Eight of the hostages due for release in the first phase of a truce deal between Israel and Gaza are dead, Hamas has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Hamas has provided a long-awaited list of the hostages to be released during the first six-week phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, stating that 25 of 33 hostages were alive.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer confirmed the remaining eight hostages were dead.
"The families have been informed of the situation of their relatives," Mr Mencer told reporters.
That means that of the 26 hostages yet to be freed under the first phase of the agreement, only 18 are still alive.
Seven women have already been freed alive in exchange for more than 290 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since the ceasefire began on 19 January.
Tel Aviv announced on Sunday that Hamas had agreed to release female civilian Arbel Yehud, female soldier Agam Berger and one other hostage on Thursday.
The news came as tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading into northern Gaza as Israel opened roadblocks after militant group Hamas agreed to hand over female Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud and two other hostages.
A mass of people, some holding infants in their arms or carrying bundles of belongings on their shoulders, headed north on foot, along a road running by the Mediterranean Sea shore.
Witnesses in northern Gaza said the first residents arrived in Gaza City on Monday morning after the first crossing point in central Gaza opened at 7am, local-time.
"It's like I was born again and we were victorious again," said Palestinian mother, Umm Mohammed Ali, part of the kilometres-long throng that processed slowly up the coastal road.
Another crossing opened around three hours later, letting in vehicles.
Children in warm jackets and carrying backpacks walked hand in hand, men pushed the elderly in wheelchairs and families posed for selfies as Hamas-hired officials in red vests directed them along the coastal road.
Hamas officials and ordinary Gazans have rejected a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged enclave, rekindling long-standing Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to meet with Mr Trump at the White House next week, Israel's Walla News website reported on Monday, citing three unnamed Israeli and US sources.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza were due to return at the weekend.
But Israel said that Hamas had broken the deal by failing to release civilian female hostage Arbel Yehud and kept its forces in the Netzarim corridor that cuts across the enclave south of Gaza City.
Late on Sunday, Qatari mediators said Hamas had agreed to released Yehud and two other hostages before Friday and that Israel would in turn allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Yehud, soldier Agam Berger and another hostage would be released by Hamas.
He confirmed in a post on X that Israel would allow displaced Gaza families to return to their homes in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
"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.
'I thought I would never come back'
As news that the crossings would be opened filtered out, thousands of displaced families burst in cheers at shelters and tent encampments.
"My heart is beating, I thought I would never come back," said Osama, 50 a public servant and father of five, as he arrived in Gaza City.
"Whether the ceasefire succeeds or not, we will never leave Gaza City and the north again, even if Israel would sent a tank for each one of us, no more displacement."
The move brokered by Qatar and Egyptian mediators would allow around 650,000 Palestinians in central and southern Gaza Strip to return to homes in the north of the enclave, most of which had been laid waste by 15 months of Israel's aerial and ground offensive.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, according to the Gaza health ministry
Hamas took around 250 hostages during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies.
It sparked the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had 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.
A statement from the Israeli military warned Gaza residents against approaching Israeli forces' positions.
"The transfer of militants or weapons via these routes to the northern Gaza Strip will be considered a breach of the agreement. Do not cooperate with any terrorist entity that may try to exploit you to transfer weapons or prohibited materials," said the military.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said returnees to the north need at least 135,000 tents and shelters as they try to re-establish their lives in the war-torn landscape of their former homes.
Lebanese try again to return to southern border villages
South Lebanon residents accompanied by the army tried to return to their villages on Monday, official media and AFP correspondents reported, a day after Israeli fire killed more than 20 people in the area.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that Lebanon had agreed to an extension of the ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel until February 18, after the Israeli military missed Sunday's deadline to withdraw.
An AFP correspondent saw dozens of vehicles carrying families headed towards border towns, a day after hundreds of residents tried unsuccessfully to return to their homes.
Lebanon's health ministry said that fresh "Israeli enemy attacks while citizens attempt to return to their towns" had wounded two people Monday in the village of Bani Hayyan, including a child.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on Monday called again for south Lebanon residents to "wait" before returning.
The Israeli military had said soldiers "fired warning shots to remove threats" where "suspects were identified approaching the troops".
The Lebanese army said Sunday it would "continue to accompany residents" returning to the south and "protect them from Israeli attacks".
Wires
