Israel said it would retain control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of a ceasefire with Hamas.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.
The cease-fire, now in its fourth day, is supposed to bring peace to war-torn Gaza for at least six weeks and restore 33 of the Hamas-held territories. The hostages Released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The statement said. EU surveillance will monitor the crossing, which will be surrounded by Israeli soldiers. Israel will also approve the movement of all people and goods.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, with the rest freed, recovered or their bodies recovered. was recovered.
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who say more than half of the dead are women and children but do not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it killed more than 17,000 militants without providing evidence.
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Here’s the latest:
Israel says it will maintain control of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
JERUSALEM — Israel says it will retain control of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of a ceasefire with Hamas.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.
It said local Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas who were screened by Israeli security simply stamped their passports at the crossing. He noted that, under international agreements, these stamps are “the only way Gazans can leave the Strip to enter or be welcomed by other countries.”
The statement said Israeli forces would surround the crossing and Israel would have to approve the movement of all people and goods through it. That said EU surveillance Will monitor the crossing.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing last May and forced it to close. Egypt, the main mediator in more than a year of talks that led to a ceasefire, has called on the Palestinians to take control of Gaza.
The United Nations says that aid is reaching Gaza easily.
UN – The UN humanitarian coordinator in Gaza says trucks are arriving from the UN, aid groups, governments and the private sector and no major looting has been reported — just a few minor incidents.
About 900 aid trucks entered Gaza on the third day of the cease-fire on Tuesday, the United Nations said. This is significantly more than the 600 trucks called for in the contract.
Mehned Hadi, who returned to Jerusalem from Gaza on Tuesday afternoon, told UN reporters via video that it was one of the happiest days of his 35-year humanitarian career to see Palestinians on the streets with hope. Some were going home and some were starting. To clean the streets.
In her conversations with families at communal kitchens run by the United Nations’ World Food Program and elsewhere, she said, they all told her they needed humanitarian aid but needed to go home, work and have money. Want to earn.
“They don’t like the fact that they have been dependent on humanitarian aid,” Hadi said.
Palestinians spoke of the need for re-education for their children and shelter, blankets and new clothes for women who have been wearing the same clothes for more than a year. He said that the shipment of tents is expected in the coming days.
