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Egypt and Qatar are working to salvage the Gaza ceasefire deal

A Palestinian man carries a water tank amid the devastation in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian man carries a water tank amid the devastation in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 12 February 2025

Egypt and Qatar are working to salvage the Gaza ceasefire deal

A Palestinian man carries a water tank amid the devastation in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2025. (AFP)
  • Since the truce started on Jan. 19, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said director general of the Health Ministry

GAZA: Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to salvage the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV, which is close to the country’s security agencies.
The fragile ceasefire is facing a significant test after Hamas said it would delay the next release of hostages scheduled for Saturday, alleging Israel has violated the truce by firing on people in Gaza and not allowing the agreed-upon number of tents, shelters and other vital aid to enter the territory.
Since the truce started on Jan. 19, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said Munir Al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry, on Tuesday. The Israeli military says it has fired on people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of President Donald Trump, has warned that Israel would resume fighting if hostages are not freed on Saturday. Trump has threated that “all hell” will break out if the militant group does not release the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Saturday.
The United Nations said Wednesday that since the start of the ceasefire in Gaza, its agencies and partners have fed 1.2 million people, provided shelter aid to more than 600,000 people and provided water and waste disposal services to nearly half a million.
In a briefing, the UN said it opened 37 shelters for Palestinians returning to the war-battered north, where they were providing tents, blankets and warm clothing. At least 644,000 people across the territory had received tents, tarps or sealing-off materials to improve their shelter conditions.
The ceasefire, which came into effect on Jan. 19, has paused the war in Gaza and sent aid flowing more freely to Palestinians in need. The war sparked a humanitarian crisis in the territory.
The top Sunni Muslim religious authority slams Trump’s plan for Gaza
Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world’s foremost seat of religious learning, on Wednesday threw its support behind Egypt’s rejection of President Donald Trump’s plan to depopulate the Gaza Strip.
“No one has the right to force the Palestinian people to accept unworkable proposals,” the Cairo-based institution said in a statement. “The whole world must respect the right of the Palestinians to live on their land and establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
It called for Arab and Muslim leaders as well as “the world’s wise people” to reject “transfer plans that aim at destroying the Palestinian cause.” Al-Azhar also called on religious institutions around the world to use their influence and defend “the vulnerable in Palestine.”


Israel army chief vows to return remains of officer slain in 2014 Gaza war

Israel army chief vows to return remains of officer slain in 2014 Gaza war
Updated 09 November 2025

Israel army chief vows to return remains of officer slain in 2014 Gaza war

Israel army chief vows to return remains of officer slain in 2014 Gaza war
  • Goldin, 23, was part of an Israeli unit tasked with locating and destroying Hamas tunnels when he was killed on August 1, 2014, just hours after a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire took effect

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military chief pledged Saturday to bring home the remains of an officer killed more than a decade ago in Gaza, after media reports that Hamas had pinpointed the location of his body following a search greenlit by Israel.
The army said Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had met with the family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed during the 2014 six-week war in Gaza.
Since his death, Goldin’s body has been held in Gaza but Hamas has never publicly confirmed his death or acknowledged possession of his remains.
“Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met this evening with the Goldin family and updated them on the information known to the IDF so far,” the military said in a statement, without specifying what the information was.
“The chief of the general staff emphasized his commitment and the IDF’s commitment to bringing back Hadar and all the fallen hostages.”
Israeli media reports said Israel had allowed Hamas and Red Cross personnel to conduct a search earlier on Saturday in an area under Israeli control, although neither Hamas nor the military has confirmed.
Several networks, including Channel 12, reported that the group had recovered Goldin’s remains in a tunnel under a part of the southern city of Rafah held by the army.
Another Israeli soldier, Oron Shaul, was also killed in the 2014 conflict. His body was recovered earlier this year during the latest war, which erupted after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Efforts to secure the return of both soldiers’ remains in past prisoner swaps had repeatedly failed.
Goldin, 23, was part of an Israeli unit tasked with locating and destroying Hamas tunnels when he was killed on August 1, 2014, just hours after a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire took effect.
The army said his team came under fire from militants, who killed him and seized his body.
Israel has listed Goldin among the deceased hostages whose remains it seeks to repatriate under the ongoing US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the latest Gaza war.
At the start of the truce on October 10, Hamas was holding 20 living hostages and 28 bodies of deceased captives.
It has since released all the living hostages and returned 23 sets of remains in line with the ceasefire terms.
In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians.
Apart from Goldin, four hostage bodies — three Israeli and one Thai — remain to be returned from Gaza, all of them seized during the October 2023 attack.