Residents of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon are returning to their homes, with most of the fighting in both areas paused under Israeli ceasefire agreements with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Several Israeli hostages have been released from Gaza, including American Keith Siegel, who was freed over the weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, D.C., as negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to continue amid the first phase of the deal, which was slated to last about six weeks.
President Donald Trump continued to push his proposal for Gazans to move to other nations, including Egypt and Jordan.
"The Gaza thing has not worked," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
The president said he thinks Gazans would "love" to leave the country if they had an option.
"I don't know how they would want to stay. It's a demolition site," Trump said of Gaza.
Palestinians walk along a street in Gaza City, littered with rubble from buildings destroyed during the Israeli army's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Feb 04, 2025, 3:15 PM EST
Talks start on 2nd phase of Gaza ceasefire deal, Hamas says
Negotiations have begun in the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to Hamas.
Hamas accused Israel of disrupting the humanitarian protocol in the ceasefire agreement and evading and procrastinating in implementing it.
Feb 04, 2025, 1:43 PM EST
2 IDF soldiers killed, 8 injured in West Bank shooting
Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in a shooting in the West Bank on Tuesday, according to the Israeli emergency services and the IDF.
After providing initial medical treatment at the scene and at the helicopter landing pads, four victims were evacuated to Beilinson Hospital and two others were evacuated to Rambam Hospital.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Feb 03, 2025, 4:06 PM EST
Former hostage Keith Siegel is doing ‘remarkably well’ after release
Hanna Siegel, the niece of released American hostage Keith Siegel, told ABC News Live on Monday that her uncle is doing “remarkably well” after being released by Hamas on Saturday.
She said her uncle is “a little weak and a little thin,” but “he’s doing OK.”
Keith Siegel's brother, Lee Siegel, told ABC News his brother is "very strong," but 500 days as a hostage has taken its toll on Keith.
Keith Siegel is reunited with family members in Tel Aviv, on Feb. 1, 2025.
IDF/GPO
The family has applauded both the Biden and Trump administrations for their efforts toward establishing a ceasefire. Lee said Keith, just freed from captivity, asked, "What can I do to get the remaining 79 hostages back?"
“What we have learned over these past 15 months is that it’s only diplomacy and political agreement that is going to bring the rest of the hostages home,” Hanna Siegel said. “We are encouraging everybody involved to keep the ceasefire going.”
Hanna Siegel said it’s going to be “surreal” to see her uncle again.
“I just want to tell him that I love him and I’m so glad he’s back,” she said.
Now that Keith Siegel is reunited with loved ones, his brother said the entire family is in a "dream state."
"We can't get enough hugs, enough love, to Keith [or] from Keith," Lee Siegel said.