Thousands of Gazans gather on coastal road as IDF blocks access to Strip’s north
Israel preventing movement north under ceasefire, saying Hamas violated agreement twice by failing to free civilian Arbel Yehoud and to provide a list of living hostages to be freed
Footage published by Palestinians on Sunday showed thousands of displaced Gazans gathered along the coastal road in central Gaza, waiting to return to the north of the Strip.
Under the ceasefire deal, the Israeli military was to allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza along the al-Rashid road starting Saturday, and was to withdraw from part of the east-west Netzarim Corridor, along that road, by Sunday.
However, Israel has said it will not allow Gazans to reach the north of the Strip until Hamas arranges for the release of civilian Arbel Yehoud, who was supposed to be freed over the weekend, in accordance with the deal’s stipulation that civilian women be freed first. Four female soldiers were released Saturday.
Israel has thus kept the passage closed.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, a diplomatic official told reporters that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “stands firm on the decision he made not to allow the passage of Gazans northward through the Netzarim Corridor, until the issue of the return of Arbel Yehoud is resolved,” without specifying what that would entail.
Israel had demanded Yehoud, a civilian, be returned yesterday, but instead Hamas freed four female IDF soldiers. Israel called the decision a violation of the ceasefire and has refused to in turn open the coastal road heading to north Gaza, where thousands of people have gathered today waiting to return home.
Yehoud is believed to be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Gazan terror group that also participated in the October 7, 2023, attack. Hamas, as part of its responsibility under the agreement, is held responsible for returning other terror groups’ captives as well as its own.
Israel said Sunday that Hamas had violated the deal twice on Saturday: by not returning Yehoud, and by not meeting the deadline to provide a list stating who among the hostages set to be freed in this 42-day phase of the ceasefire is alive and who is not.
Hamas on Saturday released four female soldiers — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — who were abducted during the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. The terror group did not release Yehoud, despite repeated demands by Israel.
בעזה לא ממתינים לאישור רשמי בנוגע לחזרה לצפון הרצועה, ומתפתחת כבר עתה התקהלות המונית בצירים המובילים לעבר ציר נצרים. pic.twitter.com/UvasmsPyP5
— מיכאל Michael Milshtein/ميخائيل ميلشطاين (@michael_mils) January 26, 2025
A total of 33 hostages, all of whom fall into the so-called “humanitarian” category of women, children, the elderly, and sick or wounded men, are set to be released over the course of the first 42 days of the ceasefire. Not all of them are alive, and the condition of some of them is unknown. Hamas was to provide the status of all of them by the seventh day of the truce — Saturday.
Late Saturday night, discussions were held by mediators in Cairo to resolve the disagreement over the Netzarim Corridor and return of Gazans to the north of the Strip, but they ended without reaching an agreement, according to the Saudi television station Al-Hadath.
CNN reported late Saturday that Israel had reached out to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for help, urging him to push Hamas to hold by the terms of the deal.
According to reports in Arab media that accompanied Sunday’s videos, some of the thousands seen waiting on the coast had slept along the roadside overnight in the hope the passage would open.
A clip circulating online showed a crowd that seemed to be made up exclusively of men waiting and chanting.
Hamas on Sunday accused Israel of a “clear violation of the ceasefire agreement” in “preventing the return of displaced people to the north.”
ובינתיים בעזה אלפים ממתינים בציפייה לעבור מדרום הרצועה לצפון הרצועה באמצעות ציר נצרים על אף ההודעה הישראלית שזה לא יקרה, כל עוד לא יוסדר שחרורה של החטופה ארבל יהוד https://t.co/1P6RTO028e pic.twitter.com/Fj4KSGip3a
— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) January 26, 2025
In a statement, the terror group said Israel was “stalling under the pretext of captive Arbel Yehoud, even though the movement informed mediators that she is alive and gave all the necessary guarantees for her release.”
Some Arabic media outlets reported Saturday that Hamas had provided a sign of life from Yehoud, but the Prime Minister’s Office quickly said that claim was false.
According to the ceasefire-hostage deal, which went into effect on January 19, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 “humanitarian” hostages, living and dead, during a first 42-day phase, during which Israel will free up to 1,904 Palestinian security prisoners including murderers.
The next phase, if the details are agreed on, is set to include the release of the remaining hostages, the release of many more Palestinian security prisoners, and a “sustainable calm” in Gaza, including a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
Ninety hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
