Israel kills 1, wounds 7 as Palestinians still out of north Gaza despite ceasefire

Ahram Online , Sunday 26 Jan 2025

Israeli fires overnight have killed a Palestinian man and injured seven others, local health officials said Sunday, as crowds gathered in the hope of returning to the northern Gaza Strip under a fragile week-old ceasefire.

GAZA
Displaced Palestinians sit atop their belongings as they wait along the Salah al-Din road in Nuseirat to cross to the northern part of the Gaza Strip on January 26, 2025. AFP

 

Under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel was to begin Saturday allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on foot through the so-called Netzarim corridor bisecting the territory.

Israel put the move on hold until Hamas freed a female captive who Israel said was supposed to have been released that day.

The man was shot and two others wounded late Saturday, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties, as reported by AP.

Another five Palestinians, including a child, were wounded early Sunday in a separate shooting, the hospital said.

Moreover, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli vehicles are carrying out demolition operations in the Al-Shaboura camp in the centre of Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli maneuvers
 

Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday.

However, the military has warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim corridor.

On Saturday, Hamas stated that the Israeli occupation is still procrastinating in implementing the terms of the truce agreement.

The group added that Israel continues to close Rashid Street and prevent displaced pedestrians from returning from the south to the north.

Hamas held the occupation responsible for any delays in implementing the agreement and the consequences of these delays in other stages.

Hamas freed four young female Israeli soldiers on Saturday, and Israel released some 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.

However, Israel said another captive, the female civilian Arbel Yehoud, was supposed to be released as well and that it would not open the Netzarim corridor until she was freed.

It also accused Hamas of failing to provide details on the conditions of the captives set to be freed in the coming weeks.

The United States, Egypt, and Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire, were working to address the dispute.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated that communications are ongoing between Israel and mediators to secure Arbel's release before next Saturday.

A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the group informed the mediators that Arbil Yehud is alive and will be released next Saturday.

Additionally, a source from the Islamic Jihad Movement told Al Jazeera that the release of the Israeli captive will take place as part of the agreed-upon exchange deal.

The source added that Arbil is a captive held by the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, as she is a trained soldier in the Israeli army’s space programme.

Around 90 captives are still held in Gaza.

The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March and includes the release of a total of 33 captives and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The second — and far more difficult — phase has yet to be negotiated. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed over 47,000 Palestinians; more than half of them were women and children.

Israeli bombardment and ground operations have flattened vast swaths of Gaza and displaced around 90 percent of its 2.3 million people.

Since the ceasefire began, many who have returned to their homes have found only mounds of rubble where their neighbourhoods once stood.

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