Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been blocked from returning to Gaza after Israel accused Hamas of breaching the fragile week-old ceasefire.
In central areas of Gaza on Sunday, “a sea of people” were waiting along the main roads leading north to return to their homes, voicing frustration after Israel refused to open crossing points over accusations the militant group had not freed a hostage who was supposed to have been released the previous day.
A day after the second exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the hold-up underlined the risks hanging over the truce between the militant group and Israel, long-time adversaries in a series of Gaza wars.
Witnesses said many people had slept overnight on the Salahuddin Road, the main thoroughfare running north to south and on the coastal road leading north, waiting to go past the Israeli military positions in the Netzarim corridor running across the centre of the Gaza Strip.
Vehicles, trucks and rickshaws were overloaded with mattresses, food, and the tents that used to shelter them for over a year in the central and southern areas of the enclave, and volunteers were distributing water and food.
“A sea of people is waiting for a signal to move back to Gaza City and the north, people are fed up and they want to go home. This is the deal that was signed, isn't it?” asked Tamer Al-Burai, a displaced person from Gaza City.
“Many of those people have no idea whether their houses back home are still standing. But they want to go regardless, they want to put up the tents next to the rubble of their houses, they want to feel home.”
Under the agreement worked out with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States, Israel was meant to allow Palestinians displaced from their homes in the north to return to their homes.
But Israel said Hamas's failure to hand over a list detailing which of the hostages scheduled for release is alive or to hand over Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian woman taken hostage during Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, meant the group had violated the agreement.
As a result, checkpoints in the central Gaza Strip would not be opened to allow crossings into the northern Gaza Strip, it said in a statement. Hamas issued a statement accusing Israel of stalling and holding it responsible for the delay.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire, were working to address the dispute.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian man was killed and seven people, including a child, were wounded by Israeli fire overnight in two separate incidents, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday, but the military warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim corridor.
Hamas freed four young female Israeli soldiers on Saturday, and Israel released some 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.
The ceasefire was reached earlier this month after more than a year of negotiations aimed to end the 15-month war and free scores of hostages still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails.
Around 90 hostages are still being held in Gaza, and Israeli authorities believe at least a third, and up to half, were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.
The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March and includes the release of a total of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The second – and far more difficult – phase, has yet to be negotiated.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the 7 October attack, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people. More than 100 were freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.
Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens more, at least three of whom were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces. Seven have been freed since the latest ceasefire began.
Israel's military campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Israeli bombardment and ground operations have flattened wide swaths of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people. Many who have returned to their homes since the ceasefire began have found only mounds of rubble where their neighbourhoods once stood.
New US president Donald Trump suggested on Saturday that most of Gaza’s population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan, in order to “just clean out” the war-ravaged enclave. Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians themselves have previously rejected such a scenario.
