CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian officials say Fatah and Hamas are closing in on an agreement to appoint a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. It would effectively end Hamas' rule and could help advance ceasefire talks with Israel.
The rival factions have made several failed attempts to reconcile since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. Israel has meanwhile ruled out any postwar role in Gaza for either Hamas or Fatah, which dominates the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Click to Gallery
Israeli armoured vehicles move on in an area at the Israeli-Gaza border, seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
A Palestinian inspects the car that was targeted in an Israeli airstrike that the military said was targeting a militant cell near the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the bodies of two Palestinians Akram Abu Arrah, seen, and Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, during their funeral in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the body of Akram Abu Arrah, wrapped with a Hamas flag, out of the family house during his funeral with Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the bodies wrapped with the Palestinian flag, of Akram Abu Arrah and Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, during their funeral in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Israeli troops enter the complex of the Turkish hospital, where they searched for the bodies of those killed in an airstrike, in the West Bank city of Tubas, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Young Palestinians walk amongst rubble of destroyed buildings at a neighbourhood in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian Authority official on Tuesday confirmed that a preliminary agreement had been reached following weeks of negotiations in Cairo. The official said the committee would have 12-15 members, most of them from Gaza.
It would report to the Palestinian Authority, which is headquartered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and work with local and international parties to facilitate humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.
A Hamas official said that Hamas and Fatah had agreed on the general terms but were still negotiating over some details and the individuals who would serve on the committee. The official said an agreement would be announced after a meeting of all Palestinian factions in Cairo, without providing a timeline.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the talks. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is dismantled and scores of hostages are returned. He says Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and continue to hold corridors within the territory, with civilian affairs in the rest administered by local Palestinians unaffiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.
No Palestinians have publicly volunteered for such a role, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with the Israeli military.
The United States has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern both the West Bank and Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. The Israeli government, which is opposed to Palestinian statehood, is reportedly discussing a postwar plan with the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 and backs a rival Fatah faction.
The Hamas official said the emerging Palestinian agreement would fulfill one of Israel’s war goals by ending Hamas’ rule in Gaza. It’s unclear if Israeli officials would see it that way.
Previous attempts at unity between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have fallen apart, often because of competition for power between the two rivals — and there are opponents to the current talks within Fatah.
Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of Fatah’s central committee, denounced the agreement, saying it was “a mistake that we even accepted the principle of discussing this matter.” He said the arrangement would entrench the division between the West Bank and Gaza by accepting two administrations. He said Hamas should instead let the Palestinian Authority retake administration of the territory. ”We represent the unity of the land and the government," he told journalists in the West Bank town of al-Bira.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, recognizes Israel and cooperates with it on security matters, a policy that is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, many of whom view it as a subcontractor of the occupation. Israel says the authority has not done enough to combat militancy or curb incitement.
The committee would assume its responsibilities after a ceasefire agreement with Israel, the Hamas official said. American and Arab mediators have spent nearly a year trying to broker such an agreement, but the negotiations have repeatedly stalled.
Hamas ignited the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages remain inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of the dead were combatants. The offensive has leveled much of the coastal territory and displaced the vast majority of its 2.3 million residents.
Federman reported from Jerusalem.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israeli armoured vehicles move on in an area at the Israeli-Gaza border, seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
A Palestinian inspects the car that was targeted in an Israeli airstrike that the military said was targeting a militant cell near the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the bodies of two Palestinians Akram Abu Arrah, seen, and Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, during their funeral in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the body of Akram Abu Arrah, wrapped with a Hamas flag, out of the family house during his funeral with Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Mourners carry the bodies wrapped with the Palestinian flag, of Akram Abu Arrah and Mohammad Ghannam, both killed in an airstrike Israel said targeted a militant cell, during their funeral in the West Bank village of Al-Aqaba, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Israeli troops enter the complex of the Turkish hospital, where they searched for the bodies of those killed in an airstrike, in the West Bank city of Tubas, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Muhammad)
Young Palestinians walk amongst rubble of destroyed buildings at a neighbourhood in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.
The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.
The military said Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The Hamas militant group released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praising the bus attack. Hamas and the smaller and more radical Islamic Jihad are allies that sometimes carry out attacks together.
The Jan. 6 attack on the bus carrying Israelis killed three people and wounded six others.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Here's the latest:
TEL AVIV — A survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Switzerland in May.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won first place in a singing contest on Israeli television that determines Israel’s entry to Eurovision, a pan-continental pop extravaganza. She won with a performance of the Swedish group ABBA’s pop hit “Dancing Queen,” which she dedicated to the victims of the attack.
