Hamas will “consider” releasing hostage Maxim Herkin • Ex-hostage treated for pneumonia • UNIFIL commander injured, attacked by Hezbollah supporters
Hamas is considering hostage Maxim Herkin’s release – report
Senior Hamas officials have confirmed that the 36-year-old father will be prioritized in the second phase of the deal.
Hamas is “considering” releasing hostage Maxim Herkin, 36, from captivity when the second stage of the ceasefire begins, Russian state media TASS reported on Friday.
“As for Maxim Herkin, Russian friends did indeed request his release,” said senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk. “We treated Russia’s request with respect, but at this moment, we cannot disclose information about the hostages included in the second phase of the deal.”
Abu Marzouk emphasized that senior Hamas officials “will certainly take Russia’s request into account once negotiations are concluded and the implementation of the second phase begins.”
Trump says he would take hard stance on Gaza on Saturday
Hamas previously claimed that the group would not release any hostages on Saturday, in violation of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would take a hard stance on Saturday on Gaza, the Palestinian enclave for which he has proposed a US takeover and where a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Hamas terrorists is in place.
Hamas previously claimed that the group would not release any hostages on Saturday, in violation of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal agreement, alleging that Israel had violated the agreement.
Trump’s warning to Hamas
In response to Hamas’s threat, Trump warned that if hostages were not released by 12 p.m. on Saturday or he would “let all hell break loose.”
“If all the Gaza hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 p.m., I would say cancel the ceasefire. Let all hell break loose; Israel can override it,” he said, noting that it was Israel’s decision.
UNIFIL commander injured after convoy attacked by Hezbollah supporters on route to Beirut Airport
Protestors claimed their goal was to secure the return of citizens stranded in Iran and block external influences on the Lebanese government.
Outgoing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) force commander Lt.-Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz was injured on Friday after a convoy taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport was “violently attacked,” UNIFIL said.
Hezbollah supporters attacked the convoy of Lázaro as it tried to make its way to Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Protestors claimed their goal was to secure the return of citizens stranded in Iran and block external influences on the Lebanese government, Hezbollah-owned Al Manar reported.
UNIFIL demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, it added in a statement.
At least one UNIFIL officer was injured in the incident after Hezbollah operatives attacked the vehicle marked with the UN logo, beating the people inside.
Sagui Dekel Chen, Alexander Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn to be released Saturday
The PMO said Israel had approved the list but walked back the approval shortly after, claiming there was a “mistake in typing.”
Sagui Dekel Chen, Alexander Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn are the hostages set to be released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Saturday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Friday.
The PMO said that Israel had received the list but claimed it had not yet approved it, despite having said just before that the list was accepted.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said it would release one hostage on Saturday as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal, the group announced on Friday.
Separately, Hamas said the terror groups in Gaza would release on Saturday three hostages, including one with US citizenship, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire.
Chained hostage says kiddush before Shabbat, prays daily, fiance shares
Hostage Eliya Cohen passed a message through freed hostages to his mother that he does kiddush before Shabbat and prays every morning.
Sunday marked eight years that young Israelis Ziv Abud and Eliya Cohen have been together, but Cohen has been held hostage in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Cohen is one of the 33 hostages slated to be released as part of the first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal. Of those 33, 17 have yet to be released.
“I’m really, really tired from the fight, and I’m very sad because now I know the conditions that Eliya had—and still has—in the tunnels,” Abud said during a virtual MediaCentral discussion on Monday. “It breaks my heart to know that he was chained, all that happened to him in the tunnels, from people that were with him in the tunnels.”
From Abud’s understanding, about a week before Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were released from captivity, they were together with Cohen, and Alon Ohel was also part of this group of hostages.
Israeli settlers wound Palestinians in attack in village near Bethlehem
The IDF said that four Palestinians were injured in the incident, while the Palestinian Red Crescent claims that 16 were injured.
About 40 Israelis attacked Palestinians in the West Bank village of Al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem, army radio reported Friday evening.
The Israeli rioters used dogs, clubs, and pepper spray. The Palestinian Red Crescent claimed that 16 Palestinians were wounded in the incident, while a statement by the IDF said that only four Palestinians were lightly wounded, and said the incident was a clash between Israeli and Palestinian civilians, Ynet reported.
טרור יהודי דרומית לבית לחם: כ-40 מתנחלים מהמאחז הבלתי חוקי “מקנה יוסף” תקפו בכלבים, אלות וגז פלפל משפחה פלסטינית דרומית לבית לחם. 4 פלסטינים נפצעו – אך איש מהפורעים לא נעצר • הפלסטינים טוענים: 15 כבשים הורעלו, רכב הושחת במקום@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/XUSpHP9zvh
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) February 14, 2025
The Israelis reportedly came from the illegal “Mekana Yosef” outpost, according to Army Radio.
None of the rioters were arrested.
Released hostage Ofer Kalderon re-admitted to hospital with pneumonia
He has been re-admitted to Sheba Hospital, where he is receiving care and is being closely monitored by a team of professionals.
Released hostage Ofer Kalderon has contracted pneumonia in the days after his release from the hospital, his family announced on Friday.
Kalderon, who was freed from Hamas captivity two weeks ago, was released from the returnees ward at Sheba hospital before returning home.
According to a statement from his family, he caught a case of the flu, which turned into pneumonia this past week.
As a result, he has been re-admitted to Sheba Hospital, where he is receiving care and is being closely monitored by a team of professionals.
- Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza.
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re’im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities.
- 76 hostages remain in Gaza.
- 49 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says.
- The IDF launched a ground invasion of Lebanon on September 30.
- The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire came into effect on November 27 at 4:00 a.m.
- Netanyahu confirmed the first phase of the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire on January 17, 2025
- 735 terrorists will be released as part of the hostage deal