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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]
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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.

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Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council Urges Hamas to Hand Over Suspects in Rocket Attacks

Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
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Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council Urges Hamas to Hand Over Suspects in Rocket Attacks

Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).
Lebanese Army personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting a militant group leader south of Beirut last week (AFP).

A senior Lebanese source has revealed that authorities will demand Hamas to hand over remaining individuals implicated in recent rocket attacks launched from Kfartebnit and Qaqaiyat al-Jisr—two towns located north of the Litani River, overlooking southern Lebanon—toward the Israeli settlements of Metula and Kiryat Shmona. The suspects are also believed to have stored rockets and launchers in a warehouse raided by the Lebanese Army, which seized several of the weapons, some prepared for imminent use.
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that this demand will top the agenda of the first meeting of the Supreme Defense Council, scheduled for Friday and to be chaired by President Joseph Aoun.
The Council is also expected to discuss the security situation in southern Lebanon amid Beirut’s unilateral commitment to the ceasefire agreement, contrasted by what it views as Israel’s noncompliance. The session will further address recent incidents in which local residents blocked UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) from entering certain villages, citing the lack of coordination with the Lebanese Army. Additional topics include logistical, administrative, and security preparations by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities ahead of the first round of municipal elections in Mount Lebanon this coming Sunday.
According to the source, the Lebanese Army’s intelligence directorate has, under judicial supervision, compiled a list of wanted Hamas members based on interrogations with detained suspects involved in the rocket attacks.
The source did not rule out the possibility that the suspects may have sought refuge in Palestinian refugee camps, particularly Ain al-Hilweh in southern Lebanon, where Hamas may be protecting them in neighborhoods controlled by extremist factions.
The source argued that Palestinian weapons have lost their original purpose of defending against Israeli attacks and are now largely used for internal conflict and endangering nearby communities.
Disarming Palestinian groups inside the camps, the source said, aligns with the insistence of both Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government that all arms remain under the state’s authority. The matter is also expected to feature prominently in upcoming talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Lebanese officials during his mid-month visit to Beirut.
On broader security concerns, the source noted that Lebanon is stepping up containment measures around the camps to prevent the militarization of nearby towns, especially those close to the Litani River.
Regarding Sunday’s Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in Beirut’s southern suburb, the source confirmed that the Lebanese Army had received no prior warning through the United States. Instead, Lebanese officials learned of the strike via media reports. This prompted Aoun to make urgent calls to several countries, including the US and France, which are considered guarantors of the ceasefire agreement. Subsequent information reportedly disproved Israel’s stated justification for the attack.