The expected swap of more Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners is the second such exchange since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend and another test for the deal.

The Red Cross said on Saturday it had completed the second phase of release operations as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement, transferring four Israeli hostages from the enclave and facilitating the release of detainees from Israeli centres.

Only a trickle of aid is reaching the area, leaving the Palestine Red Crescent Society teams in Gaza delivering lifesaving aid with much reduced resources. Beatrice Butsana-Sita, chief executive British Red Cross, says: "Before the conflict around 500 ...

The first hostages held by Hamas since October 7, 2023 were released Sunday morning, with 33 hostages expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The Red Cross handed them over to the Israel Defense Force in Israel to receive initial wellness checks at special reception centers near the border with Gaza, an IDF senior official said.

He complained that Hamas has not allowed international aid groups like the Red Cross or Red Crescent ... these are American-Israeli citizens, all of them out of Gaza, whether living or remains.

The Iran-backed Hamas militant group announced on Friday the names of four hostages it claims will be released on Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. Israel has yet to ...

Israel’s Prison Services said it will transport the prisoners instead of the International Committee of the Red Cross ... reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Magdy from Cairo.

President Donald Trump said he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take in more Palestinians from Gaza so they could "maybe live in peace" there.

However, Israel and Hamas are currently engaged in a back-and-forth argument over the continued captivity of a civilian woman hostage, which is being worked out through the mediators of the ceasefire. As a result, the IDF has not yet withdrawn from the Netzarim corridor and thousands of Palestinians are waiting to return north are forced to wait.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Four female Israeli soldiers who were taken in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza returned to Israel on Saturday after Hamas militants paraded them before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and handed them over to the Red Cross. Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.