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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

Sudden ‘Veto’ from Iran Thwarts Govt Formation Efforts in Iraq

From right to left: Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Coordination Framework)
From right to left: Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Coordination Framework)
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Sudden ‘Veto’ from Iran Thwarts Govt Formation Efforts in Iraq

From right to left: Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Coordination Framework)
From right to left: Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, Coordination Framework member Hadi al-Amiri, and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. (Coordination Framework)

Two Iraqi officials revealed on Sunday that a sudden “veto” from Iran has thwarted efforts to form a new Iraqi government. Iran has expressed its objection to keeping pro-Tehran armed factions out of the new government.

Tehran has demanded that the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework refrain from voting in favor of a cabinet lineup that “harms the influence of its allies” in the Iraqi state, the officials told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Amid these developments, reports said that Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), made a surprise visit to Baghdad as Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi had reportedly been making progress in the government formation process.

Significant throughout these developments is the United States’ pressure on al-Zaidi to keep the armed factions out of the new government, reflecting mounting tensions with Tehran that are playing out on a larger scale in the region over Hormuz and the war on Iran.

Sources said Qaani had arrived in Baghdad in recent hours with a message that “Tehran objects” to Iraq’s “complete subservience to Washington.”

An official compared to Asharq Al-Awsat the tensions in Iraq over the government to the tensions between Washington and Tehran over Hormuz.

‘Purely American government’

The two officials said Iran wants to prevent Iraq from forming a “purely American government,” amid US pressure on Baghdad to curb the activity of the pro-Iran armed factions.

Al-Zaidi was named PM-designate on April 27, receiving unprecedented American backing from President Donald Trump himself, who described his appointment as a victory for the Washington administration.

A PM-designate has no more than 30 days to present a cabinet lineup to parliament for a vote of confidence. Time is of the essence with several MPs travelling to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, meaning the necessary quorum for the parliament session to be held may not be met.

American officials are expected to arrive in Baghdad within days. Sources said Washington not only wants the armed factions out of the government, but it wants to ensure that they will not seek “alternate arrangements” that would get them in the cabinet. This prompted Iran to resort to its “veto” and throttle the government negotiations.

The disagreements over the government in Iraq largely reflect the negotiations between the US and Iran in the region that have been ongoing for weeks without reaching a final settlement.

One of the Iraqi officials quoted a prominent member of the Framework as describing as “unprecedented” the US involvement in the formation of the government. He warned that the differences could turn into an “open conflict” between Washington and Tehran, concerns that were heightened with Qaani’s arrival in Baghdad ahead of American officials who are expected there soon too.

Should Iran resort to informing the Framework MPs to refrain from voting for al-Zaidi's cabinet, Washington may in turn increase pressure on Baghdad, such as imposing sanctions and cutting off support, to get its way, a senior advisor in an influential Shiite party told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The ongoing dispute between Washington and Tehran may lead to al-Zaidi quitting as PM-designate, he warned.

The Iraqi officials, who are involved in the government formation efforts, revealed that al-Zaidi had received messages from several parties, including the US, over the need to from a cabinet that “does not have Iranian influence.”

Negotiators have said that Washington “is now interfering in the tiniest detail” in the formation process and it has “accurate information about how the factions operate to try to outmaneuver” American conditions.

The conditions are not only limited to the government, but also include restricting the factions’ economic and political connections with Tehran, especially issues related to water resources, oil, and independence of political decision-making, revealed political sources.

Al-Zaidi has tried to keep sovereign portfolios out of the hands of the armed factions and granting them “lesser” ministries. The move has angered Iran, which was hoping that it would retain influence over powerful ministries.

An informed source said noted the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, which boasts 27 MPs in parliament and has been demanding that its political weight be reflected in cabinet. It has been demanding that it be granted the Oil Ministry, putting it at great odds with Washington.

