Hamas to release three Israeli captives before Friday, Israel to allow Gazans to return home north

Palestinian group Hamas will hand over female Israeli captive Arbel Yehud and two other captives before Friday, mediator Qatar said on Sunday, and Israel said it would allow residents of the northern Gaza Strip to go back home early on Monday.

In a statement, Qatar's foreign ministry also said Israel will in return allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza starting Monday morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza - confirmed on Sunday that civilian Arbel Yehud, soldier Agam Berger and another captive will be released by Hamas.

He also said in a post on X that Israel will allow displaced Gaza families to return home north of the Palestinian enclave starting Monday morning.

"The Prime Minister reiterates that Israel will not tolerate any violation of the agreement. We will continue to act for the return of all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," said a statement issued by Netanyahu's office.

Following the Qatari announcement, Hamas said early on Monday that it handed over to the mediators the required information regarding the list of Israeli captives who will be released during the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The move brokered by Qatar and Egyptian mediators would allow around 650,000 Palestinians displaced in the central and southern Gaza Strip to return home north of the enclave, most of which had been laid waste by 15 months of Israel's aerial and ground offensive, that has also killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians according to the Gaza health ministry.

Hamas took around 250 captives during the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies, sparking the worst ever war on Gaza. The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire. Hamas says its attack was in response to decades of Israeli occupation and aggression, and sought to swap captives for Palestinian prisoners and lift Israel's blockade on Gaza.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have waited for two days at roadblocks to return to their homes in northern Gaza, voicing frustration after Israel accused Hamas of breaching a ceasefire agreement and refused to open crossing points.

Cars, trucks and rickshaws were overloaded with mattresses, food, and the tents that served as shelters for over a year for those in the central and southern areas of the enclave.

Under the agreement worked out with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the US, Israel was meant to allow Palestinians displaced from the north to return to their homes.

But Israel claimed that Hamas' failure to hand over a list detailing who of the captives scheduled for release were alive or to hand over Arbel Yehud, an Israeli woman taken hostage from her kibbutz home during the attack in 2023, meant it had violated the agreement.

The Israeli military put out a statement telling Gaza residents they would be allowed to return on foot through the coastal road at 05:00 GMT, and in vehicles through the eastern Salah al-Din road at 07:00 GMT.

It warned them against approaching Israeli forces' positions.

Responding to the news, thousands of displaced families burst in cheers at shelters and tent encampments.

"No sleep, I have everything packed and ready to go with the first light of day," said Ghada, a mother of five.

"At least we are going back home, now I can say war is over and I hope it will stay calm," she told Reuters via a chat app.