Gaza ceasefire is caught between fire on the ground and the withdrawal sequence
As new injuries are reported in Gaza, Israel rejects withdrawal before Hamas disarms, while Egypt urges a roadmap combining withdrawal, aid and an international force.
Geopolitics··Midday
New injuries while the ceasefire remains in force
Armed incidents continue to be reported while the ceasefire remains in force in Gaza. Medical sources speaking to Anadolu Agency said Israel's forces opened fire at several locations across the Gaza Strip from Sunday into Monday, wounding seven Palestinians, including a woman and a child. Six were taken to Nasser Hospital after incidents in southern and central Khan Younis; no deaths were reported in those events. Medical sources and witnesses said tanks, military vehicles and quadcopter drones fired at homes or tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, Al-Mawasi, neighbourhoods of Gaza City, Beit Lahia and the Bureij refugee camp. The incidents were reported around homes and tents sheltering displaced people. Gaza's Health Ministry gives much larger cumulative casualty figures for the ceasefire period, but those figures come from the Hamas-run administration and have not been independently verified. The immediate injuries are attributed to the medical sources, while the broader toll remains explicitly the ministry's account.[1]
Opposing sequences for withdrawal and disarmament
Alongside reports from the ground, the political sequence of withdrawal and disarmament is contested. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sunday's cabinet meeting that Israel would not accept the 15-point document drawn up by the US-led Board of Peace and that Israel's forces would not withdraw until Hamas had disarmed. The document arranges disarmament and phased withdrawal as parallel steps. Hamas official Basim Naeem urged mediators to press Netanyahu; Hamas links its own disarmament to a complete Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu also repeated that he would not permit a Palestinian state while serving as prime minister. The parties' statements set out different sequences: Israel places disarmament before withdrawal, Hamas treats withdrawal and statehood as conditions for giving up its arms, and the roadmap envisages the two processes proceeding gradually and in parallel. The White House had offered no immediate response to Netanyahu's rejection when NBC News published its report.[2], [3]
The institutions in Egypt's implementation call
In his telephone call with Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace's high representative for Gaza, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty listed administration, monitoring and aid measures alongside military withdrawal. Abdelatty called for complete Israeli withdrawal and for humanitarian aid to be delivered fully, safely and sustainably. He also urged the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to begin its interim duties from inside the enclave, the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to monitor the ceasefire, and the eventual assumption of responsibilities in Gaza and the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority. Egypt's statement presents security, administration and aid as separate implementation steps. The call lists withdrawal, aid delivery, interim administration and international monitoring within the same transition agenda. The proposed responsibility for the Palestinian Authority covers Gaza and the West Bank, while the interim committee would begin work inside Gaza. Netanyahu calls for disarmament before withdrawal, while Egypt calls for parallel steps to be implemented. Reports of new injuries at several locations in Gaza are also emerging while the political dispute continues. The positions reported by the sources differ over the starting order for withdrawal, disarmament, monitoring, interim administration and aid measures.[1], [2], [3]
