Israel-Gaza updates: 17 more hostages released, including 4-year-old American girl, officials say
Fourteen Israeli and three foreign hostages were released Sunday, the IDF said.
Thousands of people have died and thousands more have been injured since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip, leaving the region on the verge of all-out war.
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What we know about the conflict
The latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, has passed the four-month mark.
In the Gaza Strip, at least 30,228 people have been killed and 71,377 others have been wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
There has also been a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed at least 395 people in the territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ongoing war began after Hamas-led militants launched an unprecedented incursion into southern Israel from neighboring Gaza via land, sea and air. Scores of people were killed while more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The Israeli military subsequently launched retaliatory airstrikes followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, a 140-square-mile territory where more than 2 million Palestinians have lived under a blockade imposed by Israel and supported by Egypt since Hamas came to power in 2007. Gaza, unlike Israel, has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.
12 Thai nationals to be freed alongside 13 Israeli hostages on Friday, Egypt says
Twelve Thai nationals held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be released on Friday in addition to 13 Israeli hostages, according to Egypt's State Information Service.
The Israeli hostages will be freed by Hamas at the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and they will be received by Egyptian authorities before being transferred to Israel, the State Information Service said.
The State Information Service credited "intense Egyptian efforts" for resulting in the agreement with Hamas to release 12 Thai nationals on the sidelines of the prisoner exchange deal between Gaza's militant rulers and Israel.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
Scores of Palestinians move north in Gaza despite Israel's warning
Scores of Palestinians who had fled to the southern Gaza Strip amid Israeli bombardment were seen trying to return to the north on Friday, following the start of a four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
This came despite a warning from the Israeli military not to head toward the main combat zone in northern Gaza and there are Israeli checkpoints in place to prevent people from doing so.
"The northern Gaza Strip area is a dangerous war zone and it is forbidden to move around," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday morning. "For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south of the Strip. It is only possible to move from the north of the Strip to its south via Salah al-Din Road."
-ABC News' Nasser Atta, Morgan Winsor and Sami Zayara
Aid trucks arrive in Gaza via Egypt
Footage from the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing showed aid trucks entering the war-torn Gaza Strip on Friday morning.
Egypt's State Information Service said earlier Friday that 200 trucks transporting humanitarian aid, four trucks carrying gasoline and 130,000 liters of diesel would be allowed to enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing during each day of the agreed upon cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
That would be an increase from an initial average of around 70,000 liters of diesel that Israel agreed to deliver into Gaza over the past week to meet humanitarian needs set by the United Nations, but would still be well below what aid organizations say is required for daily critical needs.
Egypt will also allow hundreds of Palestinians stranded in the country to re-enter Gaza for the first time since the war broke out, according to the State Information Service.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy and Morgan Winsor
Israel says transfer of Palestinian prisoners has begun
The transfer of 39 Palestinian inmates from Damon and Megiddo prisons to the Ofer camp in the West Bank has begun, a spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service told ABC News on Friday afternoon.
Once in the West Bank, the Palestinian prisoners will be released within two hours after the confirmation that 13 Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and returned home, the spokesperson said.
-ABC News' Yael Benaya and Morgan Winsor
Hamas delays release of hostages over alleged 'violations' of cease-fire agreement
Hamas announced that it will be delaying the release of Israeli hostages, accusing Israel of violating the cease-fire agreement regarding aid trucks and the agreed-upon terms for the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
The Al-Qassam Brigades -- the armed wing of Hamas -- said it had decided to delay Saturday's scheduled second round of hostage releases until Israel committed to allowing aid trucks to enter northern Gaza. Hamas was expected to release 13 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of 39 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel on Saturday, sources told ABC News.
"The Al-Qassam Brigades decides to delay the release of the second batch of hostages until the occupation adheres to the terms of the agreement regarding the entry of relief trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, and due to its failure to adhere to the agreed-upon criteria for releasing prisoners," Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan, who is based in Lebanon, said relief trucks that arrived in northern Gaza today were half of the number that was agreed upon.
"There are violations committed by the Israelis in implementing the terms of the truce, some of which occurred yesterday and were repeated today," Hamdan said Saturday, adding that another issue at stake was the reported shooting of two Palestinians on Friday as they tried to reach northern Gaza.
A senior Israeli political source told ABC News that Israel did not violate the agreement. The IDF said about 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are expected to enter Gaza today, after 200 trucks with aid entered Gaza yesterday via the Rafah crossing and delivered their cargo to international aid organizations.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 61 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies headed to northern Gaza on Saturday, the largest aid convoy to reach the area since the start of the war.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy, Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller