Israeli forces withdraw

ISRAELI military forces have withdrawn from a key Gaza corridor, Israeli officials said yesterday, as part of Israel's commitments under a tenuous ceasefire deal with the militant group Hamas that is moving ahead but faces a major test over whether the sides can negotiate its extension.

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

At the start of the ceasefire last month, Israel began allowing Palestinians to cross Netzarim to head to their homes in the warbattered north, sending hundreds of thousands of people streaming across Gaza on foot and by car.