Mughraqa (Gaza Strip): Israeli forces withdrew from a key corridor in Gaza on Sunday in the latest commitment under a tenuous ceasefire, while shock over freed emaciated hostages renewed pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the truce beyond the first phase ending three weeks from now.
Talks on the second phase, meant to see more hostages released and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, were due to start on February 3. But Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress.
Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but it included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won’t lead to a breakthrough. Netanyahu, who returned to Israel after a US visit to meet with President Donald Trump, is expected to convene security Cabinet ministers on Tuesday.
Families of the remaining hostages warned that time is running out for those still alive.
“We cannot let the hostages remain there. There is no other way. I am appealing to the cabinet,” said Ella Ben Ami, a daughter of a hostage released on Saturday, adding she now understands the toll of captivity is much worse than imagined.
The father of a current hostage, Kobi Ohel, told Israel’s Channel 13 the newly released men said his son, Alon, and others “live off half a pita to a full pita a day. These are not human conditions.” Ohel’s mother, Idit, sobbed as she told Channel 12 her son has been chained for over a year.
Separately on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said two women, one of them eight months pregnant, were killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been carrying out an operation.
The ceasefire that began on January 19 has held, raising hopes that the 16-month war that led to seismic shifts in the Middle East may be headed toward an end.
The latest step was Israel forces’ withdrawal from the 4-mile (6-kilometre) Netzarim corridor separating northern and southern Gaza, which was used as a military zone.
No troops were seen in the vicinity Sunday. As the ceasefire began last month, Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to cross Netzarim and return to the north.
But the deal remains fragile. On Sunday, civil defense first responders in Gaza said three people were killed by Israeli fire east of Gaza City. Israel’s military noted “several hits” after warning shots were fired and again warned Palestinians from approaching its forces.
A convoy of cars piled with belongings headed north through a road that crosses Netzarim. Under the deal, Israel should allow cars to cross uninspected.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said the troops’ withdrawal showed the militant group had “forced the enemy to submit to our demands” and that it thwarted “Netanyahu’s illusion of achieving total victory.”
Israel has said it won’t agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capabilities are eliminated. Hamas says it won’t hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops from the territory.
During the ceasefire’s 42-day first phase, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has said Hamas confirmed that eight of the 33 are dead.
Families of hostages gathered in Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire, but he is under pressure from far-right political allies to resume the war.
“We know that for a year, that they are dying there, so we need to finish this deal in a hurry,” said Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger, who died in captivity.
Complicating things further is Trump’s proposal to relocate the population of Gaza and take ownership of the territory. Israel has expressed openness to the idea while Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it.
Egypt said it will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss the “new and dangerous developments.”
Trump’s proposal has moral, legal and practical obstacles. It may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic to pressure Hamas or make an opening gambit in discussions aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned Netanyahu’s recent comment that Palestinians could create their state there. It said his remarks aim to divert attention from crimes committed by “the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to.”
Qatar called Netanyahu’s comment “provocative” and a blatant violation of international law.
The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Much of the territory has been obliterated.
Violence has surged in the West Bank during the war and intensified in recent days with an Israeli military operation in the territory’s north.
The shooting of the pregnant woman, Sundus Shalabi, happened in the Nur Shams urban refugee camp, a focal point of Israeli operations against Palestinian militants. The Palestinian Health Ministry said another woman, Rahaf al-Ashqar, 21, was also killed.
Israel’s military said its police had opened an investigation.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday the expansion of the operation, which started in Jenin several weeks ago. He said it was meant to prevent Iran — allied with Hamas — from establishing a foothold in the West Bank.
