For today, links to three reports from the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, and Middle East Eye; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (WEST BANK, SYRIA, LEBANON and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Hamas frees 4 female Israeli soldiers as part of the Gaza ceasefire in exchange for 200 prisoners, by Wafaa Shurafa, Sam Mednick and Samy  Magdy | AP  TEL AVIV — Four female Israeli soldiers who had been held hostage by Hamas returned safely to Israel today after the militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and then handed them over to the Red Cross. In exchange, Israel . . . READ MORE . . . 

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Israel destroys only water desalination plant in northern Gaza. From Middle East Monitor. The Palestinian Water Authority announced that the occupation army destroyed the water desalination plant during its recent ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip. READ MORE . . .

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Hamas expects another war with Israel – this time in the West Bank, by Mohamed Hassan | Middle East Eye  With the assassination of two of Hamas’s most senior leaders and the devastating human toll in Gaza, its future appears uncertain after 15 months of war. But senior Hamas leaders . . . Click HERE for hourlong interview with Hamas leader Basem Naim.