Hamas says it will release American hostage Edan Alexander
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Hamas announced it will release American hostage Edan Alexander and “the bodies of four other dual nationals” after receiving a a proposal from mediators to resume negotiations.
The group said in a statement Friday it responded “responsibly and positively” to the latest ceasefire extension proposal.
The parents of two of the U.S. hostages being held told ABC News they have not heard anything so far from the Israeli government or the Trump administration.
Israel accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare.”
“While Israel has accepted the Witkoff outline, Hamas remains steadfast in its refusal and has not budged a millimeter,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said. “At the same time, it continues to engage in manipulation and psychological warfare. The Prime Minister will convene the ministerial team on Saturday night to receive a detailed report from the negotiating team, and to decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.”
President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed a new agreement which would last until April 20. On the first day of his outline, half of the hostages will be released in one fell swoop of the hostages. At the end of the outline – if an agreement is reached – the remaining hostages will also be released, all at once.
Hamas has refused this proposal, saying it already agreed to a ceasefire agreement. Israel has agreed to the Witkoff proposal after stalling negotiations on the second phase of the signed ceasefire agreement.
Due to Hamas’ refusal of the Witkoff proposal, Israel said it will block all aid goods and supplies from entering Gaza, a move that violates international law.
Hamas condemned Israel’s decision to halt entry of aid into Gaza and described it as a “cheap blackmail,” “war crime” and a “blatant coup against the agreement.”
Hamas said that “the only way” to return Israeli hostages is to adhere to the ceasefire and “immediately enter into negotiations to begin the second stage,” in a statement earlier this month.
The second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has not begun, with ceasefire negotiations ongoing in Doha, Qatar, despite a nearly two-week blockade of aid into Gaza.
In the ceasefire agreement signed earlier this year, Hamas and Israel had agreed to sustain calm, permanent cessation of military operations and all hostilities to be implemented before the exchange of remaining Israeli male hostages, civilians and soldiers for an agreed-upon number of prisoners in Israeli jails and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The prospects for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine are “in Moscow’s hands,” a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following successful U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s office — was part of the Ukrainian delegation that met with American representatives in Jeddah, where both teams agreed to pursue a 30-day ceasefire and use the pause in fighting as a launchpad for full peace negotiations to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
“Ukraine is ready to accept a 30-day ceasefire if Russia agrees,” Yermak wrote on Telegram on Wednesday morning. “This is a necessary step to begin work on real security guarantees and preparing the final terms of a peace agreement.”
“But now the key is in Moscow’s hands — the whole world will see who really wants to end the war and who is simply playing for time,” he added.
Moscow was readying itself to hear details from Tuesday’s U.S.-Ukraine meeting, with officials “scrutinizing” the publicly released statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
He added that Russia “doesn’t want to get ahead of itself” on the potential ceasefire, saying the Kremlin will want to first get specifics directly from Washington. A “summit phone call” may be in the cards, he said.
President Donald Trump’s return to office has put Ukraine in a strategic bind, no longer able to rely on the “ironclad” — if at times hesitant, according to many Ukrainians — American support during former President Joe Biden’s time in office.
Trump has aligned with Russian narratives about the conflict, framing Ukraine as the key impediment to peace, falsely blaming Kyiv for starting the war, undermining Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as president and seeking to recoup years of American aid via a controversial minerals sharing deal.
Last week, the Trump administration announced a freeze on U.S. military aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia saw that pause lifted, officials said.
Moscow has welcomed the radical U.S. shift in rhetoric and policy, which culminated in an explosive Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting last month.
Kyiv has been striving to prove its readiness for peace, while stressing that no deal can succeed without American security guarantees to deter repeat Russian aggression. Ukrainian leaders have also cast doubt on Russia’s apparent readiness to end the fighting and urged their U.S. partners to be wary of the Kremlin.
Following Tuesday’s talks, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram of the 30-day ceasefire plan, “Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step. The United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so.”
“We agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment,” he added. “An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support.”
“Ukraine is ready for peace,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war — or continue it. The time has come for the whole truth. I thank everyone who helps Ukraine.”
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he expects imminent further talks with Russian representatives. “Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it,” the president said of the proposed ceasefire.
“We’re going to meet with them later on today and tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll be able to wipe out a deal,” he continued. “But I think the ceasefire is very important. If we can get Russia to do it, that’ll be great. If we can’t, we just keep going on and people are going to get killed. Lots of people.”
When asked how close a ceasefire was, Trump responded, “Well, I hope it’ll be over the next few days. I’d like to see. I know we have a big meeting with Russia tomorrow, and some great conversations hopefully will ensue,” Trump said.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a statement said that “the ball is now in the Russian court.”
“This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff — who took part in the recent U.S. talks with both Ukraine and Russia — is due to visit Moscow “in the coming days,” according to a source familiar with the plans. Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency also reported Wednesday that CIA Director Jim Ratcliffe spoke by phone with Sergey Naryshkin — the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said in an interview published Wednesday that he does not believe Trump wants to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.
“He has his own view of the situation, which he regularly and directly states,” Lavrov said. “This war should never have started.”
Despite apparent progress in Jeddah, the fighting continues. Fierce combat is ongoing all along the front line, particularly in the western Russian Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces are pushing Ukrainian troops back from positions seized in a surprise August offensive.
