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Israel’s Prison Service has confirmed the release of 110 prisoners under the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Two buses carrying prisoners arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank this afternoon and were welcomed by crowds of hundreds of people.
That’s all from our live coverage of the Middle East for today. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of all the day’s developments.
Three Israeli and five Thai nationals who had been held in Gaza since the 7 October attack were released under the terms of the ceasefire deal
Pictures showed the Israeli hostages being greeted by their families after arriving back in Israel, while the Thai prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, said she was “elated” by the release of the five Thais
A total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were also freed by Israel in exchange and were met in Ramallah by cheering crowds
Zakaria Zubeidi, the former leader of a Palestinian militant group who was jailed for attacks that killed several Israelis, was among those released
The prisoner release was delayed after Israel objected to the way in which some of the hostages were led through large crowds before being handed to the Red Cross. It later said it had received assurance of the “safe release” of hostages in future from mediators
The Israeli military confirmed it had killed approximately 10 Palestinians in a strike on a “gathering of armed terrorists” in a village in the occupied West Bank
The death toll in Gaza since Israel launched its operation now stands at 47,460, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health
Israel’s ban on the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, came into force, with the agency told to vacate its headquarters in Jerusalem
Norway announced an additional $24m contribution to Unrwa, with its foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, saying: “Gaza is in ruins, and Unrwa’s help is more necessary than ever”
The European Union said its foreign ministers would hold separate talks with representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the coming weeks
Thanks for following our live coverage. You can find our latest write-up on an eventful day here:
Israel’s Prison Service has confirmed the release of 110 prisoners under the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Two buses carrying prisoners arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank this afternoon and were welcomed by crowds of hundreds of people.
The family of freed Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud has said the “open door” for the release of those still being held in Gaza should not be allowed to close.
Arbel was one of three Israeli nationals released on Thursday as part of the ceasefire agreement. Her partner, Ariel Cunio, and his brother, David Cunio, are both among those believed to still be being held.
“We will not rest until all hostages are released,” Yehoud’s family said in a statement.
“We urge everyone not to let this open door close. Everyone must be brought home immediately so that we can heal as a society.”
The mother of one of the Thai nationals freed this afternoon spoke ahead of his release about her excitement at seeing him.
Khammee Lamnao said the Thai embassy in Israel had called her to tell her that her son, Surasak Rumnao, was among those set to be released.
“I cannot wait to see my son,” the 53-year-old was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “I’ve been waiting for him.”
Rumnao had been working in the agricultural sector in Israel for 15 months when he was abducted from the town of Yesha, a few miles from the border of the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
The EU will hold separate talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the coming weeks, the European Commission has said.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, will meet his EU counterparts, as well as the bloc’s high representative for foreign affairs, Kaja Kallas, on the sidelines of its monthly Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 24 February.
“We will discuss the full range of issues with Israel, including the war in Gaza, regional issues, global issues and bilateral EU-Israel relations,” spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
At the next meeting, on 17 March, Kallas and the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, will co-chair the “first ever EU-Palestinian high level dialogue”.
“This will be an opportunity to discuss the EU support for the Palestinians and the full range of regional and also bilateral issues,” El Anouni said.
German Chancellor has welcomed today’s release of hostages, two of whom were dual citizens of Germany Israel.
“The German-Israeli citizens Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Moses are free,” he wrote on X.
“We are relieved and rejoice with all the hostages who have been released.
“But the fact remains that all of the hostages must be released and all mortal remains of the deceased returned to the families.
As we’ve been reporting, three Israeli and five Thai hostages were released today after spending more than a year being held hostage in Gaza.
Pictures show them being welcomed and reuniting with family members after their arrival in Israel.
Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel as part of the ceasefire agreement have arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank, Reuters reports.
The Associated Press also reports that white buses carrying prisoners earlier left Ofer Prison, a facility run by Israel in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s military confirmed on Thursday that it had killed 10 Palestinians in a strike on a village in the occupied West Bank the day before, saying it had targeted militants, reports Agence France- Presse (AFP).
During a joint “counter-terrorism” operation by the military and domestic security agency, an air force “aircraft struck a gathering of armed terrorists in the area of Tamun” late Wednesday, the military said in a statement.
“Approximately 10 terrorists were eliminated in the strike,” it said, adding two of the militants killed were involved in an attack that killed an Israeli soldier and injured three others in Tamun on 20 January. The army said the two had also been “involved in additional shooting and explosives attacks”.
On Wednesday night, the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said an Israeli drone strike had killed at least 10 people, while the military said at the time that it had struck an “armed cell”.
As expected, the latest crisis in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, which had seen the announced delay in releasing Palestinians from Israeli jails, has turned out to be more performative than substantial.
With the exchange expected to be completed later today Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has put out this statement:
Pursuant to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand, the mediators have conveyed a commitment, according to which the safe exit of our hostages who are due to be released in the next phases has been assured.
Israel insists that the lessons be learned and that strict care be taken in the next phases regarding the safe return of our hostages.”
At issue were the chaotic scenes during today’s release of Israelis, in turn stage-managed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad for their own audience.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday that the death toll from the war with Israel had reached 47,460, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Despite a fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that began on 19 January, the death toll published by Gaza’s ministry of health continues to rise every day as bodies discovered under the rubble are identified or people succumb to earlier injuries, reports AFP.
In the last 24 hours, 43 additional deaths have been recorded, according to the ministry, which reported 111,580 injured from the war.
Israel has regularly questioned the credibility of the ministry’s figures, but they are considered reliable by the United Nations.
A study published in early January in the medical journal, the Lancet, estimated that the death toll in the Gaza Strip due to hostilities during the first nine months of the conflict was about 40% higher than the figures recorded by the Gaza ministry of health.
AFP and the Guardian are unable to independently verify the conflict’s death toll.
Turkey’s spy agency helped secure the release of five Thai prisoners held by Hamas on Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel, state media reported.
Thirty-one Thai nationals were among the dozens abducted when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, with 23 released by the end of that year and two confirmed dead in May.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) negotiated with Hamas after instructions from president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and secured the release of five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, citing the Anadolu news agency reported.
In mid-January, Erdoğan said his country hoped for a “lasting peace” in Gaza after the announcement of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Turkish leader met Hamas leader Muhammad Ismail Darwish in Ankara on Wednesday, his office said. Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, and MIT director, Ibrahim Kalin, also attended that meeting.
The Thai foreign ministry said the five released on Thursday would be taken to hospital for medical treatment.
“Thailand calls for the release of all the remaining hostages including a Thai national soonest, so they can safely return to their homeland and to their beloved families,” the ministry added.
Earlier we reported on Israel’s ban on the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa (see 10.50am GMT). In his piece, Peter Beaumont wrote that Palestinian staff were not present at the headquarters building in Jerusalem today due to security concerns amid a planned “celebration” by Israeli rightwing groups outside the compound.
Pictures on the newswires show nationalist Israeli activists spray painting over the Unrwa sign and attaching Israeli flags to the closed gate at the front of the headquarters.
Israel said it has received assurances from international mediators for the “safe release” of Gaza hostages during future exchanges, after chaotic scenes during Thursday’s handover of seven captives, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP) .
“Following prime minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu’s request, the mediators have provided a commitment guaranteeing the safe release of our hostages who will be freed in the next phases,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, after the prime minister earlier ordered a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners (see 1.28pm GMT).
Israel says it received assurance from mediators for the future ‘safe release’ of Gaza captives, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
More details soon …