Israeli troops withdrew from the Netzarim corridor – a military area cutting north of the Gaza Strip from the south.
Hundreds of Palestinians in cars and on trucks loaded with mattresses and other goods began to return to northern Gaza after withdrawal – often in scenes of total destruction.
The Israeli withdrawal is in accordance with the ceasefire agreement of Israel-Hamas of January 19 under which 16 Israeli hostages and 566 Palestinian prisoners have so far been released.
At the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners should be released. Israel says that eight of the 33 died.
Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed around 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza War.
At least 48,189 Palestinians were killed in the offensive of Israel, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza. About two thirds of Gaza buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, said the UN.
About 700,000 inhabitants in northern Gaza fled south of the areas at the start of the war, when the Israeli army issued mass evacuation orders before launching a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory.
Many of those inappropriate were then forced to move several times after the Israeli forces also pushed in southern Gaza.
They were also prevented from returning home through the Corridor of Netzarim, extending from the Gaza-Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Israeli forces partially withdrew from the west of the corridor last month and the first Palestinians – pedestrians – were allowed to walk along the coastal street of Rashid while crossing northern Gaza.
People on vehicles must use Salah al-Din Street and undergo a projection for arms by us and Egyptian security entrepreneurs.
The Israeli defense forces did not officially comment on Sunday withdrawal from the eastern part of the corridor, which will let it control the borders of Gaza, but not the road which had halved it.
The Haaretz newspaper says that the Gaza Interior Ministry managed by Hamas urged people to “be cautious and adhere to the existing movement guides for their safety”.
The withdrawal of the troops comes while an Israeli delegation should go to Qatar, which moderated the talks between the two parties in the Gaza War.
The Israeli government previously declared that the delegation would initially discuss “technical questions” concerning the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, rather than the second more difficult phase which aims to lead to a permanent ceasefire , the exchange of all the remaining living hostages in Gaza for more Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal of Israeli Gaza forces.
This will require an additional orientation of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on the way back of the United States.
Netanyahu has become the first foreign leader to meet US President Donald Trump since returning to the White House on January 20.
During the trip, in the most dramatic change in American policy concerning Gaza for decades, Trump called for the abolition of the entire civilian population of the territory and the development of what he called “the riviera of the means- East”.
This suggestion, which would be a crime under international law, has been almost universally rejected, including by the Arab states.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that it would not accept “any offense of the inalienable rights of the Palestinians and any attempted displacement”, accusing Israel of “ethnic cleaning”.
Egypt also rejected any idea of the elimination of the Palestinian population and declared that it called a summit of emergency of the Arab League on February 27 to discuss what it called the “serious” Palestinian developments .
Questioned on the plan of Trump, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, told the BBC that it was time for new ideas of the United States and the neighbors of Israel, Egypt and Jordan – that the American chief wants to accept the Palestinians from Gaza.
“We will have to find the right way to make sure that what happened (October 7) will not happen again, which means that Hamas will no longer govern Gaza,” Herzog said on the BBC program with Laura Kuensberg.
