‘No excuses left’ for Israel to avoid opening Rafah crossing: Mustafa Barghouti
Israel has “no excuses” left to maintain restrictions and attacks on Gaza after the remains of the last Israeli captive were found, the Palestinian leader says.
“There are no excuses left for Israel, not only to allow the opening of Rafah crossing in both directions, but also there are no excuses for Israel’s continual bombardment of Gaza,” Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera.
“The ceasefire is respected only unilaterally from the Palestinian side, and Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement already 1,300 times, taking the lives of more than 480 Palestinians,” Barghouti said.
UN welcomes last Gaza captive return, urges truce implementation
The United Nations has welcomed the recovery of remains of the last Israeli captive in Gaza and said it was time to fully implement a ceasefire deal after more than two years of devastation.
“We welcome reports on that development and extend our condolences to his family. The full implementation of the ceasefire arrangements in Gaza is absolutely critical,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
UN calls for ‘more crossings’ to be opened to allow aid into Gaza
In response to Al Jazeera’s Gabrieal Elizondo asking if the UN would find it acceptable for Israel to open the Rafah crossing and impose restrictions on what, or who can pass through it, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “It’s not a matter of what’s acceptable or not acceptable”.
“What we want… is to see [a great deal of] humanitarian goods going, cargo going, both from the humanitarian community and private cargo,” he said.
“As we’ve been saying from the beginning… we want more crossings open.”
Trump gives Hamas credit for helping find Ran Gvili’s body
The US president has confirmed the participation of Hamas in the recovery of the remains of the final Israeli captive in Gaza in comments to news outlet Axios.
“They worked very hard to get the body back. They were working with Israel on it. You can imagine how hard it was,” Donald Trump told Axios. “It was a hard scene.”
“Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised,” he continued, echoing the words of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.
Already moved the goal posts again. Doing Netanyahu's bidding.
Hamas disarmament could be paired with amnesty agreement: US official
The United States believes disarmament by Hamas fighters in Gaza comes with some sort of amnesty for the Palestinian group, a US official has said, according to Reuters.
The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, spoke to mark the return of the remains of the last Israeli captive held by Hamas.
Amnesty for what? Those that killed and abducted people on Oct 7 should not get amnesty, those defending their territory shouldn't need amnesty.
Anyway, it's just another ploy to keep the military occupation going and continue ethnic cleansing the strip, preparing it for Trump's riviera of the ME.
