Middle East live updates: Hostage’s body recovered from tunnel in Gaza

(LONDON) — At least five people were shot on Tuesday at an adult education facility in Orebro, Sweden, police said.

“The extent of the injuries is unclear,” police said. “The operation is still ongoing.”

Police said the shooter may be among the injured being treated at the hospital, but said “nothing is clear yet.” Five people have been taken to the hospital. Officials cannot confirm if anyone has died, and no ages of the victims have been given yet.

Officials said in a statement they were urging the public to stay away from the Risbergska Skolan, a municipal education center in the Vasthaga area of Orebro. The school is for students over 20 years old, according to its website.

Law enforcement in the Bergslagen region began at about 1 p.m. local time to post a series of short statements, saying initially that a “major operation” was underway and the school was under threat of “deadly violence.”

Police set up an information point for relatives to gather, and students were sent to nearby facilities.

“The danger is not over,” Police said at about 2 p.m. “The public MUST continue to stay away from Västhaga.”

The school is about 200 km, or about 125 miles, west of Stockholm, the capital.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — “Europe’s last dictator” — as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has often been termed — thus far appears to have kept his nation out of the worst of the spiralling war engulfing his neighbors to the east and south.

The 70-year-old provided invaluable material and political support for Russian ally President Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine, even offering Belarus as a launchpad for the doomed Russian drive towards Kyiv in the early stages of the full-scale invasion.

Since then, Russian forces have used Belarusian territory to launch ballistic missiles into Ukraine. Belarus houses bases at which Russian troops train for battle and hospitals where they recover.

Minsk even now hosts Russian nuclear warheads and Lukashenko brokered the short-lived settlement between the Kremlin and Wagner financier Yevgeny Prigozhin after the latter’s ill-fated 2023 mutiny.

As the war in Ukraine escalated and the enmity between Moscow and its Western rivals deepened, Lukashenko’s apparent hesitance to fully commit to the conflict seems to have bought him some level of freedom from retaliation.

But with Moscow’s drone and missile barrages into Ukraine growing in scale and regularity, Belarusian opposition groups say the danger to their country is increasing.

The Belarusian Hajun Project — an open-source intelligence group banned as an “extremist” organization by Minsk — said a record-high total of 151 drones entered Belarus during November. At least three were shot down by Belarusian air defenses, it added.

One Russian attack in late November saw a record 38 strike drones cross into Belarus, the group said. ABC News could not independently verify the drone flights.

Neither the Belarusian Defense Ministry nor Foreign Ministry replied to ABC News’ requests for comment.

Russian drones were first reported over Belarus in mid-July, their appearance then relatively sporadic. In October, the Hajun Project said it tracked a total of 49 Russian drones flying into Belarusian airspace across the month. The monthly total trebled by the end of November.

At least one drone landed and exploded in the southeastern Gomel Oblast, according to Ukrainian and opposition Belarusian media reports.

According to Ukrainian air force after-action reports, Russian drones enter Belarus near-nightly. The air force has noted that its evolving electronic warfare countermeasures play some role in the increasing number of Russian strike drones going off course.

Minsk has complained of Ukrainian drones violating its airspace. In July, Lukashenko himself demanded that Kyiv ensure “comprehensive measures be taken to rule out any such future incidents in the future which could lead to further escalation of the situation in the region.”

In September, Belarus’ military said it had downed foreign drones.

Chief of the General Staff Col. Sergei Frolov said drones were shot down without specifying their nation of origin. “Timely actions by the air defense forces on duty destroyed all the violators’ targets,” he said in a statement quoted by the state-run Belta news agency.

Jonathan Eyal of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in the U.K., told ABC News that Lukashenko “has always been very careful to calibrate the policy in a way that allows implausible deniability of any involvement in the Ukraine war — and at the same time makes himself useful to the Russians.”

“He also knows that most of the Belarusian population has no interest in being dragged into the war at all,” Eyal added, describing a “balancing act” in which the Belarusian leader has to at least pretend to be defending the nation’s airspace.

“It’s not a great secret that the Russians can do more or less what they want with Belarusian airspace,” Eyal added. “The idea that somehow the Belarusian military is determined to defend its sovereignty is a bit far-fetched.”

“These are very calibrated messages from Lukashenko trying to persuade people — both at home and overseas — that somehow he remains a complete master of his own destiny,” Eyal said.

For Belarus’ pro-Western opposition — many now living in exile following Lukashenko’s crackdown on the mass protests that followed the 2020 presidential election — the drone flights are a sign of Minsk’s weakness.

Franak Viacorka, the chief political adviser to Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told ABC News that drones “are flying over Belarus practically every single night.” An average week sees 40 or 50 UAVs transit border areas, he said.

