Agreement reached to release Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to north Gaza
An agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow displaced Palestinians to return home to northern Gaza, mediator Qatar has said.
The agreement brings an end to one of the first major crises in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, after Israel prevented thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza as it accused Hamas of changing the order of its hostage release.
Hamas will hand over Arbel Yehoud, a civilian, along with two other hostages before Friday, Qatar’s statement said. Israeli authorities will allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on Monday, the office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The initial ceasefire agreement stipulated that Israel would permit Palestinians to return to northern Gaza on Saturday – a move which was put on hold after Israel said Ms Yehoud should have been released that day.
Both sides accused the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire.
Thousands of Palestinians have gathered as they wait to move north to their homes in Gaza. Israeli forces killed two people and wounded nine when they fired on the crowd of Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Palestinians returning to northern Gaza face a long road ahead to rebuild their homes, which were demolished in Israel’s devastating 15-month invasion of the small enclave.
“We have been in agony for a year and a half,” said Nadia Qasem, one of the Palestinians carrying their belongings on a road leading to a closed Israeli checkpoint.
Fadi al-Sinwar lamented that “the fate of more than a million people is linked to one person”, referring to Ms Yehoud. “See how valuable we are? We are worthless,” he said.
Israeli forces killed more than 47,000 Palestinians including 13,000 children in its invasion, according to the Gaza health ministry and UN agencies, which came after the Hamas attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 Israelis and saw 251 hostages taken – 87 of whom remain in captivity.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, local health officials said 22 people were killed by Israeli forces after they opened fire on a crowd of protesters demanding their withdrawal by Sunday’s deadline under a separate ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah militant group. More than 120 were wounded, officials added.
Israel says it hasn’t withdrawn because Lebanese forces are not deploying quickly enough – but Lebanon says its forces cannot move into areas until Israeli troops leave.
It comes after US president Donald Trump suggested that the Gaza population should be resettled to Egypt and Jordan to “just clean out” the enclave. Egypt Jordan and the Palestinians rejected this proposal. The temporary or long-term transfer of Palestinians “risks expanding the conflict in the region,” Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Bassem Naim, a senior official for Hamas, said Palestinians would never accept the proposal “even if seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction”. Palestinians can rebuild Gaza “even better than before” if Israel lifts its blockade, he added.
