The Israeli withdrawal from the ‘Netzarim Corridor’ will further help facilitate the movement of Palestinians [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty]
Israel’s withdrawal from a central Gaza area represents a continuation of Tel Aviv’s failure of reaching its war goals in the Palestinian territory despite 15 months of genocide, Hamas said on Sunday.
The Palestinian group’s comments came after the Israeli army said it began pulling out of the so-called Netzarim Corridor which splits the Gaza Strip in half — north and south — a key part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Both sides have carried out five exchanges of captives and detainees since the ceasefire came into effect in January, pausing Israel’s brutal offensive on the enclave since October 2023.
At the start of the ceasefire, which came into effect on 19 January, Israel began allowing displaced Palestinians to cross Netzarim to head to their homes in the war-battered north. Israel’s complete withdrawal will further facilitate the movement of civilians.
“The return of the displaced, the continuation of prisoner exchanges, along with the withdrawal from Netzarim, refute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lie about achieving a complete victory over our people,” Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said in a statement.
“All attempts by the occupation to extend military control over the Gaza Strip and divide it have failed in the face of the valor of the resistance and the steadfastness of our people,” Al-Qanou added.
Israeli officials including Netanyahu — wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza — had suggested throughout the war that Israel would remain in control of the enclave, refusing to allow Hamas to govern it once again and vowing to dismantle the group.
But reports in recent weeks have said Hamas has been able to recruit thousands of new fighters, taking back control of the enclave.
It remains unclear what the future power structure will be like in the Gaza Strip, and whether Hamas — which has governed since 2005 — will have a role in its political authority.
But US President Donald Trump cast further uncertainty Gaza’s future after a shock proposal in which he suggested expelling the Palestinians from Gaza, which would be occupied by the US.
The plan to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, widely condemned by international leaders and legal experts, included the expulsion of Palestinians to neighbouring countries, including Egypt and Jordan, under the premise of reconstruction.
“What the occupation did not achieve during 15 months of starvation, human extermination and systematic destruction, US President Donald Trump will not achieve through real estate and deals,” said the Hamas spokesman.
“Gaza will remain a liberated land by the hands of its people and its resisters, and it will remain forbidden to the occupying invaders and any external power,” he added.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to a revised death toll from Gaza’s health authorities, and over 14,000 other people are believed to be buried beneath the rubble still, presumed dead. Most of the victims have been women and children.
The war displaced practically all of Gaza’s population and wreaked havoc on the enclave, leaving much of it in ruins, with a battered healthcare and sanitation system.
