(ROME and LONDON) — Pope Francis’ “critical clinical condition” has shown a “slight improvement,” the Vatican said on Monday, as the 88-year-old pontiff remains hospitalized following a pneumonia diagnosis.
“In view of the complexity of the clinical picture, the doctors are still cautious about the prognosis,” the Vatican press office said in a statement.
The office said there were “no episodes of asthmatic respiratory crisis” on Monday, and some laboratory tests “have improved.”
“Oxygen therapy continues, albeit with slightly reduced flows and oxygen percentage,” the office said.
Francis was “resting” on Monday morning after spending his 10th night in the hospital, the Vatican press office said earlier in the day. He resumed some work activities Monday afternoon, the office said.
The pope has been eating normally, is awake and is continuing his medical therapies, Vatican sources told ABC News. He’s also in good humor and isn’t suffering from pain, the sources said.
“Pope Francis thanks all the people of God who have gathered in these days to pray for his health,” the Vatican said.
Francis has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14 following a bout with bronchitis.
The pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, underwent another round of clinical tests on Sunday morning, Vatican sources told ABC News.
Officials said Sunday he remained in critical condition.
The pontiff was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.
A rosary will be said in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Monday, led by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. That rosary is seen as a way for the church to express its “closeness to the Pope and the sick,” said the director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni.
President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron wished the pope well during remarks from the White House on Monday.
“We wish him well, we want him to get well,” Trump said when asked about the leaders’ message to the pope. “It’s a very serious situation, but we do want him to get well, if it’s possible.”
“We do think about the pope and we wish him recovery and a prompt recovery,” Macron added.
Ukrainians have suffered a decline in physical and mental health with a need for mental health care, trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the global health agency.
Thousands of people have been injured, and both children and adults are experiencing serious medical conditions and psychological trauma, studies have shown.
“Being a doctor in wartime means returning home after each shift, wishing the war had never happened and praying for its swift end,” Olha Zavyalova, an emergency physician and surgeon from the Dnipro region in southeastern Ukraine, said in a statement.
“People are exhausted — both the patients and the health care workers. Yet, as medical professionals, we do not have the luxury of being tired. Our patients need us to keep going and we must push through the fatigue to continue delivering the care they deserve,” Zavyalova said.
An October 2024 assessment from the WHO European Region found that 68% of Ukrainians reported a decline in health compared to before the war. Mental health concerns were the most prevalent health issue, reported by 46% of those surveyed, the WHO found.
This was followed by mental health disorders — such as anxiety and depression — reported by 41% of those surveyed, and neurological disorders reported by 38%.
Access to health and medical care continues to be a struggle, with one in four people reporting a decrease in access to medical services since the start of the war in February 2022, according to the WHO.
In front-line regions, including the most affected areas, only about 50% of residents have been able to access medical care compared to 57% in the capital, Kyiv, and 60% in the rest of the country, according to the October 2024 report.
Internally displaced people are among the most affected when it comes to lack of medical care. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 4 million Ukrainians were internally displaced as of February 2025.
The WHO said 13% of internally displaced people lack access to primary health care facilities compared to 6% of those not displaced, and 9% don’t have access to a family doctor compared to 4% of those not displaced.
The October 2024 WHO report also found the cost of medicines and treatment to be a barrier to accessing care, with 35% postponing medical care due to financial challenges.
Additionally, there is a need for trauma care and rehabilitation, according to the WHO. The agency, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, said that by mid-2024, 100,000 amputations had been performed due to the war. Meanwhile, there is a severe shortage of trauma specialists, prosthetics and rehabilitation services, the WHO said.
The WHO also warned about attacks on the health care system and workers. Since the start of the war, the agency said it has documented at least 2,254 attacks, with 42 attacks so far in 2025 alone, which resulted in 12 injuries and three deaths.
Amid the attacks was damage to the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv — one of the most well-respected children’s hospitals in the country — when five Ukrainian cities fell under attack in July 2024, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the time. At least two people were killed in the attack on the hospital, including one female physician, and at least seven children were injured, according to officials.
In November 2022, a newborn baby was killed when a missile strike hit a maternity hospital in the town of Vilniansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the local mayor told ABC News at the time.
The WHO said it’s focused on rebuilding Ukraine’s health care system, including installing primary health care clinics in affected regions and providing critical care including immunizations and mental health care, as well as treating HIV, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.
“Health is the foundation of peace and recovery. Rebuilding health systems means restoring hope, dignity and securing the future,” the WHO wrote in its release.
