Israel accused Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released, stopping thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Under the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on foot through the so-called Netzarim corridor bisecting Gaza.
Israel said another hostage, the female civilian Arbel Yehoud, was supposed to have been released ahead of the four soldiers freed on Saturday.
Separately, a senior Hamas official said Palestinians would never accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that most of Gaza’s population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and nine others wounded after Israeli forces fired on the crowd, local Palestinian health officials said Sunday.
The ceasefire came after 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
The war broke out after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people. Israel’s retaliatory military operation has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
According to U.N. agencies, more than 13,000 children have been killed, an estimated 25,000 wounded, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition.
Here is the latest:
TEL AVIV, Israel — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both want Israel to establish Jewish settlements in Gaza, supported Trump’s remarks, calling it “voluntary emigration.”
Palestinians and many of their supporters view it as code for ethnic cleansing.
In a post on X Sunday, Smotrich called the idea of “helping (Palestinians) find other places to start new, good lives” great and said he would work with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to that end.
Ben-Gvir, who quit Netanyahu’s government over the current ceasefire in Gaza, said Trump’s remarks gave Israel the green light to move ahead on “voluntary emigration.”
“When the president of the world’s largest superpower brings it up himself, the government of Israel should implement it,” he said in a statement.
Netanyahu has said building Jewish settlements in Gaza is not realistic. Israel withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains a blockade with Egypt on the territory.
JERUSALEM — The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says its staff was directed to vacate the premises by Thursday.
Israel passed legislation last year cutting all ties with the agency and barring it from operating in its territory. It says the agency, which is the main provider of aid in the Gaza Strip, has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N.
In a statement Sunday, the agency, known as UNRWA, said the order to vacate “is in contradiction to international law obligations of U.N. member states,” including Israel. “United Nations premises are inviolable and enjoy privileges and immunities under the United Nations Charter.”
UNRWA closed its east Jerusalem headquarters last May after Israeli protesters set fire to its perimeter.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Bassem Naim said that “even if seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction,” the Palestinian people will never agree to such a proposal.
He also said the Palestinians can rebuild Gaza “even better than before” if Israel lifts its blockade.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions overnight and into Sunday. Those killed included a child, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday, but 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.
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