People walk towards their homes through the destroyed streets of Gaza City on January 19, 2025.
Abu Salama | AFP | Getty Images
Mediator Qatar announced earlier on Monday that it had reached a deal to free an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis in the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
A Qatari statement said Hamas would hand over civilian hostage Abel Yehud and two other hostages by Friday. On Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the hostages would be released on Thursday and confirmed that Palestinians could move north on Monday.
Israel will begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on Saturday under a ceasefire agreement. But Israel put the move on hold over Yehud, who it said was due to be released on Saturday. Hamas accuses Israel of violating the agreement.
The release of Yehud and two other hostages follows an already scheduled release for next Saturday, when the three hostages are supposed to be freed.
People hold photos of hostages Arbel Yehoud and Avinatan Or during a rally to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel on October 6, 2024 in New York City. poster.
Noam Garay | Getty Images
In addition, Hamas said in a statement that the armed group had submitted a list of required information on all hostages to be released during the first phase of the six-week ceasefire. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed it had received the list.
Thousands of Palestinians had gathered waiting to move north through the Nezarim corridor that bisects the Palestinian territory, and local health officials said on Sunday that Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, killing two people and leaving nine others Injuried.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that most of Gaza’s population be resettled, at least temporarily, elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan, to “clean up” the war-torn enclave. Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians rejected the request because they feared Israel might never allow the refugees to return.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the Palestinians would never accept such an offer “even if it appears to be well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction”. He said Palestinians could rebuild Gaza “better than before” if Israel lifted the blockade.
Disputes, shootings test fragile ceasefire
Israeli forces fired into crowds three times between night and Sunday, killing two people and wounding nine others, including a child, according to Al Awada Hospital, which receives casualties.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “dozens of suspects advanced towards the Israeli troops and posed a threat to them” and that the Israeli military fired warning shots at these people.
Israel has withdrawn its troops from several areas of Gaza under a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sunday. The military warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in the buffer zone and Nezarim corridor along the Gaza border.
Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday and Israel freed about 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences for deadly attacks. But Israel said Yehud should be released before the soldiers.
On January 25, 2025, Hamas militants released four Israeli female soldiers, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Daniela Guilbo, in Gaza City Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev as part of a ceasefire and hostage prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas military wing | Reuters
Israel also accuses Hamas of failing to provide detailed information on the status of hostage releases in the remaining five weeks of the first phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas said it had told mediators including the United States, Egypt and Qatar that Yehud was alive and guaranteed her release.
Palestinians waiting to make the journey north are growing increasingly frustrated, with some gathering around bonfires to warm themselves against the winter cold.
“We have been in pain for a year and a half,” Nadia Qasim said.
“The fate of more than a million people is tied to one person,” said Fadi Sinwar, also from Gaza City, referring to Yehud.
“See how valuable we are? We’re worthless,” he said.
Ending the war will be difficult
The ceasefire aims to end the 15-month war triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and release hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. About 90 hostages remain in Gaza, and Israeli authorities believe at least one-third, and at most half, of them are dead.
Itzik Horn, the father of the hostages Il and Etan Horn, said any resumption of fighting would be a “death sentence for the hostages” and criticized government ministers who want the war to continue.
The first phase of the ceasefire lasted until early March and included the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The second – and more difficult – phase remains to be negotiated. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages until the war ends, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.
Palestinian prisoners are welcomed after their release by Israel as part of the hostage-prisoner exchange and Gaza ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, January 25, 2025, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Muhammad Salem | Reuters
Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 people in an attack on Oct. 7. Released. Seven people have been released in the latest ceasefire.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israeli military operations have killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children. It did not say how many of the dead were combatants. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 17,000 militants but provided no evidence.
Israeli bombings and ground operations have leveled large swathes of Gaza and displaced about 90 percent of the population of 2.3 million. Many people who have returned to their homes since the ceasefire began found only piles of rubble.
