In Gaza, an agreement has been reached for the ceasefire deal to continue. After talks in Cairo, Hamas announced it will free three more Israeli hostages on Saturday. Israel had threatened to return to “intense fighting” if the hostages were not freed as scheduled. In a statement, Hamas said an agreement was reached on “securing housing for our people and urgently bringing in prefabricated houses 'caravans', tents, heavy equipment, medical supplies, fuel, and the continued flow of relief and everything stipulated in the agreement.”

Israel is continuing to escalate its attacks on the occupied West Bank. The Israeli raids have displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians in Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams and al-Faraa in recent weeks. In Tulkarm, Al Jazeera reports 85% of the population has been displaced. Earlier today, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man at an Israeli checkpoint south of Nablus. Israel also launched a drone strike on Jenin.

Meanwhile, Palestinians have begun to clear rubble in the al-Faraa refugee camp after Israeli troops pulled out of the area.

Mohammad Tayyeh: “This refugee camp is targeted just like other refugee camps, and they want to plant the idea that you have to leave. It is obvious that they are trying to reduce the number of people in the camps or empty them. And they are trying — and everybody knows that — to end the case of refugees completely.”

The BBC is reporting Israel is again attempting to push back its withdrawal from southern Lebanon until at least February 28. This comes as the Israeli broadcaster Kan reports Israel has begun building five strategic outposts in the area, in a sign Israel may try to keep a long-term presence in southern Lebanon. The newly formed Lebanese government has vowed to restore the country’s territorial sovereignty.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed U.S. intelligence agencies believe Israel is considering launching a major attack on Iranian nuclear sites this year. The finding was made by the Biden administration shortly before Donald Trump took office. The Journal reports the intelligence analysis concluded Israel would push the Trump administration to back the strikes.

President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for 90 minutes Wednesday. Trump said they agreed to meet soon and immediately begin negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump then held a separate call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

This came as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke in Brussels, where he said a return to Ukraine’s prewar borders is “unrealistic.” Hegseth also ruled out Ukraine’s future membership in NATO. In response, Germany and other European nations criticized the U.S. for granting Russia major concessions before peace talks have even started. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has traveled to Kyiv to discuss a Trump proposal for Ukraine to give the U.S. access to its natural resources in exchange for continued U.S. military assistance.

The Trump-Putin call came after Russia freed the American teacher Marc Fogel in exchange for a Russian jailed for cybercrimes. Belarus has also released three prisoners, including one American and a journalist who works at the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe.

The Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to oppose Gabbard’s confirmation. Democrats opposed Gabbard over what one senator called her “bizarre fondness for foreign despots,” citing her 2017 meeting with Syria’s then-leader Bashar al-Assad and past comments blaming NATO for Russia’s war on Ukraine. Following her swearing-in Wednesday, Tulsi Gabbard met with India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Washington and is meeting with Trump today.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate advanced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for health secretary, with a final vote expected today.

Trump’s pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, is appearing before a Senate panel today. Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the Department of Education, calling it a “big con job.” On Wednesday, members of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers rallied in front of the Capitol. They were joined by Senator Bernie Sanders.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “We are not going to let them destroy the Department of Education. Department of Educations provide funding for 26 million kids who are living in high-poverty areas all over this country. And we have the radical idea that maybe poor kids deserve the same quality education that rich kids do.”

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors reportedly dropped a probe into Linda McMahon’s estranged husband, Vince McMahon, over the cover-up of sexual assault allegations at the WWE.

Meanwhile, CNN reports scores of probationary workers have been fired at the Education Department and the Small Business Administration since Friday.

Eight inspectors general fired by Trump last month filed a lawsuit arguing their dismissals were “unlawful and unjustified.” Federal law requires a president to give Congress 30 days’ notice and provide a “substantive rationale” before firing Senate-confirmed watchdogs.

This comes as a federal judge on Wednesday lifted a freeze on Trump’s buyout offer for government workers, part of a plan by DOGE — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — to drastically slash the federal workforce. Some 75,000 employees have accepted the buyout so far.

On Wednesday, the newly created House DOGE subcommittee held its first meeting, chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene. Democratic Congressmember Melanie Stansbury called on Elon Musk to testify before the panel as she blasted Republicans for giving him free rein to dismantle government agencies.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury: “Inflation is going up. You want to raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. You want to gut Medicare. You want to gut Medicaid. You’re talking about going after Social Security, after promising that you wouldn’t. I mean, really, what the heck is going on here? We’re not trying to take down Elon Musk as a businessman. This dude is literally breaking the law inside of the federal government. And for a party that is supposed to be 'the party of law and order,' in quotes, I really do not see you holding him accountable and doing your most basic constitutional responsibility in the separation of powers.”

