Israel starts removing roadblocks on Monday in response to Hamas’s agreement to hand over Arbel Yehud, a female Israeli hostage, and two other hostages. As a result, tens of thousands of Palestinians began heading north in Gaza.
The first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7.00 a.m. (0500 GMT), and another crossing was due to open at 9.00 a.m.
The ceasefire agreement stipulated that residents of northern Gaza were to return at the weekend. However, Israel maintained the closure of the crossings, claiming that Hamas had violated the agreement by failing to release civilian hostage Yehud.
Qatari mediators said late Sunday that Hamas had agreed to release Yehud and two other hostages before Friday in exchange for Israel allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza on Monday morning.
Israeli counts show that Hamas took approximately 250 hostages during the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people. This ignited the most recent outbreak of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Fighting has temporarily ceased in the presence of a precarious ceasefire.
