Steve Witkoff said the U.S. expects Hamas to immediately return the final deceased hostage as part of its obligations under the deal.

The US has ordered Hamas to disarm fully as it announced a transitional government for Gaza and the beginning of phase two of the peace process.

Hamas says it will dissolve its government in Gaza once a Palestinian technocratic leadership committee takes over as part of a U.S.-brokered peace plan.

The group is refusing to disarm, a requirement that is holding up President Trump’s peace plan for the enclave.

"You have to understand, Gaza is not the West Bank. Recruiting and activating people in Gaza is a very, very difficult thing.

A senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas was among seven people killed on Thursday in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said. The Israeli military and Hamas did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast the U.S. announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out.

Hamas hasn’t yet begun disarming, a fact some officials believe could imperil the peace plan.

The Popular Forces militia claimed that it eliminated two members of Hamas. The group and its anti-Hamas allies continue to operate in Gaza despite threats by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist factions to dismantle the organizations.

N.Y. Democratic leaders, including Gov. Hochul, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor Mamdani, condemn 'we support Hamas' chants at Queens protest in Jewish neighborhood.

The IDF has been active east of the Yellow Line in northern Gaza throughout the month of January, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and targeting known terrorists. The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Saturday named three Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists who were killed in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.