Haniyeh to Visit Cairo to Discuss Ceasefire, Gaza Reconstruction

 Destruction in the Gaza Strip as a result of the recent Israeli air strikes. (AFP)
Destruction in the Gaza Strip as a result of the recent Israeli air strikes. (AFP)
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Haniyeh to Visit Cairo to Discuss Ceasefire, Gaza Reconstruction

 Destruction in the Gaza Strip as a result of the recent Israeli air strikes. (AFP)
Destruction in the Gaza Strip as a result of the recent Israeli air strikes. (AFP)

Palestinian Hamas Movement said its Chief Ismail Haniyeh will visit Cairo to hold talks over a lasting ceasefire and rebuilding Gaza.

Hamas has set several conditions to maintain ceasefire, said its spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanou, including halting aggression in Jerusalem, ending the displacement of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and preventing all what could re-incite violence.

He also affirmed that the movement is ready to accept all the offers to reconstruct the enclave as soon as possible.

Another Hamas spokesman, Hamza Qassem, said the scheduled visit comes in line with Cairo’s efforts to curb the Israeli aggression against Palestinians and follow up the reconstruction process.

Haniyeh will head a high-ranking delegation in the few coming days, he added, without specifying a date.

Cairo had intensified its efforts to reach a truce in Gaza and is now leading coordinated efforts with the United State to push forward a new political process in the region that includes comprehensive calm and rebuilding of the Strip.

The US, Egypt, Qatar, the European Union and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland have also been engaged in talks to rebuild Gaza.

They consider the Palestinian Authority the “legitimate” party to discuss the process with rather than Hamas.

According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel will only agree on rebuilding Gaza when a joint mechanism is formed to “prevent Hamas from gaining extra power.”

Ashkenazi presented to his US counterpart a plan to provide aid to Gaza while separating between the “basic humanitarian aid, such as water and electricity” and reconstruction.



Hezbollah Condemns Attack on UNIFIL Convoy in Beirut

Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Condemns Attack on UNIFIL Convoy in Beirut

Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

Hezbollah on Sunday condemned an attack on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy in Beirut on Friday which the US State Department has said was reportedly carried out by supporters of the armed group.

UNIFIL said on Friday its outgoing deputy force commander was injured when the convoy, which was taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport, was "violently attacked".

Lebanese authorities have detained more than 25 people as part of an investigation into the attack.

In Sunday's statement, the Iran-backed group expressed firm rejection to any targeting of UNIFIL forces.

Separately, it also denounced the Lebanese army for firing tear gas on Saturday at protesters of the group who were protesting against Lebanon blocking an Iranian flight to Beirut this week after accusations by the Israeli military that Tehran was using civilian aircraft to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm the Lebanese group.

It called on the Lebanese military to open a probe into what it described as an "unjustified assault on peaceful civilians".

Iran barred Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iran on Friday, in a standoff between the two countries following what Tehran described as an Israeli threat to attack it.