A new benchmark was reached Sunday in the tenuous Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, with Israeli troops withdrawing from the Netzarim corridor, a narrow strip of land that bisects the territory. It allowed more Palestinians to return to the northern sector where they once lived, but much of the land has been leveled by 15 months of fighting.
Cars heaped with belongings, including water tanks and suitcases, were seen heading north through a road that crosses the six-kilometer Netzarim. Under the truce, Israel was required to allow the cars to cross through uninspected, and there did not appear to be troops in the vicinity of the road.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said the withdrawal showed Hamas had “forced the enemy to submit to our demands” and that it thwarted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s illusion of achieving total victory.”
Israeli officials did not disclose how many soldiers withdrew or to where. Troops currently remain along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt and a full withdrawal is expected to be negotiated in a later stage of the initial 42-day ceasefire that extends into early March.
But almost no progress has been made in negotiating an extension of the truce, which is supposed to lead to the release of more hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.
Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the sides, but the mission included low-level officials. The Israeli leader is also expected to convene a meeting of key Cabinet ministers this week to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, the extension of which is not guaranteed.
Separately on Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said that two women in their 20s, including one who was eight months’ pregnant, were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire in the northern occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been carrying out a broad operation against militants.
During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in exchange for a pause in fighting, freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The deal also stipulated that Israeli troops would pull back from populated areas of Gaza as well as the Netzarim corridor.
In the second phase, all remaining living hostages would be released in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” But details are unclear and yet to be negotiated.
The ceasefire pact was thrown into further turmoil this past week when U.S. President Donald Trump, standing by Netanyahu at a White House news conference, called for U.S. ownership of Gaza at the end of the war and later declared that Israel would hand over the territory along the Mediterranean Sea.
Hamas, Arab nations and U.S. allies and adversaries alike condemned the proposal although Netanyahu applauded it as a potential game-changing breakthrough leading to Middle East peace.
But Netanyahu is under heavy pressure from his far-right political allies to resume the war after the first phase so that Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack on Israelis in their history, can be defeated. He is also facing pressure from Israelis who are eager to see more hostages return home and want the truce to continue, especially after the gaunt appearances of the three male captives freed Saturday stunned the nation.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the shock October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. Israel says the death toll includes 17,000 militants it has killed.
Hamas, a U.S. designated terror group, freed three more Israeli hostages Saturday and Israel responded with the release of 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange of hostages for prisoners. It was the fifth exchange since the ceasefire took effect last month.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
