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Egypt Says Gaza Reconstruction Plan Ready, Pushes Efforts for Ceasefire’s Second Phase

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Cairo, Egypt March 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Sunday that Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in their land, is ready and will be presented at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday.

Arab states, which were swift to reject President Donald Trump’s plan for the US to take control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians, are scrambling to agree on a diplomatic offensive to counter the idea.

Trump’s plan, announced on February 4 amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, appeared to back away from longstanding US Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.

Abdelatty said Egypt would seek international backing and funding for the plan and emphasized Europe’s crucial role, particularly in the financing of Gaza’s reconstruction.

“We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit,” he said in a press conference with the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.

Israel on Sunday blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated. Abdelatty said the use of aid as a weapon of collective punishment could not be permitted.

The first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement expired this weekend. Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to the originally agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to move into a second phase. “It will be difficult, but with goodwill and political determination, it can be achieved,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier that it had adopted a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods.

Abdelatty said after Tuesday’s summit, foreign ministers of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation would hold an urgent meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to present the plans.

“We will ensure that the results of the Arab summit are presented to the world in the best possible way,” he said.

The post Egypt Says Gaza Reconstruction Plan Ready, Pushes Efforts for Ceasefire’s Second Phase first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran

Doron Bokobza, who was indicted after Iran recruited him to collect intelligence Photo: i24/ Social media / 27A

i24 NewsAn indictment was filed against a resident of Beersheba, Doron Bokobza, who contacted Iranian intelligence and offered to sell them information including secrets to the nuclear research facility in Dimona.

In February, Bokobza was arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses, involving contact with Iranian police intelligence agents and carrying out tasks for them in exchange for money. He claimed to have access and knowledge of the nuclear facility.

According to the indictment filed against him, last December, Bokobza approached an Iranian recruiter via the Telegram app, writing: “I am Israeli, I want to cross over to you.” When asked by the recruiter why he was interested in doing so, the defendant replied that it was due to the government and his difficult financial situation.

Bokobza allegedly photographed military installations and transferred information to the Iranian handlers several days later.

The post Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released

Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by Gazan terrorists and has been held for more than 500 days. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

i24 NewsThe family of the Israeli soldier Nimrod Cohen, held captive in the Gaza Strip, said on Saturday that they had identified their son in the video published the day before by Hamas.

In this recording, Eitan and Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and other hostages whose faces have been blurred can be seen. The Cohen family says they recognized Nimrod, who appears wearing a t-shirt and bearing a characteristic tattoo.

In the video broadcast with the agreement of the Horn family, brothers Eitan and Iair are seen embracing. Iair Horn, freed on the 498th day of the war, declares: “They are making me leave my little brother here, to die,” while his brother Eitan, still in captivity, adds: “It is illogical to separate families in this way.”

“Get everyone out and don’t separate families, don’t destroy our lives,” Eitan said in the video. “Tell mom and dad to continue the protests and for this government to sign phase two to bring us all home.” He addressed the Prime Minister directly: “[Benjamin] Netanyahu, if you have a bit of heart, sign, sign today.”

Father Yehuda Cohen said during a demonstration of hostage families that his “son Nimrod is a soldier who was kidnapped from a burning tank. He is alive and he, like all the hostages, begs us from this hell to save them now. All of them, and all at once.”

“We are addressing President Trump – there are still 59 hostages in Gaza who are living a Holocaust,” he added. “Netanyahu is trying to sabotage your agreement, Mr. President. He is the one creating the current crisis in the negotiations. Don’t let him fail the agreement.”

About two weeks ago, Cohen revealed in an interview with Channel 12 that the family had received a message from Nimrod. “We got news from him last week, from two hostages who spent eight months with him in the tunnels,” the father explained. “I’m doing fine, don’t worry about me. I love you,” Nimrod conveyed to his parents through the former captives.

The post Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza

Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks following the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s general election, at his party headquarters in Jerusalem November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Corinna Kern

i24 NewsIsrael’s right wing hailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on Sunday to halt goods and supplies from being brought to the Gaza Strip, demanding that hostages continue being released.

“I welcome the decision to halt the humanitarian aid, if it is implemented,” said former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “The decision has finally been made – better late than never. This should be the policy until the last of the hostages is returned. Now is the time to open the gates of hell, to shut off the electricity and water, to return to war, and most importantly, not to settle for just half of the hostages, but to return to President Trump’s ultimatum all the hostages immediately or hell will break loose on Gaza.”

Ben Gvir referred to US President Donald Trump’s warning that “all hell” would break out if all the hostages are not returned, while saying that it was ultimately Israel’s decision.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another right-wing firebrand, said that “the decision we made tonight to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction.”

He called for Israel to continue until “complete victory.”

Meanwhile, the far-right Order 9 movement, which opposed the entry of goods including humanitarian assistance into Gaza, said that its activists “reached the Kerem Shalom crossing area and it is indeed closed. We will stand guard that it will indeed remain so until the last of the kidnapped are returned”

“The transfer of aid that has strengthened the murderous terrorist organization Hamas for the past year and a half will stop until all the kidnapped are returned,” the movement said. “For many months, we have fought tooth and nail against the terrible failure to transfer aid to the enemy, which has now become clear that it will strengthen it for many months to come. We are now on the ground and will continue to stand guard well, and to ensure that this severe harm to the kidnapped will stop.”

The post Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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