State Department spokesman Vedant Patel will brief reporters Thursday shortly after a prisoner swap freeing two Americans from Russia was announced. Patel will also address growing tensions in the Middle East.

The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich and former Marine Paul Whelan were released from Russia following months, and in Whelan’s case years, of negotiations to free the wrongfully detained men.

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Iran has pledged retaliation against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran and believes the United States had some involvement. The U.S. has denied any involvement or prior knowledge of the attack.

A top Hezbollah commander, who Israel said is responsible for a missile strike on a soccer field that killed more than ten children, was also killed in Beirut on Tuesday.