Israel has lifted the state of emergency for areas near the border with Gaza for the first time since Hamas launched its attack on October 2023, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday.
The decision "reflects the new security reality in the south of the country", he added. A fragile, US-brokered ceasefire has largely held in the enclave for more than two weeks.
"I have decided to adopt the [Israeli military's] recommendation and to lift, for the first time since October 7 [2023], the special state on the home front," Mr Katz's office said in a statement.
The state of emergency, which was active up to 80km from the border with Gaza, granted authorities special powers to maintain public order and ensure civilian safety. The state of emergency was expanded temporarily to the whole of Israel as a result of the 12-day war with Iran in June.
The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed 1,200 people, with about 240 taken hostage. Israel's devastating response has killed more than 68,500 people in Gaza, health authorities in the enclave have said.
Under the US-led plan to end the two-year war, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire under which Israel was to free almost 2,000 Palestinian detainees in exchange for the release of all hostages in Gaza, living and dead.
Hamas has returned the remaining 20 living hostages and the remains of 15 other. The group has insisted it is serious about returning the remaining 13 bodies, but says it struggles to find them in the ruins of Gaza – as Israel shows its impatience with the process.
The remains of 10 Israelis kidnapped during the 2023 attack, one Israeli missing since 2014, a Thai citizen and a Tanzanian worker have not yet been returned. Israel has returned the bodies of 195 Palestinians, many of them unidentified and allegedly showing signs of torture and mistreatment.
The families of Israeli hostages on Monday called on the government, the US and the mediators – Washington, Egypt and Qatar – to refrain from moving forward with the next phase of the ceasefire until Hamas releases the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages.
"The families urge the government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
More complicated steps lie ahead under the ceasefire plan, including the disarming of Hamas and the postwar governance of famine-stricken Gaza. The UN and its partners continue to urge Israel to allow more aid to enter the enclave.
The US plan also includes establishing an international force in Gaza to help secure the fragile ceasefire. Israel on Monday said it would refuse to accept the presence of Turkish armed forces in the enclave under the plan.
"Turkey, led by [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, led a hostile approach against Israel," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said. "So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip and we will not agree to that and we said it to our American friends."
At least two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on Monday, the Wafa news agency reported. The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 93 people have been killed in attacks since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10.
