Egypt presses for international military force in Gaza
Egypt has called for the Gaza ceasefire to move immediately into its second phase. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said he wants to see the next stage of Trump’s plan implemented with the international stabilisation force deployed.
The comments came after Abdelatty met US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Cairo, where the two discussed war-battered Gaza.
In a statement after the meeting, Egypt said the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza and the reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions were discussed.
Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye have played key roles in mediating and brokering the phased truce between Hamas and Israel that took effect on October 10.
Israel attacks Gaza on 92 ceasefire days, killing more than 100 Palestinian children
Israel has attacked Gaza on 92 of the 108 days of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10. These attacks have killed more than 100 Palestinian children, including at least 60 boys and 40 girls, according to UNICEF.
‘Shelling and gunfire continue around the clock’
Just metres from yellow-painted concrete blocks marking the Israeli army’s latest redeployment line in eastern Gaza City, Zaid Mohammed, a displaced Palestinian father of four, shelters with his family in a small tent.
The so-called yellow line is the demarcation line where the Israeli army withdrew to under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire that came into effect in October. Israeli military maps indicate the line extends 1.5km to 6.5km (0.9 to 4 miles) inside Gaza from its eastern boundary with Israel and covers roughly 58 percent of the enclave.
The line divides Gaza into two zones: an eastern area under Israeli military control and a western area where Palestinians face fewer movement restrictions but are under constant threat of air raids and forced displacement.
Zaid’s tent stands in the ruins of destroyed homes and a flattened urban area with debris scattered as far as the eye can see. A United Nations official last week said it would take more than seven years to clear more than 60 million tonnes of rubble in Gaza.
Israel’s genocidal war has destroyed or damaged more than 80 percent of the buildings in the enclave of more than 2.3 million people. Now most of them, including Zaid, have been forced to take shelter in tents or bombed-out houses.
“Shelling and gunfire continue around the clock,” Zaid told Al Jazeera, pointing towards the eastern horizon, where clouds of dust occasionally rise from nearby explosions.
A yellow block demarcating the yellow line, which has separated the Gaza Strip’s Israeli-held and Palestinian zones since the October ceasefire, is visible in Khan Younis
