GAZA CEASEFIRE | Israel lifts closure under truce; UK PM praises POTUS

Displaced Gazans move toward Gaza City after crossing the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. —AFP

Tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the most heavily destroyed part of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas in accordance with a fragile ceasefire.

Massive crowds of people carrying their belongings on foot stretched along a main highway running next to the coast in a stunning reversal of the mass exodus from the north at the start of the war, which many Palestinians had feared Israel would make permanent. Palestinians who have been sheltering in squalid tent camps and schools-turned-shelters for over a year are eager to return to their homes — even knowing they have likely been damaged or destroyed.

The joy of return

Ismail Abu Matter, a father of four who had to wait for three days before crossing with family, described scenes of jubilation on the other side, with people singing, praying and crying as they were reunited with relatives.

“It's the joy of return,” said Abu Matter, whose relatives were among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation. “We had thought we wouldn't return, like our ancestors.”

Hamas said the return was “a victory for our people, and a declaration of failure and defeat for the (Israeli) occupation and transfer plans.”

Defence minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue to enforce the ceasefire, and anyone violating it or threatening Israeli forces “will bear the full cost”. “We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct 7,” he wrote on X.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the hostage release, which will include female soldier Agam Berger, will take place on Thursday. That release will be in addition to the one already set for next Saturday, when three hostages should be released. Hamas also handed over a list of required information about the hostages to be released in the ceasefire's six-week first phase.

Israel nabs 2 on suspicion of working for Iran

Israeli authorities say they have arrested two Israeli citizens for allegedly conducting missions on behalf of Iran, the latest in a string of similar cases announced in recent months.A statement from the Israeli police and the Shin Ben internal security agency said Yuri Eliasfov and Georgi Andreev, residents of northern Israel, were in contact with an Iranian agent and carried out various missions under his instruction.

Trump speaks to Starmer

British PM Keir Starmer has paid tribute to Donald Trump for his role in securing a “landmark” Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza in his first official phone conversation with the US President.A readout from 10 Downing Street in London stated the two leaders had a warm exchange and agreed to meet in-person soon. The phone call came soon after Trump told reporters he thought Starmer has “done a very good job” so far. 

“The prime minister paid tribute to president Trump's role in securing the landmark ceasefire and hostages deal in Gaza,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.“The president welcomed the release of [British Israeli hostage] Emily Damari and sent his best wishes to her family. They discussed the importance of working together for security in the Middle East,” the spokesperson said.

The phone call began on a personal note as Trump expressed his condolences to Starmer on the loss of his brother, who passed away last month, and Starmer congratulated the US president on his inauguration on January 20.

22 killed, 124 hurt in Lebanon 

The death toll from Israeli attacks on crowds of Lebanese trying to return homes in southern Lebanon has risen to 22, including six women, with 124 others injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The injured included 12 women and a paramedic from the Islamic Scout Association, who was carrying out a humanitarian rescue mission, it said.