Hamas considers hostage, prisoner deal; Israeli military turns toward Rafah: Live updates

Hamas leaders are considering a proposal that includes pauses in Israel's military operations in Gaza as well as the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, though the multi-staged deal does not meet conditions previously set by the militant group.

Officials from the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Israel drafted the deal this week and are awaiting a response from the militant group, according to the Associated Press.

Earlier this week, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, told Lebanon’s LBC TV that the group would release all the hostages if Israel releases thousands of Palestinian prisoners and agrees to a permanent cease-fire. He rejected extended pauses in fighting and stressed a complete stop in Israel's military siege as well as increased aid and terms of Gaza's reconstruction.

But speaking on Tuesday at a religious academy in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue the war until Israel secured "absolute victory" over Hamas.

“We will not withdraw the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists,” Netanyahu said.

Over 100 hostages were released from Gaza in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a weeklong cease-fire in November. Only one hostage has been rescued since Hamas' deadly attack on communities along Israel's southern border sparked the war; Hamas says several have been killed in airstrikes. In December, Israeli troops mistakenly shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza who soldiers misidentified as threats.

More than 27,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said on Thursday. The Health Ministry said most of those killed were women and children; it does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel has said its military has killed thousands of Hamas militants.

Developments:

∎ The Israeli military said on Friday it successfully intercepted a missile that approached the country from the Red Sea.

∎ Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, said in a televised speech that while Iran will not start a war, it will "respond strongly" to "an oppressive country or force (that) wants to bully us," CNN reported.

∎ Israel's military continued intensive military operations throughout Gaza on Friday. On X, the military said it killed 20 militants in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, and attacked Hamas infrastructure in central and northern parts of the territory.

∎ The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, an independent aid group, said Israeli troops killed several displaced civilians and injured several others at the organization's building in Khan Younis. The Israeli military has not responded to the accusation.

Three US soldiers killed by drone in Yemen promoted posthumously

The U.S. Army Reserve posthumously promoted Sgt. William Rivers to the rank of staff sergeant after the drone attack Jan. 28 that killed him and two other soldiers at their base in Jordan. The attack set the stage for the Pentagon to retaliate against the Iranian-backed militias it blames for the attack.

Rivers was promoted in recognition of his “exceptional courage, dedication, and leadership,” the Army Reserve announced Friday. Sergeants Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett were also promoted after their deaths.

President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin planned to be at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Friday where the remains of the soldiers will be returned home.

US attacks on Houthi combat assets in Yemen continue

The U.S. military continued attacks on combat assets in parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, a rebel group that's targeted Navy and commercial ships in the Red Sea since December.

Three strikes were carried out on Friday by U.S. and British forces in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah, the Associated Press reported, citing Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news channel.

Late Thursday, U.S. Central Command said it fought off a Houthi drone over the Gulf of Aden and an explosive sea drone heading toward the international shipping lane in the Red Sea. Two Houthi missiles that appeared aimed at a cargo ship missed the mark and fell in the water, CENTCOM said in a social media posting.

The Houthis began their missile and drone campaign on Red Sea shipping lanes in mid-November, forcing cargo vessels to seek other routes and raising the cost of shipping. The Houthis say the attacks are meant to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, ravaged by the Israeli military retaliation to the Oct. 7 Hamas assaults.

Iran-backed militia says it will not stop targeting US forces in Iraq

An Iran-backed militia in Iraq said it will continue targeting American troops in the Middle East, even after a powerful pro-Iran group announced a temporary suspension of its military operations against the U.S.

Akram al-Kaabi, leader of the Harakat al-Nujaba militia, said Friday the group he leads will continue attacks against U.S. forces until troops withdraw from Iraq and Israel ceases its offensive in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi, secretary-general of Kataib Hezbollah, said the militia’s fighters would adopt a “temporary passive defense" and warned against "hostile American action." His group, also called the Hezbollah Brigades, is the strongest among a collection of Iran-backed militias known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

The White House blames the Islamic Resistance in Iraq for the drone strike on Sunday that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan.

Israel's military turns focus on overcrowded city of Rafah

A top Israeli official said the military will turn the focus of its military in southern Gaza to Rafah, where more than 1 million civilians have sought refuge from bombardment and ground combat.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X Thursday that the military "dismantled" Hamas' footholds in Khan Younis, another city in southern Gaza, and will "continue to Rafah."

More than half the population of Gaza has packed into Rafah over the last several months amid an intensifying offensive by Israel's military and orders to evacuate to the south. In recent days, thousands more have arrived.

Those in the overcrowded city are living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open. Human rights groups have warned about the rampant spread of diseases in Rafah amid a shortage of clean water, food and sewage infrastructure.

"Rafah is now a pressure cooker of despair," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. aid coordination office, said on Friday, "and we fear for what happens next.”

Contributing: Associated Press; John Bacon, Jorge L. Ortiz