On Sunday, Israeli forces withdrew from a key corridor in Gaza, Israeli officials and Hamas said that being part of Israel’s commitments as part of a cease-fire contract With Hamas, this is advancing, but faces a major test to find out if the parties can negotiate its planned extension.
Israel agreed as part of the truce to withdraw its forces from the 4 -mile Netzarim corridor (6 kilometers), a strip of land that bisses northern South Gaza that Israel used as a military zone during the war.
At the start of the ceasefire last month, Israel began to allow Palestinians to cross Netzarim to go to their houses in the northern war by war, sending hundreds of thousands of thousands of streaming through Gaza on foot And by car. The withdrawal of the forces of the region fills another commitment to the agreement, which interrupted the 15 -month war.
However, the parties seem to have made little progress in the negotiation of the second phase of the agreement, which aims to extend the truce and lead to the release of more Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Three other Israelis hostages were published Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners, the last cease-fire agreement which has so far seen 18 hostages released in exchange for more than 550 Palestinian prisoners. Negotiations during the second phase are underway.
Ohad zwigenberg / ap
The hostage outing comes in the middle of the American President Trump’s comments Last week, the United States “will take control of the Gaza Strip”. The president declared that his decision to resume Gaza “was not a decision taken lightly”, and he said that he had received praise from other leaders of the Middle East, although he has identified none of its name.
Trump made these comments during a visit to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The comments sent shock through the diplomatic community, although Netanyahu declared at the time “it was worth continuing this avenue”, referring to the plan.
Netanyahu this weekend sent a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the teams, but the mission included low-level civil servants, arousing speculation that this will not lead to a breakthrough in the extension of the truce. Netanyahu should also convene a meeting of the main ministers of the cabinet this week during the second phase of the agreement.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia confirmed its categorical rejection of Netanyahu remarks last week on the trip of the Palestinians of their land, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday. Israeli officials have suggested the creation of a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Netanyahu seemed to be joking Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on Pro-Nentanyahu Channel 14 who wrongly said “Saudi state” instead of “the Palestinian state”, before correcting himself. Although the Saudi declaration mentions the name of Netanyahu, it does not directly refer to the comments on the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi territory. Egypt and Jordan have also condemned Israeli suggestions, with Cairo considering the idea as a “direct violation of Saudi sovereignty”. The kingdom said that he appreciated the “fraternal” rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that two women in her twenties, one of whom was eight months pregnant, had been fatally slaughtered by Israeli shots in the North West Bank, where Israeli troops have made a large operation.
The ceasefire is fragile and its extension is not guaranteed
Since its beginning on January 19, the ceasefire agreement has faced repeated obstacles and disagreements between the sides, stressing its fragility. But he held, which hoped that the devastating war which led to seismic changes in the Middle East can go towards an end.
On Sunday, cars piled up with personal effects, including water tanks and suitcases, were seen head north through a road crossing Netzarim. As part of the agreement, Israel is supposed to allow cars to cross without inspected, and there did not seem to be troops near the road.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said that the withdrawal showed that Hamas had “forced the enemy to submit to our requests” and that she had thwarted “Netanyahu’s illusion to win the total victory “.
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 reveal how many soldiers withdrew. The troops are currently staying along the borders of Gaza with Israel and Egypt and a complete withdrawal should be negotiated at a later stage of the truce.
During the first phase of 42 days of the ceasefire, Hamas gradually published 33 Israeli hostages captured during its October 7, 2023, in exchange for a break in the fighting, freedom for hundreds of prisoners Palestinians and a flood of humanitarian aid in the war -jostled. The agreement also stipulates that Israeli troops will withdraw from the populated areas of Gaza as well as the netzarim corridor.
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 and repeated in stumbling blocks throughout the first phase and the deep distrust between the sides has questioned if they can nail the extension.
The truce is faced with many challenges, including Trump’s Gaza proposal
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.
Netanyahu is subject to strong pressure from his far -right political allies to resume war after the first phase so that Hamas, which led the deadliest attack against the Israelis in their history, could be defeated . He also faces the pressure of the Israelis who are impatient to see more hostages go home and who want to face, especially after the appearances gloves of the three male captives released on Saturday amazed the nation.
Complicating things more is a proposal from Mr. Trump to move the population of Gaza and appropriate the Palestinian territory. Israel expressed its opening to the idea while Hamas, the Palestinians and the broader Arab world have rejected it.
The suggested plan is struggling with moral, legal and practical obstacles. But it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic by Mr. Trump, to try to go up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a negotiation process aimed at concluding a standardization agreement between Israel and the Saudi Arabia. This great agreement seemed to be shaken on Sunday when Saudi Arabia condemned Netanyahu’s remarks who declared that the Palestinians could create their state on this territory.
Saudi Arabia said its remarks “aim to divert the attention of successive crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including ethnic cleaning to which they are subject”.
In an interview Thursday with Israel Channel 14, Netanyahu said: “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land there.”
Violence increases in occupied West Bank
The war in Gaza, triggered by the attack on Hamas which killed 1,200 people and saw 250 hostages taken, killed more than 47,000 Palestinians according to the Palestinian health authorities managed by Hamas who do not make the difference between the combatants and non-combatants in their count. Vast parts of the territory have been erased in the fighting, leaving many Palestinians to return to damaged or destroyed houses.
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. The shooting of pregnant women, Sundus Shalabi, occurred in the urban refugee camp of Nur Shams, a focal point of Israeli operations against Palestinian activists on the territory. The Ministry of Health managed by Hamas said that another woman, identified as Rahaf Al-Ashqar, 21, was also killed on Sunday.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the expansion of the Israeli military operation on Sunday, which started in the city of Jenin several weeks ago. He said the operation should prevent Iran from establishing itself in the occupied West Bank.
