Eight hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released on Thursday as part of the ceasefire deal. Why it matters: The release was an important benchmark: There are now no more women who are believed to be alive that are held hostage by Hamas.

Hamas-led militants freed eight hostages on Thursday in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas-led militants have freed eight hostages as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. But the chaotic handover of some of the captives drew an angry protest from Israel

Hamas is set to release 33 Israeli hostages - approximately one-third of those held - in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. As part of the truce, Israe

A female Israeli soldier is released as the next hostage-prisoner exchange gets underway amid the ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month.

Israel says a Hamas list shows that eight of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire are dead.

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.

Three more Israeli hostages — two female soldiers and an 80-year-old man — were released in Gaza Thursday as the third hostages-for-prisoners swap agreed to by Israel and Hamas got underway, but the chaotic nature of the handover of two of the Israelis angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the extent that he delayed his country's part of the exchange until later in the day.

The ceasefire is aimed at eventually ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas.

A small U.S. security firm is hiring nearly 100 U.S. special forces veterans to help run a checkpoint in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, according to a company spokesperson and a recruitment email seen by Reuters,