Israel is letting thousands of Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since the early weeks of the war with Hamas​, as a fragile ceasefire endures​.

Hamas freed three Israeli and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday and Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners after delaying the process in anger at the swarming crowds at one of the hostage handover points.

With a ceasefire agreement pausing the war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli troops have withdrawn from Gaza city centers. For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of Rafah this week.

The Israel-Hamas war has devastated the Gaza Strip. Satellite photos offer some sense of the destruction in the territory.

Gaza's Hamas authorities said more than 300,000 people, or almost half of those displaced from the north during the war, had crossed into Gaza City and the north edge of the enclave.

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.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are streaming into Gaza's most heavily destroyed area after Israel lifted its closure of the north.

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

Militants led Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud through a chaotic crowd in Gaza ahead of her release, hours after Hamas handed a captive Israeli soldier over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.

JERUSALEM: Buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners arrived to cheers in the occupied West Bank on Thursday (Jan 30), after chaos during the release by Gaza militants of three Israeli hostages and

Hamas-led militants freed the first of eight hostages on Thursday in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinians.