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.

Eight hostages − three Israelis and five Thai nationals − were returned to Israel on Thursday after spending 482 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza. They were freed in an at-times chaotic handover in connection with a weeks-long ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap between Israel and the militant group aimed at ending 15 months of fighting.

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.

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.

Israel was due to free 110 prisoners, including 30 minors, in exchange for the three Israelis released on Thursday, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said. It is the third hostage-prisoner exchange under a 19 January ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.