Middle East crisis live: Israel sends negotiators back to Qatar for next stage of ceasefire talks

The Israeli military has completed the withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor, that bisects the northern and southern halves of the Gaza Strip, to the buffer zone. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the Israeli military is supposed to withdraw completely from the corridor, which stretches to the Mediterranean Sea, and allow free movement back and forth between the south and the north of the territory.

Al Jazeera reports:

As of now, cars are passing an inspection point, as they arrive from the central and southern parts of the Strip.

The Netzarim Corridor is an area that has in the past 15 months turned into a major base for the Israeli military. It is now completely pulverised, with no buildings left.

The majority of the agricultural land has been bulldozed and destroyed by the Israeli military.

It will be very difficult for people who were displaced from this area to return to their homes. It’s hard to imagine where they are going to stay here other than just setting up tents here and there.

So we’re seeing more civilian movement between the north and the south.

The hope is now that with the withdrawal of the Israeli military, there is more free movement, a flow of vehicles and aid trucks going all the way to the northern part of the Strip.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered negotiators on Saturday to return to Qatar to continue ceasefire talks with Hamas after the fifth hostage-prisoner swap agreed under the truce was completed, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reports.

Netanyahu repeated his pledge to crush Hamas and free all remaining hostages, denouncing the militant group as “monsters” after the handover of three captives in Gaza who appeared emaciated and were forced to speak on a stage.

As we mentioned in the opening summary, the hospital treating the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza on Saturday said Or Levy and Eli Sharabi were in a “poor medical condition,” while Ohad Ben Ami was in a “severe nutritional state”.

Of the 183 inmates released by Israel in return, the Palestinian prisoners’ club advocacy group said seven required hospitalisation “as a result of the brutality they were subjected” to in jail. Rights groups and whistleblowers have described a policy of “institutionalised abuse” in Israeli jails and detention centres.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the latest news from the Middle East, here are the latest updates.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered negotiators to return to Qatar to discuss the next stage of the ceasefire deal with Hamas after the fifth hostage-prisoner exchange was completed on Saturday. Substantial talks are not expected to start until after a security cabinet meeting on Monday, Israeli media reported.

The hospital treating the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza on Saturday said Or Levy and Eli Sharabi were in a “poor medical condition”, while Ohad Ben Ami was in a “severe nutritional state”. With their return, 73 out of 251 hostages taken during the attack now remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The Palestinian prisoners’ club advocacy group said of the 183 inmates released in return, seven required hospitalisation and described “brutality” and mistreatment in jail.

Hamas accused Israel of “systematic assaults and mistreatment of our prisoners”, calling it “part of the policy of … the slow killing of prisoners”.

The fifth exchange since the truce took effect last month comes as negotiations are set to begin on the next phase of the ceasefire, which could pave the way for a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

In some other key developments:

• Five Thai hostages released by Hamas last weekend have arrived back in Bangkok amid tearful scenes of joy in the capital. The five farm workers smiled as they walked through the arrivals hall and were greeted by family and foreign ministry officials on Sunday. Pongsak Tanna, one of those freed, said he was at a “loss for words” as he saw his family. “I thank everyone who helped us make it out. We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for them. We can finally return to our motherland,” he said. The other four who were released were Watchara Sriaoun, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau and Bannawat Saethao. The five returnees are now making their way to their hometowns. One Thai national, Nattapong Pinta, is still believed to be alive in Gaza.

• Each released Thai hostage is to receive a one-off payment of around $18,000 (600,000 baht), along with a monthly salary of $900 until the age of 80, Thai officials said. Boonsong Tapchaiyut, a labour ministry official at the airport on Sunday, said the payments would ensure they did not have to return to Israel to find jobs that would support their families. Foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa said it was “very inspiring” to witness their return, and that officials would monitor their reintegration into Thai society, “focusing on their mental health”.

• Egypt will host an Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it said were “serious” developments for Palestinian people, according to the country’s foreign ministry. A statement said the gathering was called “after extensive consultations by Egypt at the highest levels with Arab countries in recent days, including Palestine, which requested the summit, to address the latest serious developments regarding the Palestinian cause”. That included coordination with Bahrain, which currently chairs the Arab League. Cairo has rejected Donald Trump’s plans – condemned as ethnic cleansing – to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.

• Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US president’s plan “poses a serious threat to the stability and security” in the region. According to Araghchi, “it is essential that Islamic countries take a firm and unified stance against this project”.