Overnight, both sides launched drones across the shared border. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the downing of 21 Ukrainian UAVs.
Ukraine’s air force reported three missiles and 133 drones launched into the country overnight. The air force said 98 of the drones were shot down and 20 lost in flight without causing damage. Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv regions were affected, the air force said.
ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Venezuelan community leaders speak to the media as they protest against the suspension of Temporary Protected Status in Doral, Fla., Feb. 3, 2025. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who gained relief from deportation and obtained work permits in 2023 under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will lose those protections in April, according to an unpublished notice filed in the Federal Register.
Last week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced she was canceling a recent extension of the program by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas which would have allowed nearly 600,000 current Venezuelan TPS holders to maintain their legal status until October 2026. She had until Feb. 1 to decide whether she’d extend protections for those who joined the program in 2023.
Now, nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants may lose their legal status if they don’t have any other type of relief.
The program began in 1990 as a way to protect immigrants who are already in the United States when their home countries are deemed to dangerous to return to. TPS is under the DHS Secretary’s discretion.
In the notice, DHS acknowledges that some of the conditions in Venezuela that the Biden administration used to justify TPS designation in 2023, “may continue.” However, they claim things have gotten better in the country.
“There are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country,” the notice file says.
The agency adds that Sec. Noem “has determined it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States.”
The notice is set to publish Feb. 5 and says the termination of the 2023 TPS Venezuela designation will be effective 60 days from date of publication, however, protections were already set to expire April 2 without an extension.
In a letter to Noem last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers said returning Venezuelan immigrants “to a dictatorship” would be a “death sentence.”
“Given Venezuela’s increased instability, repression, and lack of safety, and within all applicable rules and regulations, we demand more information on why the Department has made this decision,” the lawmakers said. “The only justification that has been offered by the Administration is the false claim that all Venezuelans are ‘dirt bags,’ ‘violent criminals’ or the ‘worst of the worst.'”
Immigrant advocates are also sounding the alarm about the move some consider “cruel” and “reckless.”
“Donald Trump’s attempt to revoke protections for 300,000 Venezuelans is as cruel as it is reckless — but we know he won’t stop here. His shock-and-awe approach to dismantling the immigration system is already devastating families and communities across the country, and we’re likely to see immigrants from Ukraine and Afghanistan targeted next,” Keri Talbot, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub, told ABC News.
“Families who have built their lives here — who work, contribute, and play by the rules — are under attack, being thrown into crisis overnight and forced from their homes. This isn’t about policy; it’s about inflicting harm at any cost.” Talbot added.
The termination does not apply to Venezuelans who registered under the 2021 TPS designation, those protections will remain in effect until Sept. 10, 2025.
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in claiming Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lacks legitimacy, the American leader alleging — without providing evidence — that Zelenskyy currently has a 4% approval rating among his compatriots.
In reality, respected polls in Ukraine show that Zelenskyy has over 50% approval among Ukrainians. The most recent, published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in early February, showed that 57% of respondents said they trusted Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy’s level of support is diminished from the extraordinary highs of earlier in the war. He scored 77% trust in a KIIS poll from December 2023 and 90% in May 2022, around three months after Russia’s invasion. The February poll did show a 5% bump in trust from December 2024.
Still, the 50% or more regularly scored by Zelenskyy in various polls is higher than those achieved by many democratic leaders around the world.
Aides in Kyiv were quick to point out on Wednesday that Zelenskyy’s recent score of 57% in the KIIS poll was higher than Trump’s backing in recent U.S. surveys — for example, 46.6% with 538, 47% with YouGov/The Economist and 48% with Gallup.
There is currently no politician in Ukraine considered to have stronger support than Zelenskyy. Only Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, is considered a real potential challenger, though he is serving as Kyiv’s ambassador to the U.K. and has not yet entered politics.
Hours after historic U.S.-Russia talks concluded in Saudi Arabia, Trump suggested to reporters at Mar-a-Lago that Zelenskyy’s alleged low public approval meant the country should hold a new presidential election, its 2024 contest having been postponed because Ukraine has been under martial law since Putin’s invasion three years ago.
“That’s not a Russia thing, that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also,” Trump said.
Trump’s claims indicated that he — like Putin — may now be seeking Zelenskyy’s removal as part of any deal to end the war.
Putin appears to see removing Zelenskyy as a key goal, both as a victory he can present to Russians and as a potential opportunity to install a pro-Russian leader in his place. That is why the Russian president is pushing for elections to be held before any final peace deal.
Trump now appears to perhaps hold a similar view.
Zelenskyy pushed back firmly on Wednesday, fact-checking Trump and saying he was suffering from exposure to Russian disinformation.
“If someone wants to replace me right now, then right now it won’t work,” the president told reporters in Kyiv before a planned meeting with Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg.
“If we are talking about 4% then we have seen this disinformation, we understand that it comes from Russia,” he added. “And we have evidence.”
The president said he would conduct opinion polls for trust ratings for world leaders, including Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Zelenskyy said he took Trump’s comments “calmly.”
“As for President Trump, with all due respect to him as a leader of the American people, who we deeply respect and are thankful for all his support, but President Trump, unfortunately, is living in this disinformation space,” Zelenskyy continued.
