An Israeli official says that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.

The return of fighters to Gaza streets highlights how Israeli bombardment has failed to achieve Netanyahu’s goal or eradicating Hamas as a political force.

The hostages are the second set to be released since the multiphase agreement came into effect, raising hopes for a lasting end to the war.

Steven Witkoff, who played an important role in brokering the truce between Israel and Hamas, met with Israel’s prime minister. He was also expected to visit Gaza.

The talks on where to send the released terrorists are reportedly being conducted in full coordination with Jerusalem.

“Gaza, with its great people and its resilience, will rise again to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed and continue on the path of steadfastness until the occupation is defeated,” Hamas said in a statement after the cease-fire.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hamas on Friday published the names of four hostages it said it would release the following day as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has begun allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas.

CAIRO (AP) — The leader of important U.S. ally Egypt on Wednesday rejected President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Egypt take in displaced Palestinians from Gaza, defying a U.S. president who has shown little patience for dissent from international partners.

In the Shuafat refugee camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a concrete wall, cars inched their way toward an Israeli checkpoint.

Israel killed two Palestinians in the northern West Bank overnight and into Wednesday, the occupied territory's Heath Ministry said, as the Israeli military focuses on a major crackdown there during the ceasefire in Gaza.