Thousands of Palestinians blocked roads waiting to return to their homes in northern Gaza on Sunday, expressing frustration after Israel accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire agreement and refusing to open crossing points.
A day after the second exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the holdup underlined the dangers looming over the truth between the militant group and Israel, longtime rivals in a series of Gaza wars. Were.
Witnesses reported that large numbers of people were waiting, some in vehicles and some on foot, on the main roads leading north into Gaza’s central areas.
“A group of people are waiting for the signal to go back to Gaza City and the north, people are fed up and they want to go home,” said Tamer al-Burai, a displaced person from Gaza City. “That’s the deal that was signed, right?”
“Many of them don’t know whether their homes are still standing,” he said via Reuters. “But they want to go regardless, they want to pitch tents next to the debris of their homes, they Want to feel like.” A chat app.
On Sunday, witnesses said many people slept overnight on Salahuddin Road, the main route running from north to south, and on the coastal road leading north, along the Israeli military in the Netzarim corridor that runs through the center of the Gaza Strip. Were waiting to go ahead of the bases. ,
Vehicles, trucks and rickshaws in the central and southern areas of the enclave were loaded with mattresses, food and the tents that had sheltered them for more than a year, and volunteers were distributing water and food.
Under the agreement drawn up with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and supported by the United States, Israel aimed to allow displaced Palestinians from homes in the north to return to their homes.
But Israel said Hamas’s failure to hand over a list of who among the hostages scheduled for release is alive or that Arbel Yehud, an Israeli woman taken hostage during a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, is alive, means it has Have violated. agreement.
As a result, checkpoints in the central Gaza Strip will not be opened to allow entry into the northern Gaza Strip, it said in a statement. Hamas issued a statement accusing Israel of creating obstruction and held it responsible for the delay.
‘Demolition site’
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump directed the US military to drop 2,000-pound bombs, which his predecessor Joe Biden had ordered Israel to stop delivery due to concerns about their impact on Gaza’s civilian population.
He called on Egypt and Jordan to temporarily or permanently expel more Palestinians from Gaza, saying, “We must clear the whole thing.”
“This is literally a demolition site, almost everything has been demolished and people are dying there,” he told reporters after talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
An official with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, reacted with skepticism to the comments, echoing long-standing fears of Palestinians being permanently expelled from their homes.
The Palestinians “will not accept any proposal or solution, even if [such offers] “There appear to be good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in US President Trump’s proposals,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told Reuters.
Al-Awda hospital officials said four people were wounded by Israeli gunfire, with soldiers apparently trying to prevent people from getting too close.
The Israeli military issued a warning to Palestinians not to go near its positions in Gaza and said that soldiers had fired warning shots on several occasions, but said, “So far, we are not aware of any harm caused to the suspects as a result of the firing.” Are unknown.”
