Thousands of Palestinians are returning to their homes in northern Gaza after an agreement was reached in talks between Israel and Hamas. It comes amid anger over Donald Trump’s comments suggesting Palestinians should be removed from Gaza. Follow the latest.
Monday 27 January 2025 19:31, UK
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Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back home to the north of the territory today after checkpoints were reopened in line with the ceasefire agreement.
Images captured the crowds heading north.
Many will find their homes destroyed and neighbourhoods flattened after months of fighting.
Both Israel and Hamas confirmed today that of the 33 hostages being released in the first phase of the ceasefire, eight are the bodies of the dead.
Meanwhile, comments Donald Trump made over the weekend cast a shadow over the region today.
The US President suggested clearing out the territory and moving Palestinians into neighbouring countries, something critics, human rights groups and allies have rejected.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the ceasefire should see the release of more hostages and freeing of Palestinian detainees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one hostage release — which will include female soldier Agam Berger — will take place on Thursday.
This came after both sides accused the other of failing under the terms of the ceasefire, but Qatar announced an agreement was subsequently reached.
Another three hostages should be released on Saturday as previously planned.
A member of Jordan’s royal family has railed against any attempted forced migration of Palestinians following suggestions by Donald Trump, writes Sky News’ Rob Harris.
The US president proposed Jordan takes in Gazans to “clean out that whole thing” after 15 months of war turned the territory of 2.3 million people into a “demolition site”.
“It should be what the Palestinians people want, not what the rest of us [want] – we should not be in a position to take decisions on behalf of other people,” Prince Feisal Al Hussein told Sky News.
“We are against forced movement or migration of any people from their territories and it’s something that we firmly believe in.”
Prince Feisal is a younger brother of King Abdullah II who has held key military roles in Jordan while using sport as a mechanism for peace-making.
“I hope this is the start of a movement towards peace in and of itself,” he said during an interview in London.
“Peace is not created by stopping wars or having ceasefires.
“It’s created by building hope, a sense of justice, a sense of fairness. These are all critical elements that need to be there in order for peace to really exist.”
We’re pausing our live coverage.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back home to the north of the enclave today after checkpoints were reopened in line with the ceasefire agreement.
Stunning images captured the mass exodus of crowds heading north.
But when they get there, many are likely to find their homes destroyed and neighbourhoods flattened after months of devastating fighting.
Both Israel and Hamas confirmed today that of the 33 hostages being released in the first phase of the ceasefire, eight are dead.
This matches earlier reporting but raises fears for the safety of the remaining hostages being released in the next stages of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, comments Donald Trump made over the weekend cast a shadow over the region today.
The US President suggested clearing out the enclave and moving Palestinians into neighbouring countries, something critics, human rights groups, and allies alike universally pushed back on.
Israel continued its efforts in the West Bank where it has seemingly stepped up operations since the ceasefire was agreed for Gaza.
Two Hamas militants were killed in an Israeli strike in Tulkarm.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the ceasefire will continue to see the release of hostages and freeing of Palestinian detainees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one hostage release — which will include female soldier Agam Berger — will take place on Thursday.
This came after both sides accused the other of failing under the terms of the ceasefire, but Qatar announced an agreement was subsequently reached.
Another three hostages should be released on Saturday as previously planned.
Israeli forces have killed two people and wounded 17 in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry has said.
It comes a day after Israel killed 22 people in the region after a deadline for the soldiers’ withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders, Lebanese authorities said.
Israel said on Friday the terms of the ceasefire deal that ended its war with Hezbollah had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would stay beyond Sunday, without saying for how long.
It blamed delays on the Lebanese army’s failure to deploy to the area, while the Lebanese army accused Israel of stalling its withdrawal, complicating its deployment.
Lebanon later agreed to extend the deadline to 18 February.
The story of the day has been the tens of thousands-strong crowds surging back north within Gaza.
It was only possible down to the recently agreed ceasefire.
But the displaced masses heading north are being checked for weapons and explosives.
The Palestinians pass through checkpoints in a central zone of the enclave, where scanners are used to check for concealed weapons in cars and vehicles.
The checks are run by Egyptian contractors with the help of a US private security firm – but there have been no reports of US citizens on the ground.
