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Emaciated and disoriented, three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza on Saturday were forced by their Hamas captors to speak on stage, in the latest of the increasingly familiar handover ceremonies.Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were led on to a makeshift stage in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah and asked questions by a masked militant in Hebrew on a microphone in front of watching crowds, before being handed over to the Red Cross.Ben Ami, wearing a brown sweater and trousers with dark glasses, looked pale, needing support as he was led from the stage to three awaiting Red Cross SUVs, an AFP journalist reported.Eli Sharabi, also wearing the same brown uniform, was almost unrecognisable from the amount of weight lost in captivity.Or Levy, dressed in darker, heavier clothes and also stick-thin, appeared distressed as he was compelled to speak.On completing the choreographed interviews, the Hamas fighters broke into chants of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest).Before the exchange, hundreds of Hamas fighters and onlookers gathered in the central Gaza city, projecting enthusiastically triumphant scenes despite the devastation wrought on the Palestinian territory during more than a year of war.A banner across the edge of the platform erected for the exchange declared “total victory” for Hamas in Hebrew and bore images of destroyed and rusted Israeli military vehicles.A picture of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, dejected with his palm to his cheek was shown in the centre of the destruction.- Flowers and petals -The release in Dier el-Balah was the fifth since the start of the January 19 ceasefire and, unlike previous exchanges in the north and south of Gaza, the destruction of war in the Palestinian territory was largely absent from Hamas’s careful staging.A four-floor villa, its balconies lined with onlookers, and other intact buildings could be seen behind the stage, which was flanked by the movement’s green flags, along with pictures of killed commanders and leaders.On a row of Hamas’s white pickups next to the stage, fighters displayed the group’s heavy weaponry, including rocket-propelled-grenades, sniper rifles and large machine guns.Exultant martial music blared from loudspeakers around the platform.Scores of armed men, masked and wearing Hamas’s distinctive green headbands, formed a cordon in the city to control onlookers around the open area where the militant group had erected a makeshift stage for the swap.A source from Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, told AFP 200 fighters were present at the handover.”Residents were allowed to attend the event, however are limited to a certain location to assure no confusion or chaos on site,” the source added on condition of anonymity.Crowds, modest compared to the handovers in the first week of the truce, gathered in rows three or four people deep around the cordon, while other onlookers clambered on a nearby advertising billboard for a better look at the hostages.A woman carrying a basket of flowers, and followed by half a dozen young girls in traditional Palestinian dress, scattered colourful petals over the fighters and onlookers.

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday, the fifth group freed under a fragile Gaza ceasefire, with Israel condemning their “cruel” handover and worrying physical appearance.With Israel expected to release 183 prisoners in exchange, AFP journalists in the occupied West Bank saw a bus carrying freed Palestinians leave an Israeli jail and later arriving in the city of Ramallah.The fifth exchange since the truce took effect last month comes as negotiations are set to begin on a more permanent end to the war.It came after President Donald Trump floated a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and clear out its inhabitants, sparking global outrage.Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were all seized by militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the 15-month war, “crossed the border into Israeli territory”, the Israeli military said.Jubilant crowds in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv cheered as they watched live footage of the three hostages, flanked by masked gunmen, brought on stage in Deir el-Balah before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.But the joy of their release was quickly overtaken by concern for their condition, with all three appearing thin and pale.- ‘No time to waste’ -The choreographed handover included forced statements from the three on stage, in which they stated support for finalising the next phases of the Israel-Hamas truce.”The disturbing images… serve as yet another stark and painful evidence that leaves no room for doubt — there is no time to waste for the hostages! We must get them all out,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group.The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose dejected-looking image appeared on a banner at the Deir el-Balah handover site, said that the images out of Gaza were “shocking”.Israel’s President Isaac Herzog denounced the treatment of the hostages who were paraded on stage, calling it “a crime against humanity”.”The whole world must look directly at Ohad, Or, and Eli — returning after 491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained — being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle by vile murderers,” Herzog said on X.Sharabi, 52, was at his home in kibbutz Beeri with his British-born wife and their two daughters when militants stormed it.The armed men shot their dog, before locking the family in their safe room and setting it on fire. The bodies of his wife and two daughters were later identified.Ben Ami, who has dual Israeli-German citizenship, turned 56 in captivity. He was abducted from his home in Beeri along with his wife, who was released during the war’s first truce in November 2023.Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where gunmen murdered his wife.- ‘Now is the time’ -Former hostage Yarden Bibas, who was freed last week by Hamas militants in Gaza, on Friday urged Netanyahu to help bring back his wife and two children from the Palestinian territory.”Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’m now addressing you with my own words… bring my family back, bring my friends back, bring everyone home,” Bibas said in his first public message following his release.Hamas previously said his wife Shiri and his two sons Ariel and Kfir — the youngest hostages — were dead, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths.The Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government on Friday to stick with the Gaza truce, even as Trump’s comments sparked backlash across the Middle East and beyond.”An entire nation demands to see the hostages return home,” the Israeli campaign group said in a statement.”Now is the time to ensure the agreement is completed — until the very last one,” it added.- Talks in Doha -Palestinian militants have so far freed 21 hostages in exchange for hundreds of mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.The ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to secure the release of 11 more hostages during the first 42-day phase of the agreement.Negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire were set to begin on Monday, but there have been no details on the status of the talks.Netanyahu’s office said that after Saturday’s swap, an Israeli delegation will head to Doha for further talks.The second phase aims to secure the release of more hostages and pave the way for a permanent end to the war.During their October 2023 attack, militants took 251 hostages to Gaza. Seventy-three remain in captivity, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 47,583 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Hamas is set to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 prisoners held by Israel in the fifth exchange of a fragile Gaza ceasefire.The swap comes after President Donald Trump proposed clearing out the Gaza Strip of its inhabitants and for the United States to take over the Palestinian territory — a plan that has sparked global uproar and been rejected by Hamas.Dozens of armed Hamas fighters formed a cordon around an open area in the city of Deir el-Balah early Saturday, apparently to control crowds eager to watch the hostage release.As with past exchanges, a stage was erected for the occasion, festooned with a banner bearing images of destroyed Israeli armoured vehicles and a dejected-looking Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.In Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square”, where hundreds were expected later to watch the handover, a huge screen counted down the days, hours, minutes and seconds since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack, when the hostages were first seized.Netanyahu’s office confirmed to AFP on Friday that it had received a list of the three hostages due to be released after Hamas first published their names.They are Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami.Sharabi, 52, was at his home in kibbutz Beeri with his British-born wife and their two daughters when Hamas stormed it.The armed men shot their dog, before locking the family in their safe room and setting it on fire. The bodies of his wife and two daughters were later identified.Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where gunmen murdered his wife. Ben Ami, who has dual Israeli-German citizenship, turned 56 in captivity.Former hostage Yarden Bibas, who was freed last week by Hamas militants in Gaza, on Friday urged Netanyahu to help bring back his wife and two children from the Palestinian territory.”Prime Minister Netanyahu, I’m now addressing you with my own words… bring my family back, bring my friends back, bring everyone home,” Bibas said in his first public message following his release.Hamas previously said his wife Shiri and his two sons Ariel and Kfir — the youngest hostages — were dead, but Israel has not confirmed their deaths.Netanyahu, who is in Washington, will “monitor this phase of the hostages’ release from the control centre of the delegation in the US”, the premier’s office said in a separate statement.- ‘Now is the time’ -The Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the government on Friday to stick with the Gaza truce, even as Trump’s comments sparked backlash across the Middle East and beyond.”An entire nation demands to see the hostages return home,” the Israeli campaign group said in a statement.”Now is the time to ensure the agreement is completed — until the very last one,” it added.Israel and Hamas have completed four swaps under the first stage of the ceasefire agreement.Palestinian militants, led by Hamas, have so far freed 18 hostages in exchange for around 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.The ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to secure the release of 33 hostages during the first 42-day phase of the agreement.Negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire were set to begin on Monday, but there have been no details on the status of the talks.Netanyahu’s office said that after Saturday’s swap, an Israeli delegation will head to Doha for further negotiations on the ceasefire.The second phase aims to secure the release of more hostages and pave the way for a permanent end to the war, which began with Hamas’s October 7 attack.During the attack, militants took 251 hostages to Gaza. Seventy-six remain in captivity, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead.Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 47,583 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Mehdi al-Shayesh thought he would quickly resettle in his central Syrian home town after Bashar al-Assad was ousted, but like many others stuck in camps, he found his home uninhabitable.”We were unbelievably happy when the regime fell,” the 40-year-old said from his small, concrete-block house in Atme displacement camp, one of the largest and most crowded in the Idlib area in the northwest.But “when we reached our village” in Hama province “we were disappointed”, said the father of four, who has been displaced since 2012.”Our home used to be like a small paradise… but it was hit by bombing.” Now, after years of abandonment, it “is no longer habitable”, he told AFP.Assad’s December 8 ouster sparked the hope of return to millions of displaced across Syria and refugees abroad. However, many now face the reality of finding their homes and basic infrastructure badly damaged or destroyed.Syria’s transitional authorities are counting on international support, particularly from wealthy Gulf Arab states, to rebuild the country after almost 14 years of devastating war.Shayesh said he was happy to see relatives in formerly government-held areas after so many years, but he cannot afford to repair his home so has returned to the northwest.In the icy winter weather, smoke rises from fuel heaters in the sprawling camp near the border with Turkey. It is home to tens of thousands of people living in close quarters in what were supposed to be temporary structures.- Homes ‘razed’ -Shayesh expressed the hope that reconstruction efforts would take into account that families may have changed significantly during years of displacement.”If we go back to the village now… there will be no home for my five brothers” who are now all married, “and no land to build on”, he said, as rain poured outside.”Just as we held out hope that the regime would fall — and thank God, it did — we hope that supportive countries will help people to rebuild and return,” he added.Before Assad’s overthrow, more than five million people were estimated to live in rebel-held areas in the northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, most of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria.David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, said that “over 71,000 people have departed camps in northwest Syria over the past two months”.”But that’s a small fraction compared to the two million who remain and will continue to need life-saving aid,” he told AFP.”Many camp residents are unable to return as their homes are destroyed or lack electricity, running water or other basic services. Many are also afraid of getting caught in minefields left from former front lines,” he added.Mariam Aanbari, 30, who has lived in the Atme camp for seven years, said: “We all want to return to our homes, but there are no homes to return to.”Our homes have been razed to the ground,” added the mother of three who was displaced from Hama province.- ‘Pitch a tent’ -Aanbari said her husband’s daily income was just enough to buy bread and water.”It was difficult with Bashar al-Assad and it’s difficult” now, she told AFP, her six-month-old asleep beside her as she washed dishes in freezing water.Most people in the camp depend on humanitarian aid in a country where the economy has been battered by the war and a majority of the population lives in poverty.”I hope people will help us, for the little ones’ sakes,” Aanbari said.”I hope they will save people from this situation — that someone will come and rebuild our home and we can go back there in safety.”Motorbikes zip between homes and children play in the cold in the camp where Sabah al-Jaser, 52, and her husband Mohammed have a small corner shop.”We were happy because the regime fell. And we’re sad because we went back and our homes have been destroyed,” said Jaser, who was displaced from elsewhere in Idlib province.”It’s heartbreaking… how things were and how they have become,” said the mother of four, wearing a black abaya.Still, she said she hoped to go back at the end of this school year.”We used to dream of returning to our village,” she said, emphasising that the camp was not their home.”Thank God, we will return,” she said determinedly.”We will pitch a tent.”

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Japan’s Nippon Steel will make a major investment in US Steel, but will no longer attempt to take over the troubled company.Trump, referring to the Japanese car company Nissan but apparently meaning Nippon Steel, said “they’ll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase.”Spokespeople for Nippon Steel …

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US and European shares fell Friday, with a cooler US jobs report and higher inflation expectations capping the end of a volatile week marked by concerns over a trade war.Official data showed the United States added fewer jobs than expected in January while unemployment ticked down.The jobs data missed expectations, but Wall Street’s three main …

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The United States on Friday announced the approval of the sale of more than $7.4 billion in bombs, missiles and related equipment to Israel, which has used American-made weapons to devastating effect during the war in Gaza.The State Department has signed off on the sale of $6.75 billion in bombs, guidance kits and fuses, in addition to $660 million in Hellfire missiles, according to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).The proposed sale of the bombs “improves Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats,” DSCA said in a statement.And the missile sale would “improve Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats by improving the ability of the Israeli Air Force to defend Israel’s borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers,” it said.Israel launched a hugely destructive offensive against Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 in response to an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group that month.The war has devastated much of Gaza — a narrow coastal territory on the Mediterranean — resulting in the displacement of much of its population, but a ceasefire has been in effect since last month, bringing a halt to the deadly conflict and providing for the release of hostages seized by Hamas.In response to concerns over civilian deaths, then-president Joe Biden’s administration blocked a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel — larger than those in the latest proposed sale — but his successor Donald Trump reportedly approved the shipment after returning to office.While the State Department has approved the sale of the bombs and missiles, the transactions still need to be approved by Congress, which is unlikely to block the provision of the weapons to Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East.