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Mediators aim to shore up fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon

Mediators aim to shore up fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Mediators aim to shore up fragile ceasefires in Gaza and

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International mediators resolved disputes over fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon late Sunday, after clashes involving the Israeli military and civilians threatened to undermine both agreements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that Hamas will release three hostages in Gaza on Thursday, including Arbel Yehud, resolving the first major crisis of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which took effect one week ago.

In return, Israel will allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the northern shattered territories starting Monday.

The issue of the release of Jews had soured over the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas despite the release on Saturday of four Israeli soldiers from Gaza, and 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Israeli officials claimed that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, violated the agreement when it released soldiers ahead of Yehud, the last civilian hostage still believed alive in Gaza.

Israel retaliated by delaying its withdrawal from the strategic Netzarim corridor, which runs north and south of Gaza, preventing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from crossing into the northern part of the territory, as specified in the agreement.

Over the weekend, Palestinian masses gathered near the pass, with some families sleeping outside in the winter cold.

The Israeli military said it fired “warning shots at several gatherings of dozens of suspects who were advancing toward the forces and posing a threat to them.”

Health authorities in Gaza said that two people were killed and nine others were injured in clashes on Sunday.

US and Qatari Egyptian mediators were able to resolve the standoff by securing the release of an additional hostage this Thursday, including Jews.

Next Saturday’s weekly hostage release will move forward as planned, with three Israelis expected to be released, according to Israeli officials.

In return, several hundred Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.

Hamas on Sunday provided Israel with a list of hostages remaining in captivity set to be released as part of an initial six-week ceasefire, detailing whether they are alive or dead.

The war in Gaza originated in an October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, in which fighters from the group killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage.

Israel responded with an attack in Gaza that killed more than 47,000 people and fueled a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

US President Donald Trump urged Egypt and Jordan to take most of Gaza’s population, saying it was time to “clean up” the territory, but his proposal was rejected by the two Arab countries.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, reached last November through US mediation, would be extended until February 18.

The agreement halted more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hazbala, the Lebanese armed group that had been attacking the Jewish state in solidarity with Hamas.

Israel made clear last week that it would not meet a two-month deadline on Sunday to withdraw its army from southern Lebanon.

Israel claimed that Lebanese Army deployments to areas vacated by both its forces and Hezbollah fighters were too slow to meet the deadline.

With Israeli forces holding territory inside Lebanon, hundreds of residents were exposed to Israeli fire as they attempted to return on foot to their villages.

According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, 22 people were killed and 124 injured on Sunday.

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2025-01-27 00:25:00


#Mediators #aim #shore #fragile #ceasefires #Gaza #Lebanon

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