Middle East latest: Hamas says it will free a US-Israeli hostage to keep ceasefire talks rolling

Hamas said on Friday it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual nationals who died in captivity in Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group's offer appears aimed at keeping up momentum on negotiations over the future of the Gaza ceasefire and the release of all Israeli hostages, living and dead. Talks are continuing in Qatar, but there are no signs of a breakthrough.

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has been paused for almost a month by the fragile ceasefire, although Israel has cut off all food, medicine and electricity for Gaza as a pressure tactic against Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cast doubt on Hamas’ latest offer, accusing it of trying to manipulate the negotiations.

Here's the latest:

After 12 days of Israel blocking aid to Gaza, the UN says it needs fuel, oxygen and electricity generators

The U.N. World Food Program says it has enough stocks to support bakeries and community kitchens for up to one month and ready-to-eat food for more than half a million people for two weeks, but says it's reducing rations in order to stretch supplies.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said WFP has about 63,000 metric tons of food destined for Gaza, which would provide 1.1 million people — a little more than half Gaza’s population — with supplies for two to three months.

“That’s all pending authorization to enter the (Gaza) Strip, and obviously the need for the crossings to reopen,” Dujarric told reporters.

He said the U.N.’s other partners report that fuel shortages are affecting vehicle movements across Gaza and slowing down first responders.

The U.N. reports that oxygen supplies and electricity generators are also critically needed to maintain life-saving operations at hospitals in Gaza. At least two dozen more generators are needed for health centers, while the generators currently in use need maintenance and spare parts.

Trump administration warns Hamas that time is not on its side

U.S. officials, including envoy Steve Witkoff, are warning Hamas that it must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”

A Trump administration proposal would extend the Gaza ceasefire for a few more weeks and see some hostage-for-prisoner exchanges. Hamas said Friday it agreed to a proposal from mediators to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four hostages who died in captivity, but no mediating country confirmed knowledge of the proposal.

The U.S. said in a statement that Hamas is claiming flexibility in public while privately making demands that are “entirely impractical” without a permanent ceasefire.

“Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not,” the U.S. said, referring to an unspecified deadline. “We will respond accordingly if that deadline passes.”

Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.

Israel kills 4 Palestinians in Gaza and 1 in the West Bank

The Health Ministry in Gaza said an Israeli airstrike on Friday killed four people gathering wood near a school in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Shijaiyah. All of them were male but their ages weren’t immediately known, the ministry said.

Israel’s military also said it struck several Palestinians in central Gaza earlier Friday who it claimed were trying to plant explosives near soldiers. The Health Ministry did not respond to a request for information on the strike.

Israeli fire killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man in the northern West Bank village of Salem, east of Nablus, according to the Health Ministry there. The ministry’s brief statement did not mention the circumstances surrounding his death.

Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza during the truce, who the military says approached soldiers or entered unauthorized areas. Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the West Bank shortly after reaching the Gaza ceasefire with Hamas in late January.

UN condemns widespread violence against civilians in Syria that especially targeted the minority Alawite sect

The U.N. Security Council statement, co-sponsored by the United States and Russia, calls for an immediate halt to the recent violence, mass killings and “inflammatory activities” in Syria.

Member nations expressed “grave concern” at the impact on escalating tensions among Syria’s disparate communities and called on interim authorities “to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion.”

A war monitor said nearly 1,500 civilians were killed in the sectarian violence, most of them Alawites from the same minority as ousted President Bashar Assad.

The council's presidential statement on Friday welcomed Syrian authorities' public condemnation of the violence and called for further measures to prevent its recurrence. It noted the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the violence and called on Syrian authorities to ensure transparent and impartial probes, and to bring all perpetrators to justice.

The Security Council also expressed grave concern at the “acute threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters” and urged Syria to take decisive measures to address the threat.

There’s strong opposition to Trump and Netanyahu’s vision for moving Palestinians to Africa

The idea of a mass transfer of Palestinians was once considered a fantasy of Israel’s ultranationalist fringe.

Palestinians in Gaza have rejected the proposal and dismiss Israeli claims that the departures would be voluntary. Arab countries have expressed vehement opposition and offered an alternative reconstruction plan that would leave the Palestinians in place.

Rights groups say forcing or pressuring the Palestinians to leave their homeland could be a potential war crime. Human Rights Watch and others have said it would amount to “ethnic cleansing,” the forcible displacement of the civilian population of a national group from a geographic area.

The White House declined to comment on the African outreach efforts, but has said Trump “stands by his vision” presented last month at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has hailed it as a “ bold vision.”

AP Exclusive: US and Israel look to Africa for moving Palestinians uprooted from Gaza

The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for moving 2 million Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump’s postwar plan, American and Israeli officials told The Associated Press.

The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland reflect the determination by the U.S. and Israel to press ahead with a plan that has been widely condemned and raised serious legal and moral issues.

Because all three places are poor, and in some cases wracked by violence, the proposal casts doubt on Trump’s stated goal of resettling Gaza’s Palestinians in a “beautiful area.”

The U.S. and Israeli officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret diplomatic initiative. Officials from Sudan said they have rejected overtures from the U.S., while officials from Somalia and Somaliland told the AP that they were not aware of any contacts.

By Josef Federman, Matthew Lee and Samy Magdy

? Read more about the U.S. and Israel’s efforts to send Palestinians to Africa

Palestinians make an arduous journey to pray in Jerusalem during Ramadan

In Jerusalem, some 80,000 Muslim worshippers prayed Friday at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for the second week of Ramadan, flanked by the iconic Dome of the Rock.