Arab World

Baghdad Remains Silent about Makeshift Israeli Base that Operated against Iran from Iraq

An Iraqi farmer drives his combine harvester through the wheat field in the Iraqi town of Al-Mishkhab south of Najaf. Iraq, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
An Iraqi farmer drives his combine harvester through the wheat field in the Iraqi town of Al-Mishkhab south of Najaf. Iraq, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
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Baghdad Remains Silent about Makeshift Israeli Base that Operated against Iran from Iraq

An Iraqi farmer drives his combine harvester through the wheat field in the Iraqi town of Al-Mishkhab south of Najaf. Iraq, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
An Iraqi farmer drives his combine harvester through the wheat field in the Iraqi town of Al-Mishkhab south of Najaf. Iraq, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)

The revelations about a clandestine makeshift military base that Israel had set up in Iraq during the US-Israeli war on Iran has caused uproar in Iraq.

With western media revealing details about the base, Iraqi authorities have yet to comment on the revelations.

Israeli forces established a makeshift base using an old airstrip in Iraq's desert during the war against Iran, two security officials told AFP on Sunday, confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Early in the war, which was ignited by joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, the troops were detected in the Najaf desert in the country's southwest and clashed with Iraqi forces, killing one soldier and wounding two others.

The security official said "Israeli forces established a base in an abandoned airstrip in the Najaf desert".

"There are no longer forces there, but they may have left equipment," he said, adding that the Israeli operation "was in coordination with the US".

It was unclear how long the forces were there or what their mission was.

Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war from the outset, with strikes blamed on the US and Israel targeting Iran-backed armed groups, which in turn launched hundreds of attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the Gulf region.

Reports of foreign troops in the Najaf desert emerged early in the war after a shepherd reported seeing military activity.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that "Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran", quoting people familiar with the matter including US officials.

The report said that "Israel built the installation, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the US".

Israel’s Maariv said on Sunday that the "clandestine Israeli base in the Iraqi desert" boasted Israeli commandos.

The Israeli military did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

Following the WSJ report, an Iraqi security spokesperson referred journalists to a previous statement issued on March 5.

At the time, Qais al-Mohamadawi, Iraq's deputy commander of joint operations, had told state media that Iraq protested to the US-led anti-ISIS coalition stationed in the country about an air raid in Najaf.

He said that after receiving reports of "individuals or movement in the Najaf" desert, Iraq's military sent a force to investigate.

The troops came under heavy aerial fire, leaving one soldier dead and two others wounded.

Reinforcements later searched the area, but "did not find anything", Mohamadawi said.

He added that at the site in Najaf, "one force was providing support to another that was conducting reconnaissance or setting up equipment".

He said no foreign troops were authorized to be in that location.

Another security official told AFP on Sunday that there were "indications that the operation involved an Israeli technical team under American military protection".

"There are no longer military personnel there," though they left equipment behind, including a radar, probably used for jamming.

The site was hidden in a valley, "a location chosen carefully to avoid Iranian missile strikes", the official said.

The Najaf desert is vast and largely uninhabited, making it difficult for Iraqi forces to maintain tight security there.

The WSJ's sources said that Israel "deployed search-and-rescue teams there so they could respond more quickly if needed for emergency rescue missions".

‘Grave’ security flaws

Iraqi authorities have come under strong criticism over the past two days. A source close to the government said the revelations about the Israeli base underscore the "grave flaws in the Iraqi security forces’ ability in protecting the country and securing its borders."

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that "Iraq boasts over 1.5 million security forces and over 6 billion dollars a year are spent on them, and yet, they failed in protecting the country."

Security expert Mukhlid Hazem revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Israeli force remained in Iraq around five to seven days before Iraqi security commanders made intense contacts with the Americans to make them leave.

He said prominent military commanders in the Defense Ministry were aware of the foreign forces that were deployed there, but they did not know where they came from.

They contacted the anti-ISIS coalition to inquire about them and were informed that they also were not aware of them.

