Israel troops withdraw from corridor that split Gaza in two

The troop withdrawal comes as an Israeli delegation is expected to fly to Qatar which has been moderating talks between the two sides in the Gaza war.

The Israeli government has previously said the delegation will initially discuss “technical matters” regarding the first phase of the ceasefire deal, rather than the more challenging second phase which is meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the exchange of all remaining living hostages in Gaza for more Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

That will require further direction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on his way back from the US.

Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet US President Donald Trump since his return to the White House on 20 January.

During the trip, in the most dramatic shift in US policy regarding Gaza in decades, Trump called for the removal of the territory’s entire civilian population and the development of what he called “The Riviera of the Middle East”.

That suggestion, which would be a crime under international law, has been almost universally rejected, including by Arab states.

The Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday that it would not accept “any infringement on the Palestinians’ unalienable rights, and any attempts at displacement,” accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing”.

Egypt has also rejected any idea of the removal of the Palestinian population and has said it is calling an emergency summit of the Arab League on 27 February to discuss what it called “serious” Palestinian developments.

Asked about Trump’s plan, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told the BBC that it was time for new ideas from the US and Israel’s neighbours Egypt and Jordan – which the American leader wants to take in Gaza’s Palestinians.

“We’ll have to find the right way to make sure that what happened [7 October] will not recur again, meaning that Hamas will not rule Gaza any more,” Herzog told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.