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International mediators resolved disagreements over fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon late on Sunday, after clashes involving the Israeli military and civilians threatened to undermine both accords.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Hamas would be releasing three hostages in Gaza on Thursday, including Arbel Yehud, resolving the first major crisis of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which took effect one week ago.

In return, Israel will allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the north of the shattered territory starting on Monday.

The issue of Yehud’s release had strained the US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas despite the release on Saturday of four female Israeli soldiers from Gaza, and 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Israeli officials claimed Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, had violated the agreement when it released the soldiers before Yehud, who is the last civilian female hostage still believed to be alive in Gaza.  

Israel retaliated by delaying its withdrawal from the strategic Netzarim corridor, which bisects north and south Gaza, blocking hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from crossing back into the northern part of the territory, as stipulated in the accord.

Over the weekend masses of Palestinians congregated near the corridor, with some families sleeping outside in the winter cold.

The Israeli military said it had fired “warning shots at several gatherings of dozens of suspects who were advancing toward the troops and posed a threat to them”.

Health authorities in Gaza said two people were killed and nine others injured in the clashes on Sunday.

US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were able to resolve the crisis by effectively securing an additional hostage release this Thursday, including Yehud.

The weekly hostage release that is set to take place next Saturday will move ahead as planned, with three more Israelis expected to be freed, according to Israeli officials.

In return, several hundred Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli jails.

Hamas on Sunday provided Israel with a list of the remaining hostages in captivity and set to be released as part of the initial six week ceasefire, detailing whether they were alive or dead.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, during which fighters from the group killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.

Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 47,000 people and fuelled a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

US President Donald Trump has urged Egypt and Jordan to take in most of the population of Gaza, saying it was time to “clean out” the territory, but his proposal was rejected by the two Arab countries.

Meanwhile Trump’s administration announced that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, reached last November through American mediation, would be extended until February 18.

The accord halted more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group that was attacking the Jewish state in solidarity with Hamas.

Israel made clear last week it would not meet the two-month deadline of Sunday for the withdrawal of its military from southern Lebanon.

Israel has claimed the Lebanese army’s deployments in areas vacated by both its troops and Hizbollah fighters had been too slow to meet the deadline.  

With Israeli forces still holding territory inside Lebanon, hundreds of residents came under Israeli fire as they attempted to return on foot to their villages.

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, 22 people were killed and 124 injured on Sunday.

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Sunday announced stiff new tariffs on imports from Colombia and visa restrictions in retaliation to Colombian President Gustavo Petro denying the entry of U.S. military flights deporting Colombian migrants.

Shortly after Trump’s threat, Petro said he would provide a presidential plane for the “dignified return” of Columbia migrants who face deportations from the U.S.

After learning of two repatriation flights that weren’t allowed to land in Colombia, Trump said he would issue 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia and raise it to 50% tariffs after one week. He further announced the immediate revocation of visas and a travel ban to the U.S. for Colombian government officials and their allies and supporters.

Trump promised financial sanctions on Colombia and said he would heighten customs and border protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds.  “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”

Trump’s moves come as he is seeking to aggressively act on his promise of mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally. During his first week in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and ordered U.S. troops to help carry out deportations, which has resulted in deportees flying back to their home countries in handcuffs.

“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro wrote in a Sunday morning post on X that triggered Trump’s actions. “I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory. The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”

The largest U.S. imports from Colombia include crude oil, coffee, and cut flowers, according to the State Department. Trump has discussed plans to issue tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, igniting concerns of trade wars as he begins his second term.

Multiple Latin American countries have pushed back at Trump’s militarized deportations.

Brazil has also condemned the conditions in which deportees have been returned. And last week, Mexico refused to accept a deportation flight for the first time in decades.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement Sunday defending the deportation policy and demanding cooperation from Latin American nations.

“President Trump has made it clear that under his administration, America will no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of. It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner,” Rubio said.

“Colombian President Petro had authorized flights and provided all needed authorizations and then canceled his authorization when the planes were in the air,” Rubio added. “As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security.”

Trump presidency: As countries push back on deportations, Trump trades words, threats

Reach Joey Garrison X @joeygarrison.