Israel instructed buses carrying Palestinian detainees slated for release under the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas to return to prisons, an official involved in the operation told Reuters on Thursday.

The horrific suffering of five Thai farm workers held by Palestinian Hamas militants ended with an emotional exchange on Thursday, alongside three released Israeli hostages, after intense diplomatic efforts that at times frayed relations between Bangkok and Jerusalem.

An agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas that involves the release of additional hostages and the return of Palestinians to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

By Nandita Bose, Kanishka Singh and Nidal al-Mughrabi ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/Cairo (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza, a suggestion rejected by Hamas,

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

An Israeli official says that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 15 months ago that Israel would achieve “total victory” in the war in Gaza — by eradicating Hamas and freeing all the hostages.

Hostages Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses were expected to be released later Thursday morning along with five Thai nationals. Yehud, 29, and Moses, 80, are civilians. The release of the Thai nationals is not part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. It's part of a separate deal between Hamas and the Thai government.

Iman Helles, a displaced mother sheltering in a facility run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, fears that she will now be “thrown out to the streets” with her three children.

Hamas confirmed the death of Mohammed Deif, head of its military wing, six months after Israel announced he was killed. It was the first statement Hamas has released on Deif’s condition since the Israeli military announced last August that he was killed in an airstrike in southern Gaza the month before.