Israel has confirmed the return of four female Israeli soldiers who were held as hostages by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2022.

Israel has asked the U.S. for 30 more days to complete its troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon, just days before the 60-day ceasefire deadline with Hezbollah. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will remain beyond day 60, the length of their stay is unclear. The situation was discussed by Israel’s defense officials and government on Thursday. This Sunday marks 60 days since the ceasefire began on November 27.

Israel, not the Palestinian Authority, will control the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the current four-day-old ceasefire with Hamas, the Associated Press reports.

Citing failure to protect Israel from the October 7 Hamas attack, IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi on Tuesday announced his resignation, Haaretz reports. Halevi will leave his post on March 6.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a large-scale counterterrorism operation in Jenin, named “Iron Wall.” The operation, announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF, involves numerous forces from special units, Shin Bet, and Border Police, and will continue for several days.

In exchange for the phased release of 33 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, Israel on January 19 agreed to the phased release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 110 who are serving life sentences for some of the most egregious murders of Israelis during terror attacks prior to Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A former CIA analyst has pleaded guilty and faces 10 years imprisonment for unlawfully retaining and then posting Top Secret United States National Defense information about Israeli plans to attack Iran on social media in October 2024.

Israelis across Israel celebrated Sunday the release of three women by Hamas, the first of nearly 100 hostages due to return home, dead or alive, following their abduction on October 7, 2023.

Hamas named the three hostages it planned to release Sunday, more than two hours after the ceasefire in Gaza was supposed to have begun. Israel had earlier made clear it would keep fighting until it received the names.

Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a hostage deal on Friday, where 33 Hamas captives will be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving life sentences.

Responding to Wednesday’s announcement that the Israeli government has reached a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi and Iraqi Nujaba Islamic jihadist movements announced they would suspend their attacks against Israel, Newsweek reports.

Negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza, officials said on Wednesday, in the hope of ending the 15-month-war that has killed thousands.

After 15 long months of bloodshed in Gaza sparked by the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people in Israel, a hostage and ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel was reached Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said.

Iran’s Vice-President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad ZarMif, has accused Israel of planting explosives in Iranian centrifuge equipment, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

Determined to ensure that the Holocaust is not forgotten or denied, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany on Monday launched a digital campaign featuring 80 survivors of Auschwitz, the most notoriously brutal death camp in history, i24News reports. The German Nazis murdered more than 1.1 million Jews at Auschwitz in occupied Poland during World War II.