Middle East latest: Deal reached to release Israeli hostage and allow Palestinians into north Gaza

Mediator Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar’s statement said Hamas will hand over the civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, along with two other hostages before Friday. And on Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement said the hostage release — which will include soldier Agam Berger — will take place on Thursday, and confirmed that Palestinians can move north on Monday. Israel’s military said people can start crossing on foot at 7 a.m.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza. But Israel put that on hold because of Yehoud, who Israel said should have been released on Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

Here is the latest:

Qatar says agreement reached to release Israeli hostage, allow Palestinians to return to north Gaza

JERUSALEM — Mediator Qatar announced early Monday that an agreement has been reached to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar’s statement said Hamas will hand over the civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, along with two other hostages before Friday. And on Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement said the hostage release — which will include soldier Agam Berger — will take place on Thursday, and confirmed that Palestinians can move north on Monday. Israel’s military said people can start crossing on foot at 7 a.m.

Egypt rejects any transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza

CAIRO — Egypt has rejected any transfer of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip or the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in its response to President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza.

A statement by Egypt’s foreign ministry on Sunday said the “temporary or long-term” transfer of Palestinians “threatens stability, risks expanding the conflict in the region and undermines prospects of peace and coexistence among its people.”

Egypt stressed its rejection of any violation of Palestinian’s rights “whether through settlement or annexation of territories” or “encouraging the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land.”

The statement, which didn’t address Trump’s comments directly, urged the international community to work toward “the practical implementation of the two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Relatives of 4 female Israeli soldiers freed from captivity in Gaza express joy at their release

TEL AVIV, Israel— In their first public comments since reuniting with their loved ones, relatives of the four female Israeli soldiers freed from captivity in Gaza expressed joy and gratitude at their release but said their struggle will not end until all the hostages are back home.

“Our Liri is home, but there are 90 more hostages, and they should have already been freed,” said Eli Albag, father of released hostage Liri Alabg, in a statement to the press at the hospital where the women are still undergoing medical evaluations. He said he has contempt for the ministers who voted against the ceasefire deal.

Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were released by Hamas on Saturday after more than 15 months in captivity. In exchange, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners. Hospital officials have described the four women’s condition as stable.

Orly Gilboa, Daniella’s mother, said her daughter “came back thin and pale,” but that she was “still the same wonderful kid.”

The families expressed their gratitude to everyone who made the release possible, singling out U.S. President Donald Trump and his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff for special thanks.

“Because of your powerful actions, we have our lives back,” said Sasha Ariev, sister of Karina Ariev, addressing Trump directly, in English. “You made this deal possible after so many months, when it felt like all hope was gone.”

Earlier on Sunday, the first three women freed from Gaza in the current ceasefire were released from the hospital, a spokesman for the Sheba Medical Center said.

Palestinian president condemns Trump’s suggestion to ‘clean out’ the Gaza Strip

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sharply condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “clean out” the Gaza Strip and request that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinians.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the prospect of mass displacement from the Gaza Strip “constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned against.”

“Our people will not leave,” the statement said. “We warn of the repercussions of such a dangerous Israeli policy that contributes to severing the ties of the Gaza Strip, and displacing its people, which will lead to destabilization and security.”

Trump’s remarks suggesting that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza gets at the core of Palestinian fears that they will be driven from their remaining homeland.

The Palestinian presidency said it was “ready to assume its full duties in the Gaza Strip” in hopes of eventually establishing an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, briefly controlled Gaza after Israeli troops withdrew in 2005, only to be driven out by its rival Hamas two years later.

France will consider allowing Israeli companies to take part in Paris Air Show

PARIS — France will consider allowing Israeli companies to participate in the Paris Air Show in June, thanks to ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, the French president’s office said Sunday.

That was among the results of a conversation Sunday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Macron said France hopes to help speed up the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, two of whom are French citizens. Macron also urged Israel to allow for a ″massive″ facilitation of aid to Gaza’s population, and to fulfill its promises to withdraw troops from Lebanon under a truce brokered by the U.S. and France.

