“WE MISS OUR HOMES”
Israel announced on Saturday that it would block the return of Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza until civilian woman hostage Arbel Yehud is released.
Netanyahu’s office said she “was supposed to be released today”, but a Hamas source told AFP Yehud will be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday”.
Palestinian police prevented hundreds of displaced people from reaching the Israeli-controlled passage to the north, where Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles were blocking the road.
Rafiqa Subh, waiting to return to Beit Lahia, said: “We want to go back, even though our houses are destroyed. We miss our homes so much.”
The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases. The last two have not yet been finalised.
The deal’s second phase is to see negotiations for a lasting end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal’s multi-phase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.
During the first, six-week phase, 33 hostages should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Militants released three hostages on the first day of the truce in exchange for 90 Palestinians.
During Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack that began the war, militants took 251 hostages, 87 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.
