In the wake of US President Donald Trump's push for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, the BBC's Bernd Debusmann Jr takes us through decades of American diplomacy, tracing how five US presidents tried to broker peace in one of the world's most volatile regions.

Israel will open the Rafah crossing as planned today in a U-turn after Hamas returned the bodies of four more hostages, according to reports.

In Gaza, many of the hundreds of Palestinians released after being held without charge by Israel during the war, have been alleging torture and mistreatment; some expecting to be reunited with their f...