Hamas has announced it would release four female soldiers held hostage for 15 months in Gaza, as part of an exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners laid out in its ceasefire agreement with Israel.

TEL AVIV — Israelis celebrated the return Sunday evening of the first wave of hostages from the Gaza Strip, hours after Israel and Hamas ' long-awaited ceasefire went into effect and spurred many displaced Palestinians to begin the journey home by foot after 15 months of brutal conflict.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel and Hamas were expected to swap more hostages for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, the second such exchange since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend and another test for the deal.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, on Tuesday, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announcing that he would resign on March 6 after two years and two months in office, about 10 months earlier than the standard three-year term.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Recent Hamas will give the mediators on Friday the names of the four hostages who will be released on Saturday, according to Palestinian newspaper, Al-Quds, on Thursday. Citing Hamas West Bank chief Zaher Jabarin,

Hundreds of aid trucks were beginning to enter Gaza, which was devastated by Israeli airstrikes and shelling in the 15 months after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

Israeli government approves ceasefire agreement. Ceasefire to begin in Gaza Sunday morning, hostages to be released in the afternoon.

Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, showed the three women walking to Red Cross vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City.

(JTA) — TEL AVIV — “They are in our hands,” IDF ... Shay Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat, who was found dead in a Hamas tunnel in Rafah along with five other hostages at the end of August ...

Israel’s top general has resigned, citing the security and intelligence failures related to Hamas’ surprise attack that triggered the war in Gaza.

BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, ushering in an initial six-week

Palestinian health workers say an Israeli strike on a built-up refugee camp in the occupied West Bank has killed two people as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip entered a third day.