Women sit amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings as displaced Palestinians return to the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, in Jabalia, on January 23, 2025, during a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.[Photo/Agencies]
A fragile truce aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza entered its second week on Sunday as a last-minute dispute blocked the expected return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to the enclave's devastated north.
Israel said on Sunday it would block Palestinians' passage to the north until a civilian woman hostage who the government said "was supposed to be released" on Saturday walks free.
A Hamas source told Agence France-Presse that the woman, Arbel Yehud, will be "released as part of the third swap" set for Feb 1.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians trying to return to their homes, killing at least one and wounding seven others.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers continued a large-scale military operation in and near the city of Jenin, killing at least two people, including a two-year-old girl who was shot in the head.
Hamas accused Israel of delaying the implementation of the cease-fire agreement, warning that such actions could jeopardize the next phases of the deal. "The occupation continues to delay the implementation of the agreement and the prisoner exchange by …preventing displaced people from returning on foot from the south to the north," it said in a statement.
It highlighted concerns over the next phases of the three-stage truce deal, which took effect on Jan 19. It also came after four Israeli soldiers were freed by Hamas in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, the second hostage-prisoner swap under the deal.
The deal's second phase is to see negotiations for a permanent end to the conflict, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal's multiphase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed three people and wounded 31 others trying to return to their homes in south Lebanon where Israeli troops remained on the ground after a deadline for their withdrawal passed on Sunday, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Deadline missed
Israel has said it intended to keep troops in the south beyond the Sunday deadline stipulated in the cease-fire deal that ended its conflict with Hezbollah two months ago. On Saturday, it ordered residents not to return until further notice.
Under the terms of the deal that took effect on Nov 27, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Lebanese army said a delay in implementing the agreement was the "result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli enemy's side".
Israeli forces have left coastal areas of southern Lebanon, but are still present in areas further east.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday that "the cease-fire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state".
In a separate development, US President Donald Trump has floated a plan to "just clean out" the Gaza Strip, saying he wants Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinians from the territory in a bid to create peace in the Middle East.
"I'd like Egypt to take people. And I'd like Jordan to take people,"Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One during a 20-minute question-and-answer session on Saturday, saying the move could be "temporarily or could be long term".
Hamas said it would oppose Trump's idea to relocate Gazans.
"As they have foiled every plan for displacement and alternative homelands over the decades, our people will also foil such projects,"Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, told AFP on Sunday.
Washington had said last year it opposed the forcible displacement of Palestinians. Rights groups and humanitarian agencies have for months raised concerns over the situation in Gaza.
The vast majority of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced, often multiple times, by the conflict that began after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023. Since then, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,283 people, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Trump also said he ended his predecessor's hold on sending 2,000-pound (907 kilograms) bombs to Israel.
Agencies contributed to this story.
