Israeli forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s Netzarim corridor, Hamas said on Feb. 9, as part of Israel’s commitments in a fragile cease-fire deal with the terrorist group.
A key corridor in the Gaza Strip, Netzarim is a 4-mile section of land that bisects northern Gaza from the south. Israel used the area as a military zone during its war against Hamas. Israeli officials have not yet publicly confirmed their military withdrawal from the corridor, however, news reports showed what appeared to be Israeli military vehicles leaving Netzarim.
Israel had already reduced its military presence in that area of Gaza.
When the cease-fire began in January, Israel started allowing Palestinians to cross through Netzarim to reach their homes in northern Gaza, with hundreds traveling through on foot and by car. Israel’s withdrawal of troops from the area marks another commitment to the deal, which suspends the 15-month war that began with Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli civilians.
Hamas celebrated the exit of Israeli forces in Netzarim as a victory, deploying its police force to the area to manage the flow of Palestinians traveling through. Israeli forces had occupied the area since the early months of the war.
The corridor separated Gaza’s northern communities, which houses its largest metropolitan center, from the south. In recent weeks, thousands of Palestinians have crossed the corridor, returning to the north after seeking shelter in southern Gaza during the war.
Following the 15-month war, much of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble. Some Gazans have returned to the south after finding their homes destroyed, while others have set up tents where those homes originally stood.
Some former U.S. soldiers employed as private contractors have been inspecting vehicles traveling through the corridor in recent weeks after the cease-fire deal went into effect on Jan. 19.
Large groups of people were passing through on Sunday as Hamas announced the Israeli military’s withdrawal and a long line of cars was waiting to enter.
Hamas has increased its military and police forces throughout Gaza since the cease-fire deal began, indicating its refusal to back down.
Israel has committed to destroying Hamas since the October 2023 attack, which left more than 1,200 people dead and 250 kidnapped.
Palestinian authorities said Israel has killed more than 48,000 people, mostly women and children, in its retaliatory efforts against Hamas.
Negotiations in the cease-fire deal’s second stage are expected to begin soon following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States last week, with Washington supporting talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt.
While the cease-fire has mostly endured, Gazan medics alleged that Israeli gunfire killed four Palestinians in two different incidents on Feb. 9 near Khan Yunis and in Gaza City.
According to the Israeli military, its soldiers fired warning shots at “several suspects” and identified several hits when asked about the Gaza City incident allegedly leading to three deaths and five wounded. However, the military was unaware of the incident near Khan Yunis, where a fourth was also allegedly killed.
Discussions in the cease-fire deal’s second stage are expected to start as soon as this week in Qatar.
President Donald Trump last week called for removing Palestinians from Gaza so the United States could rebuild the area. U.S. officials have since walked back some of those statements, saying Palestinians could return to Gaza once it no longer had an unexploded ordnance and areas were rebuilt.
