Steven Witkoff, who played an important role in brokering the truce between Israel and Hamas, also met with Israel’s prime minister and visited Saudi Arabia.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — (AP) — Hamas has handed captive Israeli soldier Agam Berger over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip. Thursday's release is part of a ceasefire that began Jan. 19. It is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

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.

A professional fact-checker has debunked claims from the Trump administration accusing the Biden administration of spending $50 million to send condoms to Gaza.

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.

Even before the first phase is completed, the fragile cease-fire agreement that has paused 15 months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas faces increasingly long odds of lasting or even reaching phase two.

Steve Witkoff visited the enclave to oversee the implementation of a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

“Gaza, with its great people and its resilience, will rise again to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed and continue on the path of steadfastness until the occupation is defeated,” Hamas said in a statement after the cease-fire.

The scale of destruction in the northern Gaza strip could be seen from southern Israel on Saturday morning as Israel and Hamas are expected to swap more hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

As families reunite, they also confront the devastation wrought by the 15-month war. Tens of thousands of tents are being sent to northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods have been flattened.