(LONDON) — Russia launched 185 attack drones into Ukraine in an overnight attack coinciding with the third anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, as allied leaders gathered in Kyiv to express their solidarity with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air force said it tracked 185 Shahed attack drones of various types launched into the country from several directions. The air force said Ukrainian forces shot down 113 drones with 71 others lost in flight without causing any damage.
“As a result of the enemy attack, the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kyiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions suffered,” the air force said.
Sunday night’s attack follows a record-breaking drone barrage on Saturday night, with Russia launching 267 UAVs into Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday, “Every day, our people stand against aerial terror.”
Ukraine continued its own long-range strike campaign into Russia on Sunday night. The Russian Defense Ministry reported the downing of 22 Ukrainian drones over four Russian regions.
Local authorities in Ryazan region — neighboring Moscow region to its southeast — reported a fire at an industrial site which they said was caused by falling drone debris.
Pavel Malkov, the head of the regional administration, said in a post to Telegram that air defenses shot down two drones over the area. “Due to the falling debris, a fire broke out on the territory of one enterprise,” Malkov said, adding that there were no casualties.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that the Ryazan oil refinery was targeted. ABC News could not immediately verify the claim.
“The refinery has a processing capacity of 17.1 million tons of oil per year, making it one of the five largest refineries in the Russian Federation,” Kovalenko wrote. “It produces gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation kerosene, fuel oil and petrochemicals.”
“Aviation fuel plays a special role, which is critically important for the front-line aviation of the Russian army and strategic long-range aviation, which strikes Ukraine,” Kovalenko said. “This is the third attack on the plant since the beginning of the year.”
(LONDON) — Before the final votes in Germany’s election were even counted, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, who is set to become the next chancellor, promised a major shift in relations with the U.S.
In a post-election debate, he promised to confront head-on a new reality — that the Trump administration looks to overturn about 80 years of policy and raises the prospect of abandoning security guarantees for Europe.
“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Merz said Sunday.
Merz added, “I never thought I would have to say something like this on a television program. But after Donald Trump’s statements last week at the latest, it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”
Merz’s conservative CDU party emerged as the largest party in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, with 28.6% of the vote. The SPD, the party of the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, came in third place.
Trump and members of his both his administrations have called over the years for U.S. allies to invest more in NATO, and for Europe to take responsibility for its own security.
“However, we’ve also made it clear for years — decades, even — that it is unacceptable that the United States and the United States taxpayer continues to bear the burden not only of the cost of the war in Ukraine but of the defense of — of Europe,” Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said last week.
He added, “We fully support our NATO Allies. We fully support the Article 5 commitment. But it’s time for our European allies to step up.”
Merz also talked about NATO, suggesting there may even be need to replace the military alliance with a new European security structure.
“I am very curious to see how we are heading toward the NATO summit at the end of June,” he said. “Whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly.” His remarks were made before the final votes were counted.
This month, Vice President JD Vance made a speech at the Munich Security Conference, telling European leaders the biggest threats they faced were from “within,” downplaying the security risks posed by China or Russia.
As Germany seeks to recalibrate its relationship with the U.S., the second party in the elections, the far-right Alternative for Germany, were jubilant at their strongest ever showing.
Notably backed by Elon Musk, the AFD’s strong showing, which doubled the level of support they received last time out, was hailed as a victory of its own.
It’s the strongest showing of a far-right party in Germany since World War II.
“We have achieved a historic result. We have never been stronger in the federal parliament,” Alice Weidel, the co-chair of the party, told a cheering crowd. “We have become the second strongest force as Alternative for Germany. And we have now firmly established ourselves as a people’s party.”
Musk on Monday said in a social media post that it was “only a matter of time” until AfD wins an election.
(LONDON) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law early on Feb. 24, 2022, under Kyiv skies still tinged black by the smoke from Russian missile strikes.
Three years later, the ravaged nation is still living under the extraordinary powers granted to the government in order to sustain its defensive and existential war against President Vladimir Putin’s invading Russian forces. Powers that Russia is wielding to undermine the country’s wartime leader.
Under the Ukrainian constitution, elections — whether presidential or parliamentary — cannot be held while martial law is in force.
Moscow has for months been seeking to weaponize Ukraine’s democratic freeze, with Putin and his allies framing Zelenskyy as illegitimate and therefore unsuitable to take part in peace talks.
President Donald Trump now appears to be lending his weight to the Kremlin’s campaign.
