Damaged buildings following Israeli airstrikes in the southwest of Gaza City, Gaza, July 10, 2024. /CFP
There are still critical unresolved issues that hinder the Gaza truce negotiations, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported on Friday, citing a high-level source.
The news did not specify what these issues are, however, Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday of obstructing the ceasefire agreement by insisting on his country's control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the area between Gaza and Egypt.
Netanyahu emphasized on Thursday that, to prevent "the smuggling of weapons" to Hamas from Egypt, Israel must control the Philadelphi Corridor, as well as the Rafah crossing.
The crossing was an important entry point for aid from Egypt into Gaza before it was closed in early May after Israeli troops assumed control over its Palestinian side.
Meanwhile, the source denied reports about Egyptian-Israeli security arrangements regarding the control of the border between Egypt and Gaza, saying these are Israeli "rumors" aiming to "hide their failures in Gaza."
Egypt has repeatedly denied any coordination with the Israeli side concerning the border with Gaza and rejected multiple Israeli suggestions to co-manage the crossing, a high-level source said in previous remarks to Al-Qahera News TV.
Egypt has also stressed that only the Egyptians and Palestinians have the right to manage the crossing, demanding the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.
People walk on rubble as they inspect the damage at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees building complex in western Gaza City's Al-Sinaa neighborhood, July 12, 2024. /CFP
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas commander involved in planning the October 7 attack against Israel was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday.
The IDF said in a statement that Ayman Showadeh, who was killed, served as a deputy commander of Hamas' Shejaiya Battalion in the current conflict and was formerly a key operative in Hamas' operations headquarters.
Showadeh had directed numerous attacks against IDF troops, according to the statement.
The IDF claimed that this man was among more than 150 "terrorists" eliminated in recent IDF operations in the Shejaiya neighborhood of the city.
The Israeli military has targeted Shejaiya for about two weeks in the name of eliminating active "terrorists" and their infrastructure. On Wednesday, the military announced that it completed the mission in Shejaiya.
On the same day, the Al-Khair Foundation, a UK-based aid group, announced that one of its senior employees in Gaza was killed in an Israeli strike on its warehouse, located in an Israeli-declared humanitarian safe zone. The strike also resulted in the deaths of three staff members from other aid groups.
The warehouse was located in Muwasi, an area on Gaza's Mediterranean coast that is part of a "humanitarian safe zone" where Israel has told Palestinians to take refuge.
After a two-week Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, dozens of bodies were collected throughout Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and brought to Al-Ahli Hospital on Friday morning. Civil defense workers said they were still recovering dead and wounded from destroyed streets and buildings.
Yemenis gather around a giant Palestinian flag as they rally in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa, in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza, July 12, 2024. /CFP
Potential attacks warning
A risk of regional escalation remains. Yemen's Houthi group warned Saudi Arabia on Friday of potential attacks if the Saudi-backed Yemeni government proceeds with suspending banks in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group is prepared for a "legitimate response" to what they describe as Saudi "hostile activities," according to Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
The warning came after Sanaa-based banks disregarded the government-imposed deadline for them to relocate to Aden, a port city under the government's control.
Earlier this week, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said Saudi Arabia is pushing the Yemeni government to move against the banks in Sanaa, accusing the United States and Israel of standing behind the Saudi attempts.
The Houthi leader threatened to target banks in Riyadh if "banks in Sanaa are targeted." However, neither the U.S. nor Saudi Arabia has made comments on the Houthi allegations.
Rasheed al-Haddad, member of the Houthi higher economic council, told Xinhua exclusively that banks in Sanaa are currently operating but face imminent shutdown of both international and internal bank wire services.
On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg sent a letter to the Yemeni government, urging it to delay measures against those banks until August to facilitate peace talks.
Also on Friday, Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council issued a warning to the Houthi group against resuming military hostilities and undermining peace efforts.
(With input from agencies)