Israel withdraws from key corridor in Gaza

CAIRO/JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has withdrawn from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday as part of the cease-fire deal with Hamas, following Saturday's fifth prisoner-for-hostage swap under the first phase of the truce.

Israel agreed as part of the cease-fire to remove its forces from the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that bisects northern Gaza from the south.

"Israeli forces have dismantled their positions and military posts and completely withdrawn their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor on Salaheddin Road, allowing vehicles to pass freely in both directions," an official from the Hamasrun interior ministry told AFP.

An Israeli security source, requesting anonymity, confirmed the Israeli military was withdrawing from its positions in central Gaza, Reuters reported.

The full withdrawal of troops from the corridor took place a day after Hamas and Israel conducted their fifth hostage-prisoner swap.

On Saturday, three Israeli hostages previously held by Hamas were transferred from central Gaza to the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency and crossed the border into Israel, the IDF said.

The three hostages, kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, are Ohad Ben Ami, 56, a dual Israeli-German citizen; Eli Sharabi, 52; and Or Levy, 34.

Earlier in the day, a Xinhua News Agency correspondent saw three vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross arrive at the designated handover site in Deir al-Balah city.

The hostages moved onto a platform to speak first, and were then handed over by al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas — to the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to the correspondent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "in collaboration with security bodies, the government will support the released hostages and their families".

As part of the swap, Israel also freed 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails on Saturday.

Greeted by crowd

Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, said the released prisoners, transported by buses of the International Committee of the Red Cross, have arrived in Ramallah. TV footage showed the released Palestinians being greeted by a large crowd at a square in the city.

Of the freed prisoners, 42 were from the occupied West Bank, three from Jerusalem, and 27 from the Gaza Strip, all serving life sentences or lengthy terms. Additionally, 111 Palestinians were arrested in Gaza after Hamas'2023 attack, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said in a statement.

Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that Israeli vehicles stormed Beitunia, a Palestinian city west of Ramallah, immediately after the bus carrying prisoners left Ofer Prison, to prevent any celebratory demonstrations by the families of the released prisoners.

Israeli forces also raided the homes of some prisoners in the West Bank and warned their families against organizing celebrations to mark their release, according to sources.

Effective on Jan 19, the first 42-day phase of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt and Qatar with support from the United States, stipulates that Hamas free 33 hostages and Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

After the fifth hostage-prisoner swap, Netanyahu ordered negotiators on Saturday to return to Qatar to discuss the fragile cease-fire.

In a video statement released on Saturday, Netanyahu, who is currently in the US, reiterated his commitment to securing the release of all hostages.

"We will do everything to return all of our hostages. We will see to their safety. This is the directive that I gave to the delegation — say this to the mediators and demand it," he said.

In another development, Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory.

Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on Channel 14 who mistakenly said "Saudi state "instead of "Palestinian state", before correcting himself.

Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a "direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty".

Xinhua - Agencies