In related news, Drop Site News is reporting DOGE has gained access to the financial management system used by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and is attempting to withdraw federal funding that has already been appropriated by Congress.

Separately, Drop Site News reported Wednesday that armored Cybertrucks made by Elon Musk’s company Tesla are expected to win a State Department contract worth $400 million.

House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a draft budget proposing $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, and at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, including cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs. The plan would also add some $3 trillion to the deficit over a decade and raise the debt limit by $4 trillion. Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Republicans of “pulling a fast one on working people,” adding, “Make no mistake: This GOP plan will raise the cost that American families pay for groceries, healthcare and getting an education — all to fund tax cuts for the ultra-rich.”

The Justice Department is suing New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James over state policies it says interfere with Trump’s crackdown on immigrant communities, including a New York law allowing undocumented New Yorkers to obtain driver’s licenses. The DOJ already launched a similar suit against Illinois. New York Attorney General James responded to the lawsuit, “Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. I am prepared to defend our laws.”

In more immigration news, The New York Times reports at least 53 immigrants deported to Guantánamo Bay by the Trump administration are being guarded by military troops rather than civilian officers.

The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid has led to its first reported death, after a 71-year-old Burmese refugee was sent home from a hospital on the Thailand-Burma border that was funded by the U.S. through the International Rescue Committee. As the hospital closed, Pe Kha Lau lost access to a life-sustaining oxygen tank. This is her son-in-law.

Tin Win: “Every patient was sent back home after the clinic closed down at the camp. Not only my mother-in-law, every patient went back home. Nobody was left there. My mother-in-law was not in critical condition when she returned home. I’m sure nothing would have happened if she still had an oxygen tank. She died due to the lack of oxygen tanks in the camp.”

Other unidentified victims have also reportedly died after health facilities serving refugees from Burma were shuttered.

The halting of U.S. aid has also compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Haiti, hitting a program that provides treatment to AIDS patients, including pregnant mothers, which has been put on hold despite coming under a waiver that should have exempted it. The Trump administration freeze also halted over $13 million in U.S. funding for an international security force in Haiti attempting to curb gang violence.

Meanwhile, a new report by Amnesty International finds worsening gang violence had led to severe and widespread abuses against children, including recruitment, rape, abductions and killings. Amnesty said children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable.

Romania’s Klaus Iohannis resigned as president this week ahead of an impeachment vote over his decision to stay in power after presidential elections were delayed last December. The election was annulled by Romania’s top court, citing Russian state meddling, and pushed to May. Weeks earlier, the ultra-nationalist Călin Georgescu shocked pollsters as he came in with the highest share of votes, sending him to an election runoff.

The family of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who was fatally shot in her kitchen by a sheriff’s deputy, has been awarded a $10 million settlement by Sangamon County in Illinois. Massey had called 911 because she was concerned over a potential prowler.

Public health officials in West Texas have identified at least 22 cases of measles in a county with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state. The cases appear to be clustered around private religious schools.

Meanwhile, Nevada has confirmed its first human case of bird flu, after a dairy worker became infected with a new strain of the H5N1 virus, which has been found circulating among wild birds.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has changed the name of Camp Liberty in North Carolina back to Fort Bragg — but there is a catch. Fort Bragg was originally named after a Confederate slave-holding general. In order to get around a law prohibiting naming bases after Confederate leaders, Hegseth renamed the base after an obscure World War II soldier with the last name of Bragg who didn’t even have a Wikipedia page until this week.

Meanwhile, more than 50 middle school students at Patch U.S. military base in Stuttgart, Germany, staged a school walkout during a visit by Hegseth to protest the Trump administration’s rollback of diversity initiatives, and dozens of adults who live on the base booed at Hegseth when he arrived and chanted ”DEI.”

The new Trump-appointed board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted Wednesday to make President Trump its chair, less than a week after he announced plans to take over the famed cultural institution. The board also voted to terminate president Deborah Rutter and replace her with former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. Following the news, powerhouse TV producer Shonda Rhimes resigned from the Kennedy Center’s board, while musician Ben Folds stepped down from his role as artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra.