Live: Israeli forces detonate 20 homes in Jenin

Israeli forces killed 18-year-old Adam Sub Laban and injured two others last night after opening fire on a group of Palestinians near the Qalandia checkpoint, between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Wafa news agency reported.

Two wounded Palestinians, both suffering from moderate lower-body injuries, were transported to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah for treatment.

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right former national security minister who resigned in protest over the ceasefire agreement, condemned the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza on Monday.

Ben Gvir said in a post on X on Monday that the opening of the Netzarim highway and the entry of tens of thousands of Palestinians into the northern Gaza Strip were the "images of Hamas’s victory and another humiliating part of the reckless deal.

"This is not what ‘complete victory’ looks like – this is what complete surrender looks like," Ben Gvir said.

“The heroic [Israeli] soldiers did not fight and give their lives in the Gaza Strip to make these photos possible. We must return to war – and destroy!”

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza began returning to the northern Gaza Strip on Monday for the first time since the war started after mediators brokered an agreement tied to the release of an Israeli captive.

According to the Gaza health ministry, around 650,000 displaced people in the central and southern Gaza Strip will return to their homes in the north of the enclave.

"The passage of displaced Palestinians has begun along the Al Rashid road via the western part of the Netzarim checkpoint towards Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip," a Hamas official told AFP. 

Footage from Israel’s Channel 12 showed Israeli forces withdrawing from the so-called Netzarim Corridor, enabling civilian movement.

Sami Saleh, who was displaced several times south of Gaza, told MEE he had faced an "extremely difficult" period of displacement for over a year. 

Read more: Displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza for the first time since war began

Displaced Palestinians began returning to northern Gaza on Monday, an official at the Interior Ministry told AFP, after a breakthrough in negotiations between Hamas and Israel.

"The passage of displaced Palestinians has begun along the Al-Rashid Road via the western part of the Netzarim checkpoint toward Gaza City and the northern part" of the Gaza Strip, the official said. Al Jazeera reported that Israel partially withdrew its troops.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Displaced Palestinians are walking on al-Rashid Street as they seek to cross the so-called Netzarim Corridor and return to the north.

• Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon has agreed to extend the ceasefire agreement with Israel until 18 February.

• Israeli soldiers have arrested five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Marda, north of Salfit, the Wafa news agency reported.

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad has said that Israeli captive Arbel Yehud could be released ahead of Saturday’s planned batch of releases.

• Gaza’s Government Media Office condemned statements by US President Donald Trump, in which he proposed cleaning out the war-torn enclave and urged Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from the Strip.

• Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli forces are conducting searches of patients and doctors at the Jenin Government Hospital in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

• Israeli forces have launched several raids across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian sources cited by Al Jazeera Arabic said.

Our liveblog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

- Qatar's foreign ministry said on Sunday that Israeli captive in Gaza, Arbil Yehud, will be handed over to Israel along with two other captives by Friday. In turn, Qatar says it has an agreement from the Israelis to allow Palestinians to return to the north of Gaza - only on foot - starting Monday morning, at 7am local time. 

- Earlier on Sunday, Israel had blocked tens of thousands of Palestinians waiting to return to their homes in northern Gaza. Ismail al-Thawabta, director general of Gaza's government media office, said there were "between 615,000 and 650,000" people waiting to go past the Israeli military positions in the Netzarim Corridor, which runs through the centre of the Gaza Strip.

- Per the ceasefire agreement, Hamas will release three more Israeli captives on Saturday as previously scheduled, Doha said, adding that Israel will also hand over a list of 400 people arrested since 7 October, 2023. 

- The Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan all rejected remarks made by US President Donald Trump to "clean out" Gaza by transferring Palestinians to neighbouring countries. 

- Hamas on Sunday urged the the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convey their "absolute rejection of all forms of displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza.

- The death toll from Israeli fire on southern Lebanese villages has risen to 22, as hundreds of residents continued their attempts to return to their homes on the day the deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from the area expired.

- The Trump administration on Sunday announced an extension of what it simply referred to as the "arrangement" between Israel and Lebanon until 18 February. The statement does not use the term "ceasefire" as negotiated by the previous Biden administration. 

