Hamas frees 2 American hostages, even as Israel airstrikes continue in southern Gaza

Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since militants rampaged through southern Israel Oct. 7. The hostage release Friday came even as Israeli airstrikes continued to hit southern Gaza, an area swelled by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions.

Israel was also evacuating a sizable town near the Lebanese border in the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.

Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy airstrikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, where civilians had been told to seek safety amid Israel's bombardment of areas closer to the Israeli border.

The U.N. secretary general is at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza trying to find a way to get badly needed aid into the enclave.

The war, which is in its 14th day on Friday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that 4,137 Palestinians have been killed and more than 13,000 others wounded.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel. In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military has said.

Currently:

1. Israel says Hamas has released two U.S. hostages who had been held in Gaza for two weeks.

2. U.S. President Joe Biden meets with European leaders to assure them the U.S. can deliver wartime aid to Ukraine and Israel.

3. Israel says it wants to eradicate Hamas and other resistance fighters in Gaza Strip but doesn't plan to take responsibility for the besieged region after the war.

4. Thousands have been displaced from Lebanese border towns.

5. Demonstrations have erupted in cities worldwide to protest the war.

Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:

EGYPT HOSTS SUMMIT WITH REGIONAL LEADERS, WESTERN OFFICIALS

CAIRO Egypt is hosting dozens of regional leaders and senior Western officials for a summit on the war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

The meeting on Saturday in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, just east of Cairo, will discuss ways to de-escalate the fighting and seek a cease-fire amid mounting concerns about a regional conflict, Egypt's state-run media reported. Among those attending the summit are the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian Authority.

Also attending are the prime ministers of Italy, Spain, Greece and Canada and the president of the European Council, according to the state-run Al-Ahram daily newspaper. Foreign ministers from Germany, France, the U.K. and Japan are also attending, the paper reported.

PAKISTAN LEADER SPEAKS WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT

ISLAMABAD Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by phone to discuss the "latest situation resulting from the ongoing brutalities of Israeli occupation forces against innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank," a Pakistani government statement said Saturday.

Kakar expressed Pakistan's strong condemnation of the Israeli strikes on Gaza, the statement added. Kakar described the Israeli strikes on Gaza "as deplorable and willful acts of Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians." Both leaders emphasized the need for the international community "to urge Israel to immediately halt the bloodshed," it added.

The two sides agreed on the necessity of lifting the blockade on Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical assistance to affected people. Pakistan dispatched its first batch of assistance to Palestinian people on a plane that landed in Egypt on Friday.

BIDEN THINKS HAMAS ATTACK LINKED TO EFFORTS ON ISRAEL-SAUDI RELATIONS

WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said he thinks Hamas' initial attack on Israel was tied in part to efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an initiative that Biden was trying to bring to fruition.

"They knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis," the U.S. president said Friday, speaking at a fundraiser.

IRAN-BACKED MILITIAS IN IRAQ WARN U.S. FORCES TO LEAVE OR FACE MORE ATTACKS

BAGHDAD A group of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq said U.S. forces "must leave immediately" or their bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region will continue to come under attack.

Militant groups have launched rocket and drone attacks in recent days against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, most of which were claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The group has said the attacks are retaliation for Washington's support of Israel and a warning not to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war.

"These are only warning messages to them, and serious work has not yet begun," the militias said in a statement.

The statement concluded by saying that if Israel launches a ground invasion into Gaza, "watch the border with Jordan carefully." It did not elaborate.

EGYPT OFFICIAL SAYS AID TRUCKS ENTERED RAFAH CROSSING BUT HAVEN'T PASSED INTO GAZA STRIP

CAIRO An Egypt official said two aid-packed trucks entered the Egyptian side of the border crossing early Saturday, but that they have not passed through into the Gaza Strip.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not briefed to speak with the media.

Israel announced Wednesday that aid would be allowed into Gaza from Egypt, via the Rafah crossing, but the border into the besieged territory has remained closed. Egypt says the crossing has been damaged by Israeli air strikes.