Rafah Crossing Closed Due to Security Operation in Sinai

Gazans wait for clearance at the Rafah crossing to enter Egypt [Getty]
Gazans wait for clearance at the Rafah crossing to enter Egypt [Getty]
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Rafah Crossing Closed Due to Security Operation in Sinai

Gazans wait for clearance at the Rafah crossing to enter Egypt [Getty]
Gazans wait for clearance at the Rafah crossing to enter Egypt [Getty]

Egypt on Friday closed its border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said, after Cairo launched a major operation against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.

The head of Hamas, the Islamist group which runs Gaza, was however permitted to travel to Cairo for talks before the border was closed a day earlier than planned.

Friday was supposed to be the final of a three-day border opening for humanitarian cases from Gaza, the first time the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had been open in 2018.

"The Rafah border was closed today due to the security situation in Sinai, we were informed by the Egyptian authorities," said Saleh al-Zaq, head of the civil affairs committee which controls the borders.

The Egyptian army announced Friday morning the launch of a major operation against jihadists across swathes of territory, including the Sinai Peninsula bordering Gaza.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya crossed the border to Cairo for talks with Egyptian leaders before Rafah was closed, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said.

He said the talks would include an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal between Hamas and rival Palestinian movement Fatah that has faltered, with multiple deadlines missed.

Hamas officials said the visit is to discuss the economic crisis "that put Gaza on the edge of the abyss". Talks will also cover the obstacles stalling a Palestinian unity deal with the Palestinian government in the West Bank.

Thousands of Gazans had gathered on Thursday at the crossing in the hope for a brief chance to leave the Strip.

The UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians warned on Tuesday that the healthcare system in Gaza is on the verge of "total collapse," due to Israel's decade-old blockade of the strip.



US Demand to Dismantle PMF Fuels Debate in Iraq, Iran

3 January 2023, Berlin: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, speaks during a press conference at the Federal Chancellery. (dpa)
3 January 2023, Berlin: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, speaks during a press conference at the Federal Chancellery. (dpa)
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US Demand to Dismantle PMF Fuels Debate in Iraq, Iran

3 January 2023, Berlin: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, speaks during a press conference at the Federal Chancellery. (dpa)
3 January 2023, Berlin: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Prime Minister of Iraq, speaks during a press conference at the Federal Chancellery. (dpa)

The United States’ demand for the dismantling of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq has fueled debate in Baghdad and Tehran.

Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh said US President Donald Trump’s recent message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei included a demand to dismantle the Tehran-backed PMF and other armed factions.

In televised remarks on Thursday, Al-Sadegh said the dismantling or merger of the PMF in the armed forces is “unacceptable for Iran and Iraq.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani later responded to his remarks, saying the US made no such demand.

In a television interview, he stressed that the dismantling of the armed factions is linked to ending the deployment of the US-led international coalition to fight ISIS in Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein declared that his country is not part of the “Resistance Axis” of armed groups across the region that are loyal to Iran.

He warned that Israel may attack Iran should Tehran fail to reach an understanding with the US.

“Iraq does not agree with the ‘unity of arenas’,” he added in a television interview.