Hamas has released the names of three Israeli hostages it says it will release on Saturday in the fifth such swap of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
The hostages are Eli Sharabi, Ohad ben Ami and Or Levy, Hamas armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a Telegram post.
In return for the captives’ release, Hamas said it expects 183 Palestinian prisoners to be released.
Image: Jabalia, in northern Gaza, after months of Israel attacks.
Pic: Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Both Mr Ami and Mr Sharabi were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October attack. The cross-border attack saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
Mr Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival.
Of the Palestinian prisoners being freed, 18 have been serving life sentences, 54 were serving long sentences and the vast majority, 111, were detained in the Gaza Strip during the war.
Mr Sharabi’s wife Lianne Sharabi was born in Bristol.
According to a statement from his lawyer, she, along with their children, 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed in the 7 October attack.
His brother was also said to have died while a hostage.
In a statement after news he would be released was announced, Mr Sharabi’s lawyer said: “The Sharabi family has already lost too much,”.
It added: “It is long past time to bring Eli home.”
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17:34
Trump 100 Day 17: Can Trump take over the Gaza Strip?
Row over aid access
Earlier on Friday, Hamas accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire accord and held off announcing the names of the Israeli hostages until the deadline had passed.
The militant group claimed Israel delayed the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other humanitarian supplies and held back all but a fraction of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide people shelter in the devastated enclave.
“This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities,” Hamas said in a statement.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that is overseeing the aid deliveries into Gaza, denied the accusation.
It added Israel would “not tolerate violations by Hamas”.
The claims and counter-claims highlight the fragility and uncertainty of the ceasefire.
This is only heightened by US President Donald Trump recently saying the US could take over Gaza and move the Palestinian population out.
Israel has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and displaced the majority of the strip’s population.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
At least 103 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight and into Sunday, according to hospitals and medics.
Israel has launched an escalation of its war in Gaza to ramp up pressure on Hamas, seize territory, displace Palestinians to the south and take greater control over the distribution of aid.
Meanwhile, Israel says talks with Hamas taking place in Qatar this weekend involve discussions on ending the war as well as a truce and hostage deal.
Addressing the strikes overnight, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment”.
The ministry also said airstrikes had forced the closure of the Indonesian Hospital, the main hospital serving people in northern Gaza.
Nasser hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, said more than 48 people – mostly women and children – were killed in the area, including tents sheltering displaced people.
Image: Smoking debris after an airstrike at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
Image: Saleh Zenati carries the body of his nephew killed in Khan Younis on Sunday. Pic: AP
In Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital and the Nuseirat camp’s Awda hospital.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence – which operates under the Hamas-run government – reported that 19 people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said on Sunday that any lasting truce must include the demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.
But a senior Israeli official added that the talks in the capital, Doha, had made little progress so far.
Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas had proposed freeing about half its Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
A Palestinian official close to the discussions said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”
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3:14
On Saturday, Israel ramped up attacks on Gaza
Four journalists killed in Israeli airstrikes
Details have emerged on Sunday about the deaths of four Palestinian journalists in Gaza following Israeli airstrikes.
Abdel Rahman al Abadleh was missing for two days before his body was found in the town of al Qarara in southern Gaza.
Three other journalists were also killed following strikes on Saturday. Aziz al Hajjar, his wife and children, died in the Bir al Naaja neighbourhood of northern Gaza.
Ahmed al Zenati, his wife Noor al Madhoun and their children Mohammad and Khaled, were killed in Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, Nour Qandil, her husband Khaled Abu Seif, and their young daughter were also killed.
Image: Abdel Rahman al Abadleh (L) and Aziz al Hajjar (R) are among four journalists killed in Gaza. Pic: Family handouts
Image: Journalists Ahmed al Zenati (L) and Nour Qandil (R) also died in airstrikes. Pic: Family handouts
Israel has blocked the entry of medical, food and fuel supplies into Gaza since the start of March. It is attempting to pressurise Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages and has approved plans that could involve seizing the whole of Gaza and controlling aid.
‘Systematic campaign targeting hospitals’
Earlier on Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of “intensifying its systematic campaign to target hospitals”.
“After putting the European Gaza Hospital out of service a few days ago, the Israeli occupation has intensified its targeting and siege of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip since dawn today,” it added.
Israel has previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and accused Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.