That estimate comes from the Islamic Trust, which monitors the site. Israel is tightly controlling access for the prayers, allowing only men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from the occupied West Bank.

“The conditions are extremely difficult,” said Yousef Badeen, a Palestinian who had left the southern West Bank city of Hebron at dawn to make it to Jerusalem, said. “We wish they will open it for good.”

Hamas accused Israel of escalating a “religious war” against Palestinians with what it called the “systematic targeting of Muslim religious practices” through its restrictions at Al-Aqsa mosque. Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the accusation.

Hezbollah hints it won't disarm if Israel still occupies southern Lebanon

A senior Hezbollah official has hinted that the Lebanese militant group will not lay down its weapons as long as Israel is occupying parts of the country.

Mohammed Daamoush made his comments in Beirut during a sermon for Friday prayers adding that Israel’s occupation of five strategic hilltops and what he said were daily violations of a ceasefire aim to pressure Lebanon to normalize relations with Israel.

Daamoush says the state now controls the border with Israel and Lebanon's new government is backed by the international community and has weapons, so “what have you done to face daily Israeli violations and aggression?”

He called on authorities to convince the public about why weapons should only be held by the state, adding, “When there is occupation and a continuing aggression weapons should be in the hands of men and everyone should repel this occupation.”

UN's envoy to Syria urges a ‘credible and inclusive’ interim government

The U.N. special envoy for Syria said now is the time to create “a genuinely credible and inclusive" interim government and legislative body in the war-torn country.

Geir Pedersen called in a statement Friday, marking 14 years since the civil war began, for an immediate end to all violence and for protection of civilians in accordance with international law.

Many of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities are concerned about how they'll be treated by the country's new Islamist rulers, who overthrew the government late last year.

Pedersen called for a credible independent investigation into the recent sectarian massacres and violence in Syria’s coastal region, and for the full cooperation of Syrian authorities with the United Nations in this regard.

The statement came a day after Syria’s interim president signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule while promising to protect the rights of all Syrians for five years during a transitional phase.

Israel expresses immediate doubt about Hamas' hostage release offer

The United States, led by the Trump administration’s hostage envoy Steve Witkoff, has been pushing for a proposal that would extend the truce and see a limited number of hostage for prisoner exchanges.

Following the Hamas statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had “accepted the Witkoff outline and showed flexibility,” but said that “Hamas is refusing and will not budge from its positions.”

“At the same time, it continues to use manipulation and psychological warfare — the reports about Hamas’ willingness to release American hostages are intended to sabotage the negotiations,” the prime minister’s office said.

It added that Netanyahu would convene his ministerial team on Saturday night to receive a detailed report from the negotiation team and “decide on the next steps for the release of hostages.”

Hamas says it accepts a proposal to release an American-Israeli hostage and 4 hostage bodies

The Palestinian militant group said in a statement Friday it has accepted a new proposal by mediators of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, agreeing to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four other hostage dual nationals who died in captivity.

There was no immediate confirmation from other mediating countries. Hamas did not specify when the release would occur.

It said it would release alive soldier Edan Alexander, a soldier taken from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

It comes as negotiators have been in Doha, trying to salvage the fragile ceasefire nearly two weeks after the end of the truce's first phase. Israel and the United States have been pushing for a proposal to extend the truce through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Buses carrying Druze from Syria cross into Israeli-controlled area of the Golan Heights

It marked a historic visit by the embattled minority to visit a religious shrine located on the Israeli side of the border. A group of Druze from the Israeli-controlled Golan heights welcomed the Syrian Druze at the crossing point, carrying Druze flags and chanting in Arabic, “It is written on our doors, welcome to our beloved ones.”

The visit comes as Israel says it is supporting the minority in a country now ruled by Islamists. But many Druze have rejected its overtures, and critics accuse Israel trying to weaken and divide Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

“This is a legitimate right for us as a Druze community; to go to Syria to visit our families, and they come here to visit their families and visit the holy sites,” said Jawlan Abu Zed, a resident of the predominantly-Druze village of Majdal Shams, on the Israeli side of the border.

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Netanyahu accuses former head of Israeli security services of blackmail

The police complaint escalates a growing feud between the government and the intelligence agency.

The filing on Friday comes after the former head of the Shin Bet security agency, Nadav Argaman, said Thursday on Israel’s Channel 12 that he was sitting on information about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and would make it public if it is found that Netanyahu has broken the law.

In the police complaint, Netanyahu demands an investigation into Argaman’s conduct. He also lashed out at current Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on Thursday in a post to X, accusing him of a “campaign of extortion with threats by means of briefings to the media in the last few days.”

The dispute comes as the Shin Bet has launched an investigation into ties between close Netanyahu aides and the Qatari government.

Netanyahu and the current and former security chiefs have also been locked in a dispute over where blame falls for the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state commission of inquiry to investigate his government’s role in the security failure that day.

UN-backed experts accuse Israel of sexual and gender-based violence in Gaza

A United Nations-backed group of human rights experts accused Israel on Thursday of “disproportionate violence against women and children” during the war against Hamas in Gaza, and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.

Israel is committing “genocidal acts” by systematically destroying Gaza’s reproductive health care facilities, the experts concluded, although they stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide. Israel has refused to cooperate with the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council that commissioned the team of independent experts, accusing it of anti-Israel bias.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. A U.N. envoy last year said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape and sexual violence in the attack.

Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.