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Egypt urges full commitment to implementing Gaza ceasefire without delay

January 17, 2025 at 2:29 pm

Relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza gather in front of the Ministry of Defense to hold demonstration demanding a ceasefire and a hostage swap agreement in Gaza, on January 14, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

Egypt urged, Thursday, Israel and Hamas, the parties to the Gaza ceasefire deal, to implement the agreement without delay, Anadolu agency reported.

This came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Hamas of back-tracking on parts of the agreement, in a last ditch effort to sabotage it, which was categorically refuted by the Movement.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement the necessity of implementing the deal without delay, which includes swapping Palestinian prisoners with Israeli captives held in Gaza.

The Ministry said the deal would allow the rapid and effective entry as well as distribution of humanitarian aid on the widest scale throughout the Gaza Strip and called on the international community to support humanitarian effort and provide aid to the Gaza Strip, and to start early recovery projects in preparation for the reconstruction of the Strip.

It also stressed Cairo’s readiness to host an international conference on this matter.

The Israeli security cabinet was scheduled to meet on Thursday morning to ratify the agreement, but Netanyahu’s office announced postponing the meeting under the pretext of Hamas’s back-tracking on some of the deal’s items.

READ: Hamas refutes Netanyahu’s claim it is blocking ceasefire deal

For its part, Hamas denied Netanyahu’s allegations and affirmed its commitment to the agreement.

Qatar announced, on Wednesday, a ceasefire agreement to end over 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, where more than 46,700 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 110,000 others injured since 7 October, 2023.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the 3-phase deal will come into effect on Sunday.

The deal includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Israeli war on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

READ: Hard-line Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir threatens to quit over Gaza deal