There were no new reports of major altercations between Palestinians approaching IDF defense lines in Gaza or between Lebanese approaching IDF defense lines in southern Lebanon as of press time on Tuesday, despite bloody incidents on Sunday and Monday.
Simultaneously, Palestinians continued to stream northward in the Gaza Strip. Hamas said more than 300,000 Palestinians had already returned to northern Gaza. while some Israeli estimates said tens of thousands had done so.
In Lebanon, health authorities on Tuesday issued no new reports of deaths or wounded. On Monday, they accused the IDF of killing two people and wounding 17 in southern Lebanon when they tried to cross through IDF defense lines within Lebanese territory.
On Sunday, Lebanese authorities accused the IDF of killing about 22 people in southern Lebanon and wounding nearly 120.
It was unclear if the relative quiet on Tuesday was a sign that both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon had halted trying to cross through IDF defense lines.
In the case of Hamas, there was clearly less incentive to confront the IDF at least until Day 42 of the ceasefire deal, given that the military had already opened the Netzarim Corridor to Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
An eight-day period in which Israel is supposed to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor begins on Day 42 of the deal. Hamas could use an Israeli failure to do so as an excuse to send more packs of civilians or quasi-civilians to march on IDF positions there.
Hezbollah in Lebanon
Regarding Hezbollah, the picture is less clear.
While the US and Lebanese governments agreed to extend the IDF’s time to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon until February 18, Hezbollah rejected the extension, saying the IDF was bound to withdraw as of January 26.
This means that the drop in altercations on Tuesday could be a quiet recognition by Hezbollah that it is bound by the February 18 deadline, even if it has rejected it publicly, or it could be a more temporary recalibration, leading to some other challenge to IDF forces in the coming days.
Regarding Gazans who returned to their homes in Gaza City in northern Gaza this week, they generally found a city in ruins after 15 months of fighting. Many of them sought shelter among the rubble and were searching for relatives lost in the chaotic return march.
Gaza City is a shell of the bustling, rough-edged urban center it was before the Israel-Hamas War, with swaths of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments and piles of rubble and torn-up concrete on every side.
“Look at this scene; there is nothing to say,” said a man who gave his name as Abu Mohammad as he searched for a place to settle. “People will sleep on the ground. There is nothing left.”
Many of those returning, often laden with whatever personal possessions they kept after months of being moved around as the focus of the war shifted, had walked 20 km. or more along the coastal highway northward.
“I am waiting for my father, mother, and brother,” said Jameel Abed, who walked up from the central area of the Gaza Strip. “We lost them on the way. We found some lights here, and we are waiting for them. There is no car, no tuktuk [auto rickshaw], no donkey cart, no vehicle, nothing that could move on this road.”
Even as those who arrived in Gaza looked around for somewhere to settle down, tens of thousands were still moving north as mediators began preliminary work on the second stage of ceasefire negotiations between Israel, Hamas, the US, Qatar, and Egypt, which are due to begin next week.
Three more Israeli hostages are due to be handed over on Thursday by Hamas, with another three expected on Saturday, in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners set for release from Israeli jails, some of whom will go into exile.
In Cairo, a high-profile Hamas team led by Muhammad Darwish, head of the group’s leading council, arrived for talks with Egyptian mediators and to welcome 70 Palestinian prisoners who arrived in Cairo prior to being moved to other countries that would be willing to host them.
These countries include Qatar, Turkey, and Algeria, according to Hamas and other sources.
Reuters contributed to this report.