Latest news and live updates as six Israelis are set to be released in exchange for Palestinian detainees and prisoners as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

Hamas freed the first two of six Israeli hostages due to be released Saturday even as heightened tension between the adversaries clouded the future of the fragile ceasefire deal. The two hostages — Tal Shoham,

Six Israeli men will be freed today — the last group of living hostages slated for release during this initial six week ceasefire. Among them are two men who have been held for a decade, after wandering into Gaza. A second handover is expected in coming hours in Nuseirat, in the strip's centre.

Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot has the latest on Hamas releasing Israeli hostages on ‘The Faulkner Focus.’

Hayya, leader of Hamas in Gaza, said the bodies of four hostages would be returned on Thursday. Six living hostages would follow on Saturday.

Israel will start negotiations on a second phase of the ceasefire with Hamas as early as this week, aiming for the complete dismantling of the Palestinian group in Gaza.

A tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been strained by outrage over Hamas’s alleged transfer of an unknown body to Israel in the place of Shiri Bibas, the Israeli mother who was kidnapped along with her two young children during Hamas’s Oct.

Israel and Hamas are behind on the progression of their ceasefire deal as the release of hostages and return of remains continues.

Hamas is set to free six more Israeli hostages Saturday from the Gaza Strip, but the exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is shadowed by heightened tension between the adversaries that clouds the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.

Hamas fighters handed over four black coffins to the Red Cross in Khan Younis on Feb. 20, where crowds had gathered in the rain to watch the ceremony.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal some hostages held in Gaza will be released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons