Israel said it will maintain control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas. A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Western-backed Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, met today with HE Dr. Mostafa

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani receives phone call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to Qatari Foreign Ministry - Anadolu Ajansı

After more than 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment, Gaza has been left in ruins. If last week's ceasefire holds, rebuilding could take decades, cost tens of billions of dollars and present overwhelming obstacles.

The Israeli military says it "continues to attack" inside the Gaza Strip as a dispute with Hamas delayed the start of a planned ceasefire.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday.

Hamas is holding more than 100 people captive in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli figures ... Israel’s bombing of Syria comes after two rockets were fired from Syria into the Golan Heights.

The first three Israeli hostages released as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas cried tears of elation and disbelief in the moments of their initial reunion with their mothers on Israeli soil.

The body of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, 53-year-old Yosef AlZayadni, was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday. It said it was examining whether a second body was that of another hostage.

Israeli airstrikes on homes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, health officials said Tuesday. Earlier strikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, including two women and four children, according to local health officials, who said one woman was pregnant and the baby died as well.

The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see a total of 33 hostages returned from Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, with no end in sight to the 15-month conflict