This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-68963839

The article has changed 63 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 40 Version 41
Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Rafah crossing truce talks to resume - BBC News Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Rafah crossing as truce talks to resume - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
Yolande Knell Jeremy Bowen
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem International Editor
The Israeli military has said they have taken operational control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing which is on the border with Egypt. The significance of Israel taking operational control, as they describe it, of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing means they have got their soldiers there, it means that they have got their armoured vehicles there.
We have witnesses in Rafah saying that there were flares lighting up the sky overnight. There was the constant sound of Israeli bombardments and the Israeli army says it has killed 20 - what it calls Hamas "terrorists" - and says it has found three tunnel shafts in that area around the crossing. And it means that they are in control of that area which is the southern route into Gaza.
It is stressing at the moment that it is still a very limited and precise operation, that it’s not the full-scale ground offensive of Rafah which the world powers have been warning against because of the dire humanitarian consequences in the city that is so packed with Palestinians who fled the fighting elsewhere in Gaza. More broadly, one thing that Israel may be wanting to do is to take control of the entire area, which runs between Gaza and Egypt at the very southern point.
All this going on adds to the diplomatic pressure. The Qataris have been mediators in the potential hostage deal, sending their team back to Cairo so they can talk again about a ceasefire. It’s called the Philadelphi Corridor, and Israel says that if it takes control of that it would stop, in the future, tunnels being built in which might give people the chance to smuggle weapons in.
It is very confusing because we had an Israeli official saying last night, quoted anonymously, this seems to be an Egyptian proposal that Hamas had accepted, it wasn’t meeting the Israeli requirements. But that’s looking quite a way ahead, because of course at the moment there is all this massive amount of diplomatic activity around the ceasefire talks.
But then there were other officials coming out and saying, well this is actually very close to an Israeli proposal that was put forward at the end of last month, which the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken then described as being extraordinarily generous.
FacebookFacebook
TwitterTwitter
ShareView more share optionsShare this postCopy this linkRead more about these links.ShareView more share optionsShare this postCopy this linkRead more about these links.
Copy this linkCopy this link