Hamas's armed wing released the names of three Israeli captives to be freed on Saturday in the fourth hostage-prisoner swap of the Gaza ceasefire.

Palestinian militants have so far freed 15 hostages since the ceasefire took effect on January 19.

Israel on Thursday formally banned the main United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory despite heavy diplomatic backlash, a move that humanitarian officials warn could have a disastrous impact on aid delivery and jeopardize regional stability in the long term.

The order against the agency, known as UNRWA, went into effect at midnight on Thursday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. But hours later, there was no change on the ground except in the most cosmetic sense — right-wing activists clambered up the high stone walls of UNRWA's headquarters compound in east Jerusalem, yanked down the blue-and-white U.N. flag, hoisting up Israel's blue-and-white instead.

Israel has suspended the release of Palestinian prisoners "until further notice", army radio reported Thursday, right in the middle of the third exchange for hostages of the Gaza ceasefire.

"The political echelon announced the suspension of the operation to release the terrorists until further notice," the radio said citing a security source, after eight hostages released in Gaza were back on Israeli soil.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said discussions with a visiting Qatari delegation on Thursday included a "comprehensive framework" for cooperation on reconstruction in the war-torn country.

"We discussed a comprehensive framework for bilateral cooperation concerning reconstruction," Shaibani said during a press conference with visiting Qatari minister of state at the foreign ministry, Mohammed al-Khulaifi. He said their talks covered "vital sectors including infrastructure... investment, banking services, paving the way for economic recovery, health and education".

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting Qatar on Thursday to meet leaders of Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, a ministry statement said.

It said he would meet senior Hamas officials "to hail the victory of the Palestinian people through 16 months of legendary resistance" in the Gaza Strip.

Militants in the Gaza Strip released eight hostages on Thursday, handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds as part of a swap that is set to see 110 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons later in the day.

Agam Berger, a 20-year-old soldier, was handed over first at a site in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza, followed hours later by two more Israelis and five Thai farm workers who were handed over amid a chaotic crowd in the city of Khan Younis.

Israel's defense minister indicated Wednesday that the military plans to keep soldiers in the flashpoint city of Jenin for the foreseeable future, as Israeli forces have focused on a major crackdown in the northern West Bank during the ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel Katz pledged that the urban refugee camp in Jenin — long a bastion for Palestinian militancy — “will not return to what it was.”

The leader of Syria’s former rebels who toppled President Bashar Assad last month was named the country’s interim president on Wednesday as ex-insurgents also cancelled the existing constitution, saying a new charter would be drafted soon.

The appointment of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a rebel who was once aligned with al-Qaida, as the country’s president “in the transitional phase” came after a meeting of the insurgents in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

A list of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners that Israel is set to release on Thursday in exchange for three hostages includes Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director whose dramatic jailbreak in 2021 thrilled Palestinians and stunned the Israeli security establishment.

Zubeidi once led the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade — an armed group affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority — which carried out deadly attacks against Israelis during a Palestinian uprising between 2000 and 2005.

Palestinian health authorities said an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank has killed at least 10 people late Wednesday.

The Israeli military said the strike by a warplane targeted a Palestinian militant cell in the area based on intelligence.