President Trump's hostage affairs envoy, Adam Boehler, says a new Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal could happen "within weeks," as he defends his direct talks with Hamas.
A Hamas official tells NPR that the United States has held direct talks with the Palestinian militant group over the release of several American-Israeli dual citizens taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
Israel's domestic security agency had Hamas' battle plans for the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks but didn't take them seriously. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deflected responsibility for the failure.
The report is the Israeli military's first official account of mistakes that preceded the 2023 attack, which launched Israel's subsequent war against Hamas in Gaza that killed more than 48,000 Palestinians.
Both sides agreed there would be no Hamas ceremonies for the hostage bodies and in exchange Israel would release the Palestinian detainees and prisoners whose freedom had been held up since Saturday.
Crowds gathered in Israel for the funeral procession of the Bibas family, a mother and two young sons killed while being held hostage in Gaza. The story of their killing has enraged Israelis, and Israeli government representatives were not invited to the funeral.
The bodies of four Israeli hostages are to be returned late Wednesday and more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed during the last week of the current Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israel identified the remains of child hostages but said another body from Hamas was not their mother as claimed. And near Tel Aviv, explosions hit threes buses, but no injuries were reported.
Today's release is the first time Hamas has handed over the bodies of hostages during the war, although several have been recovered by Israeli forces in Gaza and returned to Israel.