Three years of war with Russia and the threat of U.S. support dwindling has many Ukrainians ready for a ceasefire, but they want some guarantees.

Hamas is set to free three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning home to northern Gaza on Monday, bracing for what awaits them in a region that has been reduced to rubble by months of brutal bombardment and fighting.

Hamas released four Israeli hostages in Gaza early Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners to be released later in the day. It was the second release to occur as part of the ceasefire agreement that began last weekend. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners.

President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with him at the White House on Feb. 4, making him the first foreign leader to receive an invitation to visit Trump in his second term.

Wealthy Arab nations consider bankrolling Gaza’s reconstruction, but they want assurances Palestinians will lead in the postwar period.

Displaced Palestinians with their belongings gather near a roadblock on Salah al-Din Street, as they wait to return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect.

Much of the beleagured city of Goma was calm early Wednesday morning, after a day during which thousands of fleeing people hunkered down by roadsides as missiles flew and injured people streamed to overwhelmed hospitals.

Thursday's exchange is the third since the start of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that has held for over a week.

The latest releases of hostages held by Hamas as part of the ceasefire with Israel is under way in the Gaza Strip. It is the third such release as part of the deal which also involves the freeing of Palestinian prisoners in Israel in exchange. The hostages being released on Thursday are three Israelis and five Thai nationals.

Militants from Hamas and allied groups Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees arrived at a site in Khan Younis in Gaza ahead of the handover of Israeli hostages on Thursday Hamas sources and witnesses said,