Situation at a glance: Ceasefire in Lebanon extended – hostage expected from Gaza

The fragile ceasefire in Lebanon between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militia has been extended by a good three weeks. The weapons will remain silent until February 18, the White House announced. Shortly before, a deadline for the withdrawal of the Israeli army had expired, resulting in clashes with fatalities in southern Lebanon. After mediation by Qatar, Israel reached an agreement with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip on the release of an Israeli-German hostage.

In return, Israel allowed displaced Palestinian civilians from the south to return to their homes in the north of the devastated coastal area from 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. CET). Shortly afterwards, footage on Palestinian social media showed thousands of Palestinians making their way north on foot along a designated route from the southern side of the Netzarim Corridor constructed by the Israeli military.

Israeli-German hostage to be released

Under an agreement between Israel and Hamas, it was originally planned that the displaced people would be allowed to return a week after the ceasefire began. However, since Hamas did not release an Israeli-German civilian last Saturday as agreed, according to media reports, Israel’s army initially blocked her return. The ceasefire agreement stipulates that civilians should be released first. Instead, Hamas released four female soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas will now hand over the Israeli-German hostage and two other abductees by Friday, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Doha announced on Platform The woman is in the control of the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). She is alive, said PIJ deputy general secretary Mohammed Hindi to the dpa. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the agreement. Accordingly, the three should be released on Thursday. Three more Israeli hostages are scheduled to be released this Saturday.

This meant that a failure of the ceasefire in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon could be averted for the time being. The ceasefire agreed at the end of November between Israel’s army and the Lebanese Hezbollah originally called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days. Hezbollah is said to be withdrawing behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometers north of the country’s border. Lebanon’s army is supposed to prevent the militia from returning. However, since the army was not moving in quickly enough, Israel had declared that it would continue to keep troops in parts of southern Lebanon for the time being. Lebanon’s armed forces, on the other hand, declare that Israel’s army must first withdraw.

Dead in incidents in Lebanon

Residents still tried to return to their homes in the south. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 22 people were killed by Israeli fire, including a soldier. Another 124 were injured, including nine minors and a paramedic. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) warned that further violence would undermine the fragile security situation. The situation in the Gaza Strip also remains fragile despite the existing ceasefire.

Palestinians against Trump’s Gaza relocation plans

The Gaza Strip is devastated. At the weekend, US President Donald Trump expressed the idea of ​​relocating residents of the coastal strip to other Arab countries and was met with resolute rejection by those affected. Only right-wing extremist politicians in Israel, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed Trump’s proposal. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned against the expulsion of Gaza’s residents, which would represent “a blatant violation of the red lines.” “Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland,” said a statement from the presidential office in Ramallah.

Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups kidnapped more than 250 Israelis as hostages in the Gaza Strip in their attack on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed. The attack sparked war in the sealed-off coastal area, where more than 47,100 people have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The number does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The ceasefire agreement stipulates that, in a first phase, 33 people kidnapped from Israel will be released within six weeks in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners; all other hostages will be released later. So far seven hostages have been released. In return, Israel released around 300 prisoners. However, whether the fighting in the Gaza Strip will end permanently depends on further negotiations, which are due to begin shortly.