Viacorka said Lukashenko’s government is working hard to hide any evidence of errant Russian munitions. “It’s very uncomfortable for them to say that the Russians are using our airspace,” he said. “It happens with the agreement of Lukashenko, or perhaps Russia doesn’t even ask Lukashenko for permission.”

Aliaksandr Azarau — a former police investigator who defected and now leads the opposition BYPOL group made up of former Belarusian security employees — said government propaganda seeks to hide the problem while framing all intruding drones as Ukrainian.

“The concern is only for the people who see these drones above their heads near the Ukrainian border,” Azaru said. “The rest of Belarusians don’t think about the drones — it’s not their problem.”

Official Belarusian reports of drones being intercepted, he added, are part of “a political game.” Azaru even claimed that Belarusian military aircraft have held fire and flown alongside Russian drones, effectively escorting them into Ukrainian airspace

When a drone does fall on Belarusian territory, Viacorka said, “the place is cleared immediately” and any witnesses are pressed by security services not to reveal any details.

The issue, he added, is politically sensitive for Lukashenko. “His narrative is that, thanks to him, Belarus has not gotten involved in war,” Viacorka said. “But when people see drones and shells flying over their territory, they see that Belarus is already involved in war.”

“It’s very worrying that Belarus is getting more and more involved,” Viacorka said.

Lukashenko and his Russian allies, he added, are “putting more and more people in Belarus in danger.”

Russia’s access to Belarusian airspace may also pose a threat to eastern NATO nations, three of whom — Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — border the country.

Russian freedom to act throughout Belarusian airspace has “many implications” for regional NATO states, Eyal suggested, as well as for western Ukrainian regions that will be more accessible for Moscow’s Shaheds.

In September, Latvia’s Defense Ministry reported that a Russian strike UAV crashed in the Rezekne region in the east of the country after flying across Belarus.

Since then, “improvements in all levels of Latvian airspace surveillance have been made, as well as in decision-making and information exchange algorithms,” a ministry spokesperson told ABC News. This includes the deployment of mobile air defense battle groups to the eastern Latgale border region, they said.

The procedures for NATO’s Baltic air policing mission “have also been clarified, allowing allied fighters to destroy aggressor drones entering Latvian airspace if necessary,” the spokesperson added.

“Russia has control over Belarusian foreign and domestic policies,” they continued. “Belarus is an additional Russian military district, so the threat coming from Belarus is orchestrated by Russia. Unfortunately, it is not up to Belarus and its citizens to decide how Russia uses Belarusian airspace to achieve its aggressive foreign policy goals.”

“Hybrid warfare is already happening between Russia and the West,” the ministry spokesperson said. “Belarus is just a tool for Russian aggressive foreign policy. In the short term, Russia will continue to use a wide range of hybrid warfare tools to weaken Western countries and divide their unity.”

“The Belarusian regime’s hybrid attack on the Latvian border with artificial migration demonstrates that we must prepare for all possible scenarios including violation of our airspace,” they said.

 

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(LONDON) — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect on Sunday morning. Hostages held in the strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be freed in the first phase of the deal.

Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. Israeli forces also remain active inside the Syrian border region as victorious rebels there build a transitional government.

Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.

Israel Prison Service says Palestinian prisoners released

The Israeli Prison says it has released the Palestinian prisoners slated for release on Saturday as part of the hostage and prisoner release.

Video shows busses carrying the prisoners leaving Ofer prison and some of the busses driving into Ramallah in the West Bank, still making their way to their destination. Other buses, carrying prisoners who will be taken to Gaza, and some to Egypt, drove to the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Prisoners being released into Gaza have not yet crossed the border, according to ABC News’ producer on the ground.

“The Israel Prison Service concludes the second imprisoned terrorist release in accordance with the agreement for the return of the hostages, as part of operation ” Wings of Freedom,” read the statement from Israeli Prison Service Statement. “As part of Operation ‘Derech Eretz,’ 200 terrorists were transferred from several prisons across the country to the ‘Ofer’ and ‘Ktziot’ prisons, escorted by officers from the Israel Prison Service’s ‘Nahshon’ Unit and with the assistance of the Israel Police.

“After the conclusion of the necessary activities in the prisons and the approval of political authorities, all the terrorists were released from the ‘Ofer’ and ‘Ktziot’ prisons. The prison officers of the Israel Prison Service are carrying out the release of the terrorists in accordance with the political directive, as agreed upon for the return of the hostages, and in full coordination with all security agencies,” the statement said.

