Rafah

Tel Sultan is where the IDF killed former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and a location where many hostages were kept.

In the same statement, the EU called for a 'rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire' and 'expressed its strong support to the mediators.'

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries are increasingly important in some of this focus on what happens next.

This marks the first time in the deal that hostages were released in Rafah and in Nuseirat.

Israel's military has recently identified several attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip using drones. 

The initial opening was intended to be on Sunday, day 14 of the hostage-ceasefire deal.

The border crossing is being opened earlier than expected due to the release of hostages on Thursday, which was not originally in the agreement.

The delivery was frozen by the Biden administration in May due to the Israeli operation in Rafah.

The ceasefire was meant to go into effect on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time but was delayed due to Hamas's failure to provide the list of names of the three hostages to be released on the same day.

Despite repeating his account twice, Alkadi's claims were dismissed. A few days later, the bodies of six hostages were discovered in the same tunnel.