Hamas gunmen are guarding aid convoys in Gaza, and its police patrol city streets, sending a clear message: Hamas remains in charge.

Israel faces renewed challenges following the reappearance of senior Hamas commander Hussein Fayyad, previously reported killed. Fayyad's return highlights Hamas's resilience and continued influence in Gaza,

For all the military might Israel deployed in Gaza, it failed to remove Hamas from power, one of its central war aims.

Thousands of Palestinians are returning home with hope, as the ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth day. According to the United Nations, about 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.

Hamas has been involved in a prolonged firefight with bandits trying to loot aid trucks, as the terror organisation struggles to assert control over Gaza.

After Israeli troops stood down when a cease-fire came into effect in the Gaza Strip, Hamas began sending thousands of its forces into the streets in a show of force.

A cease-fire agreement between Israel and terrorist group Hamas began Sunday with the release of three Israeli hostages, in exchange for some 90 Palestinian prisoners in.

Hamas' armed wing said the group would abide by a ceasefire agreement that came into force in Gaza on Sunday but that any possible Israeli violations would endanger the process and put the lives of hostages at risk.

The contractors have been enlisted to do weapons checks on vehicles carrying displaced Palestinians back to their homes in the north under the terms of the new cease-fire.

Extending the ceasefire depends on even more negotiations meant to begin soon and eventually tackling the tough issue of how Gaza will be governed, with Israel still demanding the elimination of Hamas. Hanging over those talks is the possibility Israel could resume its campaign to destroy the group — even as dozens of hostages remain in its hands.

The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas stretched into a fifth day on Thursday. Humanitarian aid groups are working to surge food and supplies to the war-ravaged territory as Palestinians scour through mountains of rubble looking for bodies of those killed by Israeli bombardments during the 15-month war.