Gaza Groups Will Release Three Hostages on Saturday, Hamas Official Says

 Palestinians walk next to the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, at Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk next to the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, at Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Gaza Groups Will Release Three Hostages on Saturday, Hamas Official Says

 Palestinians walk next to the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, at Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk next to the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, at Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Palestinian armed groups in Gaza said they would release hostages Iair Horn, US-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen and Russian-Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov on Saturday, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire with Israel.

The announcement, after days of uncertainty about whether the ceasefire agreed last month would hold, followed intense efforts by Egyptian and Qatari mediators to keep last month's US-backed agreement on track.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel accepted the list.

Hamas had earlier threatened not to release more hostages after it accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by blocking aid from entering Gaza, drawing counter-threats of a resumption of fighting from Israel.

The Palestinian group agreed last month to hand over 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children and older men, in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, during a 42-dy truce in which Israeli forces would pull back from some of their positions in Gaza.

The truce was intended to open the way for a second phase of negotiations to return remaining hostages and complete the withdrawal of Israeli forces before a final end to the war and the rebuilding of Gaza.

Doubts about whether the deal would hold grew sharply after US President Donald Trump called for Palestinians to be moved permanently out of Gaza and for the enclave to be turned over to the United States to be redeveloped.

After 15 months of fighting, Gaza now lies largely in ruins and it remains unclear how it will be rebuilt.

Israel invaded the coastal enclave after Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and taking more than 250 as hostages.

The Israeli campaign killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, destroyed many of its buildings and left most of the population homeless.



Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Türkiye, Hamas Discuss Gaza Ceasefire Deal’s Second Phase, Turkish Source Says

Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)
Palestinian children play next to tents in a makeshift camp for displaced people set up on the beach in Gaza City, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday ​met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the ‌agreement to ‌its ‌second ⁠phase, ​a ‌Turkish Foreign Ministry source said according to Reuters.

The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled ⁠their requirements as ‌part of the ‍ceasefire ‍deal, but that Israel's ‍continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from ​moving to the next phase.

The Hamas members ⁠also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source ‌added.


Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Says It Killed Hamas Financial Officer in Gaza

Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)
Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations stand in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas's armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in "a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet", Israel's internal security agency.

Zaqut "belonged to the financial department of the armed wing" of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.

"Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas's armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel," he said.

Hamas's leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Saad and "his companions", though he did not name Zaqut.

The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing and oversaw the group's build-up of capabilities.

Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.

The war began with Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.


Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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Lebanon Central Bank Governor Expresses Reservations Over Draft Law on Deposit Recovery

 Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam heads a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon December 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s Central Bank governor has expressed some reservations over a draft law allowing depositors to gradually recover funds ​frozen in the banking system since a financial collapse in 2019, a move critical to reviving the economy.

Karim Souaid described the proposed timetable for the cash component of deposit repayments as "somewhat ambitious" in a statement on Tuesday.

He suggested ‌it may ‌be adjusted without hindering ‌the depositors' ⁠rights ​guarantee "regular, ‌uninterrupted, and complete payments over time".

He also urged the cabinet to conduct a careful review of the draft law , calling for clarifications to ensure fairness and credibility before it is submitted to parliament.

The central ⁠bank governor said the draft required further refinement, ‌including clearer provisions to guarantee equitable ‍treatment of depositors ‍and to reinforce the state’s commitments ‍under the law.

The 2019 financial collapse - the result of decades of unsustainable financial policies, waste and corruption - led the state to default ​on its sovereign debt and sank the Lebanese pound.

The draft law marks ⁠the first time Beirut has put forward legislation aimed at addressing a vast funding shortfall - estimated at $70 billion in 2022 but now believed to be higher.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Monday urged ministers to swiftly approve the draft legislation.

The cabinet discussed the law on Monday and Tuesday and is set to continue discussions ‌on Friday.