Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the cease-fire would end if Hamas did not release captives held in Gaza. But he did not say how many hostages had to be freed.

Hamas and President Trump have threatened to upend the cease-fire. Analysts say those words could prove hollow, but the deal still may not last beyond early March.

During the war with Hamas, troops patrolled the Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza, preventing evacuated Palestinians from returning north.

The scenes at the latest hostage release in Gaza angered Israelis and created even more uncertainty surrounding the next steps in a phased cease-fire deal.

The release of the three men was the fifth in a staggered hostage-for-prisoner exchange laid out in a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel.

Although the president had been talking about the idea for weeks, there had been no meetings on the subject, and senior members of his government were taken by surprise.

Even aside from his stunning Gaza proposal, President Trump gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel nearly everything he wanted, signaling a renewal of their close alliance.

Hamas still controls most of the enclave, but Israel holds some key areas. International oversight could also be expanded, while the Palestinian Authority has presented itself as another alternative.

Israel’s prime minister is expected to meet with President Trump this week to discuss the future of Gaza and broader regional issues.

Bloodshed over the weekend highlighted the brittleness of the cease-fires in both places. Still, Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah each have reasons to postpone a new escalation, at least for a few weeks.

The fate of the Israel-Hamas agreement will require huge effort.

More than 30 hostages are set to be released during the cease-fire in Gaza. But many Israelis have mixed feelings about the deal because they feel it came at a high price.

While the wages of success in the region will be enormous, the consequences of failure will be utterly hellish.

As C.I.A. director, William J. Burns was deeply focused on China and Russia when the Middle East conflict plunged him back into his old life.

The agreement removed one of the most vexing international conflicts that hovered over the start of his second term.

An agreement offers Gazans at least some respite, and for Israelis it means the release of hostages. But the deal’s ambiguity leaves open the possibility that fighting could resume within weeks.

Israel and Hamas have finally agreed to a truce.

The president argued in a speech that he strengthened U.S. alliances during his four years in office and that America’s adversaries are weaker than when he took over.

Pressure is on to reach a deal that would see Hamas release at least some hostages before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for Israeli troops to “take over” a buffer zone with Syria upended decades of relative calm along the de facto border between the two countries.