The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they happen.
WATCH: Family of captive IDF soldier celebrates after Hamas says she’ll be freed from Gaza today
Footage posted to social media shows the family of IDF surveillance soldier Daniella Gilboa, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, celebrating after the terror group announces that she will be released from captivity later today as part of a ceasefire deal.
One video posted by Gilboa’s mother shows the family clapping and singing around the Shabbat dinner table, while another, apparently filmed from a neighboring building, shows them celebrating on the balcony.
This Evening: The mother of Daniela Gilboa, who is expected to be released from captivity tomorrow, shared on social media: "She's coming back!"
r/t @yollancohen אורלי גלבוע
So happy for the family ???? pic.twitter.com/k2Y9IuCLnc— Iris (@streetwize) January 24, 2025
Gilboa is one of seven female soldiers abducted from the IDF surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz army base during the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023.
Three other captive soldiers, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy, are also slated to be released with Gilboa. The agreement stipulates that for each of the female soldiers, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them convicted terrorists who are serving life sentences.
UN chief calls for ‘immediate, unconditional release’ of seven more workers detained by Houthi rebels in Yemen
SANAA – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all aid staff held in Yemen, after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels detained another seven UN employees.
“Their continued arbitrary detention is unacceptable,” Guterres says in a statement, adding that the UN is working to secure the release of those being held.
The Houthis have detained dozens of staff from the UN and other humanitarian organizations, most since the middle of last year.
Guterres says the “continued targeting of UN personnel and its partners negatively impacts our ability to assist millions of people in need in Yemen.”
The detentions come after US President Donald Trump ordered the Houthis to be placed back on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations, which will trigger a review of UN agencies and other NGOs working in Yemen that receive US funding.
Iran’s IRGC says it is conducting extensive naval drill in Persian Gulf
TEHRAN — Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard says it is conducting a naval drill in the waters of the Persian Gulf and in the country’s southern provinces of Bushehr and Khuzestan.
The Guard’s website reports that surface-to-surface missiles, precision-strike drones, and several torpedoes were used in the drill. It adds that the military exercise will continue into Saturday and feature modern military equipment.
The Revolutionary Guard holds such drills each year.
Report: Hostage mothers and fathers to meet daughters at IDF base near border after they’re released from Gaza
The parents of the four female IDF soldiers that Hamas says it will release from Gaza tomorrow as part of a hostage-ceasefire deal will be able to meet their daughters as soon as they cross into Israel, at an IDF facility near the border, the Ynet news site reports.
Earlier today, Hamas said it would release IDF soldiers Liri Albag, 19, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Karina Ariev, 20, and Naama Levy, 20 on Saturday.
The four are among seven female soldiers abducted from the IDF surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz army base during the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023.
On the first day of the ceasefire Sunday, when Hamas released Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher, only the mothers were invited to greet their daughters at the border facility. They reunited with the rest of their immediate families a short while later after being helicoptered to a hospital in central Israel.
