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International mediators settled disputes over fragile cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon late Sunday, as clashes involving the Israeli military and civilians threatened to undermine both agreements.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Hamas would release three hostages in Gaza on Thursday, including Arbel Yehud, resolving the first major crisis of the Gaza Disengagement Agreement, which came into effect a week ago.
In return, Israel will allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the north of the divided territory starting Monday.
The issue of Yehud’s release had strained the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, despite the release on Saturday of four female Israeli soldiers from Gaza, and 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Israeli officials claimed that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, had violated the agreement when it released soldiers to Yehud, who is the last female civilian hostage still believed to be alive in Gaza.
Israel retaliated by delaying its withdrawal from the strategic Netzarim corridor, which bisects North and South Gaza, blocking hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from crossing back into the northern part of the territory, as stipulated in the agreement.
Over the weekend, masses of Palestinians gathered near the corridor, with some families sleeping outside in the winter cold.
The Israeli military said it had fired “warning shots at several gatherings of dozens of suspects who were advancing on the troops and posing a threat to them.”
Health authorities in Gaza said two people were killed and nine others wounded in clashes on Sunday.
Mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt were able to resolve the crisis effectively securing an additional release of hostages this Thursday, including Yehud.
The weekly hostage release that will take place next Saturday will go ahead as planned, with three more Israelis expected to be freed, according to Israeli officials.
In return, several hundred Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli prisons.
Hamas on Sunday provided Israel with a list of hostages remaining in captivity and set to release as part of the initial six-week ceasefire, detailing whether they were alive or dead.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, during which fighters from the group killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Israel responded with an attack on Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 people and fueled a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.
US President Donald Trump has asked Egypt and Jordan to take in most of Gaza’s population, saying it was time to “cleanse” the territory, but his proposal was rejected by the two Arab countries.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, reached last November through American mediation, will be extended until February 18.
The deal halted more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has been attacking the Jewish state in solidarity with Hamas.
Israel made clear last week that it would not meet Sunday’s two-month deadline for withdrawing its army from southern Lebanon.
Israel has claimed that Lebanese Army deployments in areas vacated by its troops and Hezbollah fighters had been too slow to meet the deadline.
With Israeli forces still holding territory inside Lebanon, hundreds of residents came under Israeli fire as they tried to walk back to their villages.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, 22 people were killed and 124 injured on Sunday.
