The sources said that while Hamas has successfully recruited new members, many are young and untrained and are being used for simple security purposes.

In a rare move hours after the cease-fire took effect, one senior Hamas official said the group wants to engage the new Trump administration.

The White House on Saturday credited President Donald Trump for securing the release of four Israeli female soldiers who were held hostage by the militant group Hamas. In a statement over the weekend,

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that he welcomed the potential for “a dialogue” with Hamas and heaped praise on Qatar for helping facilitate the cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza, despite facing scrutiny for previous ties to the Gulf nation.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, agreed there had been “significant progress” in the talks over a final draft agreement presented by the mediators — Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians waited to return to their homes in northern Gaza, voicing frustration after Israel refused to open crossing points.

The group is set to release the more than 90 hostages over the coming weeks as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shock eleventh-hour announcement Thursday to hit the brakes on a long-awaited and widely-celebrated Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal was fueled by

American Jewish leaders don’t just insist on Israel’s right to exist. They insist on its right to exist as a Jewish state. They cling to the idea that it can be both Jewish and democratic despite the basic contradiction between legal supremacy for one ethno-religious group and the democratic principle of equality under the law.

A U.S. backed ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel will remain in effect until the middle of next  month, the White House announced Sunday.

Hamas has agreed to release hostage Arbel Yehud from Gaza on Thursday, easing the first major crisis of the Middle East ceasefire deal...