Hamas says talks with Israel about further steps in the Gaza ceasefire deal are conditional on Palestinian prisoners being freed as agreed. Israel said on Sunday it was delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinians in return for six living and four dead hostages who had been freed,

Gaza’s fragile five-week truce faces a major hurdle with Israel’s refusal to release Palestinian prisoners, but analysts say the ceasefire is likely to hold as Washington pushes for its extension. “It’s actually the most complicated crisis since the beginning of the ceasefire,

JERUSALEM -- JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas is set to free six more Israeli hostages Saturday from the Gaza Strip, but the exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is shadowed by heightened tension between the adversaries that clouds the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.

Israeli bulldozers have demolished large areas of the now virtually empty Jenin refugee camp and appear to be carving wide roadways through its once-crowded warren of alleyways, echoing tactics already employed in Gaza as troops prepare for a long-term stay.

The Israeli military is expanding its operations in the occupied West Bank and will remain in some refugee camps for the “coming year,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.