Hamas says talks with Israel about further steps in the Gaza ceasefire deal are conditional on Palestinian prisoners being freed as agreed. Israel said on Sunday it was delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinians in return for six living and four dead hostages who had been freed,

Hamas is in the process of releasing six Israeli hostages in Gaza – the final living captives whom the warring sides agreed would be released when a ceasefire began last month.

JERUSALEM -- JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas is set to free six more Israeli hostages Saturday from the Gaza Strip, but the exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is shadowed by heightened tension between the adversaries that clouds the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.

The hostages are the last living hostages to be freed in the first phase of a fragile deal with Israel, adding to pressure for both sides to start negotiations to permanently end the war.

Israel’s security cabinet held an emergency meeting Tuesday following word from Hamas that three Israel hostages would not be released Saturday as agreed.

President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday the U.S. expects the second phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal to go forward and that he would visit the Middle East in the coming week.

Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, described the next phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, his 3.5-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the administration's approach to the war in Ukraine.