EU delegation to arrive in Cairo to help implement Gaza ceasefire

Ahram Online , Thursday 16 Jan 2025

A European Union Monitoring Mission delegation will arrive in Cairo early next week to help implement the terms of the recently reached Gaza ceasefire agreement, reported Al-Qahera News.

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Les gens vérifient les décombres des bâtiments frappés par les frappes israéliennes la nuit précédente à Jabalia, dans le nord de la bande de Gaza. AFP

 

The mission will work to establish a mechanism for reopening the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which Israel occupied and closed in May 2024 as part of its war in the strip.

The crossing closure restricted the flow of humanitarian aid, further exacerbating the humanitarian situation endured by Palestinians.

Israel and Hamas have reached a three-phase ceasefire deal to end the 15-month-old Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced in a presser on Wednesday.

The agreement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, followed over a year of on-off, indirect negotiations.

The three countries will jointly monitor the deal's implementation, which will begin at 12:15pm on Sunday, 19 January.

The guarantors will also coordinate with the United Nations, donor countries, and global partners to support a rapid and sustainable increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza under the deal.

An Egyptian security source confirmed on Wednesday that coordination is underway to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow the entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the strip.

Sources told Al Jazeera that, under the deal, 600 aid trucks will enter the Gaza Strip daily during the first phase to address the urgent needs of a starving population.

The deal’s first phase, spanning 42 days, will see the start of Israel’s withdrawal from "all" populated areas of Gaza, US President Joe Biden said.

Meanwhile, "the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza," he announced Wednesday.

The phase will also see the commencement of a prisoner exchange process involving Palestinian detainees and Israeli captives.

Biden did not specify how many captives would be released at this stage. However, Qatar's Al Thani said during Wednesday's presser that it would be 33.

The second stage would be "a permanent end to the war," according to Biden, with the remaining living captives, including men, to be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.

The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza.

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