popular Mobilization Forces, in parallel with expected changes in sensitive security agencies, which could include the intelligence service.

But political sources questioned the government’s ability to implement the project, saying it may be intended to “buy time.” In contrast, prominent factions, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have said they reject handing over their weapons “whatever the cost.”

Arab World

Yemen Transport Minister Says Two Arabian Sea Ports Planned

A view of Aden International Airport earlier this year (Reuters)
A view of Aden International Airport earlier this year (Reuters)
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Yemen Transport Minister Says Two Arabian Sea Ports Planned

A view of Aden International Airport earlier this year (Reuters)
A view of Aden International Airport earlier this year (Reuters)

The Yemeni government is betting that rebuilding the transport sector can help revive an economy battered by more than a decade of war that has left airports, ports and roads badly damaged.

Yemeni Transport Minister Mohsen al-Amri told Asharq Al-Awsat that rebuilding the sector “requires resources, capabilities, investments and effective partnerships with donors, international institutions and the private sector.”

Al-Amri said the ministry was working under “a phased vision” to expand airport capacity and reconnect Yemeni governorates with the region and the wider world. It is also seeking to develop two ports on the Arabian Sea “to improve logistics services, support maritime trade and connect coastal areas to regional and international trade routes,” he said.

The Houthi group, meanwhile, has limited itself to estimating the sector’s losses without acknowledging responsibility.

Al-Amri said the damage since the start of the war had been extensive across air, sea and land transport.

“We cannot determine any figures in this regard at the present time, and there is no doubt that rebuilding Yemen’s transport sector requires resources, capabilities and investments with the private sector,” he said.

The minister praised Saudi Arabia’s continued support across several fields, including transport, saying its impact was reflected in improved services.

The Houthi group issued a report several days ago, presented at an event attended by some of its leaders, putting cumulative war damage and losses across transport sectors at $23.2 billion.

It claimed it could restore the operational readiness of damaged facilities in areas under its control within weeks, but did not set out a strategy.

Reconnecting Yemen

Recent moves by Yemen’s Transport Ministry point to a broader government push to rehabilitate airports and ports and increase the capacity of air and sea gateways. The government says the plan aims to turn Yemen into a hub linking international trade corridors, drawing on its strategic location.

Al-Amri said the ministry was pursuing a phased plan to turn several local airports into international airports, including Al-Ghaydah in the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra, Ataq in the central governorate of Shabwa and Mokha in the southwestern governorate of Taiz.

The plan also includes upgrading Seiyun airport in the east and Socotra airport in the south, with the aim of “linking Yemeni governorates to the regional and international spheres.”

The government is also seeking to revive maritime transport through new port projects, led by Qarma port on Socotra island in the Indian Ocean and Brom port in the eastern governorate of Hadramout.

Al-Amri described the two ports as “strategic projects” that would ease pressure on main ports, improve logistics, stimulate maritime trade and connect coastal areas to regional and international trade routes.

He said the ministry sets transport project priorities based on population density, economic importance, development and service impact, and the ability to facilitate the movement of people, trade and aid. Project readiness and financing prospects are also considered, he said, along with the goal of balancing development among governorates and directing resources by priority.

In recent weeks, the Transport Ministry has stepped up foreign outreach through talks and cooperation agreements with the European Union, the International Civil Aviation Organization, Morocco and Egypt. The aim is to secure technical and professional support to develop airports and ports, train personnel and modernize air navigation systems.

Al-Amri said the government does not see transport development as a services project alone, but as part of a wider plan to restore state institutions and strengthen their economic role.

Houthi denial

The Yemeni government expects its plans to help move Yemen from a country exhausted by war into a hub linking international trade corridors, using its position on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. It also expects the plans to cut transport and insurance costs, stimulate trade, attract private investment and support economic recovery.

By contrast, the Houthi group’s claims and loss estimates expose the depth of deterioration in one of the most vital sectors under its control, whether from its use of facilities and installations as military bases and barracks, or from attacks linked to escalation in the Red Sea and against Israel.

According to the group’s figures, losses at the ports of Hodeidah, Al-Salif and Ras Isa on Yemen’s western coast exceeded $8.7 billion. Airport losses topped $2 billion, with major airports knocked out of service, Sanaa International Airport damaged, thousands of kilometers of roads destroyed and more than 100 bridges wrecked.

The group has avoided acknowledging responsibility for destroying these facilities and damaging the sector, particularly after it detained four Yemenia Airways aircraft at Sanaa airport. The planes were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes last May in response to Houthi missile attacks.

The gap between government development plans and Houthi loss figures shows that transport has become one of the central arenas for rebuilding the Yemeni state. Reopening airports and ports is not just about improving services. It is about restoring key tools of economic sovereignty, easing the movement of trade and aid, and reconnecting Yemen’s regions with one another and with regional and international markets.