- The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said it had been ordered by Israel to vacate its premises and cease all operations in occupied East Jerusalem by Thursday. Unrwa said the order to cease operations violated Israel's international obligations as a UN member state.

The Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military posted to X in the early hours of Monday morning a map, outlining the route Palestinians should take to return to northern Gaza starting at 7am local time. 

Avichay Adraee said Palestinians can only return on foot and via Rashid Street along the Mediterranean coast. 

‎"The transfer of militants or weapons... will be considered a breach of the agreement. Do not cooperate with any terrorist entity that may try to exploit you to transfer weapons or prohibited materials," he warned. 

‎Adraee added that it is "forbidden to approach Israeli forces in all their locations and positions."

In southern Gaza, he instructed that no one is allowed to approach the Rafah crossing area, the Philadelphi corridor area, and all areas "where forces are deployed."

‎"We warn against swimming, fishing, diving and entering the sea in the coming days," he said. 

#عاجل 🔴 إعلان عاجل الى سكان قطاع غزة بناء على الاتفاق الذي تم التوصل اليه برعاية الوسطاء حيث ستدخل التعليمات التالية حيز التنفيذ:

⭕️سيسمح بعودة السكان مشيًا على الأقدام الى شمال قطاع غزة عبر طريق نتساريم ومن خلال شارع الرشيد (طريق البحر) اعتبارًا من الساعة 07:00 صباحًا… pic.twitter.com/ICaqMzGGSk

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 26, 2025

The Trump administration on Sunday announced an extension of what it simply referred to as the "arrangement" between Israel and Lebanon until 18 February. 

The statement does not use the term "ceasefire" as negotiated by the previous Biden administration. 

"The arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, 2025," a White House statement said. 
 
"The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023."

Hamas on Sunday urged the the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convey their "absolute rejection of all forms of displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza.

The statement followed US President Donald Trump's remarks one day earlier to "clean out" Gazans and send them to neighbouring countries. 

Hamas said it appreciates the positions taken by Egypt and Jordan rejecting the proposal. 

Qatar's foreign ministry said on Sunday that Israeli captive in Gaza, Arbil Yehud, will be handed over to Israel along with two other captives by Friday. In turn, Qatar says it has an agreement from the Israelis to allow Palestinians to return to the north of Gaza starting Monday morning, local time. 

Per the ceasefire agreement, Hamas will release three more Israeli captives on Saturday as previously scheduled, Doha said, adding that Israel will also hand over a list of 400 people arrested since 7 October, 2023. 

Qatar's Prime Minister, who also serves as Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, has given an interview to Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster in the first such sit-down of its kind. 

He confirmed that US President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy helped pressure the Israelis to get the ceasefire deal in Gaza over the finish line, and as he has done previously, expressed disappointment that it took more than a year to seal the agreement when the draft was drawn up in December 2023 and has changed little, if at all, since. 

Thani described the negotiation process as often difficult and frustrating. 

He added that the two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace in the region, and that whether in Gaza or the West Bank, only Palestinians should be managing their own affairs. 

In a statement released Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it rejects the displacement of Palestinians or the encouragement of their transfer outside their land, whether temporarily or long-term. 

The statement appears to be a response to US President Donald Trump's call to "clean out" Gaza of its people and send them to Egypt or Jordan. 

In a statement provided to Middle East Eye, Arab Americans For Trump (AAFT) has said it "rejects any call for the removal of Gazans to any country in the world."

"Arab Americans for Trump firmly rejects President Donald J. Trump’s suggestion to remove —voluntarily or forcibly — Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. We strongly believe that the ONLY resolution to the Israel-Palestine [question] is a two-state solution - a resolution the president personally agreed with," the group said. 

"Arab Americans for Trump thank the President for imposing a ceasefire in Gaza. We expect that the President and his team work on the rebuilding of Gaza and launching the process that would culminate in the establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel."

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) official has told the Reuters news agency that mediators have reached an agreement to release Israeli captive Arbil Yehud earlier than next week's prisoner swap.

Israel insisted that Hamas’s refusal to release Yehud during Saturday's exchange was a violation of the ceasefire deal, it and has since blocked tens of thousands of Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza.