Middle East: Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners freed

Israeli hospitals warned that the medical condition of the three hostages released on Saturday had deteriorated after over a year in Gaza.

"The consequences of 491 long days in captivity are evident on the two returnees who arrived today, and their medical condition is poor," said Yael Frenkel Nir, the director of Sheba Hospital in the central Israeli city of Ramat Gan, where Or Levy and Eli Sharabi had been admitted following their release from Gaza.

"This is the fourth time in the current framework that we have received returnees, and the situation is more serious this time," she said.

Gil Fire, the deputy director of the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, said the third hostage released on Saturday, Israeli-German citizen Ohad Ben Ami, was in a "severe nutritional state."

"In the initial medical assessment conducted, it is evident that Ohad returned in a severe nutritional state and had lost a significant amount of his body weight," he said.

Two hundred and fifty-one people were abducted and taken into Gaza in Hamas' attacks on southern Israel on October 7.

Israel's offensive has caused widespread destruction in Gaza, with international organizations warning of famine after aid deliveries were largely cut off.

Lebanon's army said it returned fire coming across the border with Syria.

"The army issued orders to military units deployed on the northern and eastern borders to respond to the sources of fire launched from Syrian territory," it said.

The statement did not name who was responsible for the fire coming from Syria.

It comes after Syria's interim government said it launched a campaign against smugglers near the border.

On Friday, Aoun called interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in order to discuss "controlling the situation on the Lebanese-Syrian border and prevent the targeting of civilians."

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was "increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations" regarding Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.

"We strongly urge all parties, including the mediators, to take responsibility to ensure that future releases are dignified and private," the ICRC said.

The group called for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to stay in place so that more hostages can be released and so that aid can enter Gaza.

The statement comes after three Israeli hostages were made to speak into a microphone on stage before they were handed over to the Red Cross, which was facilitating their transfer to Israel.

Also on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called images of the release ceremony "shocking," and said it constituted a "crime against humanity."

Lebanon has formed a new government after over three weeks of talks among rival political parties.

It comes after Lebanon's Hezbollah militia agreed to a ceasefire with Israel in November.

The new cabinet does not include any Hezbollah members.

The United States embassy in Beirut welcomed the formation of the new government and said it hoped it would implement reforms and rebuild Lebanese state institutions.

On Friday, Washington's deputy Middle East envoy, Morgan Ortagus, said that Hezbollah's participation in Lebanon's government was a "red line" for the US.

The head of the pro-Hezbollah bloc in the Lebanese parliament, Mohammed Raad, responded by slamming the comments as "blatant interference" in Lebanese affairs.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam took office after a two-year caretaker government. He was nominated by President Joseph Aoun, who was elected on January 9.

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said at least 48,181 people had been killed in Israel's offensive in the territory.

Another 111,638 people have been wounded, according to the ministry.

A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect on January 19.

But despite the ceasefire deal, 26 people had been killed over the last 48 hours, and 570 earlier deaths had been confirmed, health officials say.

The war began on October 7 after Hamas launched attacks on southern Israel, leading to the deaths of 1,200 people. Another 251 people were taken into Gaza as hostages.

According to the United Nations, some 90% of Gaza's population of 2.1 million were displaced due to the hostilities, some multiple times.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) chief Achim Steiner told DW in January that 67% of the Gaza's infrastructure had been either damaged or destroyed after 15 months of war with Israel.

Germany harshly criticized Hamas militants for "forcing" hostages to speak before large crowds of its supporters. At the same time, Berlin welcomed the release of the three men, one of whom is a dual Israeli-German citizen.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it was "intolerable that Hamas has again shown the three men in public ... and forced them to give 'interviews,'" in a post on social network Bluesky.

Baerbock celebrated the release of Israeli-German citizen Ohad Ben Ami, noting that his wife, who had also been a hostage in Gaza and was released 14 months ago, "can hold her husband in her arms again."

Fernando Arias, the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, met with Syria's new leader in a first visit to Damascus since the ouster of Bashar Assad. 

"We will broadcast the President of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmad al-Sharaa and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Al-Shaibani receiving a delegation from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," an official Syrian Telegram channel said in a statement confirming the meeting. 

The Syria Television station, a broadcaster close to the new administration, reported that the OPCW delegation included a team to identify the parties and individuals who used chemical weapons in the country. 

Former Syrian dictator Assad was repeatedly accused of using chemical weapons during the country's 13-year civil war. 

Over a decade ago, Syria agreed to hand over its declared stockpile for destruction, but the OPCW still has concerns that the declaration was incomplete and that more weapons remained. 

The OPCW visit has raised hopes that Syria will be conclusively rid of any remaining weapons after Assad's years of delays and obstructions to the agency's work.

Israel released 183 Palestinians from Ofer prison after Gaza hostages were released, with the first bus arriving in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

A cheering crowd that included family members had gathered since the morning in Ramallah. Some of the people gathered waved Palestinian flags, while others chanted "Allahu akbar" or "God is great."

The Palestinians who were released had been detained for a wide range of reasons, with some accused of bomb attacks and involvement in militant organizations, 

Some of them had been detained for over a decade, with two of them having involved in Hamas attacks on civilian areas during the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s. Eighteen of the people released had been sentenced to life, and 54 were serving long sentences for their involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. 

But 111 people were rounded up after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it would not "gloss over shocking images seen today," after three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas. Netanyahu called the treatment of the hostages a "crime against humanity."

"The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed," the office said in a statement.

The remarks come after Hamas militants brought the three pale-looking hostages onto a stage, where they were made to speak in a carefully orchestrated release ceremony surrounded by armed militants, prior to being handed over to the Red Cross vans.

Israel's 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."

Three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released on Saturday.

Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34, were handed over to the Red Cross — the latest hostages to be released as part of a ceasefire deal struck last month.

They will be taken to Israel and undergo medical checkups before being reunited with their families.

In exchange, Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners, some convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of
people and including 18 serving life sentences and 111 detained in Gaza during the war, according to Hamas.

 

The exchange, comes against the backdrop of uncertainty over the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Despite initial challenges the deal has held firm since its implementation nearly three weeks ago.

However, there are fresh concerns how long it might last following US President Donald Trump's unexpected proposal to relocate

Palestinians from Gaza and transform the enclave into the "Riviera of the Middle East" under US administration. 

Arab states and Palestinian groups have unanimously rejected Trump's proposal, while Israel welcomed it. 

Read more: Could Trump's proposal plan bring peace?

Hamas is expected to release three more Israeli hostages on Saturday, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, in exchange for 183 Palestinians held by Israel.

Ami and Sharabi were taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri during the Hamas cross-border attacks on October 7, 2023, and Levy, was abducted from the Nova music festival the same day

It will be the fifth such exchange since a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel began on January 19.

Eighteen hostages and more than 550 Palestinians have been freed in that time.

The US government has approved $7.4 billion (€7.6 billion) in military sales to Israel on Friday despite a request from Democratic lawmakers to pause the sale for more information.

One sale, for $6.75 billion, is an array of munitions, guidance kits and other related equipment. The other arms package is for 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $660 million. 

The announcement comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited US President Donald Trump at the White House. 

Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks, who serves on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced the sales. He said the decision broke with a long-standing precedent for congressional review of major weapons sales and said it showed a lack of respect for the Congress. 

This blog will have all the latest developments in the Middle East region. DW also will bring you an in-depth analysis and video of events happening in the region. 

Hamas is set to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 Palestinians held by Israel.

It is the fifth exchange in the fragile Gaza ceasefire.

The release comes amid the backlash over US President Donald Trump's assertion that the United States will take over "take over" and "own" Gaza, resettling its population in the process.