On Wednesday, Trump criticized his Ukrainian counterpart as “a dictator without elections” — prompting widespread consternation of Trump’s remarks both within the U.S. and especially among European allies.
Trump also claimed — without offering evidence — that Zelenskyy’s public approval rating was “down to 4%.” Recent major surveys show Zelenskyy’s approval rating at above 50%.
The push for new elections is “not a Russia thing,” Trump said. “That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.”
A source close to the Ukrainian government — who did not wish to be named as they were not authorized to speak publicly — told ABC News they believe the push is coming from those who “believe that Zelenskyy, personally, is a problem because he is not compliant enough, he’s not simply going to accept anything that they propose or anything that they demand.”
Kyiv has repeatedly warned that elections during war time would be severely destabilizing. If Ukraine is forced into a rush and insecure election, “We could see absolute political chaos in Kyiv,” the source said.
In reality, until now, the legitimacy argument has come almost exclusively from Moscow.
“You can negotiate with anyone, but because of his illegitimacy, he has no right to sign anything,” Putin said of Zelenskyy in January, repeating his false claim that Ukraine’s inability to hold elections in 2024 meant that the president’s term had expired.
The country’s parliament and its speaker “remain the only legitimate authorities in Ukraine,” Putin said in May 2024.
Foreign allies of Kyiv have dismissed Putin’s claims, noting the totalitarian nature of Kremlin rule and Russia’s own carefully managed electoral theater, that has kept Putin in power for more than two decades.
They have also pushed back Trump’s attacks on Zelenskyy, with most leaders expressing solidarity with him. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — for example — said it was “wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy democratic legitimacy.” Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said it was “reasonable” not to hold elections during wartime, following a call with Zelenskyy.
Trump’s domestic allies mobilized to support the president and criticize Zelenskyy. Elon Musk, for example, said Trump “is right to ignore” the Ukrainian president. Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters, “We need elections in Ukraine,” while Sen. Josh Hawley likewise said Zelenskyy “should hold an election.”
Most Ukrainians politicians and experts have warned that any contest held during wartime would be vulnerable to Russian interference, could not guarantee the representation of soldiers deployed on the battlefield or refugees displaced either internally or abroad, and would threaten to destabilize the state at its most vulnerable moment.
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament representing Zelenskyy’s party and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News that Putin “wants to use an election campaign during the war to undermine stability with Ukraine.”
“Putin is trying to push this narrative through someone in Trump’s entourage,” Merezhko said.
The Trump effect
Trump’s recent attacks on Zelenskyy appear to have bolstered the latter’s political position. Allies and rivals alike rallied around the Ukrainian president’s office in the aftermath of Trump’s broadsides.
“Only Ukrainians have the right to decide when and under what conditions they should change their government,” former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko wrote on Facebook. “None of us will allow such elections before the end of the war. Our enemies and even our allies may not like it, but it is true.”
Serhiy Prytula — another prominent political figure — urged compatriots to “ignore that rhetoric and ‘dictator’ accusations from Trump.”
The source close to the Ukrainian government said that certain figures in Trump’s orbit want Zelenskyy replaced by a more malleable successor, one less likely to push back on controversial American efforts to force a peace deal.
“According to their logic, the problem here is not Russia or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s the ‘the ongoing war,'” the source said. “What is the mechanism for changing that, and in their view creating the conditions for someone who would be more compliant in Kyiv? It’s elections.”
The source said Trump’s team are wrong to think that Zelenskyy is on unstable political ground. “They’re operating under all of these false assumptions, one of which is that if you hold elections in Ukraine, it will necessarily result in the success of a candidate who is willing to bend to whatever it is that Trump is demanding,” they said.
“I don’t think that they have anyone in mind,” the source added. “I just think that they’re confident in their ability to either create that individual in a way, or to cut some sort of private deal with someone.”
Even if the U.S. and Russia succeeded in unseating Zelenskyy in favor of a more pliant successor, “if you end up with leadership in Kyiv that is willing to cut some sort of deal that is absolutely unacceptable to a large segment of Ukrainian society, we could see fragmentation, even of the Ukrainian military,” they said.
“If the Trump administration pushes this government, or any Ukrainian government, too far, I think that this scenario becomes a real one, and this is certainly not in Ukraine’s interest or Europe’s interest, but I don’t see how it’s in the interest of the United States either.”
Zekenskyy’s challengers
For now, there appears little in the way of a concrete challenge to the incumbent.
