Hamas hands over the bodies of four Israelis held in Gaza to the Red Cross as part of the last scheduled exchange in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Simultaneously, the first bus carrying dozens of freed Palestinians prisoners from the Ofer Prison arrives in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Hamas was plotting a major attack on Jewish communities Israel Katz revealed on Thursday during a meeting with the heads of regional councils. He also reiterated demands for a demilitarized southern Syria and noted that the government is considering allowing Syrian Druze to work in the Golan.

Boehler said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he believed something could come together on Gaza within weeks, but did not elaborate. Separately, he said he did not know whether American journalist Austin Tice was alive in Syria.

A Bibas family member calls on Israeli officials to take responsibility for the deaths of hostages in Hamas captivity. Also: life in Kurdish parts of Syria, and why an Australian radio host is out of a job.

Syria's interim president has issued a call for peace and national unity as his forces battle a pro-Assad uprising. In Gaza, Hamas has expressed confidence regarding the second phase of the ceasefire deal.

Meetings between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler in recent days have focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the militant group in Gaza, a senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday.

Trump’s government is breaking with its longstanding policy of not talking with groups it deems to be terrorist organizations.

The commander of a Kurdish-led force in Syria said on Sunday the country's interim president must hold the perpetrators of communal violence in Syria's coastal areas to account, accusing Turkey-backed factions of being primarily behind the killings.

"A confrontation, possibly even a small-scale military one, may occur between Israel and Turkey," one expert told Newsweek.

The death toll from two days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, including 750 civilians,

But the subtext of the president’s rhetoric is even more damning. It is an admission that Israel has failed to achieve its own declared war objectives of deposing Hamas and freeing the hostages. And the fact that the U.S. has been secretly speaking to Hamas directly makes Israel look like an obstacle.