The sources said that while Hamas has successfully recruited new members, many are young and untrained and are being used for simple security purposes.

In a rare move hours after the cease-fire took effect, one senior Hamas official said the group wants to engage the new Trump administration.

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that he welcomed the potential for “a dialogue” with Hamas and heaped praise on Qatar for helping facilitate the cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza, despite facing scrutiny for previous ties to the Gulf nation.

In our news wrap Friday, Hamas announced the names of four Israeli hostages it intends to release as part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israeli forces might not withdraw from Lebanon by the deadline set in an agreement with Hezbollah and President Trump ended the government-funded protection detail for Dr.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, agreed there had been “significant progress” in the talks over a final draft agreement presented by the mediators — Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

A cease-fire announced Wednesday will end the 15-month war between Hamas and Israel and includes the eventual release of all hostages held by Hams and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The group is set to release the more than 90 hostages over the coming weeks as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shock eleventh-hour announcement Thursday to hit the brakes on a long-awaited and widely-celebrated Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal was fueled by

After the ceasefire agreement, the 15-month-long war between Israel and Hamas seems to have come to an end, bringing a semblance of peace to West Asia. Following the agreement, Tel Aviv has begun releasing Hamas and Palestinian prisoners,

The hostages and 200 prisoners were released in the second swap of the Gaza cease-fire deal, which went into effect this month.

Israel’s longest war has so far failed to destroy its main enemy, Hamas, which, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself – and a failure for Israel.