Raphael survived the Nova music festival in southern Israel as Palestinian militants stormed the event, killing hundreds and taking many hostage during Hamas’ cross-border raid. She has testified in the Israeli parliament about her experience on Oct. 7. She described hiding from gunmen under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, and said “I’m going to deal with this thing for the rest of my life.”
Last year’s Eurovision was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, with large demonstrations protesting Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, who ended up taking fifth place in the competition, was kept under tight security.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday that Israel would not compromise on its objectives of dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and that there were no guarantees for the success of the three-phase cease fire in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest, Hungary, Saar said Hamas leaders had declared their intent to carry out more attacks on Israel similar to the deadly raids on Oct. 7, 2023, and could therefore not be allowed to retain any military capabilities.
“They are committed to the idea of eliminating the Jewish state,” Saar said. “Israel will not accept Hamas’ rule in Gaza. As long as Hamas remains in power, there will be no peace, security or stability in the Middle East.”
“We hope that the framework for the hostage release will continue until its end, but of course I cannot guarantee that,” he continued. “We will not abandon our objectives.”
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Although the ceasefire in Gaza has brought an influx of humanitarian aid and a rare respite from Israeli bombardment, it has done little to change the miserable conditions endured by most of the 2 million people displaced by fighting.
The winter weather has compounded the hardships of those eking out an existence in tattered tents and makeshift shelters. Heavy rains were flooding tents across the territory, leaving Palestinians shivering in the cold.
At one makeshift camp in the central city of Deir al-Balah, the downpour Thursday quickly soaked through flimsy tents that seemed to float on pools of muck. Some used sandbags to keep their tents from washing away, while others tried to clear the huge puddles of mud outside their shelters. Barefoot children trod through paths that had become filthy rivers. A cacophony of coughs emanated from every corner, raising concerns about the spread of illness.
Tareq Deifallah, a displaced resident in Deir al-Balah originally from Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, said water was seeping through his tent from all sides. He said “the truce is useless” when it came to changing his living conditions.
“Before the truce we were suffering, after the truce we are suffering, from the rain and the winter,” Deifallah said.
Monira Faraj, a mother of two young girls, said rain flooded her tent and soaked through her mattress as her family was sleeping.
“We’re afraid we’re going to drown if it becomes too much,” she said.
Residents of the tent camp said they had no choice but to stay put. Even though the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that took effect Sunday allows Palestinians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes, those who set out to check on their houses in recent days said they found only ruins.
DAMASCUS, Syria — A commercial plane from Turkey landed in Damascus for the first time in 13 years on Thursday, Syrian state media said.
The Turkish Airlines plane flew from Istanbul to the Syrian capital, SANA reported, two weeks after the first international commercial flight landed, from Qatar, since former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Ankara backed opposition groups in northwestern Syria that fought against Assad and his allies during the uprising-turned-conflict and never restored ties, even when most Mideast countries did in 2023.
Now Turkey, a key ally of the new authorities under the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, has expressed its intention to invest in Syria’s economy and help its ailing electricity and energy sectors.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s ambassador to the United States says the two countries are in talks about the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as a deadline in the ceasefire with Hezbollah militants approaches. Israeli media have reported that Israel is seeking to postpone the completion of its pullout.
Michael Herzog said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio on Thursday that he believed Israel would “reach an understanding” with the Trump administration, without elaborating.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended more than a year of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces are supposed to complete their withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday.
Israeli media have reported that Israel reached an understanding with the Biden administration on staying longer but that President Donald Trump is urging it to withdraw on time.
There was no immediate comment from the United States.
Israeli officials have said Lebanese troops are not deploying fast enough in the areas Israeli troops are supposed to vacate. Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to patrol a buffer zone in southern Lebanon alongside United Nations peacekeepers.
Hezbollah has threatened to resume its rocket and drone fire if Israel does not withdraw on time.
The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.
The Qatar-based news network reported Thursday that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.
It said Palestinian security forces had earlier prevented him from reporting on a large Israeli military operation in Jenin, an epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years. The Palestinian Authority launched its own crackdown on militants in the city late last year.
There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority.
Both Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority banned Al Jazeera last year. Israel accuses it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas over its coverage of the war in the Gaza Strip and says some of its reporters are also militants.
The pan-Arab broadcaster has rejected the allegations and accused both Israel and the Palestinian Authority of trying to silence critical coverage.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters. It is unpopular among Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a corrupt and authoritarian ally of Israel.
UNITED NATIONS – Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington to meet President Donald Trump “in a few weeks.”
Danny Danon told reporters Wednesday: “I’m sure he would be one of the first foreign leaders invited to the White House.”
Danon said he expects their discussions to include the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.
FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