Israel won’t allow Palestinians to return to north Gaza until Israeli female civilian released

Israel says it won’t allow Palestinian civilians to return to northern Gaza until Hamas releases Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud, who Israel says was supposed to be freed Saturday as part of the agreement.

“Israel today received four female soldiers kidnapped from the Hamas terrorist organization, and in exchange will release security prisoners according to the agreed-upon key,” read a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. “In accordance with the agreement, Israel will not allow Gazans to cross into the northern Gaza Strip – until the release of civilian Arbel Yehud, who was supposed to be released today, is arranged.”

Hamas has yet to comment on the situation.

Returning hostages to undergo medical assessment after reuniting with families in Israel

A joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security agency confirms that the four newly released hostages have been “reunited with their parents” in southern Israel and “will undergo an initial medical assessment” at a local hospital.

“The four returning hostages – Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, and Karina Ariev – have arrived at the initial reception point in southern Israel where they are being reunited with their parents,” the statement said.

“IDF officers from the Manpower Directorate and IDF medical officials are accompanying the returning hostages, and they will undergo an initial medical assessment. IDF representatives are accompanying their families waiting at the hospital and updating them with the latest available information.”

Newly-released hostages meeting with parents, Hamas failed to release civilians

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, gave a televised statement Saturday morning, in which he confirmed that the four female IDF soldiers who were just released from captivity in Gaza are now meeting with their parents in Israel.

Hagari said Hamas failed to meet its commitment to the agreement for Saturday to also release civilians and that they must free Yehud Arbel and Agam Berger.

He said the IDF also expects them to release Shira Bibas and her children, saying there’s grave concerns about their wellbeing.

He called the event in which Hamas brought the hostages onto a stage in a crowded square in Gaza City before releasing them a “cynical” show.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Hostages now on Israeli territory after being released in Gaza

The Four returning hostages — Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev — have crossed into Israeli territory with IDF and ISA Forces, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency.

“A short while ago, accompanied by IDF and ISA forces, the four returning hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the statement read. “The returning hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with their parents

Hostages now with IDF, on the way to Israel

Four female hostages, who appeared to be wearing IDF uniforms and carrying paper bags, were just escorted by Palestinian fighters out of vehicles to a stage in the square, where they were seen smiling and waving at the cheering crowd. They were then escorted into the Red Cross vehicles, which are now slowly driving out of the crowded square.

“The Israeli government embraces the four returning Israel Defense Forces soldiers,” according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. “Their families have been informed by the designated authorities that they have joined our forces. The Israeli government is committed to the return of all abducted and missing persons.”

Red Cross convoy arrives at Palestine Square in Gaza City

A Red Cross convoy has entered Palestine Square in Gaza City,

This comes as a large crowd of Hamas fighters and vehicles have also gathered ahead of the expected hostage release.

There is currently no indication of the presence of the hostages.

Hamas is expected to release Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and Liri Albag, 19. In exchange, Israel will release 200 Palestinians being held in prisons.

IDF prepares for hostage release

The IDF says they have completed preparations for Saturday’s hostage release from Gaza, according to a statement.

“IDF completes preparations for the absorption of abductees returning to Israel from the Gaza Strip ahead of the second exchange,” the statement read. “The IDF, led by the Human Resources and Medical Corps, has completed its preparations for the second time to absorb abductees returning to Israel from the Gaza Strip.”

“The Human Resources and Medical Corps has established and trained initial absorption points where medical care and personal escort will be provided. After that, the returnees will proceed to hospitals and meet with their families.”

Israel kills 10 more in West Bank operation

Israel confirmed it killed 10 more Palestinians in an ongoing operation in the West Bank, bringing the death toll to 20 this week.

Israel also said it apprehended 20 wanted suspects and additional weapons were confiscated.

The Israel Defense Forces will continue with the “counterterrorism operation” in Qabatiya, the IDF said in a statement.

Israel announces names of hostages to be released Saturday

Four Israeli solidiers are expected to be released on Saturday in a hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel.

Hamas will release Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and Liri Albag, 19. In exchange, Israel will release 200 Palestinians being held in prisons.

The soldiers were seen in a video released in May.

Hamas to release 4 female soldiers

Hamas will release four female soldiers in the a hostage exchange on Saturday. Israel had been expecting the release of a civilian.

Israel is checking with Qatar to clarify why the civilian is not being released.

Israel has still not released the names of the 200 Palestinian prisoners it will release in exchange. Of those expected to be released, 120 have life sentences.

Israel to stay in southern Lebanon beyond ceasefire deadline

Israeli troops will remain in Lebanon beyond Sunday, when it was required to withdraw as per its November ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah.

