Things move along between Israel , Hamas, and Gaza….
Who WILL assure Gaza actually works as livable place?
Gaza aid arriving…..
Slowly….
Ceasefire Issues…
Gaza’s media office has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire with Hamas 47 times since the truce came into effect in early October, killing 38 Palestinians and wounding another 143.
“These violations have included crimes of direct gunfire against civilians, deliberate shelling and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilians, reflecting the occupation’s continued policy of aggression despite the declared end of the war,” reads the statement.
Authorities in Gaza called on “the United Nations and the guarantor parties of the agreement to intervene urgently to compel the occupation to end its ongoing aggression and to protect unarmed civilian populations”.
Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said the Rafah crossing – a crucial entry point for aid – would only reopen after Hamas hands over the bodies of all deceased hostages still held in Gaza
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed that the Rafah crossing remain closed until further notice,” a statement from his office on Saturday read. “Its reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its obligations to return the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and to implement the agreed-upon terms.”
The Israeli military said late on Saturday that the Red Cross had received the bodies of two hostages held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal….
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Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that the body of a deceased hostage returned overnight by Hamas has been identified as Eliyahu Margalit. He also confirmed that he planned to run in next year’s elections….
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Meanwhile, aid remains critically scarce in Gaza one week into the ceasefire, humanitarian agencies have warned, as Israel delays the entry of food convoys into the territory.
The Palestinian embassy in Egypt announced on Saturday that Palestinian citizens living in Egypt who want to return to Gaza will be able to travel via the Rafah crossing starting on Monday.
In a separate development on Saturday, an Israeli strike on a construction vehicle in southern Lebanon killed a man, the Lebanese health ministry reported….
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International Stabilisation Force
A European and US-backed UN security council motion to give a planned international stabilisation force robust powers to control security inside Gaza is being prepared, with the strong expectation that Egypt will lead it, diplomats have said.
The US is pressing for the force to have a UN mandate without being a fully fledged UN peacekeeping force and will operate with the kind of powers given to international troops operating in Haiti to combat armed gangs.
Turkey, Indonesia and Azerbaijan are also being billed alongside Egypt as the main troop contributors. Egypt is still being consulted on whether the force should be a full UN-led operation.
It is not expected that European or British troops will be involved, but Britain has sent advisers to a small cell being operated by the US inside Israel that is working on implementing the second phase of the 20-point plan developed by Donald Trump, the US president….
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