Eight hostages − three Israelis and five Thai nationals − were returned to Israel on Thursday after spending 482 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza. They were freed in an at-times chaotic handover in connection with a weeks-long ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap between Israel and the militant group aimed at ending 15 months of fighting.

Hamas is rushing to reassert control over the territory it has ruled since 2007. Its leaders are exuberant—at least in public. In private, they are arguing bitterly. The war has deepened a longtime struggle between the group’s political and military leaders and has saddled it with enormous challenges.

Former hostage Amit Soussana, who was the first Israeli woman to speak about being sexual assaulted while in Hamas captivity, says kidnapped IDF soldier Liri Albag saved her life.

The chaotic release of several hostages in Khan Younis Thursday was described by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as “shocking.”

A British couple whose daughter and two granddaughters were killed by Hamas have no idea whether their son-in-law, who was taken hostage, knows his family is dead. Gill and Pete Brisley, who are from Bristol but now live in Bridgend,

Hamas has confirmed that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip last year. Israel's military said in August that it had killed Deif the previous month, but Hamas had not confirmed this until now.

Hamas plans to release three Israeli hostages Thursday — two women and an 80-year-old man — as well as five Thai nationals abducted during the Oct.

Three Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals held by Hamas in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 have been released. Agam Berger, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier, was reunited with her family at a military base in southern Israel after being handed over by armed Palestinian fighters to the Red Cross in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Thursday.

Israeli women and an 80-year-old male hostage, along with 5 Thai nationals, were released in Gaza, but Israel delayed its part of the exchange, accusing Hamas of "shocking scenes" at one handover.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting.

In our news wrap Thursday, Hamas freed eight hostages and Israel handed over more than 100 Palestinian prisoners in a third round of exchanges, officials in Ukraine say a Russian drone attack killed at least six people in the northeastern city of Sumy and an appeals court ruled a federal ban on handgun sales to adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment.