Deal reached to release more Israeli hostages and allow Palestinians into north Gaza

People gather by a banner welcoming people near the rubble of a collapsed building along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street for people to cross from the Israeli-blocked Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into Gaza City on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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  • Netanyahu鈥檚 office says another six hostages to be released in coming week after talks with Hamas
  • Israel confirms Qatar鈥檚 announcement, says Gazans can now return home from 7 a.m. Monday

DOHA/JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY: Mediator Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar鈥檚 statement said Hamas will hand over the civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, along with two other hostages before Friday. And on Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement said the hostage release 鈥� which will include soldier Agam Berger 鈥� will take place on Thursday, and confirmed that Palestinians can move north on Monday. Israel鈥檚 military said people can start crossing on foot at 7 a.m.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza. But Israel put that on hold because of Yehoud, who Israel said should have been released on Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

Netanyahu's office said that another six hostages would be released in the coming week, after talks with Hamas. Three would be released on Thursday and another three on Saturday, said a statement from his office.

The breakthrough preserves a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, which has devastated the Gaza Strip and displaced nearly all its residents, paving the way for more hostage-prisoner swaps under a deal aimed at ending the more than 15-month conflict.

Israel had been preventing vast crowds of Palestinians from using a coastal road to return to northern Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the truce agreement by failing to release civilian women hostages.

鈥淗amas has backtracked and will carry out an additional phase of releasing hostages this Thursday,鈥� Netanyahu鈥檚 office said in a statement.

Trump鈥檚 plan meets mixed reactions

Palestinian leaders meanwhile slammed a plan floated by US President Donald Trump to 鈥渃lean out鈥� Gaza, vowing to resist any effort to forcibly displace residents of the war-battered territory.

Trump said Gaza had become a 鈥渄emolition site,鈥� adding he had spoken to Jordan鈥檚 King Abdullah II about moving Palestinians out.

鈥淚鈥檇 like Egypt to take people. And I鈥檇 like Jordan to take people,鈥� Trump told reporters.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, who is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 鈥渆xpressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects鈥� aimed at displacing Palestinians from Gaza, his office said.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas鈥檚 political bureau, told AFP that Palestinians would 鈥渇oil such projects,鈥� as they have done to similar plans 鈥渇or displacement and alternative homelands over the decades.鈥�

Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, called Trump鈥檚 idea 鈥渄eplorable.鈥�

For Palestinians, any attempt to move them from Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the 鈥淣akba,鈥� or catastrophe 鈥� the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel鈥檚 creation in 1948.

鈥淲e say to Trump and the whole world: we will not leave Palestine or Gaza, no matter what happens,鈥� said displaced Gaza resident Rashad Al-Naji.

Trump floated the idea to reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e talking about probably a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.鈥�

Moving Gaza鈥檚 roughly 2.4 million inhabitants could be done 鈥渢emporarily or could be long term,鈥� he said.

Israel鈥檚 far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich 鈥� who opposed the truce deal and has voiced support for re-establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza 鈥� called Trump鈥檚 suggestion of 鈥渁 great idea.鈥�

Tantamount to 鈥榚thnic cleansing鈥�

The Arab League rejected the idea, warning against 鈥渁ttempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land.鈥�

鈥淭he forced displacement and eviction of people from their land can only be called ethnic cleansing,鈥� the league said in a statement.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said 鈥渙ur rejection of the displacement of Palestinians is firm and will not change. Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians.鈥�

Egypt鈥檚 foreign ministry said it rejected any infringement of Palestinians鈥� 鈥渋nalienable rights.鈥�

In Gaza, cars and carts loaded with belongings jammed a road near the Netzarim Corridor that Israel has blocked, preventing the expected return of hundreds of thousands of people to northern Gaza.

Israel had said it would prevent Palestinians鈥� passage until the release of Arbel Yehud, a civilian woman hostage. She is among those slated for return on Thursday, according to Netanyahu鈥檚 office.

Hamas said that blocking returns to the north also amounted to a truce violation, adding it had provided 鈥渁ll the necessary guarantees鈥� for Yehud鈥檚 release.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said Monday that residents would be allowed to return on foot starting at 07 a.m. (0500 GMT) and by car at 9 a.m.

Staggered releases

During the first phase of the Gaza truce, 33 hostages are supposed to be freed in staggered releases over six weeks in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The most recent swap saw four Israeli women hostages, all soldiers, and 200 prisoners, nearly all Palestinian, released Saturday 鈥� the second such exchange during the fragile truce entering its second week.

Dani Miran, whose hostage son Omri is not slated for release during the first phase, demonstrated outside Netanyahu鈥檚 office in Jerusalem on Sunday.

鈥淲e want the agreement to continue and for them to bring our children back as quickly as possible 鈥� and all at once,鈥� he said.

The truce has brought a surge of food, fuel, medicines and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza, but the UN says 鈥渢he humanitarian situation remains dire.鈥�

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas鈥檚 October 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,306 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory鈥檚 health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.