In Kyiv, Valerii Zaluzhnyi — the former Ukrainian commander-in-chief who is now serving as Kyiv’s ambassador to the U.K. — is widely seen as the only real potential challenger to Zelenskyy.
Zaluzhnyi publicly fell out with the president and his team — prime among them Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office — in late 2023 over public comments framing the war as a “stalemate.”
It is not clear whether Zaluzhnyi would stand for election. The former commander-in-chief has dodged questions about any future political ambitions.
But a November poll by the Social Monitoring Center organization put the former general at the top of preferred potential presidential candidates backed by 27% of 1,200 respondents. Zelenskyy trailed on 16%, with former President Petro Poroshenko on 7%.
A February survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) indicated diminished trust in the current president compared to the extraordinary highs of the early months of the war. But it still remains high compared to most democratically-elected leaders. Public trust in Zelenskyy among 1,000 respondents was at 57% in February, compared with 77% in December 2023 and 90% in May 2022, around three months after Russia’s invasion. The latest poll showed a 5% bump in trust from December 2024.
Another recent poll by the Identity and Borders in Flux project in partnership with KIIS published on Feb. 19, showed two-thirds of Ukrainians approve of Zelenskyy’s actions.
The KIIS poll found that trust in Ukraine’s civilian government overall fell to 26% — a decline from 52% in 2023. In contrast, those surveyed reported overwhelming 96% trust in the Ukrainian military, with 88% saying they trust Zaluzhnyi.
The showdown between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi ended with the former assuming an ambassadorial posting to the U.K., in which the former general has maintained a relatively low media profile and avoided any public revival of tensions with the president.
The same cannot be said for Poroshenko — another potential electoral rival — with whom the president is now locked in a very public battle. Earlier this month, Zelenskyy signed a decree sanctioning Poroshenko and several other politically connected wealthy Ukrainians for allegedly undermining national security.
Poroshenko dismissed the sanctions as politically motivated and unconstitutional. “Why are they doing this? Hatred, fear and revenge,” he said in a statement. “And because they have elections. Not us. The government.”
The IBF project poll showed a much lower proportion — 26-32% — of Ukrainians would vote for Zelensky in an election. But that still far outpaces Poroshenko, his nearest current rival, and remains far above the 4% figure put forward by Trump.
Zelenskyy has been unclear on his own political goals. In 2022, the president said he will “definitely” remain in his post until Kyiv achieves victory. “After that, I don’t know,” he added. “I’m not thinking about that now, I’m not ready.”
Peace could prove perilous for Zelenskyy if Ukrainian voters do not agree with its terms.
One former official — who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation — told ABC News the president “needs to blame Trump” if Ukraine is indeed forced into a controversial peace deal.
“He cannot stop this war now and take responsibility, because for him, it will be political suicide,” they said.
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for the “absolute heroism” of Ukrainians over three years defending against Russia’s invasion, of which Monday marked the third anniversary.
“Three years of resistance,” Zelenskyy wrote in a statement on social media. “Three years of gratitude. Three years of absolute heroism of Ukrainians.”
“I am proud of Ukraine! I thank everyone who defends and supports it,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Everyone who works for Ukraine. And may the memory of all those who gave their lives for our state and people be eternal.”
A host of foreign leaders traveled to Ukraine on Monday to show their solidarity with Ukraine and Zelenskyy, who is under growing pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration to sign a controversial agreement handing the U.S. access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian resources.
Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, wrote on X on Monday that “nearly all key details” of the deal “are finalized.” Kyiv, she added, hopes for the agreement to be signed soon.
The proposed deal, plus nascent peace talks between the U.S. and Russia without Ukrainian involvement, have frayed ties between Kyiv and Washington, D.C. in recent weeks. Trump’s approach — which has included multiple public attacks on Zelenskyy’s conduct and legitimacy — has also prompted pushback from other allied leaders.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will represent the European Union in Kyiv on Monday. Von der Leyen used her visit to announce a new $3.6 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Other foreign leaders arriving in the Ukrainian capital include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
European leaders will arrive in Kyiv as the EU approves its 16th sanctions package against Russia since Moscow’s invasion began three years ago. The bloc said in a press release that it added 48 people and 35 entities to its sanctions list.
The package also introduced measures against another 74 vessels suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” used to circumvent sanctions, plus new sanctions related to Russia’s financial sector.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said in a statement that the new package “not only targets the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, video game controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions and propaganda outlets used to spout lies.”
