Hamas says it won’t rejoin talks until Israel releases 620 Palestinians, as the Gaza ceasefire hangs by a thread.

Released Palestinian prisoners were met with cheers in the occupied West Bank, marking the final exchange of the first phase of a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas. Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons also arrived in Gaza’s Khan Younis days after Israel had originally refused to release them.

With Ramadan set to begin at sundown on Friday, Hamas is aiming to spark a wave of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, including on the Temple Mount. On Thursday, Harun Nasser al-Din, the head of Hamas’s Jerusalem Office,

Hamas hands over the bodies of four Israelis held in Gaza to the Red Cross as part of the last scheduled exchange in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Simultaneously, the first bus carrying dozens of freed Palestinians prisoners from the Ofer Prison arrives in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Crowds gathered in Gaza and the occupied West Bank as Palestinian detainees released from Israeli jails arrived. Israel had delayed the release of the detainees over the weekend, citing Hamas’ hostage handover ceremonies,

Israeli hostage Tal Shoham is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The secretary of state's comments in Jerusalem will likely face pushback from Arab leaders over Trump's plan to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails arrive at the European hospital in Gaza as Israel releases the remaining 642 Palestinian detainees scheduled to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Trump suggests that Ukraine may be to blame for conflict with Russia; Palestinians flee northern West Bank amid Israeli crackdown on militants; Hamas says more hostages will be released; Winter storm heads for East Coast.

By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — the largest displacement in the occupied territory since the 1967 Mideast war.

Jerusalem will demand the complete disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, the Israeli foreign minister stressed.

Hamas condemned Israel’s decision to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners, calling on mediators to intervene.