Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Militants led Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud through a chaotic crowd in Gaza ahead of her release, hours after Hamas handed a captive Israeli soldier over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.

A small U.S. security firm is hiring nearly 100 U.S. special forces veterans to help run a checkpoint in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, according to a company spokesperson and a recruitment email seen by Reuters,

After a ceasefire deal paused 15 months of war in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to the rubble of their homes.

My mother, father, and brothers are all buried in one grave,” 12-year-old Alma Ja’arour said. "There is no home to return to, no one waiting for me.”

During a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with fragile hopes for an end to the war, relief is soon weighed down by sorrow.

Nedal Hamdouna, a Palestinian journalist, has been displaced seven times by the 15-month war in Gaza. Here, he describes the joy he felt in being able to return to Beit Lahia in the north of the strip

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers. For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of Rafah this week.

Militants in the Gaza Strip have released eight hostages, handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds as part of a swap in which 110 Palestinians are to be released from Israeli prisons lat

Hamas-led militants freed eight more hostages from the Gaza Strip and another 110 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel as part of a ceasefire that began earlier this month