Israel lets Palestinians return to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as truce holds

The opening was delayed for 2 days implicit a quality betwixt Hamas and Israel, which said the militant radical had changed the bid of the hostages it released successful speech for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Mediators resolved the quality overnight.

The ceasefire is aimed astatine winding down the deadliest and astir destructive war ever fought betwixt Israel and Hamas and securing the merchandise of dozens of hostages captured successful the militants’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the fighting.

Israel ordered the wholescale evacuation of the northbound successful the opening days of the warfare and sealed it disconnected soon aft crushed troops moved in.

An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows displaced Palestinians gathering with their belongings adjacent a roadblock connected the al Rashid Street, arsenic they hold to instrumentality to their homes successful the bluish portion of the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, days aft the ceasefire woody betwixt Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo)

Around a cardinal radical fled to the southbound successful October 2023 and person not been allowed to return. Hundreds of thousands remained successful the north, which had immoderate of the heaviest warring and the worst demolition of the war.

Hostage quality rattled week-old ceasefire

Israel had delayed the opening of the crossing, which was expected to hap implicit the weekend, saying it would not let Palestinians northbound until a pistillate civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, was released.

It besides accused Hamas of failing to supply accusation connected whether the remaining hostages acceptable to beryllium freed successful the archetypal signifier are live oregon dead.

Hamas successful crook accused Israel of violating the statement by not opening the crossing.

The Gulf federation of Qatar, a cardinal mediator with Hamas, announced aboriginal Monday that an statement had been reached to merchandise Yehoud on with 2 different hostages earlier Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said successful a connection that the hostage merchandise — which volition see pistillate worker Agam Berger — volition instrumentality spot connected Thursday. That merchandise volition beryllium successful summation to the 1 already acceptable for adjacent Saturday, erstwhile 3 hostages should beryllium released.

Hamas besides handed implicit a database of required accusation astir the hostages to beryllium released successful the ceasefire’s six-week archetypal phase.

A 2nd and much hard signifier awaits

Under the archetypal signifier of the ceasefire, which runs until aboriginal March, Hamas is to escaped a full of 33 hostages successful speech for the merchandise of astir 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The militants person released 7 hostages, including 4 pistillate soldiers, successful the existent ceasefire, successful speech for much than 300 prisoners, including galore serving beingness sentences for deadly attacks connected Israelis.

The 2nd — and acold much hard — signifier of the statement has not yet been negotiated. Hamas says it volition not merchandise the remaining 60 oregon truthful hostages unless Israel ends the war, portion Netanyahu says helium is inactive committed to destroying the militant radical and ending its astir 18-year regularisation implicit Gaza.

Hamas started the warfare erstwhile thousands of its fighters stormed into confederate Israel connected Oct. 7, 2023, sidesplitting immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting different 250. Around 90 hostages are inactive wrong Gaza, and Israel believes astir a 3rd are dead.

Israel’s aerial and crushed warfare has killed implicit 47,000 Palestinians, much than fractional of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

It does not accidental however galore of the dormant were combatants. Israel says it has killed implicit 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israeli bombardment and crushed operations person displaced astir 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 cardinal people, often aggregate times, and flattened full neighborhoods.