54 journalists killed in 2024, a third by Israel — Reporters Without Borders

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas on Friday said it is ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four other dual nationals, after the Palestinian militants and Israel gathered for indirect Gaza ceasefire talks.

The first phase of a truce between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip ended on March 1, without agreement on the next stages. A senior Hamas official on Tuesday said a fresh round of talks had begun in the Qatari capital Doha. Israel had also sent a team of negotiators.

“Yesterday, a Hamas leadership delegation received a proposal from the brotherly mediators to resume negotiations,” the Islamist movement said in a statement.

It added that its reply “included its agreement to release the Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, along with the remains of four others holding dual citizenship.”

During the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire, militants released 33 hostages, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

ISTANBUL: The outlawed Kurdish PKK said it was currently “impossible” for its leadership to safely meet to formally dissolve the group in line with a demand by its jailed founder, Kurdish media reported Friday.
“Every day (Turkish) reconnaissance planes are flying overhead, they are carrying out daily bombings and every day they are attacking,” the PKK’s co-leader Cemil Bayik told the Kurdish television station, Sterk TV.
“Holding a congress in these conditions is impossible and very dangerous.”
His remarks came two weeks after Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), urged his fighters to disarm and disband, ending a decades-long insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
In his historic call – which took the form of a letter – he urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalize the decision.
Two days later, the PKK announced a ceasefire, saying it was ready to convene a congress but said “for this to happen, a suitable secure environment must be created,” insisting it would only succeed if Ocalan were to “personally direct and lead it.”
Bayik on Thursday said the congress would happen “if the conditions were fulfilled,” according to the PKK-aligned ANF news agency.
The PKK leadership is holed up in mountainous northern Iraq where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years, targeting the group which is also blacklisted by Washington and Brussels.
Despite the negotiations, there has been no indication that Turkish troops have stopped their operations against the PKK, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning against any delaying tactics.
“If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist,” Erdogan said on March 1.
On Wednesday, Erdogan said he would be willing to hold a meeting with a delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party – who played a key role in relaying messages between Ocalan and Ankara – “if they ask for it.”
The party confirmed requesting a meeting but said no date had been set.
Many are hoping Ocalan’s call will ultimately result in concessions for the Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of Turkiye’s 85 million population.