Three more Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released by Palestinian militants from captivity and returned to Israel, after being held for more than 15 months in Gaza.

Israeli and Palestinian supporters in Texas welcome the tenuous halt to the war sparked by a 2023 attack with cautious optimism.

Israel says three Israelis and five Thai nationals were freed in what PM Benjamin Netanyahu called "shocking scenes".

Hamas has released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza and 200 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire agreement that halted mor

GAZA/JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday released the second batch of Israeli hostages, four women who were received by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City.

Chaotic scenes enveloped the three hostages from Israel who were handed over to the Red Cross Sunday by masked Hamas militants wearing green headbands in a packed Gaza City square.A dense crowd of Palestinians had gathered to watch the moment,

Gaza's Hamas authorities said more than 300,000 people, or almost half of those displaced from the north during the war, had crossed into Gaza City and the north edge of the enclave.

The exchange is part of a deal between Israel and Hamas that will see a total of 33 hostages returned to Israel in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The four were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Hamas Saturday freed four Israeli female soldiers after 477 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army said. The soldiers crossed into Israeli territory before reuniting with their families after their captivity ended thanks to the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel,

The four soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza and abducted by Hamas fighters who overran their base during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.