Hazem said the Israelis chose to deploy in that area to establish an advanced operations center that would secure the passage of their jets over the region and also provide telecommunications technology for the aircraft that were operating over Iran.

The location was chosen because it lies in a remote desert area that is not protected by Iraqi forces, he explained.

The authorities had also closed Iraq’s airspace and banned the use of drones, "which allowed the hostile forces to exploit the situation," he added.

"The development is a dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty. We need an integrated security vision for the upcoming phase to handle similar situations," urged Hazem.

Arab World

Eyeing Migrant Returns, EU Pushes to Revive Syria Ties

Students stand on the toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP
Students stand on the toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP
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Eyeing Migrant Returns, EU Pushes to Revive Syria Ties

Students stand on the toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP
Students stand on the toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. Omar Haj Kadour, AFP

The European Union is to push Monday for a revival of ties with Syria as it looks to bolster the war-ravaged country -- with an eye on prospects for Syrian migrants in Europe to one day return home.

The bloc's foreign ministers will meet in Brussels with Syrian top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani to kick off a high-level "political dialogue" 18 months after the ouster of strongman Bashar al-Assad.

An EU official said the aim was to back reconstruction of the country devastated by more than a decade of civil war that sent millions fleeing abroad, and where "the reality on the ground is still appalling".

Some 13 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- depend on food assistance, the official said. Needs are enormous, and the EU has already pledged 620 million euros ($730 million) in aid for the 2026-2027 period.

But Syria's stability also interests many EU countries because its nationals have made up the lion's share of asylum-seekers in the bloc over a decade -- and there is a push for large numbers to eventually go back home.

"We need the Syrian transitional government to succeed in bringing stability to the country, because that's in our interest," said one EU diplomat.

- Several deals in cards -

The 27-nation bloc launched a new chapter with Syria after Assad was swept from power in December 2024.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen promised after meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus in January that Europe would "do everything it can" to support Syria's recovery.

Last month, the commission proposed that EU states fully reactivate the bloc's cooperation agreement with Syria -- a step expected to be approved Monday.

The deal -- abolishing duties on imports of most industrial products from Syria -- was partially suspended in 2011 when Assad ruthlessly cracked down on protests at the start of the civil war.

Before, Syria-EU trade had peaked at more than seven billion euros ($9.1 billion at the 2010 exchange rate) in 2010. By 2023, EU imports from the country had dwindled to 103 million euros, while European exports to Syria stood at 265 million euros.

Looking ahead, the EU wants a more ambitious association agreement, similar to those struck with other countries in the region such as Egypt, Israel and Lebanon -- though officials say that goal remains a way off.

In the meantime, the EU wants to facilitate access to financing for Syrians -- crucial to revive the economy -- and to support farmers, for example with irrigation pumps.

It is also on track to sign a deal to rehabilitate a major hospital in the western Homs region.

- Voluntary returns -

On the sensitive matter of Syrian migrant returns, Germany -- home to the EU's largest Syrian diaspora at more than a million -- is on the front line.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has embraced tougher migration policies as he seeks to counter the far right -- and he triggered a backlash by declaring during a visit by Syria's president last month that he hoped 80 percent of Syrian refugees would return home within three years.

He later clarified this was a figure put forward by Sharaa himself.

Danish authorities have been outspoken in pushing for Syrians to go home.

But at the EU level there is no question of forcing Syrians to leave, a European official said.

There is a consensus that the conditions are not ready for large-scale voluntary returns, said Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East and North Africa director at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"Most Europeans are cognisant of the reality that for the moment conditions on the ground are not improving fast enough, particularly in the economic sphere, to persuade Syrians to pack up their lives in Europe and head home," he said.

An EU official said the focus was "working on stability, on Syria's economic recovery -- because that really is the path for people to be able to go home in sustainable conditions."

But the commission also wants to establish a "straight and regular dialogue" on returns with Damascus, the official added, saying the matter "will obviously feature" in Monday's talks.