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Gaza ceasefire deal

The second group of Palestinian abductees have been released from Israeli jails under a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime. A total of 200 Palestinian prisoners were freed on Saturday. The first batch consisted of 114 Palestinians, arrived in the occupied West Bank city of Beitunia. The second batch who have been exiled from Gaza and the West Bank were handed over to the Egyptian officials as part of the deal. 16 Palestinian prisoners also arrived in the city of Khan Younis. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released four Israeli female captives in central Gaza. All of them were female soldiers. The third batch of swap is set to take place Saturday next week. The Gaza ceasefire agreement includes three phases, with the first lasting 42 days. Negotiations on the details and implementation of next stages will begin about two weeks after the start of the current truce which went into effect on January 19.

Israel’s Lebanon violation

The Lebanese army accuses Israel of delaying its withdrawal from the country’s south ahead of a critical deadline on Sunday agreed in a ceasefire deal. The army said in a statement that there has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli side. It said the army is ready to continue its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws. The army also urged citizens to exercise caution when returning to border areas due to the presence of mines and other hazardous materials left behind by Israeli forces. Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on November 27, Israeli forces are expected to withdraw over a 60-day period. This as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military withdrawal would extend beyond the Sunday deadline.

Iran military drills

Iran's Revolution Guards Corps’ navy has conducted a large-scale naval exercise in southern waters of the country for a second day as part of ‘Great prophet 19’ drills. The exercise is taking place off the coasts of Bushehr and Khuzestan provinces in the Persian Gulf. IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri said the weapon systems have been upgraded and some drones are now equipped with artificial intelligence missiles. According to the Rear Admiral, the navy fired various missiles including ballistic and surface-to-surface. Tangsiri said the drill is a gesture of peace and friendship to neighbors and aims to improve coordination among navy branches to fight threats. In recent weeks, the IRGC alongside other Iranian military units have conducted numerous drills to test new weapons including systems to counter precision-guided munitions, drones and cruise missiles.

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