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

Massive crowds of people walking with their belongings stretched along a main road running next to the coast in a stunning reversal of the mass exodus from the north at the start of the war

Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, is showing the first images of the first three hostages<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

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)

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,

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.

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.

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.

Delayed by a dispute over the release of a specific hostage, an agreement has been reached to allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

Palestinians have been allowed to return home to the largely destroyed region of northern Gaza after more than 12 months of besiegement by Israel. Israel’s withdrawal comes in the wake of a fragile ceasefire brokered with Hamas in recent months.

Dozens of masked, armed Palestinian militants arrived at a key square in Gaza City on Saturday, where four Israeli women hostages are expected to be handed over to the Red Cross.The planned release comes under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed.