Key events
Palestinians blocked from returning to northern Gaza by Israeli military
Hello, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the developments in the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel and the crisis in the Middle East more widely.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, people displaced from their homes in Gaza should now be allowed to move freely around the Palestinian territory.
But thousands of displaced Palestinian people are reportedly being blocked from returning to their homes in northern Gaza as Israel accuses Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, from not honouring the terms of the ceasefire deal.
On Saturday, armed members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad handed over four Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross as part of the agreement. The freed soldiers are Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, who served with the Israel Defense Forces.
However, a dispute broke out when the German-Israeli citizen Arbel Yehoud, aged 28 at the time of her capture, was not included in the swap, even though Hamas was expected to free more non-military hostages.
Yehoud is one of the last female civilians held in Gaza. She is reportedly held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second largest armed faction, rather than Hamas, which led the 7 October 2023 on southern Israel, complicating her potential handover and release.
Hamas insisted Yehoud is alive and will be freed next week. But Israel has responded by delaying the planned withdrawal of some of its troops from Gaza, which would have allowed Palestinians to return to the devastated northern areas of the strip, which include Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and Jabalia.
Al Jazeera is reporting this morning that thousands of Palestinian people are waiting for a permit by the Israeli military to access northern Gaza, much of which lies in rubble after the renewed Israeli assault on it last autumn.
The Israeli military has warned people that they cannot move north past the Netzarim Corridor – which divides the territory – as planned. We will bring you the latest on this throughout the day.
