Hostages Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses were expected to be released later Thursday morning along with five Thai nationals. Yehud, 29, and Moses, 80, are civilians. The release of the Thai nationals is not part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. It's part of a separate deal between Hamas and the Thai government.

Among those to be freed is Arbel Yehoud, whose release was at the center of a dispute that threatened to unravel the fragile ceasefire deal.

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.

Hamas is rushing to reassert control over the territory it has ruled since 2007. Its leaders sound 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.

The expected release will keep up the momentum of the fragile ceasefire​ between Israel and the militant Hamas group that paused the 15-monthlong war in Gaza.

An Israeli official says that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.

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,

President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders cracking down on campus antisemitism and stripping federal funds from K-12 schools that teach critical race theory.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas freed eight hostages on Thursday as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but the chaotic handover of some of the captives, who were shuttled through a rowdy crowd of thousands by masked militants, drew an angry protest from Israel.

Iman Helles, a displaced mother sheltering in a facility run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, fears that she will now be “thrown out to the streets” with her three children.

The Israeli government ban on UNRWA over national security concerns and links to terrorism began Jan. 30. UNRWA has called the move by Jerusalem as "disastrous."