Israel’s enemies across the region have been badly weakened during 15 months of war. Israeli hostages have begun to come home from captivity in Gaza, and Netanyahu’s good friend, Donald Trump , is back in the White House.

At start of hostage-ceasefire process, prime minister offers assertions that seem to contradict some terms of the agreement, and could pose a major roadblock to the next round of talks The post As ceasefire begins,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that Israel's negotiating team had finalized a deal on the release of hostages held in Gaza.

The deal was set to be ratified by the Israeli Cabinet on Thursday. But Netanyahu says, without specifying, that Hamas has gone back on several parts of the ceasefire deal at the last minute.

The ceasefire as agreed to in Qatar is set to last 42 days. Over that period, 33 hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, there will be a slow withdrawal of the Israeli military from urban centers in Gaza and a surge of humanitarian aid.

Israel is expected to release 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for four female soldiers slated for Saturday.

The exchange is part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza war, which took effect on Sunday and saw three women hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners freed.

The Hamas militant group has published the names of four hostages it says it will release on Saturday as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has announced the names of the next four hostages it will release this weekend as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. The truce is supposed to halt fighting