Experts discuss how long rebuilding Gaza's $18.5 billion of damaged infrastructure could take after 15 months of conflict.

Fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, control the crowd while Red Cross vehicles come to collect Israeli hostages to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar, File)

Qatar says it is hopeful that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal could be agreed "very soon", with negotiators from Israel and Hamas beginning a "final stage" of indirect talks in Doha.

Hamas militants on Saturday handed over to the Red Cross four Israeli women hostages under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed.An AFP journalist witnessed the handover after the four were presented on a stage at a main square in Gaza City,

Israel and Hamas have agreed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal following 15 months of war, mediators Qatar and the US say. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday so long as it was approved by the Israeli cabinet.

One strike hit a group of people in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least seven ... Sullivan added that he spoke on Monday morning with Qatar’s prime minister, Israeli ...

Gaza's civil defence agency said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes killed at least 27 people, as the military issued new evacuation calls in northern areas of the Palestinian territory.The latest Israeli strikes come as truce mediator Qatar said negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza were in their "final stages".

Under the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Hamas turned over a list of Israeli hostages, with information on whether they were alive or dead, to be released during the pause in the 15-month war.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have returned home to the most heavily bombarded part of the Gaza Strip as Israel lifted its closure of the north.It is the first time the region has been reopened since the early weeks of Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas,

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are streaming into devastated northern Gaza – many for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war – allowing them to reunite with loved ones and see what has become of their homes.