Middle East latest: Hamas names next 3 Israeli hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners

Hamas named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release this weekend as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel. It was a sign that the first phase of the truce was moving forward as planned -- even as many observers fear that U.S. and Israeli plans to remove all the Palestinians from Gaza have imperiled the deal.

Friday's announcement came after Hamas accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip during the ceasefire — items like tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris. There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas’ allegation that it had broken the terms of the truce deal.

Elsewhere in the region, Iran's supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable,” after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wants nuclear talks with Tehran despite reimposing his “ maximum pressure ” approach. What happens next remains unclear, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.

Here's the latest:

Palestinians put out names of 183 prisoners being released in exchange for Israeli hostages

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority’s commission of prisoners’ affairs published Friday the names of 183 Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli prisons the following day in exchange for the release of three Israeli men held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

Of the prisoners, 18 are serving life sentences, 54 have long-term sentences, and 111 are Palestinians from Gaza who were detained after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. All are men, ranging in age from 20 to 61.

Under the terms of the ongoing six-week truce, Israel agreed to release around 1,000 Gazan detainees on the condition that they were not involved in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Among the most prominent prisoners set to be released is Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49, who has been imprisoned for nearly 21 years over his involvement in Hamas militant attacks that killed dozens of Israelis in the early 2000s. He is serving 18 life sentences.

Another is Jamal al-Tawil, 61, a Hamas politician and former mayor of the West Bank city of Al-Bireh who has spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prison. Since his most-recent arrest in 2021, he's been held in Israeli administrative detention without trial for allegedly organizing violent riots.

Both will be released Saturday into the occupied West Bank.

That exchange will be the fifth in a multiphase ceasefire deal to halt the fighting in Gaza that Israel and Hamas agreed to last month. The deal calls on Hamas to free at least 33 of the 97 remaining hostages over the first six weeks in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Father of 2 youngest Israeli hostages in Gaza calls for all the captives to be released

JERUSALEM — The father of the two youngest hostages in Gaza, whose plight has become a rallying cry for Israelis, said Friday that “everything here is dark” without his family members at home.

Yarden Bibas was released in the last hostage exchange. Israel has expressed grave concern for his family and Hamas says they were killed in an Israeli airstrike -- a claim Israel has not confirmed.

Friday's statement from Bibas, 35, came shortly after the news that Hamas named three more adult Israeli hostages to be freed Saturday.

“My family hasn’t returned to me yet. They are still there,” wrote Bibas, who was released in the last exchange. His young boys, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and wife, Shiri Bibas, remain in Gaza. “My light is still there, and as long as they’re there, everything here is dark.”

Bibas thanked the Israeli public and the military for supporting him, then spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.

“I’m now addressing you with my own words, which no one dictated to me: Bring my family back,” he wrote. “Bring my friends back. Bring everyone home.”

Trump calls his Gaza proposal a simple ‘real estate transaction’

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump says his suggestions that Gaza’s residents could be resettled and the area redeveloped for tourism potential has “been very well received” around the globe.

The idea has actually been roundly criticized. But Trump insisted Friday that it was a simple “real estate transaction,” and that the U.S. is in “no rush to do anything.”

The president has suggested resettlement of Gaza’s residents could be permanent -- something that even top members of his own administration have refuted.

But Trump said that, “We don’t want to see everybody move back and then move out in 10 years” because of continued unrest.

The leaders of Lebanon and Syria seek to calm border clashes

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa discussed fighting that has broken out on the border between the two countries Friday “and agreed to coordinate to control the situation and prevent targeting civilians,” Aoun’s office said in a statement.

Clashes have been ongoing for two days between Syrian security forces and Lebanese clans in the border area.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that “a number of dead and wounded” had fallen in gunbattles near the Lebanese city of Hermel - on Lebanon’s far eastern border - and said that Syrian militants had tried to enter Lebanese villages.

It was unclear what militant groups the report was referring to. Syria’s new government is run by former Islamist rebels, and many members of the security forces are likely drawn from the ex-insurgents’ ranks.

On Thursday, two members of Syria’s border security force were “kidnapped by a group of wanted people involved in smuggling weapons and contraband,” according to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, although they were freed later the same day.

Hamas names the next 3 Israeli hostages to be released this weekend

JERUSALEM — Hamas has named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release this weekend as part of the ceasefire deal, showing the agreement was moving forward Friday even as the U.S. and Israel discuss plans to relocate all of Gaza’s population.

The three Israeli men are set to be freed by the militant group on Saturday. It will be the fifth exchange of hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect last month.

The Hamas-linked prisoners’ office in the Gaza Strip said Saturday's release of Palestinian prisoners would include 18 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life, 54 prisoners with lengthy sentences and 111 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested and held without trial after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, confirmed the names received from Hamas were Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34 were scheduled for release Saturday.

Sharabi was taken captive by the militants from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity.

Ben Ami, a father to three, was taken hostage with his wife, Raz, from Kibbutz Beeri, where he was the kibbutz accountant. Raz Ben Ami was released during the brief ceasefire period in November.

Levy was pulled by the militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His wife, Einav Levy, was killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Their son Almog, a toddler, is staying with his grandparents. Levy is from the city of Rishon Lezion, where he worked as a computer programmer for a startup.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the county’s military and the intelligence agency had received the list of hostages to be released and had informed their families.

Hamas says Israel is violating the ceasefire's humanitarian aid rules, a day before next hostage release

JERUSALEM — Hamas has accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries during the ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, saying Friday that items like tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris have not made it into the devastated Palestinian territory at the scale that is needed.

