Steve Witkoff helped negotiate the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. His visit to Gaza on Wednesday was the first by a senior U.S. official in more than a decade.

Marco Rubio discusses Iran, Gaza hostages with Netanyahu • France claims hostages in Gaza received medical supplies sent last year

Follow NBC News live updates for the latest coverage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in Gaza on January 19. Hamas released three Israeli hostages on the same day, the first of 33 hostages expected to be freed during the first phase of the deal.

Medics reported tanks firing at the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, and said that an airstrike and tank fire also hit the northern town of Beit Hanoun ... East envoy Steve Witkoff to push the deal ...

Witkoff, who is Jewish and who has been friends with Trump since the 1980s when he bought Trump a sandwich after they worked on a real estate transaction, has no Middle East diplomatic experience.

Trump has said a second Holocaust is all but nigh, but it was the first time he set a deadline for Israel’s destruction. WASHINGTON — Fred Zeidman, a Houston businessman and Republican ...

Hardliners oppose ceasefire in Israel, future governance of Gaza remains unclear