The withdrawal has not yet been publicly confirmed by the Israeli military.
Israeli forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, Hamas said on February 9 as part of Israel’s commitment in a fragile ceasefire agreement with terrorist groups.
A key corridor in the Gaza Strip, Netzarim is a four-mile section of land bisecting South Gaza from the south. Israel used the area as a military zone during its war with Hamas. Israeli officials have yet to publicly confirm the military withdrawal from the corridor, but news reports have shown what Israeli military vehicles are likely to leave the Netzarim.
Israel had already reduced its military presence in that area of Gaza.
When the ceasefire began in January, Israel began allowing Palestinians to pass through the Netzarim and arrive at homes in northern Gaza. Israel’s withdrawal of troops from the region demonstrates another commitment to a deal that suspends the 15-month war that began with the massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023.
Hamas celebrated the departure of Israeli forces in Netzarim as a victory and deployed police in the area to control the flow of Palestinians passing by. Israeli forces had occupied the area since the early months of the war.
The corridors separated the northern community of Gaza, which houses the largest metropolitan centre from the south. Over the past few weeks, thousands of Palestinians have crossed the corridors and returned north after searching for shelter in southern Gaza during the war.
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After 15 months of war, much of northern Gaza was reduced to tile rubs. Some Gazans returned south after discovering that their homes had been destroyed, while others set up the tents that those homes were originally standing in.
Some former US military employed as private contractors have inspected vehicles moving down the corridors in recent weeks after the ceasefire agreement came into effect on January 19th.
Many people were passing on Sunday as Hamas announced the withdrawal of Israeli forces and waited for a long car to enter.
Hamas has been increasing the number of military and police forces across Gaza since the start of the ceasefire agreement, indicating it has refused to retreat.
Israel has committed to destroying Hamas since the attack in October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and engaging 250 people.
Palestinian authorities said Israel killed more than 48,000 people, mostly women and children in retaliatory efforts against Hamas.
Negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire deal are expected to begin soon after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the US last week, with Washington supporting Qatar-Egypt-mediated talks.
Although the ceasefire has largely endured, Gazan Medix claimed that the Israeli shootout killed four Palestinians in two different incidents near Khan Yunis and in Gaza city on February 9th.
According to Israeli military, the soldier fired warning shots at “several suspects” and identified several hits when asked about the Gaza city incident that led to three deaths and five wounded. did. However, the military was unaware of the incident near Khan Yunis.
Discussions in the second phase of the ceasefire transaction are expected to begin in Qatar this week.
Last week, President Donald Trump called for the removal of Palestinians from Gaza and the United States to rebuild the region. Since then, US officials have returned some of those statements. Palestinians said there are no longer any unformed weapons and they could return to Gaza after the region is rebuilt.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to the report.
