Follow NBC News live updates for the latest coverage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

Anti-Israel protesters say they spray-painted the front of a Columbia University building and blocked the sewage lines in honor of Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces.

Steve Witkoff, the U.S.’s new Middle East envoy, has joined Israelis in Tel Aviv who have gathered to watch the hostage releases in what has become known as “Hostage Square,” according to images broadcast on Israeli television.

Israel instructed buses carrying Palestinian detainees slated for release under the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas to return to prisons, an official involved in the operation told Reuters on Thursday.

Hamas plans to release three Israeli hostages Thursday — two women and an 80-year-old man — as well as five Thai nationals abducted during the Oct.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting.

The Israeli hostages due to be released in Gaza on Thursday have been named by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office (PMO), which also confirmed that five Thai nationals will be freed.

Trump sent Witkoff to ensure the ceasefire agreement advances to the second phase, which will require hashing out more thorny questions about Gaza’s future.

On Thursday, laws passed by Israel in October come into effect banning the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, from Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli officials from any contact with the agency.

An Israeli hostage held for more than a year by Hamas in Gaza was released Thursday morning, marking the first of eight hostages held by the Iran-proxy militia expected to be released throughout t

The chaotic release of several hostages in Khan Younis Thursday was described by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as “shocking.”