Arab World

Israel Tests Nabatieh Defenses, Seeks to Isolate the City in South Lebanon

Smoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Smoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Israel Tests Nabatieh Defenses, Seeks to Isolate the City in South Lebanon

Smoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Smoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, May 27, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

The Israeli army made on Wednesday further incursions around the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh beyond the Israeli-declared "yellow line” while increasing airstrikes up to 20 kilometers from the border and forcing the full evacuation of towns around the city.

The advance followed Israeli threats to expand beyond the yellow line and coincided with what Israel’s Channel 14 described as the widespread, systematic destruction of more than 10,000 buildings in southern Lebanese border villages, about 70% of the structures Israel plans to demolish in the area.

“We are expanding our operations in Lebanon to deepen the scale of the damage we are inflicting on Hezbollah,” Israeli army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday.

Hayat Al-Aqleh embraces her 18-month-old son Ali at Jabal Amel Hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, after he underwent head surgery for injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in the village of Charnay near Tyre. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

New push north of the river

Israeli forces entered eastern Zawtar, a town on the northern bank of the Litani, advancing on its outskirts as they sought to reach the strategic Beaufort Castle east of Nabatieh.

The castle overlooks, from the east, Lebanese towns under Israeli occupation, as well as northern Israeli settlements less than 10 kilometers away. Israel has placed the castle and the towns of Zawtar, Arnoun and Yohmor al-Shaqif within the yellow line, although they lie north of the Litani.

Local sources in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli forces sent unmanned vehicles deep into an area near Mayfadoun to probe defenses and reconnaissance capabilities.

They said the move pointed to attempts to push toward the hills south of Nabatieh, especially Mayfadoun and Shawkin, to isolate the city, which was placed under a full evacuation warning on Wednesday for a second day in a row.

The sources said airstrikes intensified on Beaufort Castle and nearby Yohmor, Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, areas overlooking Nabatieh from the east.

The Israeli army gave no details on the fighting.

In a statement sent in response to a question from Agence France Presse and attributed to a military official, the army said it was operating in a targeted manner beyond the forward defense line to eliminate direct threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and to soldiers ... in accordance with directives from the political leadership.

Specific details regarding the locations of soldiers cannot be provided, the official said.

Clashes at point-blank range

In a statement Wednesday, Hezbollah said its fighters "clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range" with light and medium weapons in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.

Since dawn on Tuesday, Hezbollah had said it targeted Israeli forces trying to enter the town with rocket-propelled grenades and explosive drones. It later said its fighters fired rockets and drones at Israeli forces on the town’s outskirts and near its entrance by the riverbed.

Al-Manar, Hezbollah’s television channel, said Israeli forces were moving along three axes on the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah from the Hamra side. It said clashes were underway at three points, but denied that Israeli forces had advanced toward Mayfadoun or the inner neighborhoods of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.

The town’s position north of the Litani gives it strategic significance due to its proximity to Nabatieh, southern Lebanon’s largest city. Israel accuses Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire.

Zawtar al-Sharqiyah lies next to the yellow line that the Israeli army drew last month in southern Lebanon. The line runs around 10 kilometers deep inside Lebanese territory and where residents have been warned not to return.

The advance into the town coincided with an Israeli army statement on Tuesday saying it was “operating in a targeted manner beyond the forward defense line to eliminate direct threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and to soldiers.”

Emptying Nabatieh’s surroundings

As it tries to advance, Israel is also working to isolate Nabatieh and its surroundings by expanding the fire-enforced buffer zone to nearly 20 kilometers from the border.

Field sources in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that the line of fire had been cleared to Doueir, where no one can now enter, including ambulances, which need permission from the so-called mechanism - an internationally brokered monitoring committee established to oversee the ceasefire - to access the town.

Civil defense members search for victims in the rubble of a residential building hit the previous day by an Israeli strike near the southern town of Burj al-Shamali, on the outskirts of Tyre, on May 27, 2026.(Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP)

The sources said the evacuation sweep covered Doueir, Harouf, Jebchit, Zebdine, Toul, Kfar Jouz, Deir al-Zahrani, Habboush, Kfar Roummane, Mayfadoun and Shawkin. It also included towns north of the river, southwest of Nabatieh, overlooking the Litani’s bank.

The developments came hours after evacuation warnings on Tuesday covered about 50 Lebanese villages and towns, including all towns in the districts of Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun and Tyre, as well as a large part of the Nabatieh district.

The Israeli army carried out about 150 airstrikes on Tuesday, killing 31 people and wounding 40, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The ministry said 14 people were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre.

On Wednesday, the bombing expanded into the Zahrani district, hitting Tafahta, as well as large parts of villages around Nabatieh. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said a strike near Nabih Berri Governmental Hospital caused “major damage to hospital wards.”