“The outline for the ceasefire in Lebanon stipulates that the IDF’s phased withdrawal should be implemented within 60 days. The clause was worded this way with the understanding that the withdrawal process may continue beyond 60 days,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Friday.

“The IDF’s withdrawal process is conditional on the Lebanese Army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani. Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the State of Lebanon, the phased withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States. The State of Israel will not endanger its communities and citizens and will insist on the full implementation of the goal of the fighting in the north — the safe return of residents to their homes,” Netanyahu said.

On Thursday, the Lebanese army said it is ready to deploy to the country’s south after the Israeli army withdraws from the region.

Jenin will be a ‘different place’ after Israeli operation, IDF chief says

The Israel Defense Forces are not stopping their operation in Jenin, in the West Bank, with more raids reported overnight Thursday.

“We need to be prepared to continue in the Jenin camp that will bring it to a different place — we are denying the enemy opportunities to harm our forces,” LT. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff, said on Thursday.

Israel says there is ‘much more work to do’ in Lebanon

While the Israeli government said there have been “positive movements” where the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon have taken control from Hezbollah forces, there is still work to be done, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told ABC News.

“There is much more work to do. Israel has made clear that they wish for this agreement to endure. Israel will certainly enforce this agreement as well as adhering to this agreement. But the movements have not been fast enough,” Mencer said.

Lebanese army says it’s ready to deploy to the south

The Lebanese army said it is ready to deploy to the country’s south after the Israeli army withdraws from the region, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement signed last year.

Civilians should not yet return to areas that Israel is withdrawing from, and should continue to follow the instructions of the military units until deployment ends, the Lebanese army said. Specialized units will still need to clear areas of mines and suspicious objects left by Israeli forces, the Lebanese army said.

Lebanese military units completed their deployment at several points in the town of Kfar Shuba, Hasbaya, in the eastern sector after the withdrawal of the Israeli troops.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon also said it is ready to support the Lebanese army after Israel withdraws.

Israel is required by the ceasefire to withdraw by Sunday.

At least 10 killed as Israel continues operation in Jenin

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 40 injured as Israel continues a large operation in Jenin, turning its focus to the West Bank.

Israel launched a “significant” operation to “eradicate terrorism in Jenin,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Wednesday.

“This is another step towards achieving the goal we set — strengthening security in Judea and Samaria. We are acting systematically and resolutely against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria — and with our hands still outstretched,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

4 injured in Tel Aviv stabbing attack

At least four people were injured in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services organization, said in a release.

Two men, ages 28 and 24, are being treated with upper-body stab wounds and are in moderate condition. Two other patients, ages 24 and 59, are in mild condition, the MDA said.

The injured are being taken to Ichilov Hospital.

The stabbing occurred on Nahalat Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said. The attacker has been killed by police, the spokesperson’s unit added.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Nasser Atta

At least 21 Palestinians injured in West Bank settler violence

At least 21 Palestinians were injured, 11 severely, after dozens of Israeli civilians, some of whom were masked, arrived at the area of Al Funduq, in the West Bank, and “instigated riots, set property on fire and caused damage,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Three homes were burned down and five cars were torched as well, the IDF said.

The civilians hurled rocks and attacked the security forces dispatched to the scene, according to the IDF.

Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz, despite freeing settlers who committed the same types of crimes, said he condemns the violence.

Over 1,500 aid trucks entered Gaza on day 1 and 2 of ceasefire, UN says

More than 1,500 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip in the first two days of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

That includes more than 630 trucks on Sunday and 915 trucks on Monday, according to OCHA. Of the ones that crossed into Gaza on Sunday, OCHA said at least 300 trucks went to the north, which the U.N. has warned is facing imminent famine.

OCHA cited “information received through engagement with Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement.”

“There is no time to lose,” the U.N.’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement Monday. “After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering.”

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

IDF says riots in the West Bank have dispersed

Israel Defense Forces and Israel Border Police Forces were dispatched to Al Funduq in the West Bank after reports of rioting in the area, the IDF said on Monday.

The alleged incident occurred shortly after Israel’s defense minister released all settlers being detained under administrative detention orders, though it cannot be certain that any of those settlers were involved in the reported riots. ABC News was able to confirm that fires had ignited in that location.

Shortly thereafter, the IDF confirmed that it had successfully dispersed rioters.

There have been no confirmed reports as to the extent of the damage or any injuries. Israeli officials are expected to conduct a formal inquiry in the area tonight.

-ABC News’ William Gretsky

Israeli forces recover body of fallen soldier in Gaza

Israeli forces recovered the body of Oron Shaul, an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was killed in 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF announced Monday.

