Israeli forces withdrew from a key corridor in Gaza on Sunday, Israeli officials and Hamas said the last commitment under a tenuous ceasefire that faces a major test to find out if the parties can negotiate its planned extension.
The Israelis shock at the sight of three emaciated hostages released on Saturday added pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the truce instead of returning to the fighting when the first phase of the ceasefire ends in early March.
Israel and Hamas seem to have made little progress in negotiating the second phase of the agreement, which is also intended to see more released hostages. The talks were to start on February 3.
Netanyahu sent a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but he included low -level officials, arousing speculation that this will not lead to a breakthrough. Netanyahu, who returned to Israel on Sunday after an American visit to meet President Donald Trump, is expected to convene the main ministers of the cabinet this week.
The Netzarim corridor six kilometers separating the north and south of Gaza had been used by Israel as a military area during the 16 -month war, but no troop was seen on Sunday nearby. While the ceasefire began last month, Israel began to allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are traveling Netzarim and returning to the North.
The ceasefire remains fragile
The ceasefire that started on January 19 held, which made hoping that the war that led to seismic changes in the Middle East is going to an end.
But it remains fragile. On Sunday, the first workers in the Civil Defense in Gaza said that three people were killed by an Israeli fire east of Gaza City. The army of Israel noted “several strokes” after warning shots were fired and again warned the Palestinians to approach his forces.
Cars stacked with goods directed north through a road that crosses Netzarim. Under the agreement, Israel should allow cars to cross without inspective.
Israeli officials, who spoke under the guise of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the movement of the troops with the media, did not say how many soldiers withdrew. The troops remain along the borders of Gaza with Israel and Egypt.
Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua, said that the withdrawal of the troops showed that the militant group had “forced the enemy to submit to our requests” and that she had thwarted “the illusion of Netanyahu to win the total victory “.
Israel said that he will not accept a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capacities are eliminated. Hamas says that it will not put the last hostages back until Israel withdraws all the troops from the territory.
During the first phase of 42 days of the ceasefire, Hamas gradually published 33 Israeli hostages captured during its October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and D ‘A flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza. The agreement also indicates that Israeli troops will withdraw from the populated areas.
In the second phase, all the remaining living hostages would be released in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and “sustainable calm”. But the details beyond are not clear.
Saudi Arabia condemned Netanyahu’s recent comment on Sunday that the Palestinians could create their state. He said that his remarks “aim to divert the attention of successive crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleaning to which they are subjected”.
Qatar called Netanyahu’s comment on Sunday “provocative” Netanyahu and a blatant violation of international law.
The war in Gaza, triggered by the attack on Hamas who killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not make the difference between the combatants and the no -Combatants in their count. A large part of the territory has been deleted.
Violence in the West Bank occupied by Israeli
Violence has increased in the West Bank throughout the war and intensified in recent days with an Israeli military operation in the north of the territory.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that two women, an eight -month -old enclosure, had been killed by Israeli shots in occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops carried out an operation.
The ministry said that the shooting who had killed the pregnant woman, Sundus Shalabi, and another woman, Rahaf al-Ashqar, occurred in the urban refugee camp of Nur Shams, a focal point of Israeli operations against Palestinian activists .
The Israeli army said its police had opened an investigation.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the expansion of the operation on Sunday, which started in Jenin several weeks ago. He said it had to prevent Iran – allied in Hamas – from winning in the West Bank.
