Hamas said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation's prevention of displaced persons from returning to the northern Gaza Strip constitutes a violation and breach of the ceasefire agreement, and that it is following up on the matter with mediators, noting at the same time that "the occupation is stalling under the pretext of prisoner Arbel Yehud, despite the fact that the movement informed the mediators that she is alive and gave all the necessary guarantees for her release."

In a statement, the movement held the Israeli occupation responsible for the disruption of the implementation of the agreement, adding: "We are following up with the mediators with full responsibility to reach a solution that leads to the return of the displaced."

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Israeli occupation army’s prevention of the displaced from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement that was recently agreed upon under the auspices of the mediators. Taha added that “this violation demonstrates the occupation’s hesitation and procrastination in implementing what was agreed upon. Accordingly, the occupation bears responsibility for any delay in implementing the agreement.” He called on the mediators to “take action and pressure the occupation to implement its obligations and allow our people to return to the homes from which they were forcibly displaced in the northern Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli occupation army continues to prevent the forcibly displaced persons in the southern Gaza Strip from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, by continuing to close the Netzarim axis. Israel claims that it is not committed to the agreement that stipulates opening the way for the return of the displaced persons on the seventh day of the ceasefire agreement, because the Palestinian resistance has not released the Israeli civilian detainee, Arbel Yehud.

The spokesman for the occupation army warned the residents of the Gaza Strip against approaching the Netzarim axis until it is declared open, and said in a statement: “In light of Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, and in order to prevent friction and misunderstandings, all existing instructions remain in effect, especially the prohibition on approaching the Netzarim axis until it is declared open,” stressing that the axis “will not be opened for movement until the issue of the release of the Israeli Arbel Yehud is settled between the mediators and Israel.”

Palestinians spread out on Rashid Street and slept in the open last night, despite the bitter cold, despite their awareness that their hoped-for return would be to homes that had been reduced to rubble, after Israeli warplanes had bombed and leveled them to the ground for a year and three months.