Israel added that it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave through an Egyptian border crossing and then not to return the body of a prisoner from Gaza through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The announcements come in response to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wings saying they would hand the body over on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (15:00 GMT) after it was found in northern Gaza.
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The Health Ministry’s National Center of Forensic Medicine will then take the coffin to Israel. The Israeli military stated in a post on X that a formal notification will be sent to the family after the identification process is finished and as determined by the results.
Following Israel’s assertion that no one’s body parts were linked to any of the bodies of captives still being held in the Gaza Strip, this comes a day after it was revealed that Hamas-permitted remains were being transferred.
The United States’ coordinated effort to end Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza includes the handover of remains. Despite the ongoing killings of Israelis in the area, a fragile ceasefire is in place.
The long-closed Rafah crossing will be open for medical evacuations and travel to and from Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire’s terms. More than 16, 500 injured and sick people need to leave Gaza for medical care, according to the World Health Organization.
Due to a dispute Israel has with Egypt, it was not immediately known when the border crossing would be opened.
Israel claims that the crossing won’t allow Palestinians to cross the border to reach Gaza until their last remaining captives are found there. Egypt, which controls the other side, claimed that if something moves both ways, the crossing will only open.
Since the ceasefire’s beginning in early October, Israel has received the remains of 26 abducted people who are now alive. Ran Gvili, an Israeli police officer, and Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai national who worked as a farm laborer, both found dead in Gaza.
Fears that Israel’s statement could cause Palestinians to permanently flee, a stance far-right ministers have long advocated in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.
Israeli “manoeuvring”
According to an unnamed official, Egypt’s State Information Service refuted the claim, claiming Cairo has not agreed to any plans to make the crossing accessible to inbound travelers only.
According to the official, any agreement with Israel would require opening Rafah in both directions in accordance with the current ceasefire plan. The source denied that Israel and the reopening were working together.
Former Egyptian assistant foreign minister Hussein Haridy stated that Egypt still adheres to UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which approved a ceasefire plan, on October 17.
Egypt is working with the European Union and the Palestinian Authority to operate the posts, including Rafah, when the circumstances permit, he told Al Jazeera from Cairo.
According to the US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, “we need to operate the Rafah crossing.” We’ve grown accustomed to Israeli maneuvering when it comes to putting into effect ceasefire agreements since 1948, according to Haridy.
“With that said, we will take Israel to task if they don’t follow the Security Council’s instructions.”
Nour Odeh, a journalist from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, claimed that Israel’s announcement shows a pattern of “drip-dropping” its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
Odeh claimed that Israel intends to keep a veto over exiting people, including those with medical conditions, and that it won’t permit the return of thousands of Palestinians to Gaza.
In the first 50 days of the truce, 357 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Government Media Office.
Since October 2023, Israel’s occupation of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 70 Palestinians, 117 Palestinians, and 170 999 others. During the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, 139 people were killed in Israel, and 200 were taken prisoner.
Source: Aljazeera
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