Israel withdraws from corridor splitting Gaza into two

Palestinians make their way after Israeli forces withdrew from the Netzarim Corridor. Reuters via VoA News_11zon

A new benchmark was reached Sunday in the tenuous Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, with Israeli troops withdrawing from the Netzarim corridor, a narrow strip of land that bisects the territory. It allowed more Palestinians to return to the northern sector where they once lived, but much of the land has been leveled by 15 months of fighting.

Cars heaped with belongings, including water tanks and suitcases, were seen heading north through a road that crosses the six-kilometer Netzarim. Under the truce, Israel was required to allow the cars to cross through uninspected, and there did not appear to be troops in the vicinity of the road.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said the withdrawal showed Hamas had "forced the enemy to submit to our demands" and that it thwarted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu's illusion of achieving total victory."

Israeli officials did not disclose how many soldiers withdrew or to where. Troops currently remain along Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt and a full withdrawal is expected to be negotiated in a later stage of the initial 42-day ceasefire that extends into early March.

But almost no progress has been made in negotiating an extension of the truce, which is supposed to lead to the release of more hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the sides, but the mission included low-level officials. The Israeli leader is also expected to convene a meeting of key Cabinet ministers this week to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, the extension of which is not guaranteed.

Separately on Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said that two women in their 20s, including one who was eight months’ pregnant, were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire in the northern occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been carrying out a broad operation against militants.

During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in exchange for a pause in fighting, freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The deal also stipulated that Israeli troops would pull back from populated areas of Gaza as well as the Netzarim corridor.

In the second phase, all remaining living hostages would be released in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a "sustainable calm." But details are unclear and yet to be negotiated.

The ceasefire pact was thrown into further turmoil last week when U.S. President Donald Trump, standing by Netanyahu at a White House news conference, called for U.S. ownership of Gaza at the end of the war and later declared that Israel would hand over the territory along the Mediterranean Sea. – VoA News