Smotrich said he has received assurances that Israel will resume the war after the first phase, during which 33 hostages held in Gaza are to return home and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. The second phase, which must still be negotiated, is to work out an end to the war and return of all remaining hostages.

Hamas had released a video of Doron Steinbrecher, where she was seen reading a script. Her family has been ever since waiting for her return

Three women whom Hamas held hostage in Gaza for more than 470 days are returning to Israel as a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war went into effect on Sunday morning.

After 15 months of collective grief and anxiety, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel.

A Gaza ceasefire deal endorsed by Israel and Hamas was delayed from going into effect Sunday after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the militant group had yet to provide the names of the hostages it planned to release under the truce agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military not to begin the ceasefire in Gaza, scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT), until Hamas issued the names of the hostages to be released,

The first three Hamas hostages, who have been in captivity for 15 months, have been handed over to the Red Cross in a historic moment on the first day of the cease-fire between Israel and the terror group.

A crowd of Israelis erupted in joy when they learned three women held captive for 15 months by Hamas had been freed as a tentative cease-fire took hold, which would see Palestinians released from Israeli jails,