Mediators aim to end a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
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International mediators resolved a fragile cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon late Sunday, as clashes between Israeli forces and civilians threatened to tear apart both agreements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday that Hamas would release three hostages in Gaza, including Arbel Yehud, in the first major breakthrough in a Gaza ceasefire that took effect a week ago.
In return, Israel will allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the northern part of the enclave starting Monday.
The issue of the Jewish exodus has sparked tensions despite the release of four female Israeli soldiers from Gaza and 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons on Saturday in a US-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli officials say Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, violated the deal when it released its troops in the presence of Jude, the last civilian female hostage believed to be alive in Gaza.
Israel retaliated as outlined in the deal by delaying its withdrawal from the strategic Netzarim Corridor, which divides Gaza into north and south, and preventing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the territory.
At the weekend, many Palestinians gathered in the streets, with some families sleeping outside in the winter cold.
The Israeli army said it “fired several warning shots at a group of dozens of suspects who were advancing towards the soldiers and posed a threat to them.”
Health officials in Gaza said two people were killed and nine others wounded in clashes on Sunday.
Mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt successfully freed more hostages, including Yuhud, on Thursday.
The weekly hostage release scheduled for Saturday will go ahead as planned, and three more Israelis are expected to be released, Israeli officials said.
In return, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.
Hamas on Sunday gave Israelis a list of the remaining hostages in its custody and said whether they were alive or dead, to be released as part of the first six-week ceasefire.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the group’s fighters killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Israel has responded with an offensive against Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 people and worsened the humanitarian carnage on its territory.
US President Donald Trump has urged Egypt and Jordan to take back most of Gaza, saying it is time to “cleanse” the territory, but his proposal has been rejected by the two Arab countries.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon brokered by the US last November will be extended until February 18.
The agreement ended more than a year of war between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group allied with Hamas, which has been attacking the Jewish state.
Israel made it clear last week that it would not meet Sunday’s two-month deadline for withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon.
Israel has said that the deadline for the deployment of its Lebanese army and Hezbollah fighters in areas where it was released was too late.
As Israeli troops continue to occupy territory in Lebanon, hundreds of residents have been shot by Israel as they try to return to their villages on foot.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, 22 people were killed and 124 injured on Sunday.