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The Israeli forces withdrew from a key corridor in Gaza on Sunday, said Israeli and Hamas officials, the last commitment under a high faint fire that faces an important evidence on whether the parties can negotiate their planned extension.
The commotion of the Israelis when seeing three demacred hostages released on Saturday has added pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the truce instead of fighting again when the first phase of the high fire ends in early March.
Israel and Hamas seem to have progressed little in the negotiation of the second phase of the agreement, which is also destined to see more hostages released. The conversations had to start on February 3.
Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but included low -level officials, generating speculation that he will not lead to advance. It is expected that Netanyahu, who returned to Israel on Sunday after a visit from the United States to meet with President Donald Trump, summons the key cabinet ministers this week.
Israel had used the six -kilometer Netzarim corridor that separated Gaza from the north and south of Gaza as a military zone during the 16 months war, but no troops were observed near Sunday. When the fire began last month, Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to cross Netzarim and return to the north.
The High Fire remains fragile
The high the fire that began on January 19 has remained, which increases the hopes that the war that led to seismic changes in the Middle East can go towards an end.
But it is still fragile. On Sunday, Civil Defense lifeguards in Gaza said three people were killed by the Israeli fire east of the city of Gaza. Israel’s army pointed out “several successes” after the warning shots were fired and again warned the Palestinians to approach their forces.
The cars full of belongings went north through a road that crosses Netzarim. According to the agreement, Israel should allow cars to cross without inspection.
Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the movement of the troops with the media, they did not say how many soldiers they retired. The troops remain along the borders of Gaza with Israel and Egypt.
Hamas spokesman, Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua, said the withdrawal of the troops showed that the militant group had “forced the enemy to submit to our demands” and that Netanyahu’s illusion of achieving total victory. “
Israel has said that it will not agree with a complete retreat from Gaza until the military and political capabilities of Hamas are eliminated. Hamas says he will not deliver to the last hostages until Israel withdraw all the troops from the territory.
During the first 42 -day phase of Alto El Fuego, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during his October 7, 2023 attack that caused war in exchange for the liberation of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid To Gaza. The agreement also says that Israeli troops will move away from populated areas.
In the second phase, all the remaining living hostages would be released in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal of Gaza and “sustainable calm.” But the details beyond that are not clear.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia condemned Netanyahu’s recent comment that the Palestinians could create their status there. He said that his comments “aim to divert attention to successive crimes committed by Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including ethnic cleaning to which they are being subjected.”
Qatar on Sunday described the comment of “provocative” and a shameless violation of international law.
The War in Gaza, caused by the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and received 250 hostages, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, which do not differentiate between combatants and non -combatants in their count. Much of the territory has been erased.
Violence in the West Bank occupied by Israel
Violence has increased in the West Bank throughout the war and has 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, one of them pregnant eight months, were killed by Israeli shots in occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been carrying out an operation.
The Ministry said that the shooting that killed the pregnant woman, Sundus Shalabi, and another woman, Rahaf al-Asshqar, occurred in the Nur Shams Urban Refugee Camp, a focal point of Israeli operations against Palestinian militants.
Israel’s army said his police had opened an investigation.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday the expansion of the operation, which began in Jenin several weeks ago. He said he was destined to prevent Iran, allied with Hamas, to establish a support point in the West Bank.
