Eight hostages − three Israelis and five Thai nationals − were returned to Israel on Thursday after spending 482 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza. They were freed in an at-times chaotic handover in connection with a weeks-long ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap between Israel and the militant group aimed at ending 15 months of fighting.

Hamas is rushing to reassert control over the territory it has ruled since 2007. Its leaders are exuberant—at least in public. In private, they are arguing bitterly. The war has deepened a longtime struggle between the group’s political and military leaders and has saddled it with enormous challenges.

A British couple whose daughter and two granddaughters were killed by Hamas have no idea whether their son-in-law, who was taken hostage, knows his family is dead. Gill and Pete Brisley, who are from Bristol but now live in Bridgend,

The chaotic release of several hostages in Khan Younis Thursday was described by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as “shocking.”

Former hostage Amit Soussana, who was the first Israeli woman to speak about being sexual assaulted while in Hamas captivity, says kidnapped IDF soldier Liri Albag saved her life.

Hamas has confirmed that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip last year. Israel's military said in August that it had killed Deif the previous month, but Hamas had not confirmed this until now.

The expected release will keep up the momentum of the fragile ceasefire​ between Israel and the militant Hamas group that paused the 15-monthlong war in Gaza.

Eight more hostages were freed by Hamas-led militants on Thursday in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly delayed the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners by Israel and underscored the fragility of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that began earlier this month.

Hamas wants to send the world the message that it is still in charge in the Gaza Strip. Its method: turning the release of hostages into a spectacle that Israel is powerless to stop. The pattern began about two weeks ago,

Three Israelis and five Thai nationals were freed earlier in what PM Benjamin Netanyahu called "shocking scenes".

Hamas-led militants freed eight hostages on Thursday as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but the chaotic handover of some of the captives, who were shuttled through a rowdy crowd of thousands by masked militants,