Netanyahu left open the possibility of the PA taking over the crossing at a later stage [Getty]
Israel has denied a report that it agreed to hand full control of the Rafah border crossing to the Palestinian Authority (PA), though it left open the possibility that it could take over at a later stage.
Asharq Al-Awsat had reported earlier that Egyptian and Israeli intelligence chiefs had agreed to transfer the management of the Gaza side of the border to the PA during talks in Cairo this week.
This would be done alongside international supervision and monitoring by the UN, it claimed, citing an anonymous official.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office denied the report, accusing the PA of trying to “create the false impression that it controls the crossing” but admitted that “non-Hamas” Gazans and the PA would play a role in managing the border.
Israeli forces will continue to control the crossing for the duration of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, it said, without commenting on who would take over after.
Israel has long opposed giving the PA any role in post-war Gaza.
The London-based pan-Arab newspaper also said that Egypt and Israel had not agreed on how to resolve the issue of the Egypt-Gaza border, a key source of tension between the two countries.
Since Israel seized control of the border in May, Egypt has demanded that it pull its troops back, adding that the move had violated the 1979 peace treaty.
“Israel proposed partial withdrawals from the corridor, but Egypt did not accept the idea and insists on a complete withdrawal and a return to the situation as it was before the war,” Asharq Al-Awsat quoted its source as saying.
Trump admin working on phase 2 of Gaza truce
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has begun working on the next phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which is supposed to come into effect at the beginning of March.
Several officials and advisers told Politico that the new team was working on the next round of talks between the two sides but warned that the negotiations would be difficult.
“What Biden left us with is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end,” the news outlet quoted one administration official as saying.
The US, together with Qatar and Egypt, brokered the current, six-week ceasefire which came into effect on Sunday.
Under the agreement announced by the Qatari prime minister last week, Hamas and Israel are to finalise arrangements for the second phase of the truce by the beginning of March.
This includes agreeing on the next round of prisoner exchanges and the pullback of Israeli forces in Gaza.
Hamas open to Gaza unity government
Hamas is in favour of establishing a unity government in Gaza with other Palestinian factions to administer the territory after the war, a party official said on Tuesday.
“We’re seeking to form a technocratic government with Palestinian factions to administer Gaza,” Bassem Naim said in an interview with Al-Aqsa TV.
“There are efforts to end the division, and intensified efforts to form a national unity government,” the former Gaza health minister said.
Years of negotiations have failed to end the deep divisions between Hamas and Fatah that occurred following the collapse of the Palestinian unity government almost 18 years ago.
Progress was made during last year’s talks in Beijing, which ended with both sides agreeing to establish a unity administration governing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
Since it began its attack on Gaza, Israel vowed to continue until Hamas has been eliminated and has threatened to resume the war at the end of the current temporary ceasefire.
The Qatari prime minister expressed hope on Tuesday that the PA would eventually return to govern Gaza and manage the reconstruction process.
North Gaza water system suffers ‘complete collapse’
Water systems in northern Gaza have undergone a “complete collapse” during the 15 months of Israel’s bombardment, the Palestinian Water Authority said Tuesday.
The Ramallah-based authority began assessing the damage to the area’s water infrastructure after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect on Sunday.
In a statement, it said that more than 70% of northern Gaza’s water infrastructure has been “completely destroyed”, including around 25 water wells.
The destruction has meant that people in the north have been forced to survive on just three litres of water a day, it said.
This is just a fifth of what the World Health Organisation says is the minimum required per person in emergencies.
In a report last year, UK charity Oxfam accused Israel of “systematically weaponizing water against Palestinians” by destroying Gaza’s infrastructure and restricting external supply.
As of July 2024, Israeli forces had damaged or destroyed all the territory’s water treatment and desalination plants, 88% of water wells, and almost three-quarters of sewage pumps.
This caused the amount of water available in the territory to plunge by 94%, it said.
The destruction has forced people to rely on contaminated water, causing dehydration and the rapid spread of disease, especially among children.
The Palestinian Water Authority is now attempting to repair some of the damage and has begun supplying fuel to nine groundwater wells in the north, it said.
Israeli forces have killed more than 47,100 Palestinians in their 15-month assault on Gaza, according to the latest figures from local health authorities.