There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas’ allegation that Israel had broken the terms of the truce deal. The specifics of the humanitarian aid portion of the deal have not been published, making the allegations by Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou hard to verify.

Hamas’ accusation came as the group was scheduled to announce the names of the next group of hostages it would release from Gaza on Saturday in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel. The two sides have conducted four hostage-for-prisoner swaps so far.

Al-Qanou criticized Israel for stalling “in fulfilling the humanitarian protocol, especially concerning shelter, provisions, tents, rubble removal equipment, fuel and reconstruction materials.” He did not go into more details.

The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, known as COGAT, said earlier Friday that 4,200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid had moved through Gaza this week and that over 12,000 trucks had entered since the start of the ceasefire. That amount is apparently in line with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which called for at least 600 trucks to deliver aid to Gaza daily.

COGAT has maintained a list of items that Israeli authorities consider to be “dual use,” or having both civilian and military purposes, and require special permission to be brought into Gaza. Tents, it said, are not on the list. COGAT says that Israel has allowed tens of thousands of tents into Gaza in recent weeks “without restriction.”

But aid workers have said that Israeli restrictions on certain crucial items persist. According to a copy of the dual-use list circulated to aid groups, those include desalination and water-collection devices, storage units, tools, ovens, water-resistant clothing and equipment for tent and shelter construction.

US draws a ‘red line’ over including Hezbollah in the Lebanese government, Trump's envoy says

BEIRUT — A newly appointed U.S. envoy says she hopes Lebanese authorities are committed to making sure the Hezbollah militant group isn’t a part of the new government in any form.

Morgan Ortagus is a former U.S. State Department spokesperson and U.S. Navy Reserve officer. She recently assumed the role of deputy special envoy for Middle East peace in the Trump administration. Ortagus replaces Amos Hochstein who helped broker the ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between Israel and Hezbolla h.

“We have set clear red lines from the United States that (Hezbollah) won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people and that includes by being a part of the government,” Ortagus said at a news conference in Beirut’s southeastern suburb of Baabda after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

In response, Lebanon’s presidency said in a statement on X that some of what Ortagus said Friday "expresses her point of view, and the Presidency is not concerned with it.”

Ortagus also commended Lebanon’s commitment to reforms. Efforts to form a government led by Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam have stalled.

Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system allocates key positions among Christian, Shiite and Sunni factions. The dominant blocs — Hezbollah and the Amal Movement for the Shiites, and the Lebanese Forces for the Christians — are insisting on their share of ministerial portfolios.

Israel’s foreign minister praises Trump’s sanctions on ICC

JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to sanction the International Criminal Court in a statement posted to X Friday.

Gideon Sa’ar accused the ICC of “aggressively pursuing the elected leaders of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” and said the court’s actions were “immoral” and lacked a legal basis.

He said he “strongly commend(ed)” Trump’s order, which sanctioned the ICC over its investigations of Israel and the arrest warrants it issued for top Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military’s response to the Hamas attack Oct. 7, 2023. The order said the court lacked legal jurisdiction over the U.S. or Israel. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of or recognizes the court.

ICC condemns sanctions by Trump administration and pledges to continue its work

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court has called on its member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The court said Friday that the move was an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”

The White House issued the executive order on Thursday in response to what it called “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

It was referring to the arrest warrant that the ICC issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The Hague-based court said it “condemns” the move.

The U.S. and Israel are not members of the court and do not recognize it’s authority.

Iran's supreme leader criticizes proposed nuclear talks with US, upending a push to negotiation

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable” after U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of nuclear talks with Tehran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also suggested that “there should be no negotiations with such a government,” but stopped short of issuing a direct order not to engage with Washington.

Khamenei’s remarks upend months of signals from Tehran to the United States that it wanted to negotiate over its rapidly advancing nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of crushing economic sanctions worth billions of dollars. Following Khamenei’s comments, the Iranian rial sunk to a record low of 872,000 rials to $1 in aftermarket trading.

What happens next remains unclear, particularly as reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian promised as recently as Thursday to enter into a dialogue with the West.

Khamenei’s remarks to air force officers in Tehran appeared to contradict his own earlier remarks in August that opened the door to talks. However, the 85-year-old Khamenei has always been careful with remarks about negotiating with the West.

Iran has suffered military setbacks across its sphere of influence in the Middle East, with Israel’s punishing offensives against two militant groups backed by Iran – Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — and the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad late last year, who Iran supported for years with money and troops.

Hamas holds funeral for deputy leader killed last year

BUREIJ, Gaza Strip — Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, held a funeral Friday for its deputy leader, Marwan Issa, also known as Abu Bara’a, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in March last year.

Crowds gathered to watch as armed al-Qassam fighters paraded through the town of Bureji. Some of the militants carried Issa’s casket, which was topped by the Palestinian flag and bore his photograph. Fighters set their rifles aside and stood in a row to perform Friday and funeral prayers.

Israeli Military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said last March that Issa, who helped plan the Oct. 7 attack, had been killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza.

Israel says it struck Hezbollah weapons storage sites in Lebanon

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said overnight it had struck two sites where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stored weapons, claiming they violated the ceasefire agreement now in its third month.

Lebanese state media reported a series of strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley overnight but there were no reports of casualties.

U.S. presidential envoy Morgan Ortagus met with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Friday to discuss the ceasefire implementation.

Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, both sides had 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area alongside U.N. peacekeepers. The original deadline expired at the end of January but Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend it to Feb. 18.

Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army haven’t met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over.