Donald Trump’s emissaries visiting Israel met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, October 20, a day after deadly violence in the Gaza Strip that raised fears of a collapse of the ceasefire.
Following Sunday’s Israeli attacks in Gaza in response, according to Israel, to Hamas attacks, US President Donald Trump assured that the ceasefire remained in force. The Islamist movement has denied Israel’s accusations.
Benjamin Netanyahu received Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s emissary, and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, “to discuss the latest developments,” said Shosh Bedrosian, Israeli government spokesman. The American vice president, JD Vance, and his wife are scheduled to visit Israel for a “few days” and will meet with the prime minister, he added without specifying a date.
At the same time, an Israeli security source announced the reopening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, between Israel and Gaza, through which crucial humanitarian aid passes for the population, a few hours after its closure.
45 Palestinians killed
Sunday’s violence in Gaza was the first of this magnitude since the truce went into effect on October 10, following an agreement between Hamas and Israel based on Donald Trump’s plan to definitively end the war. This was sparked by an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Civil Defense in Gaza reported that at least 45 Palestinians were killed in Sunday’s attacks, including civilians and a journalist. After bombing Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the truce, the Israeli army announced in the afternoon that it was resuming implementation of the ceasefire, stating that it would respond to any further “violations.”
The army also announced the deaths of two soldiers in combat on Sunday in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Crossing the yellow line?
According to an Israeli official, Hamas fired on troops in Rafah on Sunday and the Palestinian fighters were “eliminated in an attack after crossing the yellow line” in Beit Lahia (north), in reference to the line of withdrawal of Israeli troops within the Gaza Strip, agreed upon within the framework of the ceasefire.
Hamas claimed to have “no knowledge of incidents or clashes” in Rafah and reaffirmed its “full commitment to the implementation of everything agreed upon, first of all the ceasefire.”
Donald Trump blamed “certain rebels” within Hamas. “They fired shots and we believe their leaders may not have been involved.”
Given the restrictions imposed on the media in Gaza and the difficulties of access on the ground, AFP was unable to independently verify the reports from the various parties.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have begun marking the yellow line, according to images released by the Ministry of Defense showing excavators carrying yellow concrete blocks across vacant land. The Israeli army now controls about half of the Gaza Strip, including the border areas.
A Hamas delegation in Egypt
Within the framework of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas handed over on October 13, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, the 20 live hostages it still held since the October 7 attack and has so far returned 12 of the 28 hostage remains. On Sunday he announced that he had found the 13th hostage body in Gaza, but did not announce his return.
A later stage of the Trump plan calls for the disarmament of Hamas and the amnesty or exile of its fighters, as well as the continuation of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. He rules out any role for Hamas in the Gaza government. Hamas has so far refused to disarm, demanding Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza and stating that it intends to participate in any discussions about the territory’s future.
A Hamas delegation was in Cairo (Egypt) this Monday to discuss the ceasefire and a future inter-Palestinian dialogue with Egyptian and Qatari mediators. This dialogue would address “the formation of a committee of independent experts responsible for the management of Gaza” after the war, according to a source close to the discussions.
The Trump plan provides for the creation of a transitional authority made up of technocrats, headed by a committee headed by the American president. The October 7 attack killed 1,221 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to a report prepared by AFP based on official data. The Israeli offensive carried out in retaliation left 68,216 dead in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, and caused a humanitarian disaster.
Source: BFM TV
