Israeli hostages Naama Levy and Karina Ariev were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by Hamas militants today. Together with two other hostages, they were captured during an attack in October 2023.

The soldiers, abducted on 7 October 2023, were seen waving and smiling before being transported to Israeli forces.

GAZA/JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday released the second batch of Israeli hostages, four women who were received by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City.

Four Israeli female soldiers were swapped for 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in the second phase of a prisoner exchange deal under the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian faction,

Israel was set to release 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees later in the day as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, older men and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops pull back from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas on Sunday said Israel is blocking displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza is a breach of the ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US and went into effect on 19 January.

An agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas that involves the release of additional hostages and the return of Palestinians to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Israel said Palestinians could begin returning to the north of the war-battered Gaza Strip on Monday after a deal was reached with Hamas for the release of another six hostages, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Palestinian militants and Israel carried out a hostage-prisoner swap on Saturday under a Gaza ceasefire deal, but a last-minute dispute blocked the expected return of hundreds of thousands of Palestin