“There is no doubt about who the aggressor is, who should pay and be held accountable for this war,” she added. “Every sanction package deprives the Kremlin of funds to wage war. With talks underway to end Russia’s aggression, we must put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. Sanctions provide leverage.”
Russia, meanwhile, said President Vladimir Putin spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone, a Kremlin readout of the call describing the conversation as “lengthy” and “warm.”
Notably, the Kremlin said Xi expressed “support for the dialogue that has begun between Russia and the United States” and “its readiness to assist in finding ways to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian conflict.”
It also hailed China and Russia’s relationship as “the most important stabilizing factor in world affairs.”
(ROME and LONDON) — Pope Francis is “resting” on Monday morning after spending his 10th night in the hospital, the Vatican press office said.
“The night passed well, the Pope slept and is resting,” the office said in a short statement.
Francis has been eating normally, is awake and is continuing his medical therapies, a source at the Vatican told ABC News. He’s also in good humor and isn’t suffering from pain, the source said.
Francis has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14 following a bout with bronchitis.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, underwent another round of clinical tests on Sunday morning, Vatican sources told ABC News.
Officials said Sunday he remained in critical condition. Medical staff were expected to issue an update from Rome later on Monday.
The pontiff was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.
A rosary will be said in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Monday, led by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. That rosary is seen as a way for the church to express its “closeness to the Pope and the sick,” said the director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ROME and LONDON — Pope Francis rested overnight in the hospital, the Vatican said on Sunday.
“The night passed peacefully. The Pope rested,” the Holy See said in a short statement.
The 88-year-old pontiff underwent another round of clinical tests on Sunday morning, Vatican sources told ABC News. A medical update was expected to be released later in the day.
Francis continued on Sunday to receive oxygen therapy to aid his breathing, the sources said. Francis on Saturday morning suffered a “prolonged” asthmatic respiratory crisis, during which doctors supplied him with oxygen, the Vatican said.
The pontiff in a written prayer released on Sunday said he was “confidently continuing” his hospitalization, adding that “rest is also part of the therapy!”
“I sincerely thank the doctors and health workers of this hospital for the attention they are showing me and the dedication with which they carry out their service among the sick,” he said.
Asthmatic respiratory crisis indicates the pope struggled to maintain a sufficient oxygen level when breathing on his own, according to medical experts.
The Vatican on Saturday said the pope, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, remained in critical condition.
The pope has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14 following a bout with bronchitis.
He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.
Apart from his medical team and security, the pope has not had visitors apart from his closest aides, sources said.
ABC News’ Ivan Pereira and Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
Newly-released Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov gestures as he arrives in a vehicle at Beilinson Hospital in the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva in central Israel on February 22, 2025. Three more Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas militants at a ceremony in central Gaza on February 22 after two others were released in the southern part of the Palestinian territory. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Hamas released six living hostages on Saturday in separate locations of the Gaza Strip — including the city of Rafah in the south and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the enclave.
Stages were set up in each location on Saturday morning, surrounded by Hamas fighters and crowds of onlookers.
Two hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39 — were released following a signing ceremony in Rafah.
“According to the information communicated by the Red Cross, two hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency said. “The IDF is prepared to receive additional hostages who are due to be transferred to the Red Cross in the near future.”
Meanwhile, after a signing ceremony between Red Cross and Hamas officials, three hostages — Eliya Cohen, 27; Omer Shem Tov, 22; and Omer Wenkrat, 23 — were released in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
“According to the information communicated by the Red Cross, three hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” read a separate joint statement from the IDF and ISA. “The IDF is prepared to receive an additional hostage who is due to be transferred to the Red Cross in the near future.”
A sixth hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was the last to be released, according to Israeli officials and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He is being accompanied by Israeli forces to a meeting point in southern Israel to reunite with his family.
“Israeli citizens embrace the six returnees who returned to Israel today,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
In exchange for these hostages, Israel is expected to release hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons. Based on previous exchanges, this part usually begins after the hostages are back on Israeli territory.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Pope Francis has not yet fully recovered from illness, but he is not in danger of losing his life, doctors from Gemelli Hospital said during a press conference on Friday.
Pope Francis was hospitalized with a respiratory tract infection and now has pneumonia in both lungs. He has been hospitalized since last week.
“The pope is fine, but the reason we are here is it has been one week in the hospital,” doctors said in English, saying that Francis is 88 years old and mortal, but adding he has retained his humor in the situation.
The pope was admitted to a hospital last week for “necessary tests” and to continue his ongoing bronchitis treatment, the Vatican said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
