Three Israeli and five Thai hostages have been freed under a phased ceasefire deal that has halted fighting in Gaza.
But after a chaotic release that saw crowds swarm sections of the handover, Israel temporarily delayed the freeing of 110 Palestinians expected in exchange.
The first hostage, 20-year-old female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, was released in northern Gaza.
Hours later, footage from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis showed a stunned and scared-looking Arbel Yehoud being led through a crowd, flanked by armed, masked Palestinian militants.
It’s suspected she was being held by Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Gaza.
A third Israeli, civilian Gadi Mozes, 80, was also released on Thursday.
Image: Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes. Pic: Reuters
Israeli military identified the five Thai nationals as Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakhan, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat and Rumnao Surasak.
In return for the release of the Israeli hostages, Israel is expected to set free 110 Palestinians detained in prisons, including children, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
Among them are a 61-year-old held since 1992 and 30 teenagers, the youngest a 15-year-old boy.
Their release was pausedafter the Israeli PM condemned the “shocking” scenes of the handovers to the Red Cross.
Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinian detainees would be held until the safe exit of Israeli hostages was guaranteed in future.
He said later that he had received such a commitment, and Israeli media reported the releases of Palestinians would go ahead.
The war has devastated much of Gaza’s infrastructure, including homes, roads, sanitation and communications networks.
The latest planned exchange is part of a fragile truce – mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt – that began on 19 January and has so far held, aimed at winding down the deadliest war ever fought between Israel and Hamas.
Among the roughly 250 people taken from Israel during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack which ignited the conflict, some have died in captivity in Gaza, while others have been released or rescued.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Hamas-run authorities in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Gazans traversed rubble and dirt to return to what was left of their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip.
But joy was tempered by grief as many discovered shattered or looted homes, no running water in the vicinity and dire shortages of basic supplies.
On Thursday, a new Israeli law came into effect banning the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) from Israeli territory.
It raised fears of a shutdown of its schools, medical facilities and other services in east Jerusalem – and possibly more in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where UNRWA is the biggest provider of aid.
British MP Sarah Champion, who chairs the International Development Committee of MPs, called the ban “devastating”.
“Food, water, education, even rubbish collection will all be affected,” she said.
“In the strongest possible terms, I urge the UK government to do everything it can to get all parties round the table and ensure that UNRWA can fulfil its UN-mandated work. The success of the current ceasefire hangs in the balance if not.”
Pope Francis is in a critical condition after a “prolonged respiratory crisis” that required a high-flow of oxygen and is “suffering more than yesterday”, the Vatican has said.
In an update on Saturday evening, the Vatican said “the Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical”, adding that this morning he “presented with a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” which required the application of high-flow oxygen.
He also had blood transfusions after tests revealed thrombocytopenia, which is associated with anemia.
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2:43
Pope Francis ‘not out of danger’
“The Holy Father continues to be vigilant and spent the day in an armchair even though he was suffering more than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved,” the Vatican’s statement said.
In an update earlier on Saturday morning – the shortest since Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February – the Vatican said he will not lead Sunday prayers for the second week running, adding: “The Pope rested well.”
Francis is likely to prepare a written homily for someone else to read at Sunday’s Angelus.
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Millions of people around the world have been concerned about the Pope’s increasingly frail health – and his condition has given rise to speculation over a possible resignation, which the Vatican has not commented on.
Doctors on Friday said he was “not out of danger” and was expected to remain at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for at least another week.
Sergio Alfieri, the chief of the pontiff’s medical team, said: “Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is ‘is he in danger of death’, the answer is ‘no’.”
Image: Sergio Alfieri (R) said Pope Francis was a ‘fragile patient’ but was in ‘good spirits’. Pic: AP
He said Francis was affected by seasonal flu before being taken to hospital and that, “due to his challenging duties”, he had suffered fatigue.
He is also fighting a multipronged infection of bacteria and viruses in the respiratory tract.
The doctors warned that while he did not have sepsis – where germs enter the bloodstream – there was always a risk the infection could spread in his body, and they said that was the biggest concern.
Sepsis is a complication of an infection that can lead to organ failure and death.
Pope Francis has a history of respiratory illness, having lost part of one of his lungs to pleurisy as a young man. He had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023.
One person has been killed and two police officers seriously injured in a knife attack in eastern France.
A man attacked people in Mulhouse, near the German border, at around 4pm on Saturday.
Prosecutors said a 37-year-old Algerian had been arrested and the person who died was a civilian who tried to intervene.
“Horror has just gripped our city,” mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook.
The man shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) as he attacked the police officers, prosecutors added.
President Macron told BFMTV it was “beyond doubt” it was an “Islamist terrorist act”. He said the interior minister was heading to Mulhouse and would speak later.
The attacker is said to have been at a police station – where he was due to sign a document for his detention – but refused and ran into the market where he launched the attack.
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One police officer was stabbed in the neck and another in the chest, according to French media. Three other police sustained very minor injuries.
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this is a “significant moment” for European security amid the continued fallout between the Ukrainian leader and Donald Trump.
In a phone call this morning, the prime minister reiterated the UK’s “ironclad support” for Ukraine and said he would discuss safeguarding Kyiv’s sovereignty with the US president.
Sir Keir also spoke with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this morning, in which they agreed that Europe must “step up” for the good of collective security on the continent.
Image: Starmer and Zelenskyy last month. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir will meet Mr Trump in the coming days for what will be a critical moment in the fragile relations between America and Europe after the US leader launched an extraordinary verbal attack on Mr Zelenskyy.
Mr Trump labelled the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” and said the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom will visit the White House next week, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
Since Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK, France and other allies have been providing Kyiv with weapons and aid.
Mr Trump has also suggested that Ukraine “started” the war.
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Starmer and Macron ‘haven’t done anything’
In a Downing Street readout of Sir Keir’s call with Mr Zelenskyy, a spokesperson said: “The prime minister began by reiterating the UK’s ironclad support for Ukraine and commitment to securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia’s illegal war.
“The leaders reflected on recent developments in the conflict, as the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion approaches, and agreed on the need to continue working together with allies to achieve peace through strength.
“They agreed that this was a significant moment for the future of Ukraine and European security at large.”
The spokesperson added: “The prime minister repeated that Ukraine must be at the heart of any negotiations to end the war and that safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Russia.”
Meanwhile, a Downing Street spokesperson said of Sir Keir and Ms von der Leyen’s call: “Ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia’s barbaric illegal war, they discussed the need to secure a just and enduring peace in Ukraine, and agreed that Europe must step up for the good of collective European security.”
On Saturday afternoon, Sir Keir also spoke with Finland’s president Alexander Stubb and discussed “the need to secure enduring peace for Ukraine and bring an end to Russia’s illegal war”, a Downing Street readout said.
“The leaders agreed the need for Europe to step up support to achieve this, and the prime minister said the UK is ready to play a role in future security guarantees.”
The US president’s recent statements, which echo Russian president Vladimir Putin’s narrative, and plans to have direct negotiations with Moscow about the end of the war in Ukraine have left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried.
Mr Trump told US governors on Friday he “had very good talks with Putin” and “not such good talks with Ukraine”.
The US president also said a deal on minerals in Ukraine in exchange for weapons was close, but a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Sky News the Ukrainian president is not ready to sign and sees a “number of problematic issues” with the draft agreement.