Middle East latest: Hamas names the next 3 Israeli hostages to be released

Hamas named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release this weekend as part of the ceasefire deal, showing the agreement was moving forward Friday even as the U.S. and Israel discuss plans to relocate all of Gaza’s population. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, confirmed the names. They are three Israeli men ranging in age from 34 to 56.

The announcement comes after Hamas accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip during the ongoing ceasefire — items like tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris. There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas’ allegation that it had broken the terms of the truce deal. Elsewhere in the region, Iran's supreme leader said Friday that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable,” after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wants nuclear talks with Tehran despite reimposing his “ maximum pressure ” approach to Iran.

Here's the latest:. Hamas names the next 3 Israeli hostages to be released this weekend. JERUSALEM — Hamas has named the next three Israeli hostages it plans to release this weekend as part of the ceasefire deal, showing the agreement was moving forward Friday even as the U.S. and Israel discuss plans to relocate all of Gaza’s population. The three Israeli men are set to be freed by the militant group on Saturday. It will be the fifth exchange of hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel since the ceasefire took effect last month.

The Hamas-linked prisoners’ office in the Gaza Strip said Saturday's release of Palestinian prisoners would include 18 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life, 54 prisoners with lengthy sentences and 111 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested and held without trial after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement, confirmed the names received from Hamas were Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34 were scheduled for release Saturday.

Sharabi was taken captive by the militants from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room. His brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity. Ben Ami, a father to three, was taken hostage with his wife, Raz, from Kibbutz Beeri, where he was the kibbutz accountant. Raz Ben Ami was released during the brief ceasefire period in November.

Levy was pulled by the militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His wife, Einav Levy, was killed during the Oct. 7 attack. Their son Almog, a toddler, is staying with his grandparents. Levy is from the city of Rishon Lezion, where he worked as a computer programmer for a startup. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the county’s military and the intelligence agency had received the list of hostages to be released and had informed their families.

Hamas says Israel is violating the ceasefire's humanitarian aid rules, a day before next hostage release. JERUSALEM — Hamas has accused Israel of overly restricting humanitarian aid deliveries during the ongoing ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, saying Friday that items like tents, fuel and equipment to clear debris have not made it into the devastated Palestinian territory at the scale that is needed. There was no immediate response from Israel on Hamas’ allegation that Israel had broken the terms of the truce deal. The specifics of the humanitarian aid portion of the deal have not been published, making the allegations by Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou hard to verify.

Hamas’ accusation came as the group was scheduled to announce the names of the next group of hostages it would release from Gaza on Saturday in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel. The two sides have conducted four hostage-for-prisoner swaps so far. Al-Qanou criticized Israel for stalling “in fulfilling the humanitarian protocol, especially concerning shelter, provisions, tents, rubble removal equipment, fuel and reconstruction materials.” He did not go into more details.

The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, known as COGAT, said earlier Friday that 4,200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid had moved through Gaza this week and that over 12,000 trucks had entered since the start of the ceasefire. That amount is apparently in line with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which called for at least 600 trucks to deliver aid to Gaza daily.