Eight hostages held by Hamas militants are returned to Israel as Palestinian prisoner releases proceed — but can the Gaza cease-fire hold?

The cease-fire has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Thursday set free a total of eight hostages - three Israelis and five Thai nationals - who had been held since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. This marks the third round of releases since an initial six-week truce between Israel and the militant group Hamas in Gaza went into effect on January 19.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 15 months ago that Israel would achieve “total victory” in the war in Gaza — by eradicating Hamas and freeing all the hostages.

Tens of thousands of displaced Gaza residents ended months of exile in temporary camps and began returning to what was left of their homes on Monday after Israel opened a corridor into the north of the battered enclave.

The joy of thousands of Palestinian families who made it back home in north Gaza after a ceasefire with Israel is turning to despair as the cold reality of uninhabitable, bombed-out homes and dire shortages of basic supplies sets in.