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US officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad, Blinken says

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US officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad, Blinken says
News

News

US officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad, Blinken says

2024-12-15 05:14 Last Updated At:05:20

AQABA, Jordan (AP) — American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.

Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend.

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Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian naval vessels and small civilian ships are seen destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian naval vessels and small civilian ships are seen destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, left, speaks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, left, speaks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Workers clean outside the Turkish embassy in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Workers clean outside the Turkish embassy in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, observes a prison room at the security detention center called Palestine Branch in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, observes a prison room at the security detention center called Palestine Branch in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian girl with the colours of the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on her face, takes a selfie in front of the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian girl with the colours of the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on her face, takes a selfie in front of the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian fighter guards holding a gun with a flower placed in the barrel, as residents visit the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian fighter guards holding a gun with a flower placed in the barrel, as residents visit the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian boy look on as he carries bread in the city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian boy look on as he carries bread in the city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A man draws the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on a girl's face at the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A man draws the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on a girl's face at the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after delivering a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after delivering a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria’s transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.

Blinken would not discuss details of the direct contacts with HTS but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.

“Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said in the port city of Aqaba. He added that “our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we’re prepared to help them do so.”

HTS, once an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2018. That designation carries severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any “material support” to the group or its members.

The sanctions do not, however, legally bar U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.

In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not address any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascus are in touch with Western embassies.

He also said that "we don’t intend to enter any conflict because there is general exhaustion in Syria.”

HTS has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad’s fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.

Blinken also stressed that “the success that we’ve had in ending the territorial caliphate” of the Islamic State group remains “a critical mission.” And citing the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish fighters who in recent years drove IS out of large areas of Syria, he called it ”very important at this moment that they continue that role because this is a moment of instability” in which IS “will seek to regroup and take advantage of.”

A joint statement after the meeting of foreign ministers urged all parties to cease hostilities in Syria and expressed support for a locally led transitional political process. It called for preventing the reemergence of extremist groups and ensuring the security and safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.

“We don’t want Syria to fall into chaos,” Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told journalists.

A separate statement by Arab foreign ministers called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution approved by Syrians. Their statement condemned Israel’s incursion into the buffer zone with Syria and adjacent sites over the past week as a “heinous occupation” and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

U.S. officials say al-Sharaa has been making welcomed comments about protecting minority and women’s rights but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.

On Friday, the rebels and Syria’s unarmed opposition worked to safely turn over to U.S. officials an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.

U.S. officials are continuing their search for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago near Damascus. "We have impressed upon everyone we’ve been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home,” Blinken said.

In other developments:

—Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Assad’s rule. The embassy suspended operations 12 years ago due to insecurity during Syria's civil war.

—Al-Sharaa said in the TV interview that “the pretexts that Israel uses have ended” for its airstrikes that have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets in recent days. He said “the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement” but that the insurgent group is not about to enter a conflict with Israel.

—The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants said the group has lost its military supply line through Syria but that the new authority there might reinstate the route.

—A Syrian war monitor and a citizen journalist said gunmen attacked members of a Syrian insurgent group, Failaq al-Sham, in the country’s coastal region, killing or wounding 15 of them on Saturday. That region is home to many members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.

Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Syrian naval vessels and small civilian ships are seen destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian naval vessels and small civilian ships are seen destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, left, speaks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, left, speaks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Workers clean outside the Turkish embassy in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Workers clean outside the Turkish embassy in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, observes a prison room at the security detention center called Palestine Branch in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian fighter from rebel group, observes a prison room at the security detention center called Palestine Branch in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian girl with the colours of the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on her face, takes a selfie in front of the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian girl with the colours of the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on her face, takes a selfie in front of the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian fighter guards holding a gun with a flower placed in the barrel, as residents visit the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian fighter guards holding a gun with a flower placed in the barrel, as residents visit the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian boy look on as he carries bread in the city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian boy look on as he carries bread in the city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A man draws the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on a girl's face at the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A man draws the "revolutionary" Syrian flag on a girl's face at the ancient Aleppo Citadel in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after delivering a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after delivering a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Three Israeli men held hostage in the Gaza Strip are set to be released on Saturday in exchange for more than 300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

It's the latest indication that the fragile ceasefire deal, which teetered in recent days, will hold. Nearly all the 73 remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers, and about half are believed to be dead.

The two sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners so far during the first phase of the truce. The war could resume if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages captured in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and an indefinite extension of the truce.

Here's the latest:

All three hostages set to be released are men who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where some 80 of roughly 400 residents were taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack.

Iair Horn, 46, is a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina. He was abducted along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who was staying with him at the time. Eitan remains in captivity.

Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, is an American-Israeli had was working outside when militants stormed the kibbutz. His wife hid in a safe room with their two daughters. She gave birth to their third daughter two months later.

Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship, was taken hostage along with his grandmother, mother and girlfriend. The three women were released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Troufanov’s father was killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

Among the most prominent of the more than 300 Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48, a close aide of militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti.

Israel sentenced Ahmed Barghouti to life on charges that he dispatched suicide bombers during the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. He was arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in 2002.

The ceasefire appeared dangerously close to collapse in recent days.

Hamas said it would delay the release of the hostages after accusing Israel of not adhering to their agreement by not allowing in enough shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble, while Israel said it would resume fighting Saturday unless hostages were freed.

Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them elsewhere in the region threw the truce’s future into further doubt. Trump has proposed that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

The idea has been welcomed by Israel’s government, whose far-right members are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of destroying Hamas and implementing Trump’s plan. But it has been strongly rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, and human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.

Hamas may be unwilling to release any more hostages if it believes the war will resume. The captives are among the only bargaining chips it has left.

A demonstrator holding photos of freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi before and after his captivity blocks a highway during a protest demanding all hostages release from Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A demonstrator holding photos of freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi before and after his captivity blocks a highway during a protest demanding all hostages release from Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians queue for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli captive Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli captive Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians gather to attend the Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians gather to attend the Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Graffiti on Israel's separation barrier depicts the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Graffiti on Israel's separation barrier depicts the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Palestinians gather to attend Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians gather to attend Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

People holding posters with photos of Israelis hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, react at the so-called "hostages square" as they watch their release live on a television screen in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People holding posters with photos of Israelis hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, react at the so-called "hostages square" as they watch their release live on a television screen in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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