Armed uniformed Egyptian security personnel are also present, with members of the team wearing black jackets marked “Egyptian-Qatari Committee”.
As vehicles approach checkpoints, all passengers are required to get out of the vehicle, leaving only the driver inside.
They then drive to an inspection point where it is checked and scanned.
Witnesses have said that the whole process takes only a few minutes.
Along the roads on either side of the checkpoint, in the Netzarim Corridor, Hamas police maintain order while other units with sniffer dogs check the roadway for unexploded ordnance.
While the act of returning home is a triumphant one for many Palestinians, they don’t know what awaits them when they get there.
Much of Gaza has been destroyed by Israeli air strikes and attacks.
The tens of thousands flooding north may be returning to flattened homes and destroyed neighbourhoods.
One man, whose tragic homecoming was caught on camera, faced exactly that.
Stood in front of the remains of his house, he said: “This is our house, it’s a pile of rubble.
“We didn’t take any money or clothes or anything, we left them all in there, under the rubble.
“We left the tents behind only to come here to other tents.
“This is our house, four storeys, you can’t see them.”
Now a ceasefire for fighting in Gaza has finally been achieved, many have begun to think about the enclave’s future.
But it isn’t clear politically how any agreement will work, or how the region will recover from such a destructive war.
Images have captured the moments Palestinians ran for cover from Israeli fire in the central Gaza Strip.
The crowds were among the people heading back north, during the ongoing ceasefire.
There have been no reports of deaths so far, but images show the people, including children, running past flattened buildings.
Israel has confirmed previous reports that eight of the hostages due to be released in the first stage of the ceasefire are dead.
We previously reported on Hamas officials saying the same – see our 11.54am post.
It means that 18 more living hostages are due to be released in the initial ceasefire stage, along with the bodies of the dead.
In a news conference this afternoon, government spokesperson David Mencer said: “I can confirm that Israel has received, from the Hamas terrorist organisation, a list that includes the status of all of the 33 hostages due to be released in this first stage.
“The list from Hamas matches Israel’s intelligence.
“So I can share with you that 25 of our hostages are alive and eight have been killed by Hamas.”
He also detailed some of the treatment he said hostages had faced in Hamas’ hands, adding they faced a complex road to recovery.
Throughout today we’ve reported on the huge crowds returning to northern Gaza, but do we know many people are actually heading back north?
As many as one million Palestinians were initially displaced from the area after the 7 October attack.
Israel would designate parts of Gaza as humanitarian zones, and then clear them out before upping its attacks – both ground operations and air strikes.
Early weeks and months of the war were marked by mass evacuations of Palestinians heading south.
Earlier today, Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said up to half a million people could be heading north.
The Hamas-run government media office has said returnees needed at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they try to reestablish their lives in the rubble-strewn landscape.
Other reports have indicated that as many as 200,000 people have already journeyed north.
While the precise numbers remain unclear, images from Gaza show the sheer scale of what’s taking place.
Warning: this post contains an image some may find distressing
An Israeli air strike has killed two militants in the West Bank, Hamas has said.
The attack took place in the city of Tulkarm earlier today and injured three others.
It speaks to Israel’s focus on armed groups in the West Bank since the start of the ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas said two of its members were killed on Monday.
Witnesses in the city said a raid was underway but there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military (IDF).
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that two people had been killed, without identifying them.
In Jenin, further north, a major operation involving hundreds of Israeli troops, armoured vehicles, drones and helicopters looked set to continue for a second week, with smoke rising above the refugee camp adjacent to the city.
At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin and the surrounding areas since the ceasefire began – including four said to be fighters.
Late on Saturday, Israeli forces also shot a two-year-old girl during a raid on the village of Ash-Shuhada, just to the south of Jenin, Palestinian officials said.
“They started to shoot at us through the windows without any warning,” said Ghada Asous, grandmother of two year-old Laila Muhammad al Khatib.
“All of a sudden, the special forces raided us and were shooting through the windows.”
The IDF said troops on a counterterrorism operation had fired at a structure where suspected militants had barricaded themselves.
“The IDF is aware of the claim that uninvolved civilians were injured as a result of the fire. The incident is under review,” it said in a statement.
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