Israeli ceasefires with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza appeared to be on fragile ground Sunday as Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians in both regions, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens.
In Lebanon, the Health Ministry said at least 22 were killed and 124 others injured as Israel confirmed it would not meet the 60-day deadline to withdraw its troops as part of the ceasefire it reached with Hezbollah in November.
On Sunday, the White House released a statement that the arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, would continue to be in effect until Feb. 18.
“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 Oct. 7, 2023,” the statement said.
Israel blamed the militants and the Lebanese army for failing to meet their own commitments under the truce. The Israeli military said that it fired “warning shots” toward “suspects” and that it had detained an unspecified number of people.
Under terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to retreat to the north away from the Israeli border and Israel was to pull out of Lebanon.
In a statement, the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, warned that it was “imperative to avoid further deterioration of the situation.”
It urged the Israeli military to avoid firing at civilians, and for Lebanese people to adhere to the directives of the Lebanese military. “Further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation,” the statement said.
In Gaza, the long-awaited return of Palestinians from the central and southern regions of the territory to the northern sector was delayed in a dispute over the release of a female hostage held by Hamas. Israel said it would not retreat from the heavily fortified Netzarim Corridor, which divides the enclave, until another female hostage, Arbel Yehoud, an Israeli civilian, is freed. She was supposed to have been released Saturday.
Early Monday local time, Qatar, a mediator in the ceasefire, announced that an agreement had been reached, easing the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas will release Yehoud along with two other hostages before Friday, Qatar’s statement said. And on Monday, Israeli authorities will allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the agreement. Israel’s military said people can start crossing on foot at 7 a.m. local time.
Israeli forces fired at Palestinians along a coastal road near the checkpoint, killing at least one person and injuring 18 others, according to a spokesperson for al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it “identified several gatherings of dozens of suspects that posed a threat.”
The violence exhibited the tenuous nature of the two ceasefires, both of which were brokered in part by the United States in contentious negotiations during the final months of the administration of President Joe Biden.
Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, participated in the talks to reach the Gaza ceasefire.
Trump on Saturday called on Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from Gaza to “clean out” the enclave after much of it has been leveled by 15 months of Israeli-Hamas fighting.
The war in Gaza started with the shock Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed nearly 47,000 people, most of them women and children, according to health officials, although the Israeli military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants.
Hamas is believed to be holding about 100 hostages, with the ceasefire requiring them to release 33 during a six-week truce in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Seven Israeli hostages and nearly 300 Palestinian prisoners have been freed thus far.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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