AL-BALAH DEIR, Gaza Strip The first significant crisis of the precarious ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was eased when Qatar reported early Monday that an agreement had been reached to free an Israeli civilian hostage and for Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
Qatar, a mediator in truce negotiations, announced in a statement that Hamas will release Arbel Yehoud, a civilian captive, and two other hostages by Friday. Israeli officials will permit Palestinians to return to northern Gaza on Monday.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Palestinians can go north on Monday and that the hostage release, which would include soldier Agam Berger, will occur on Thursday. According to Israel’s military, pedestrian crossings will begin at 7 a.m.
Israel was supposed to start allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza on Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement, but it postponed that due to Yehoud, who it claimed should have been freed on that day. Israel was accused by Hamas of breaking the deal.
Yehoud and two other people are being released in addition to the three hostages who are scheduled to be released on Saturday of next week.
Furthermore, in a statement, Hamas claimed that the militant organization had turned over a list of all the hostages that needed to be released during the first six weeks of the ceasefire. Its receipt was certified by the office of the Israeli prime minister.
There are thousands of Palestinians waiting to cross the Netzarim corridor, which divides Gaza, and head north. Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd on Sunday, according to local health officials, leaving two people dead and nine injured.
Meanwhile, in an effort to purge the war-torn enclave, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed that the majority of Gaza’s people be temporarily relocated to other countries, such as Egypt and Jordan. Amid concerns that Israel might never permit refugees to return, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians rejected that.
According to Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas leader, Palestinians would never agree to such a plan, even if it were presented as reconstruction with good intentions. He claimed that if Israel relaxes its embargo, the Palestinians will be able to rebuild Gaza even better than before.
Dispute and shootings test fragile ceasefire
Al-Awda Hospital, which treated the casualties, reported that Israeli forces opened fire on the waiting masses three times during the course of the night and into Sunday, killing two and injuring nine, including a toddler.
In a statement, Israel’s military said that it had fired warning shots at multiple groups of dozens of suspects who were threatening the troops by moving toward them.
Since the truce took effect last Sunday, Israel has withdrawn from a number of Gazan regions. The military has issued a warning to the public to avoid its forces, which continue to operate in the Netzarim corridor and a buffer zone along the border inside Gaza.
On Saturday, Israel released almost 200 Palestinian inmates, the majority of them were given life sentences after being found guilty of killing people, while Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers. However, Israel said that Yehoud ought to have been freed before the troops.
According to Hamas, it assured negotiators in the US, Egypt, and Qatar that Yehoud was still alive and promised her freedom.
As some Palestinians warmed around bonfires against the winter cold, frustration mounted among those waiting to travel north.
Nadia Qasem stated, “We have been in pain for a year and a half.”
Fadi al-Sinwar, who is also displaced from Gaza City, claimed that Yehoud was responsible for the fate of over a million people.
Do you see how valuable we are? “We have no value,” he declared.
Ending the war will be difficult
In exchange for hundreds of Palestinian captives, the truce aims to rescue hostages still detained in Gaza and put an end to the 15-month conflict that was started by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Israeli officials estimate that up to half, if not more, of the 90 hostages who are still in Gaza have perished.
The father of captives Iair and Eitan Horn, Itzik Horn, denounced government ministers who support the continuation of the conflict and declared that any return to combat would be a death sentence for the hostages.
33 hostages and around 2,000 Palestinian inmates will be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, which ends in early March. Negotiations are still ongoing for the second, and much more challenging, phase. Israel has warned to relaunch its offensive until Hamas is destroyed, while Hamas has stated that it will not free the remaining hostages until the war is over.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and kidnapped about 250 more. In November 2023, a week-long ceasefire resulted in the release of over 100. Eight hostages are still alive, while the bodies of dozens more, including at least three who were accidentally slain by Israeli forces, have been found. The most recent ceasefire has released seven.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israel’s military operation has killed approximately 47,000 Palestinians, with women and children accounting for more than half of the deaths. The number of combatants among the deceased is not stated. Without offering proof, the Israeli military claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters.
Nearly 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced as a result of Israeli ground operations and shelling, which have devastated large areas of the territory. Since the ceasefire started, many people have gone home to find nothing but piles of debris.