Israel said Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt will remain closed until Hamas meets the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Israel also rejected the statement of the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt which said that the Rafah Border would reopen on Monday.
This situation has come to light about a week after the US-mediated agreement came into effect. The embassy said opening the crossing would allow Palestinians living in Egypt to return to Gaza. However, this crossing has been largely closed since the entry of Israeli forces into Rafah in May 2024.
The Times Of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Monday rejected news of the crossing’s reopening and said it would remain closed until Hamas meets the terms of the ceasefire agreement, according to the report.
The Prime Minister’s Office said reopening of the crossing would be considered only when Hamas Return the hostages and fulfill its responsibility in implementing the agreed framework of the agreement.
According to the agreement, which came into effect on October 10, Hamas was to release the 20 remaining hostages and hand over the bodies of 28 dead hostages within the first 72 hours after the IDF returned to the Yellow Line in Gaza. But almost a week after the ceasefire, Hamas has returned only 10 bodies.
Hamas said that there has been so much destruction in Gaza that it is having difficulty finding the remaining bodies. However, on Saturday night he said that he was returning two more bodies.
Israel accused Hamas of lying and some senior officials said that the number of bodies reported by Hamas so far was less, it is possible that they may have hidden more bodies.
Representatives of the families of hostages and missing praised Netanyahu’s decision in which he said that the crossing would not be opened until Hamas met the terms of the agreement. He told the government that it should take a tough stance against Hamas and demand the return of all dead hostages without exception.
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