Key events
Opening summary
Hamas is expected today to name three hostages it will release this weekend as part of a planned exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees, local media said, after days of uncertainty in which Israel threatened to scrap a nearly month-old Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israel warned on Thursday that Hamas must release three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in Gaza, after Hamas said it would pause releases over apparent Israeli violations of the truce.
The 19 January ceasefire, which largely halted 15 months of fighting in Gaza, has been under heightened pressure since US president Donald Trump proposed a US takeover of the territory.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Israeli media reported on Thursday that Hamas was to name three hostages it would release on Saturday, after it reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire and to carrying out the next exchange “according to the specified timetable”.
More on that in a moment. First, here are the other key updates:
-
The Israeli government has signalled that it intends to stick to the hostage-release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three hostages are not released on Saturday, it would go back to war. Hamas said on Thursday it will continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal, including hostage exchange.
-
Yemen’s Houthis said they will immediately take military action if the US and Israel attack Gaza, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech on Thursday.
-
In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway near Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected, an AFP journalist said on Thursday.
-
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is expected to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates soon to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
-
On Thursday, for the first time since the truce began, Israel’s military said it identified a rocket launch from Gaza. The rocket landed back inside the Palestinian territory and the military later said it had struck the launcher.
-
Two Jerusalem booksellers detained this week on charges their books were causing “public disorder” have said the experience reflected an intensifying campaign by the Israeli government against Palestinian culture and free speech. Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed, whose family has owned the Educational Bookshop for more than 40 years, spent two days in detention and will remain under house arrest until Sunday, despite the absence of evidence to support the vague accusations against them.
