What began as a battle between Israel and Hamas morphed into a much wider regional conflict that has reshaped much of the Middle East.

Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return on Monday to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas. The U.

Israel says a Hamas list shows that eight of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire are dead.

Israel has begun allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile

Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.