Israel allows Palestinians to return to northern Gaza for the first time in more than a year and holds a ceasefire

Israel on Monday began allowing thousands of Palestinians to return to the north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the first weeks of A 15-month war with Hamasaccording to Fragile ceasefire.

The opening was delayed by two days due to a dispute between Hamas and Israel, which said the militant group had changed the order of hostages it released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The mediators resolved the dispute overnight.

Separately, Israeli forces were in southern Lebanon on Sunday He opened fire on the demonstrators They demanded their withdrawal in line with the ceasefire agreement, resulting in at least 22 deaths and 124 injuries.

Hours later, the White House said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend the deadline for Israeli forces to leave southern Lebanon until February 18, after Israel requested more time to withdraw beyond the 60-day deadline in a ceasefire agreement that halted Israel’s Hezbollah movement in late November. .

Israel said it needed to stay longer because the Lebanese army had not been deployed in all areas of southern Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah would not be re-established in the region. The Lebanese army said it could not be deployed until Israeli forces withdrew.

Palestinians who have been sheltering in dizzying tent camps and transformed schools for more than a year are eager to return to their homes – even knowing they have likely been damaged or destroyed. Many feared Israel would make their exit permanent, and expressed similar concerns about an idea floated by President Trump to resettle large numbers of Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan.

Ismail Abu, a father of four who waited for three days before crossing with his family, described scenes of jubilation on the other side, with people singing, praying and crying as they were reunited with relatives.

“It’s the joy of returning,” said Abu, whose family was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were expelled from Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. “We thought we would never come back, like our ancestors.”

Hamas called the return “a victory for our people, and a declaration of failure and defeat for the (Israeli) occupation and transportation plans.”

The ceasefire aims to end the bloodiest and most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of dozens of hostages taken in Militant attack on October 7, 2023Which sparked the fight.

Israel ordered the evacuation of the north in the opening days of the war and concluded it shortly after ground forces moved in. About one million people fled to the south in October 2023, while hundreds of thousands remained in the north, which had some of the heaviest fighting and worst destruction of the war.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would continue to enforce the ceasefire and that anyone who violated it or threatened Israeli forces would “bear the full cost.”

“We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7,” he wrote on platform X.

Israel had delayed the opening of the crossing, which was supposed to happen over the weekend, saying it would not allow Palestinians north until a civilian hostage, Erbil Yehud, was released. Hamas was also accused of failing to provide information about whether the remaining hostages being freed in the first phase were alive or dead.

Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of violating the agreement by not opening the crossing.

Gulf Nation Qatar, a key Hamas mediator, announced early Monday that an agreement had been reached to release Jews along with other hostages before Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the hostage release – which will include female soldier Agam Berger – will take place on Thursday. This release will be in addition to the one already set for next Saturday, when Three Hostages should be released.

Hamas also handed over a list of requested information about hostages to be released in the first phase of the six-week ceasefire.

Starting at 7 a.m., Palestinians were allowed to cross on foot without inspection through part of the so-called Netzarim Corridor, a military zone that runs directly into the Gaza Strip in Gaza City early in the war. A vehicle checkpoint was later opened with an inspection mechanism, it was not immediately known.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire, which lasts until early March, Hamas is to free a total of 33 hostages in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The militants released seven hostages, Including four soldiers early Saturdayin the current ceasefire, in exchange for more than 300 prisoners, including several life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.

The second phase has not yet been negotiated – and is much more difficult to agree on. Hamas says it will not release the 60 or so hostages unless Israel ends the war, while Netanyahu says he remains committed to destroying the militant group and ending its nearly 18-year rule over Gaza.

Hamas began the war when thousands of its fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping another 250. About 90 hostages remain inside Gaza, and Israel believes about a third are dead.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. It does not say how many of the dead were fighters. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israeli bombing and ground operations have succeeded in hitting about 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times, and entire neighborhoods.