Netanyahu asked about Israeli participation in the upcoming Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, a major industry event. The French president said Israeli participation ″could be favorably considered, as a consequence of the cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon,″ according to Macron’s office.

Tensions surrounded Israel’s participation in two arms shows in France last year, Eurosatory and Euronaval. The French government did not want Israel displaying any weapons used in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Islamic Jihad group says the dispute over a hostage has been settled

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group, says the dispute over an Israeli hostage that has kept Palestinians from returning home to northern Gaza has been settled.

Mohamed al-Hajj Mousa added in a statement that the group told mediators that the hostage, Arbel Yehoud, will be released before Saturday, when the next exchange of hostages from Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody is set to take place.

There is no immediate comment from Israel, which has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire by changing the order of hostages it has released. It expected Yehoud to be freed this weekend, and it has put the movement of Palestinians into northern Gaza on hold.

UNRWA warns of far-reaching consequences if Israel goes ahead with its closure

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says that if Israel carries out its threat to close its east Jerusalem headquarters on Thursday, the outsize effects will be felt acutely and immediately by tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The agency, known as UNRWA, runs 12 facilities that provide critical public services across east Jerusalem, including schools enrolling at least 1,200 children and free clinics serving over 70,000 people.

“That’s the thing, it has an impact on people’s lives,” Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said of the potential closure.

In the Shuafat refugee camp, an impoverished neighborhood, “people today can walk just a few meters and they’re in an excellent clinic,” Touma said. But if it’s shuttered, she said, tens of thousands of Palestinians would have to cross a difficult checkpoint, pay for transport and, even if they’re eligible for Israeli primary health care, also pay for medicine in order to see a doctor or get a blood test.

“We’re talking about the poorest of the poor,” Touma said. “Right now, they have no alternative.”

The closure of UNRWA schools would raise all sorts of problems given that there are already too few classrooms in the overcrowded Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem, she said.

Touma said much remains unclear about the Israeli order, including whether the closure would apply to operations in east Jerusalem only or to the entirety of the Palestinian territories.

Israel says the agency has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N.

Israeli far-right leaders back Trump’s suggestion to resettle Palestinians

TEL AVIV, Israel — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both want Israel to establish Jewish settlements in Gaza, supported Trump’s remarks, calling it “voluntary emigration.”

Palestinians and many of their supporters view it as code for ethnic cleansing.

In a post on X Sunday, Smotrich called the idea of “helping (Palestinians) find other places to start new, good lives” great and said he would work with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to that end.

Ben-Gvir, who quit Netanyahu’s government over the current ceasefire in Gaza, said Trump’s remarks gave Israel the green light to move ahead on “voluntary emigration.”

“When the president of the world’s largest superpower brings it up himself, the government of Israel should implement it,” he said in a statement.

Netanyahu has said building Jewish settlements in Gaza is not realistic. Israel withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but maintains a blockade with Egypt on the territory.

UNRWA says Israel ordered it to vacate Jerusalem headquarters

JERUSALEM — The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says its staff was directed to vacate the premises by Thursday.

Israel passed legislation last year cutting all ties with the agency and barring it from operating in its territory. It says the agency, which is the main provider of aid in the Gaza Strip, has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, allegations denied by the U.N.

In a statement Sunday, the agency, known as UNRWA, said the order to vacate “is in contradiction to international law obligations of U.N. member states,” including Israel. “United Nations premises are inviolable and enjoy privileges and immunities under the United Nations Charter.”

UNRWA closed its east Jerusalem headquarters last May after Israeli protesters set fire to its perimeter.

Senior Hamas official rejects Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Bassem Naim said that “even if seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction,” the Palestinian people will never agree to such a proposal.

He also said the Palestinians can rebuild Gaza “even better than before” if Israel lifts its blockade.

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions overnight and into Sunday. Those killed included a child, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into force last Sunday, but the military has 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.