Middle East latest: Israel stops the return of thousands of Palestinians till Hamas frees hostage
Middle East latest: Israel stops the return of thousands of Palestinians till Hamas frees hostage
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Israel accused Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released, stopping thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Under the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on foot through the so-called Netzarim corridor bisecting Gaza.
Separately, a senior Hamas official said Palestinians would never accept U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that most of Gaza’s population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan. Meanwhile, two people were killed and nine others wounded after Israeli forces fired on the crowd, local Palestinian health officials said Sunday.
Here is the latest:. Israeli far-right leaders back Trump's suggestion to resettle Palestinians. TEL AVIV, Israel — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both want Israel to establish Jewish settlements in Gaza, supported Trump's remarks, calling it “voluntary emigration.".
Palestinians and many of their supporters view it as code for ethnic cleansing. In a post on X Sunday, Smotrich called the idea of “helping (Palestinians) find other places to start new, good lives” great and said he would work with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to that end.
