Thursday Briefing: An Israel-Hamas hostage exchange

February 27, 2025

	By Emmett Lindner

Good morning. We’re covering a hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas and a plane crash in Sudan that killed dozens of people.

Plus, the female gaze behind the camera.

A crowd of people, many wearing orange and carrying Israeli flags.

A crowd in Tel Aviv watched a broadcast of the funeral of three hostages whose remains were returned to Israel. Ariel Schalit/Associated Press

Hamas and Israel to move forward with another swap

What may be the last hostage exchange of this phase of the cease-fire was set to go forward late last night. Israel and Hamas have agreed to exchange the remains of four Israelis for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Israel said, and mediators guaranteed that Hamas would hand over the coffins without “humiliating ceremonies.”

The first phase of the cease-fire is set to end in the coming days, and about 25 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others are still in Gaza, according to Israel. It is unclear whether serious negotiations on a second phase have even begun.

Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, was expected in the region yesterday in an attempt to move the talks forward. But his trip has been delayed, the U.S. said.

Mourning: Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, hostages who died in captivity and were returned by Hamas last week, were buried yesterday amid a show of solidarity and grief.

Military: Israel struck targets in southern Syria yesterday as part of a “new policy” of ensuring the area was “demilitarized,” the defense minister said.

Also in the Middle East: Syrian leaders concluded an anticipated “national dialogue” on Tuesday, but some said the talks fell short of promises of a representative government.

An operator at the controls of a machine looking through a small window.

Extracting titanium ore in Kirovohrad, Ukraine, this month. Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press

A Ukraine minerals deal vaguely referred to security

A draft of an agreement obtained by The Times yesterday, which calls for Ukraine to hand over revenue from natural resources to the U.S., contains new language that the U.S. “supports Ukraine’s effort to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said yesterday that the reference had been a priority in negotiations.

Previous drafts did not have the phrase on security guarantees. It does not signal any specific U.S. commitment to safeguarding Ukraine’s security, and it was not clear if the draft was the final version, but the agreement is seen as opening the door to possible continued backing. Trump said that he and Zelensky would meet tomorrow in Washington.

Here’s what we know about the deal.

Outcry: A rare protest at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine reflected the country’s fears over Trump.

More on Trump

The Trump administration proposed affixing levies reaching $1.5 million on Chinese-made ships arriving at American ports.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain is expected to meet with Trump today.
Elon Musk attended the first cabinet meeting of Trump’s second term, in another show of his outsize influence on the president.
U.S. and Russian officials will meet to discuss restoring embassy staff in each other’s countries, Russia’s foreign minister said.

Prominent conservative activists have been able to find a direct pipeline to Musk on X.
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said that more than 100 intelligence officers were fired for sexually explicit chats.
Trump proposed a new visa program that could lead to permanent residency for those willing to pay about $5 million.
Trump is positioning the U.S. to stand with the globe’s biggest rogue states in opposition to the countries that have been America’s best friends since World War II or before.
Track Trump’s actions since he took office.

Khartoum, Sudan, in December. Osman Bakir/Anadolu, via Getty Images

Dozens killed in a plane crash in Sudan

At least 46 people were killed in Sudan when a military aircraft crashed into a residential area in Khartoum, the capital, officials said yesterday. It was one of the deadliest plane crashes in the country’s recent history and added to the devastation of nearly three years of civil war.

The cause of the crash was not identified. The Sudanese military said that the plane was carrying civilians and military personnel and that it had crashed Tuesday evening while taking off from an air base. The base is crucial to the military’s plans to retake the city.

MORE TOP NEWS

The outbreak has been traced, tentatively, to three children who ate a bat, the W.H.O. said. Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times

Congo: An unidentified illness has killed scores of people and infected hundreds in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the W.H.O. reported.
Climate: The European Commission proposed to greatly loosen requirements on companies to report on the impacts of their operations.
Chile: The government imposed a curfew and sent the army and national police officers to patrol the streets in response to a sweeping blackout.
New York: The share of New York City residents in poverty is nearly double the national average, according to a report.
U.S.: An unvaccinated child died of measles in Texas, officials said, the first known death from an outbreak that began in January.
Energy: The energy giant BP said it would increase spending on oil and gas while sharply paring back clean energy investments.
Religion: Christianity’s decline in the U.S. appears to have halted, with young people contributing to the shift, according to a major Pew Research survey.
South Africa: Firefighters in Cape Town battled a wildfire that broke out in Table Mountain National Park and spread toward the city, local authorities said.

Sports

Tennis: Andrey Rublev returns to Dubai, the scene of a low moment in which he was disqualified for losing his cool. His 2024 only got worse.
Soccer: The 17-year-old Jesus Fortea has yet to make a senior appearance for Real Madrid, after the team caused a rift by hiring him away from Atletico.
Formula 1: Formula 1’s governing body is cracking down with a new set of rules regarding misconduct, including profanity, after a saga escalated during the offseason.

MORNING READ

Robert Ormerod for The New York Times

In Scotland, half of all the privately held rural land is controlled by 421 owners. But how much land is too much for one person to control?

An American developer’s plan to turn a Scottish estate into a luxury community has given this question new weight in a country that abolished feudal land ownership only in 2000. A new bill could unwind this long history of inequality.

Lives lived: Marian Turski, a Holocaust survivor who after World War II warned the world about the dangers of indifference to injustice, died at 98.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Gage Spex wears a blue dress and sits surrounded by dozens of dolls on a black sofa.

Allison Lippy

Barbie’s Dreamhouse: The performance artist Gage Spex has amassed a collection of over 200 of Mattel’s famous toys.
Tangled up: The color blue has an unshakable hold on musicians, artists and writers. Why?
More than a feeling: What does it really mean to be worthy of love? Today’s “Modern Love” podcast tries to explain.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A collage showing the frame of a broken mirror; the shards are fragments of black and white film stills, focusing on women’s eyes.

Chantal Jahchan

Women watching women

Movies contain a multitude of women’s bodies in different sizes, colors and muscle tones — trim, bulky, parched, surgically altered. But talking about those bodies can be understandably fraught, writes Manohla Dargis, our chief film critic. Having more women holding the cameras has helped expand the kinds of women we see onscreen.

In the 2024 film “The Last Showgirl,” a dancer embodies a fantasy onstage. But off it, she faces the everyday anxieties of a world where commodified bodies come with expiration dates. The film’s director, Gia Coppola, sees film as a metaphor for the American dream. Dargis writes that it is also an emblem for women in Hollywood.

Read more about the female gaze behind the camera.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Top down view of a plate of shrimp in red sauce.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cook: This one-skillet shrimp dish is inspired by eggs in purgatory.

Read: Our columnist recommends books featuring centuries of L.G.B.T.Q. love stories.

Plan: Bolivia’s wine country boasts top notch wines and untouched wilderness.

Watch: Here are three great documentaries you can stream now.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Emmett

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition from The New York Times.

To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Asia Pacific Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request.

Subscribe to The Times Get The New York Times app

Connect with us on: