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Israel PM Says Images of Freed Gaza Hostages 'Shocking'

Ohad Ben Ami, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, is released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Ohad Ben Ami, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, is released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel PM Says Images of Freed Gaza Hostages 'Shocking'

Ohad Ben Ami, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, is released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Ohad Ben Ami, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, is released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the images of three freed hostages in Gaza were "shocking".

"The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed," the office said in a statement after Hamas fighters brought the three pale-looking hostages onto a stage before handing them over to the Red Cross.

They were made to speak during a carefully orchestrated release ceremony surrounded by gunmen.

According to Hamas and Israel, the hostages are Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34. All were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war after some 1,200 people were killed.

A ceasefire paused the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip where Israel's retaliatory attack has killed more than 47,000 people, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said the hostages spent "491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained" and were "being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle."

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the "difficult scenes" were reason to extend the truce with Hamas and bring home the dozens of remaining hostages.

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Minister Says US Can Access Minerals, Military Bases in Somaliland

Minister of the Presidency of the Republic of Somaliland, Khadar Hussein Abdi looks on during an interview in Hargeisa on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Minister of the Presidency of the Republic of Somaliland, Khadar Hussein Abdi looks on during an interview in Hargeisa on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
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Minister Says US Can Access Minerals, Military Bases in Somaliland

Minister of the Presidency of the Republic of Somaliland, Khadar Hussein Abdi looks on during an interview in Hargeisa on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)
Minister of the Presidency of the Republic of Somaliland, Khadar Hussein Abdi looks on during an interview in Hargeisa on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

Somaliland is willing to give the United States access to its minerals and military bases, a minister has told AFP, as the breakaway region of Somalia seeks international recognition.

Israel became the only country in the world to recognize Somaliland's independence in December -- something the territory has been seeking since declaring its autonomy from Somalia in 1991.

The government in Mogadishu still considers Somaliland an integral part of Somalia even though the territory has run its own affairs since 1991, with its own passports, currency, army and police force.

"We are willing to give exclusive (access to our minerals) to the United States. Also, we are open to offer military bases to the United States," Khadar Hussein Abdi, minister of the presidency, told AFP in an interview on Saturday.

"We believe that we will agree on something with the United States."

Somaliland president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi already suggested in recent weeks granting Israel privileged access to its mineral resources.

And Khadar Hussein Abdi said he could not rule out the possibility of also allowing Israel to set up a military presence.

The African Union and most Arab countries have thrown their support behind Somalia and condemned the move.

The US, however, defended what it said was Israel's right to recognize Somaliland, although President Donald Trump said he was unlikely to follow suit, despite pressure from some within his Republican party.

World

Senior Iranian Official: New Talks with US Planned in Early March, Interim Deal Possible

Pedestrians walk past a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Pedestrians walk past a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Senior Iranian Official: New Talks with US Planned in Early March, Interim Deal Possible

Pedestrians walk past a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Pedestrians walk past a billboard depicting a US aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran and the United States have differing views over the scope and mechanism to lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday, adding that new talks were planned in early March.

The official said Tehran could seriously ⁠consider a combination of ⁠exporting part of its highly enriched uranium (HEU) stockpile, diluting the purity of its HEU and a regional consortium for enriching uranium, but in return Iran's ⁠right to "peaceful nuclear enrichment" must be recognized.

"The negotiations continue and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists," the official said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that he expected to have a draft counterproposal ready within days following nuclear talks with the ⁠United ⁠States this week, while US President Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.

The senior official said Tehran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources but US companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.

World

Witkoff Says Trump Questioning why Iran Has Not 'Capitulated'

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Witkoff Says Trump Questioning why Iran Has Not 'Capitulated'

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff listens as President Donald Trump (not pictured) speaks at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., US, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that President Donald Trump is questioning why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

The United States and Iran this week resumed Oman-mediated talks in Geneva aimed at averting the possibility of military action, after Washington dispatched two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to the region to back its warnings.

In a Fox News interview with Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, Witkoff said the president was "curious" about Iran's position after he had warned them of severe consequences in the event they failed to strike a deal.

"I don't want to use the word 'frustrated,' because he understands he has plenty of alternatives, but he's curious as to why they haven't... I don't want to use the word 'capitulated,' but why they haven't capitulated," AFP quoted him as saying.

"Why, under this pressure, with the amount of seapower and naval power over there, why haven't they come to us and said, 'We profess we don't want a weapon, so here's what we're prepared to do'? And yet it's sort of hard to get them to that place."

The US envoy also confirmed in the interview that he had met with Reza Pahlavi, who has not returned to Iran since before the 1979 Iranian Revolution that ousted the monarchy.

"I met him at the direction of the president," he said, without providing further details.

US-based Pahlavi last week told a crowd in Munich that he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" after Trump said regime change would be best for the country.

Witkoff's comments come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days.

Trump said on Thursday that Iran had at most 15 days to make a deal on concerns starting with its nuclear program.

As talks between the two nations continued in Geneva, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that Trump would not succeed in destroying the country.