Israeli forces began withdrawing from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday, Israeli officials said, part of Israel's commitments under a tenuous ceasefire deal with Hamas that is moving ahead but faces a major test over whether the sides can negotiate its planned extension.

Israel agreed as part of the truce to remove its forces from the 4-mile (6-kilometer) Netzarim corridor, a strip of land that bisects northern Gaza from the south that Israel used as a military zone during the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump says his suggestions that Gaza’s residents could be resettled and the area redeveloped for tourism potential has “been very well received” around the globe.

The idea has actually been roundly criticized. But Trump insisted Friday that it was a simple “real estate transaction,” and that the U.S. is in “no rush to do anything.”

Hamas on Saturday paraded three Israeli hostages before a crowd of hundreds in the Gaza Strip ahead of handing them over to the Red Cross. The three male civilians were freed in exchange for dozens of Palestinian captives held by Israel as part of a ceasefire in Gaza that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli captives were led up onto a stage and a masked Hamas fighter held a microphone as each was made to give a statement before the crowd. Captives did not speak during previous releases.

Dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have protested President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate most of the territory’s population.

Thursday’s protest outside a hospital in central Gaza was organized by a breakaway faction of the secular Fatah movement that is led by Mohammed Dahlan, who is closely allied with the United Arab Emirates.

President Donald Trump said “no soldiers by the U.S. would be needed” to carry out his proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and redevelop the war-torn territory.

“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. He added that Palestinians would be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”

Gaza has long been a powder keg, and it exploded after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing and abducting people, which sparked a crushing Israeli military operation that's only recently stopped under a tenuous ceasefire.

U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion Tuesday that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and the U.S. take "ownership" of the land is triggering new tensions over the future of the enclave.

Israel said on Thursday it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with President Donald Trump's plan for the territory. Officials meanwhile said Egypt has launched an diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan.

The Palestinians and much of the international community have rejected Trump's proposal, fearing Israel will never allow the refugees to return and that it would destabilize the region. Egypt has warned that such a plan could undermine its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of stability and American influence in the Middle East for decades.

Residents of the largest Arab American community in the U.S. had plenty to say during the 2024 presidential campaign about the roiling politics in the Middle East. But after President Donald Trump's stunning announcement on Tuesday that he wanted to remove Palestinians from Gaza and impose a U.S. takeover in the region, some leaders in Dearborn, Michigan, were treading far more cautiously.

"People are taking a deep breath. It's too early to render a judgment. But definitely the past two or three weeks feel unbelievable," said Imad Hamad, executive director of the Dearborn-based American Human Rights Council.

Saeed Abu Elaish's wife, two of his daughters and two dozen others from his extended family were killed by Israeli airstrikes over the past 15 months. His house in northern Gaza was destroyed. He and surviving family now live in a tent set up in the rubble of his home.

But he says he will not be driven out, after President Donald Trump called for transferring all Palestinians from Gaza so the United States could take over the devastated territory and rebuild it for others. Rights groups said his comments were tantamount to a call for "ethnic cleansing" and forcible expulsion.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration appeared to backtrack after his proposal to take over Gaza sparked uproar, with the United Nations warning against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.

Facing a wave of criticism from Palestinians, Arab governments and world leaders, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending U.S. troops.