By james art 
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israel held back thousands of Palestinians from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday as it accused Hamas of violating a fragile ceasefire by changing the order for the hostages to be released . Local health officials said Israeli forces fired into the crowds, killing two people and wounding nine.
In a separate development, US President Donald Trump suggested on Saturday that most of Gaza’s population should be at least temporarily relocated elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan, to “just clean up” the war-ravaged enclave.
Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians themselves have previously rejected such a scenario, fearing that Israel could never allow the refugees to return.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said the Palestinians would never accept such a proposal, “even if on the face of it, well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction.” He said the Palestinians could rebuild Gaza “even better than before” if Israel lifted its blockade.
Under the 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 Name Nezarim corridor bisecting Gaza. Israel staged a detention move until Hamas released a hostage that Israel said was due to be released on Saturday. Hamas, for its part, accused Israel of violating the agreement.
Crowds of people traveling on foot and carrying their belongings crowded a main road leading to a closed Israeli checkpoint. “We have been in agony for a year and a half,” Nadia Kassem, a woman displaced from the north, said as she waited. “We’ve been waiting since 1am to come back.”
Fadi al-Sinwar, who was also displaced from Gaza City, said: “The fate of more than a million people is tied to one person,” referring to the Israeli hostage.
“See how valuable we are? We are worthless,” he said.
Disputes and shootings test Fragile cease-fire
Israeli forces fired into the crowds three times overnight and on Sunday, killing two people and wounding nine, including a child, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel withdrew from several areas of Gaza as part of a cease-fire that took effect last Sunday, but the military warned people to stay away from its forces, which are still operating in a buffer zone inside Gaza along the border and in the Netzarim Corridor .
Hamas released four young Israeli soldiers on Saturday, and Israel released about 200 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks.
But Israel said another hostage, female civilian Arbel Yehud, had to be freed before the soldiers and that it would not open the Netzarim corridor until she was freed. He also accused Hamas of failing to provide details on the conditions of hostages who will be released in the coming weeks.
Hamas accused Israel of using the issue as a pretext to delay the return of Palestinians to their homes. In a statement, the militant group said it had informed mediators that Yehud was alive and provided assurances that she would be released.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire, were working to resolve the dispute.
Ending the war will be difficult
The ceasefire, reached earlier this month after more than a year of negotiations, is aimed at ending the 15-month war launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, an attack and freeing dozens of hostages still taking place in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
About 90 hostages are still being held in Gaza, and Israeli officials believe that at least a third and up to half of them were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.
The first phase of the ceasefire ran until early March and included the release of a total of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The second – and far more difficult – phase has not yet been agreed upon. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel has threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas is destroyed.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in the October 7 attack, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250 people. More than 100 were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Israeli forces rescued eight hostages alive and recovered the remains of dozens more, at least three of whom were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces. Seven have been released since the last ceasefire began.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It did not say how many of the dead were combatants. The Israeli military claims to have killed more than 17,000 fighters without providing evidence.
Israeli bombing and ground operations have leveled wide swathes of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million. Many who have returned to their homes since the armistice began have found only mounds of rubble where their neighborhoods once stood.
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Magee reported from Cairo and Kraus from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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