Israel on Monday began allowing Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed north of the Gaza Strip for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.
Thousands of Palestinians headed north after waiting for days to cross. Associated Press reporters saw people crossing the so-called Netzarim corridor shortly after 7 AM when the checkpoints were scheduled to open.
The opening was delayed for two days over a dispute between Hamas and Israel, which said the militant group had changed the order of the hostages it released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The ceasefire is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas and securing the release of dozens of hostages captured in the militants’ October 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the fighting.
Here’s the latest:
An Israeli doctor says released hostages are in poor physical condition
JERUSALEM – An Israeli military doctor who has treated the returning hostages released by Hamas in recent days says they are in poor physical condition and face a lengthy recovery process.
Dr Ami Benov told reporters on Monday that the seven young women were suffering from “mild starvation” and vitamin deficiencies. He says all of them suffered injuries in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and that the medical care they received was poor.
“They’re not in a good shape. They’re not good physically,” he said.
Benov says their mental states are “very complicated.” He says the women were held in tunnels and deprived of sunlight for at least eight months.
He says one of the challenges will be the “grounding” process in which they gradually understand they have regained control over such decisions as what to eat, what to wear and where and when to meet their families.
“We feel obligated to give them the option to do whatever they feel right,” he said. But he said everything is being done in “very small steps.”
Death toll rises to 24 in the southern Lebanon confrontation with Israeli troops
BEIRUT – The death toll in the confrontation between protesters and Israeli troops who remained in southern Lebanon has risen to 24 with 134 wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday.
Under a US-brokered ceasefire, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah was to move north of the Litani River by January 26, with the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers deploying in the south.
However, implementation delays left Israeli forces in over a dozen villages, sparking violent protests Sunday by residents expecting to return home by the deadline. Lebanon has subsequently agreed to extend the ceasefire deadline until February 18.
A Hezbollah lawmaker said Monday that his group, alongside the Lebanese army, is prepared to liberate villages where Israeli troops remain.
“The residents of these villages where the occupation remains are getting ready with our national army to liberate it,” Hassan Fadlallah said, speaking at an event in the southern city of Bint Jbeil, where Hezbollah’s reconstruction arm launched a rebuilding project.
Israel arrests 2 citizens on suspicion of working for Iran
TEL AVIV- Israeli authorities say they have arrested two Israeli citizens for allegedly conducting missions on behalf of Iran, the latest in a string of similar cases announced in recent months.
A statement from the Israeli police and the Shin Ben internal security agency on Monday said that Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreev, residents of northern Israel, were in contact with an Iranian agent and carried out various missions under his instruction.
The missions included passing on classified military material obtained during Eliasfov’s military service in an air defense unit. It said the suspects also spray-painted graffiti and hung banners with pro-Iranian messages in various locations across the country, all allegedly in return for financial compensation.
The prosecution is expected to file an indictment against them in the coming days.
In September, an Israeli citizen was indicted for involvement in an Iranian assassination plot against top Israeli leaders, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One month later, authorities arrested another Israeli who was allegedly involved in an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli scientist.
The Shin Bet says Iranian agents are known to use social media and promises of cash to try to enlist Israelis to carry out such missions.
Israel and Iran’s long-running shadow war has burst into the open over the past year, with the two countries directly exchanging fire in April and again in October.
Tens of thousands return to devastated northern Gaza as Israel lifts its closure under truce
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed into the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.
Massive crowds of people walking with their belongings stretched along a main road running next to the coast in a stunning reversal of the mass exodus from the north at the start of the war that many Palestinians had feared Israel would make permanent.
Palestinians who have been sheltering in squalid tent camps and schools-turned-shelters for over a year are eager to return to their homes, even though they have likely been damaged or destroyed.
Yasmin Abu Amshah, a mother of three, said she walked 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) to reach her home in Gaza City, where she found it damaged but still habitable. She also saw her younger sister for the first time in over a year.
“It was a long trip, but a happy one,” she said. “The most important thing is that we returned.”