Shaul was killed during a battle in Gaza on July 30, 2014, and his body had been held by Hamas for the past 10 years, the IDF said.

“The recovery of Staff Sergeant, Oron Shaul’s body, was made possible due to a decade-long ongoing intelligence effort, which intensified during the war,” the IDF wrote in a statement about the operation on Monday.

Netanyahu spoke with Oron Shaul’s mother, Zehava Shaul, after the operation was successfully completed, a statement from his office said.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman and Jordan Miller

Next hostage exchange expected to take place Saturday

Both Israel and Hamas have confirmed the next hostage release will take place on Saturday.

A senior Israeli official confirmed the deal must take place on Jan. 25, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement. Hamas confirmed the date, saying “the second batch of prisoner exchange will take place on the scheduled date.”

Three hostages, all Israeli women, were released on Sunday, while 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israel in exchange.

Houthis say attacks on Israeli shipping will continue

Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced that they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea to only Israel-affiliated ships, signaling a temporary easing of their broader assault on commercial vessels.

The decision coincided with the ceasefire and hostage-release deal agreed between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on Sunday.

The announcement was made via an email sent to shipping companies by the Houthi Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, the Associated Press reported.

Attacks on Israeli-linked vessels will end “upon the full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire, the Houthis said, adding that attacks on U.S.- or U.K.-linked shipping may resume if the two nations continue airstrikes in Yemen.

The Houthis have targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023, significantly affecting global shipping, particularly through Egypt’s Suez Canal.

The Houthis have also attacked American and allied military shipping in the region, plus launched drone and ballistic missile strikes into Israel.

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian

10,000 bodies may be under Gaza rubble, Civil Defense says

The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said there could be as many as 10,000 bodies buried under rubble all across the strip, as many displaced Gazans try to return to their homes under a nascent ceasefire agreement.

The Civil Defense said in a post to Telegram that 10,000 missing people are believed to be “under the rubble of destroyed homes, buildings and facilities.” They are not counted in the 38,300 fatalities listed by the Civil Defense since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Gaza Ministry of Health — which has separately tracked deaths during the conflict — said on Sunday that 46,913 people had been killed in the Hamas-run territory during the war with Israel.

The Civil Defense said Israeli forces prevented its crews from accessing large areas of the strip during the fighting, “where there are hundreds of bodies” that have not yet been recovered.

The Civil Defense called for the entry of foreign rescue workers “to support us in carrying out our duty to deal with the catastrophic reality left behind by the war, which exceeds the capacity of the civil defense apparatus in the Gaza Strip.”

The organization called on Gazans to assist rescuers “with all necessary capabilities, including rescue, firefighting, and ambulance vehicles and equipment, as well as heavy machinery and equipment that will help us retrieve the bodies of martyrs from under the rubble of thousands of destroyed buildings and homes.”

Freed hostage is ‘happiest girl in the world,’ mother says
Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily Damari — who was among the three Israeli captives freed from Gaza on Sunday — released a statement thanking all those involved in her daughter’s release “from the bottom of my heart.”

“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Mandy said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters.

“I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated,” she added.

“In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back,” Mandy said.

“In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain,” she added. “The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.”

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

Red Cross details ‘complex’ hostage release operation

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Sunday’s operation to collect three freed Israeli hostages from Gaza “was complex, requiring rigorous security measures to minimize the risks to those involved.”

“Navigating large crowds and heightened emotions posed challenges during the transfers and in Gaza, ICRC teams had to manage the dangers posed by unexploded ordnances and destroyed infrastructure,” the ICRC said in a Monday statement.

“More families are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to come home,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said. “We call on all parties to continue to adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely.”

The ICRC also stressed that “urgently needed humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza, where civilians have struggled for months to access food, drinkable water and shelter.”

Released Palestinian prisoners arrive in the West Bank amid high tensions

Tensions were high as people waited in Beitunia, in the West Bank, for the arrival of the 90 Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli custody just after 1 a.m. local time.

Israeli forces used cars and tear gas to attempt to clear the roads, ABC News reporters on the scene said.

ABC News’ team saw flash bangs where people were gathered waiting for the prisoners’ release.

Israeli Police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the matter.

The prisoners were released from Ofer Prison in Ramallah, West Bank, as a part of the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

People were seen on top of the buses waving flags and chanting as the prisoners arrived in Beitunia at approximately 1:42 a.m.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, as well as Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leenhardt in the West Bank

Photos show 3 Israeli former hostages reunited with their mothers

Photos were released by Israeli officials on Sunday showing the three released hostages hugging their mothers as they were reunited.

The images showed former hostages Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, all sharing emotional embraces with their mothers.

 

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