This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.
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0:49
Mass protests on Saturday mark 77 years since the Nakba
Houthis launch missile towards Israel
Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with two ballistic missiles.
The Houthis have fired at Israel because of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel has carried out airstrikes in response, including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.
The war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has killed more than 53,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Russia has launched its heaviest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022, the Ukrainian military has said.
A total of 273 exploding drones were reportedly fired across the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Some 88 were intercepted and 128 “lost”, having been electronically jammed, Ukraine’s air force said.
It passes the previous record of 267 drones on the eve of the war’s third anniversary earlier this year.
Image: Firefighters at the site of a business premises struck by a drone outside Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Image: Burnt out cars and buildings in the Kyiv region on Sunday. Pic: AP
In Kyiv, a 28-year-old woman was killed, and three people, including a four-year-old child were injured, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.
Just outside the city, firefighters fought to control flames at business premises destroyed by drone attacks. Russia has not commented.
Image: Resident Vadym Tysbenko, 22, outside his drone-struck house near Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Image: Emergency workers put out flames after drone strikes in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Image: Firefighters at work in the Kyiv region on Sunday. Pic: AP
Mr Trump has promised to speak to Mr Putin and then President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday about “ending the war” after the first direct talks between their two countries failed to yield a ceasefire this week.
Mr Putin snubbed Mr Zelenskyy’s offer of face-to-face talks in Turkey.
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1:52
What happened at Russia-Ukraine peace talks?
A source from the Ukrainian negotiation team told Sky News that Russia threatened “eternal war” during talks between officials.
Kremlin representatives are also reported to have threatened that Ukraine may lose “more than just loved ones” while at the negotiating table.
Talks did bring promise of the largest ever prisoner swap between the two nations – involving 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said he hoped it would take place over the next week.
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0:41
Nine killed in Sumy bus strike
Elsewhere in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on Saturday, nine people were killed and seven injured after a bus evacuating civilians was hit by a Russian drone in the town of Bilopillia, according to Ukrainian officials.
Donald Trump has said he will speak to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately on Monday in a bid to secure a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine.
The US president made the announcement on Truth Social – shortly after the Ukrainian president condemned Russiafor the “deliberate killing of civilians” after a drone hit a bus in northeastern Ukraine.
Mr Trump said he will speak to Mr Putin over the phone. He will then talk with Mr Zelenskyy and “various members of NATO”, he wrote.
In an all-caps post, he said: “HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY, A CEASEFIRE WILL TAKE PLACE, AND THIS VERY VIOLENT WAR, A WAR THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED, WILL END. GOD BLESS US ALL!!!”
The Ukrainian town of Bilopillia has declared a period of mourning lasting until Monday after nine people were killed in a Russian drone attack – which occurred just hours after Kyiv and Moscow held peace talks.
Seven others were injured, Ukrainian authorities said. The bus was evacuating civilians from a frontline area when the drone hit, the country’s national police said.
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0:41
Nine killed in Russian strike on bus
A “father, mother and daughter” were among the dead, Mr Zelenskyy said, writing on Telegram: “All the deceased were civilians. And the Russians could not have failed to understand what kind of vehicle they were targeting.”
The attack was also condemned by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who said he was “appalled”.
“If Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as Ukraine has done,” he wrote on X.
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While the discussions – which were not attended by the Mr Putin or Mr Zelenskyy – did not result in a truce, both countries agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners in their biggest swap yet.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on national television the exchange could happen as early as next week.
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1:52
What happened at Ukraine talks?
Russia ‘threatened eternal war’ at peace talks
After a Ukrainian official on Friday said Russia made “unacceptable” demands during the discussions, a source from the Kyiv delegation has now told Sky News that Moscow threatened “eternal war”.
Separately, a senior Kyiv official said Russia’s proposed ceasefire terms included the full withdrawal of troops from four regions of Ukraine: Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Luhansk.
Moscow also called for international recognition that those regions and Crimea – annexed in 2014 – are Russian and for Ukraine to become a neutral state, with no allied troops stationed there, they said.
Ukraine has rallied support from its allies following the talks, and a number have spoken out.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Today, what do we have? Nothing. And so I tell you, faced with President Putin’s cynicism, I am sure that President Trump, mindful of the credibility of the United States, will react.”
The EU is working on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.