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Egyptian Engineering Team Arrives in Gaza

Palestinians looking through their house rubble in Gaza (Reuters)
Palestinians looking through their house rubble in Gaza (Reuters)
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Egyptian Engineering Team Arrives in Gaza

Palestinians looking through their house rubble in Gaza (Reuters)
Palestinians looking through their house rubble in Gaza (Reuters)

An Egyptian engineering team arrived in the Gaza Strip Wednesday to discuss reconstruction, after the 11-day conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Palestinian sources said the team, which includes six Egyptian engineers, entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to inspect the destruction ahead of bringing heavy machinery to remove the rubble.

Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Mohamed Zeyara confirmed that the government will provide the necessary support to institutions that will work on relief and reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Zeyara met with Western officials to discuss reconstruction and urgent interventions to bring back families to their homes and provide them with a permanent and adequate shelter.

The Minister praised the efforts of all international agencies and Arab countries, led by Egypt, that work in the enclave and provide urgent humanitarian relief.

On Monday, the head of the Egyptian intelligence service, Major General Abbas Kamel, visited the Strip for several hours and met with Hamas leaders and the Palestinian factions.

Egypt sponsored the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. It allocated $500 million for rebuilding efforts in the Gaza strip following Israeli airstrikes.

The Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini, arrived in Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation and visit those affected by the latest round of escalation.

Speaking to reporters, Mardini called for speeding the pace of reconstruction to support the affected residents.

Meanwhile, the Follow-up Committee of the National and Islamic Forces in Gaza announced the departure of UNRWA Gaza chief Matthias Schmale and his deputy after they were declared “persona non-grata.”

Schmale and his deputy had been “called in for consultation and discussion at the Jerusalem headquarters over the latest developments in Gaza.”

The committee stated that Schmale and his deputy were a major cause of the suffering of thousands of Palestinian refugees and UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, stressing their refusal to return to the Strip.

Schmale created controversy after his interview with an Israeli television on May 22, in which he said he did not dispute Israel's assertion that its airstrikes were "precise".

Commenting on the ferocity of the airstrikes, the official said, “precision was there but there was an unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side.”

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Israel’s Army Says It Will Fire Air Force Reservists Who Condemned Gaza War

An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Israel’s Army Says It Will Fire Air Force Reservists Who Condemned Gaza War

An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)

Israel's military said Friday it will fire air force reservists who signed an open letter that condemns the war in Gaza for only serving political interests instead of bringing the hostages home.

In a statement to The Associated Press, an army official said there was no room for any individual, including reservists on active duty, “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting,” calling the letter a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates.

The army said it had decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. It did not specify how many people that included or if the firings had begun.

Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists and retirees signed the letter, published in Israeli media Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the fighting.

The letter comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza, trying to pressure Hamas to agree to free hostages, 59 of whom are still being held, more than half of which are dead. Israel's imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.

While the soldiers who signed the letter didn’t refuse to keep serving, it’s part of a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 18-month conflict, some saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines.

“It’s completely illogical and irresponsible on behalf of the Israeli policy makers ... risking the lives of the hostages, risking the lives of more soldiers and risking lives of many, many more innocent Palestinians, while it had a very clear alternative,” Guy Poran, a retired Israeli Air Force pilot who spearhead the letter told The AP.

He said he's not aware of anyone who signed the letter being fired, and since it was published, it has gained dozens more signatures.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the letter on Friday, saying it was written by a “small handful of weeds, operated by foreign-funded NGOs whose sole goal is to overthrow the right-wing government.” He said anyone who encourages refusal will be immediately dismissed.

Soldiers are required to steer clear of politics, and they rarely speak out against the army. After Hamas stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel quickly united behind the war launched against the group. Divisions here have grown as the war progresses, but most criticism has focused on the mounting number of soldiers killed and the failure to bring home hostages, not actions in Gaza.

The war in Gaza shows no signs of slowing.

Since Israel ended an eight-week ceasefire last month, it said it will push further into Gaza until Hamas releases the hostages. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire collapsed, according to the United Nations.

The Israeli military on Friday issued an urgent warning to residents in several neighborhoods in northern Gaza, calling on them to evacuate immediately. At least 26 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Palestinians lined up at a charity kitchen Friday in central Gaza said shortages of food, fuel and other essentials are worsening.

“There is no flour or gas or wood. Everything is expensive and there is no money," said Reem Oweis, a displaced woman from al-Mughraqa in south Gaza, waiting in line for a serving of rice, the only food available.

“I completely rely on charity kitchens. If those charity kitchens close, my children and I will die,” said another displace woman, Nema Faragallah.

Also this week, Brazil's Embassy in the West Bank said it had requested the immediate release of the body of a 17-year-old Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody.

A representative from Brazil's office in Ramallah, told the AP it was helping the family speed up the process to bring Walid Ahmad's body home. Ahmad had a Brazilian passport.

According to an Israeli doctor who observed the autopsy, starvation was likely the primary cause of his death.

Ahmad had been held for six months without being charged. He was extremely malnourished and also showed signs of inflammation of the colon and scabies, said a report written by Dr. Daniel Solomon, who watched the autopsy, conducted by Israeli experts, at the request of the boy’s family.

Israel’s prison service said it operates according to the law and all prisoners are given basic rights.