Palestine Ready To Control Rafah Checkpoint

JAKARTA - Palestinian National Economy Minister Mohammed Al-Amour said the Palestinian Authority is ready to control Rafah's checkpoints on the border with Egypt before international observers, on condition of withdrawing Israeli troops.

Israel's news portal Walla reported, citing top US and Israeli officials, negotiations between Israel, Egypt, and the United States to open Rafah crossings have stalled due to Israel's refusal to allow Palestinians to operate the site in any way.

The Palestinian position is clear, the readiness to work at the Rafah checkpoint in the south of the Gaza Strip is in accordance with the agreement agreed in 2005 before international observers. So this is in the interests of our people and is subject to the withdrawal of Israeli occupation troops, "said Minister Al-Amour as quoted by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, June 14.

Israel closed an important Rafah border crossing after sending troops to southern Gaza in early May, seven months after an attack by the Palestinian Hamas movement on Israeli territory that sparked an escalation of the worst conflict in the Gaza Strip in decades.

Israel's war cabinet pledged to expand operations in Rafah to reach a declared goal to eliminate all Hamas fighters and free hostages.

By the end of May, according to UN estimates, more than 945,000 people had fled Rafah due to Israeli attacks since early May.

On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Hamas movement launched a large-scale rocket attack on Israel and violated borders, attacking civilian environments and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and about 240 others kidnapped in the attack.

Israel launched a retaliatory attack and began ground attacks on Palestinian enclaves. More than 37,100 people have been killed so far as a result of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.

As many as 120 hostages are believed to be still being held by Hamas in Gaza and about a third of them are believed to have died.