Italy says monitoring mission, which was halted when Hamas seized control of Strip in 2007, 'was launched at the request of Israel and the PA'

NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL, Egypt — Egypt’s chief diplomat on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan “without any delay,” raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal.

For the EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah to effectively restart it needed a cessation of hostilities between terrorist organisation Hamas and Israel, which happened on 15 January when the two parties to the conflict signed a ceasefire, which then entered into force on 19 January.

The 27-nation bloc set up a civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the crossing, but it was suspended two years later after the militant Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza.

The European Union is in talks to revive a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah following the announcement of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

The EU is prepared to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah ... but that was suspended two years later after militant Islamists Hamas took control of Gaza. The comments came as Israel's security cabinet met Friday to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and ...

A truce in the brutal war that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks trades 3 Israeli hostages for 100 Palestinian prisoners. No American is on the list.

Hamas will release more Israeli hostages this week, officials said Monday, including Agam Berger, who was not released along with four of her colleagues on Saturday.

Hamas released four hostages, all female soldiers, and Israel 200 Palestinian prisoners as the latest cease-fire exchange occurred on Saturday.

The European Union agreed to reactivate its border assistance mission at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, said Monday.

Hamas handed over four Israeli soldiers Saturday morning in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, the second such swap under the cease-fire deal. The International Committee of the Red Cross collected the hostages from Hamas fighters in Gaza on Saturday morning.