The United States and Egypt, mediators of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, have offered safe passage for Hamas fighters still in the parts of the enclave where the Israeli army is deployed. The exit plan, which will apply to 200 fighterscontemplate his safe withdrawal from the southern city of Rafah to other parts of Gazain exchange for handing over their weapons to Egypt and providing details of the tunnels found in the same area, so they can be destroyed.
Washington’s envoy to the region, Steve Witkoffpointed out that the agreement could be a test for one of the main objectives of the second phase of the truce proposed by the president Donald Trumpthe complete disarmament of the militia, a plan that still raises more doubts than certainties. “We can see the model of what we are trying to implement [en Gaza] with these 200 fighters trapped in Rafah. Whether they will be able to surrender, leave and hand over their weapons,” Witkoff said at a business conference in Florida. “This will be one of the tests,” he added. For the moment, Israel and Hamas have not accepted the mediators’ proposal, although talks are ongoing, several sources told Reuters.
These 200 Hamas fighters are trapped in the so-called yellow linethe area where Israeli forces remain deployed as part of the first phase of the ceasefire. This area occupied by the Israeli army covers more than half of the territory of Gaza and includes parts of the east of the enclave such as Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun. The boundaries of this area are not visibly marked and dozens of civilians who have crossed the line since the truce came into effect a month ago have been attacked by the Israeli army. Beyond these 200 fighters, thousands of Palestinian civilians remain trapped in this area waiting to cross into the part of Gaza controlled by Hamas.
The proposal from Washington and Cairo aims to resolve a problem that has put the truce at risk, said two sources close to the talks. In the last month, The Rafah area has been the scene of two attacks against Israeli forces which have caused the death of three soldiers and reprisals by Tel Aviv with more than a dozen civilians dead. Israel has blamed the attacks on Hamas, although the Palestinian group has denied responsibility. Hamas sources assured that the armed wing of the group has been incommunicado since March, so they could be unaware of the existence of the ceasefire. However, the claim is unlikely, since militants of the group in various parts of the enclave have participated in the search for the bodies of the deceased soldiers claimed by Israel.
Gaza buildings destroyed by Israeli bombing in an image taken last Wednesday.AP
Yesterday the Israeli Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, threatened to kill these 200 fighters if the group does not hand over the body of soldier Hadar Goldin, captured by Hamas a decade ago after dying in an army operation to dismantle the group’s tunnels in the city of Rafah.
Faced with the attacks against its forces, Israel closed the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt and where dozens of humanitarian aid trucks are parked. The impediment forced humanitarian organizations to move their trucks to other land crossings in Israeli territory, but even so, the majority have not been able to cross into the enclave, a clear violation of the truce agreement that came into force a month ago. Since the cessation of fighting, Israel has rejected 107 requests for entry of humanitarian aid, according to United Nations data.
The closure of this crossing has also paralyzed the evacuation of sick and injured Palestinians who need urgent help that cannot be provided within the enclave, where the health system has been almost completely dismantled after two years of military offensive. The head of the World Health OrganizationTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asked that the international community become more involved in the care and safe passage of these patients trapped in the enclave. “More than 16,500 people still need urgent medical care that is not available in the Strip,” he declared in a speech this Friday.