International

Hamas announces the names of the three Israeli hostages who will leave Gaza tomorrow

The spokesman for the Hamas al-Qasam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced this Friday the name of the three hostages who will be released tomorrow from the Gaza Strip, including one with dual German-Israeli nationality.

The chosen captives are the German-Israeli Ohad Ben Ami, 56 years old and kidnapped along with his wife, Raz Ben Ami (already released), from the Kibutz Beeri; Eli Sharabi, 53, who lost his children and wife in the Hamas attack on the same kibutz on October 7, 2023, and Or Levy, 34 years old and forcibly taken at the Nova festival.

In return, a total of 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released, although it is not yet known how many of them will be delivered to the occupied West Bank, returned to Gaza or deported to third countries such as Turkey or Egypt.

“After the Palestinian resistance handed over the names of the enemy’s prisoners, tomorrow 18 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 54 prisoners with high sentences and 111 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the attack of October 7, as part of the first phase of the exchange agreement,” the prisoners’ press office, in charge of Hamas, will be released in a statement.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed this Friday in a statement that the national intelligence service (the Mossad), as well as the Army, had received the list of kidnapped and said that the respective families had been informed.

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Tomorrow will be the fifth exchange since the beginning of the ceasefire in Gaza, in force since January 19, thanks to which another 18 hostages (counting five Thais not initially included in the first phase of the pact) have already been released in an exchange for about 600 Palestinians.

However, in addition to the 33 hostages who must be released before March 1, only through new negotiations will male Israeli soldiers and those men between 19 and 50 years of age be able to leave Gaza in the second phase; something that relatives of the captives beg Netanyahu to happen.

“We have the sacred duty and the moral right to bring all our brothers and sisters home. We will not surrender or stop until all the hostages return, according to the agreement, until the last of them: the living for their recovery and the deceased for an appropriate burial,” said today the Forum of Hostages and Relatives of Missing, the main entity in defense of the hostage release agreement, after the announcement with the names of the three captives.

Although three days ago Netanyahu announced, after meeting with several US officials, that a negotiating team would travel to Doha at the end of this week to “discuss the technical details related to the continued implementation of the agreement,” that trip has not yet occurred.

Asked today by EFE, a senior Israeli official said he had no “news” about the alleged trip that should happen tomorrow, while Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, confirmed that negotiations “have not yet begun.”

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International

White House says Cuba policy unchanged despite sanctioned fuel shipment

The White House said Monday that it has not changed its policy toward Cuba, despite allowing a sanctioned Russian oil tanker to deliver fuel to the island on humanitarian grounds.

U.S. officials emphasized that the decision was made as an exception and does not signal a broader shift in policy.

The administration added that similar decisions would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, depending on humanitarian considerations.

The clarification comes amid ongoing restrictions related to U.S. sanctions policy, which continue to limit trade and financial flows involving Cuba.

International

Spain to grant citizenship to Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López

The Spanish government is expected to grant citizenship this Tuesday to Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lópezthrough an extraordinary procedure known as “carta de naturaleza.”

The decision will be approved by royal decree, an exceptional legal mechanism used in special cases that require expedited resolution due to specific circumstances.

López has been living in Madrid since 2020, after leaving Venezuela following a prolonged political and legal conflict with the government of Nicolás Maduro.

According to government sources, López currently does not have a valid Venezuelan passport and faces difficulties in having his nationality fully recognized in his home country.

As a result, he applied for Spanish citizenship via a fast-track process at the end of 2025, after previously attempting to obtain it through regular procedures.

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The Spanish government justified the move based on López’s international relevance and foreign policy considerations.

López is the leader of the Voluntad Popular party and co-founder of the World Liberty Congress, an initiative launched in 2022 alongside figures such as Garry Kasparov and Masih Alinejad.

International

ICE to remain at airports amid DHS shutdown, Homan says

The U.S. “border czar,” Tom Homan, said Sunday that agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will remain deployed at airports until operations return to “100% normal,” as the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues.

“We will maintain ICE presence until airports feel they are fully back to normal operations,” Homan said during an interview on Face the Nation on CBS.

Homan justified the deployment on security grounds, noting that the measure was ordered by President Donald Trumpamid widespread absenteeism among agents of the Transportation Security Administration, who have gone without pay for over six weeks due to the DHS shutdown.

According to acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, at least 460 TSA agents have resigned during the shutdown, while daily absenteeism has averaged 11%, exceeding 50% at some airports.

Homan warned that if TSA staffing levels do not recover after the shutdown, ICE agents will continue filling the gap. “ICE is there to support our TSA brothers and sisters. We will remain as long as needed to ensure airport security,” he said.

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The DHS shutdown reached 44 days on Sunday, making it the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The impasse stems from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over ICE funding.

A recent bipartisan Senate proposal to fund DHS without including ICE failed after being blocked by House Republicans, who insist on full funding for the agency.

Amid the deadlock, Trump signed an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay TSA agents to address what he called an “emergency situation” and restore order at airports, with payments expected to begin Monday.