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Israel Will Begin Negotiations on Next Phase of Gaza Ceasefire This Week, Minister Says

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured), in Rome, Italy, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Israel and Hamas will begin indirect negotiations on a second stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal, officials said on Tuesday, as the Palestinian terrorist group said it would hand over more hostages, including the bodies of two children, this week.

Khalil al-Hayya, leader of Hamas in Gaza, said the bodies of four hostages, including those of the Bibas family, would be returned on Thursday. Six living hostages would follow on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed a deal was reached in Cairo to secure the release of six living hostages on Saturday, four deceased hostages on Thursday, and four more next week, but stopped short at naming any of them.

An Israeli official said deceased hostages will undergo identification in Israel before they are named.

Negotiations for the second phase of the deal were supposed to start on Feb. 4, but Qatar, who together with Egypt and the United States is mediating between the sides, said the talks have not officially started yet.

“It will happen this week,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told a press conference in Jerusalem.

Israel had given mixed signals in the past few weeks about its engagement in the talks over the next stage of the three-phased ceasefire, which came into effect on Jan. 19 with the stated goal of permanently ending the Gaza war.

The Bibas family, including Kfir Bibas, who was less than a year old when he was abducted and his brother Ariel, 4 years old at the time, have been among the highest profile Israeli hostages seized in the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.

Their father Yarden Bibas was released this month, but their mother Shiri was not. Hamas said in late 2023 that Shiri and the children had been killed by Israeli military strikes.

Israel has not confirmed their deaths and has only said it has grave concern for their lives. After Hamas’s announcement, it appealed to respect the hostage families’ privacy.

The initial phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes a 42-day truce and the return of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, has remained on track despite a series of setbacks and accusations of violations that had threatened to derail it.

But negotiations over the second stage, aimed at securing the release of the remaining 64 hostages, are expected to be tough, because they include issues like the administration of post-war Gaza, where there are large gaps between the sides.

“We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organization in Gaza,” Saar said.

But he added that if the negotiations are constructive, Israel will remain engaged and may prolong the ceasefire.

“If we will see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement [then] we will make this time-frame work longer,” Saar said.

MOBILE HOMES ALLOWED IN

So far, 19 Israeli hostages have been returned in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. If the six living hostages and four bodies are returned this week, as announced, four more would remain. Based on information from Hamas, all four are thought to be dead.

The hostages were taken in the Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

An Israeli official said Israel will also start allowing the entry of mobile homes for those Gazans forced to shelter from the winter weather among the ruins of war-torn Gaza.

Hamas has accused Israel of delaying the delivery and had threatened to postpone the release of hostages until the issue was resolved.

The fragile ceasefire deal has also been overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s call for Palestinians to be moved out and for Gaza to be taken over as a waterfront development under US control.

The plan has been rejected by Palestinian groups, Arab states, and Washington’s Western allies who say it is tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Israeli leaders have argued that Gazans who want to leave the devastated enclave should be allowed to do so.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday he will set up a new unit in his ministry dedicated to facilitating the exit of Gaza residents who want to move to a third country, after reviewing an initial plan for it.

The post Israel Will Begin Negotiations on Next Phase of Gaza Ceasefire This Week, Minister Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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